Today we will continue our Bible Study on Eight Ways to Hear
from God. We’ve already looked at
Preaching, the Bible, and Prayer, so today we’re going to look at the fourth
way that we hear from God – Visions and Dreams.
Let’s start with our text for the overall study:
Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV)
1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past
to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to
us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom
also He made the worlds;
So, in the Bible there are a number of times where God spoke
to people through a booming voice that came from Heaven. He spoke at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son
in whom I’m well-pleased.” He spoke to
the disciples at the Mount of Transfiguration.
He spoke to Paul on the Damascus Road.
But our text here tells us that God spoke at various times in various
ways. In other words, God speaks to us
in different ways. I made a list of
eight ways God speaks to us. So today
let’s look at the fourth method – Visions and Dreams. Here’s the text for today’s study:
Acts 2:17 (NKJV)
2:17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That
I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men
shall dream dreams.
This is Peter on the day of Pentecost and he’s quoting the
words spoken by Joel the Prophet. This
scripture speaks of how the Holy Spirit will work in us. You sons and daughters will prophesy – That
is to speak under divine inspiration.
Speak words that God has put in us.
They may tell the future or they may speak a warning of what MAY happen
if people don’t repent and change direction.
Jonah prophesied when he called the Ninevites to repentance:
Jonah 3:4 (NKJV)
3:4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then
he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown!"
But today, I’m more concerned with the next part of the
text, “Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream, dreams.”
First, what is a vision?
What does it mean to see a vision?
That word translated as vision means an inspired appearance. In other words, God shows you something that
speaks to His plan, for humanity, or for your life.
Here’s an example:
Isaiah 6:1-5 (NKJV)
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a
throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he
covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And
one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" 4 And the
posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house
was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am
undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of
a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of
hosts."
This is Isaiah’s vision. He’s
seeing the throne room of God. Above the
throne of God stood the Seraphim. This
is interesting. The word seraph means to
burn. Seraphim means “burning
ones.” These are the ones who are
zealous in their worship of God. Let me
ask you, have you ever heard the phrase, “He’s on fire for God.”? That’s similar to what these ones are – They
are on fire in their worship of God. It
can be seen in the way they use their wings.
One set covers their eyes.
Hiding their eyes represents reverence.
They aren’t worthy to look at God’s face. It’s like when God passed before Moses in
Exodus 33:
God has called Moses up to the mountain.
While he’s up there, Moses asks to see God’s glory. Look at God’s response:
Exodus 33:19-23 (NKJV)
33:19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before
you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for
no man shall see Me, and live." 21 And the Lord said,
"Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So
it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the
rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I
will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be
seen."
In this vision, God tells Moses you cannot see my face. The seraphim are the same they CANNOT look on
the face of God. So, the wings covering
their eyes speak of reverence for God.
Two wings cover their feet. This indicates humility. They are humble before God. The feet are considered to be inferior
parts. They speak of our limitations and
unworthiness. The reason we don’t walk
around naked all the time is that we feel some parts are not to be seen by
everyone. So, we keep them hidden. This is what is signified by the seraphim
hiding their feet. Humility before God.
With two wings they fly. These are
the wings of service. They use these
wings to freely move about in their worship of God. They are using their energy to serve God in
worship. Worship is what they are to do
for God. It’s their calling. We are supposed to be in motion for God. We are also to be ACTIVE in God’s
service. It’s also a form of
worship.
They cry out so loudly, that they shake the doorposts of heaven. This is the zeal with which they
worship. Isaiah sees all of this and so
“Whoa, I’m not measuring up to this. I’m
full of sin. I’m unworthy.” He sees his OWN SINFUL condition.
Isaiah 6:6-8 (NKJV)
6 Then one of the seraphim
flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the
tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and
said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged." 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord,
saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said,
"Here am I! Send me."
Isaiah is a prophet he’s supposed to be the spokesman for
God, but he can’t do that with unclean lips.
So, the seraphim take the coal and cleanse his lips. The fire removes the sin and he is able to
speak for God.
God has SPOKEN to Isaiah.
He’s given him revelation of whom he is.
In the presence of God, he recognizes that he isn’t worthy to be God’s
spokesman. He sees the depth of his own
sin. But then he sees the mercy of God
in that the angel cleanses his lips and makes him useful for God’s
purposes. Even though we are imperfect
God can use us. Isaiah willingly, even
eagerly answers God’s question – Who will go for us?
So, revelation can come through visions. God speaks to us through visions. What’s He
saying to us? That we can hear from God
if we approach Him in reverence, humility and service. We must prepare ourselves to hear from God.
Now let’s look at a dream.
Jacob is in the desert. He’s on
the way to his uncle’s home to find a wife.
He’s just ripped off his brother’s blessing. He’s stolen his birthright. Jacob is NOT a nice guy. He’s a con man and a thief. While he’s in the desert he has a dream:
Genesis 28:12-17 (NKJV)
28:12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the
earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above
it and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God
of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14
Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread
abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in
your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold,
I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back
to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to
you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely
the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And
he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is
none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"
Jacob has a dream of a ladder descending to Heaven. This is a connection a bridge between earth
and heaven, between men and God. Jesus
makes a reference to this later:
John 1:51 (NKJV)
1:51 And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of Man."
Jesus says that HE is the ladder. He is the bridge between God and man.
So, Jacob has seen the future here. God has spoken to him of the future. This is a prophecy of Christ. Jacob is blown away by this. He suddenly recognizes the presence of God
and it changes him:
Genesis 28:18-22 (NKJV)
28:18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that
he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19
And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city
had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If
God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread
to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's
house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone
which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me
I will surely give a tenth to You."
He vows to honor God.
And he is a changed man. We don’t
ever hear of him being a thief or con man again. He leaves this place different and becomes
the namesake of the people of God.
God has spoken to him through this dream. When God speaks to us it changes us. It moves us.
Sometimes as we can see from these illustrations there is a symbolism
that’s there. We need to pray and
meditate for the revelation. Look at
Daniel 10. God has given him a vision
that he doesn’t really understand:
Daniel 10:2-3 (NKJV)
10:2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. 3 I
ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint
myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
He prayed and fasted for clarification. God does use visions and dreams to speak to
us.
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