DANIEL 4:7-9Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in, and I told them the dream; but they did not make known to me its interpretation. But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying: “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar asked the question to which many of us might well look for an answer — explain to me the visions of my dream. Daniel had the gift of answering that question, of interpreting visions, but also of explaining the visions (and note that there is a distinction between the two). Explaining is not interpreting and vice versa. Nebuchadnezzar wanted Daniel to explain the visions — to break them down and relate the signs there and then give the interpretation, the meaning behind the words. As we discover in the Book of Joel (see below), there are prophecies, dreams and visions and each has a specific function in the realm of the Spirit. There is a conception that dreams and visions are both prophetic, and although they can be prophetic in part, this is not always so. An exact definition of each is not always easy, but it is safe to say — in the same way that an Apple is a fruit, but not all fruit are apples — that a prophecy is not always a vision or a dream. It may be, but more often than not we find that a prophecy comes as a word from God. A vision is perhaps best described as a revelation from God, which can also have a prophetic aspect to it. Dreams, on the other hand are more difficult to describe. In Joel 2:29, we read that while young men will see visions, old men will dream dreams, which rather confirms the revelatory aspect of visions. ‘Old men’ represent mature believers, whose waking and sleeping hours are closer to the heavenly realms through many years experience of prophecy and vision. The Lord speaks then whether awake or asleep. The ‘young men’ to which Joel refers are inspired to continue in faith by the revelatory visions shown to them. The prophet Jeremiah says:- The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the LORD. ”Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (JEREMIAH 23:28-29) In other words, a dream is only a dream unless it has The Lord’s Word at its root, and then His Word will reveal the veracity of the dream. Daniel was an interpreter of dreams. This was The Lord’s gift to Daniel, and dreams have to be interpreter to judge their provenance. Daniel’s name means ‘God is my judge’. So we come to this:-
MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS…And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. JOEL 2:28-29 BE MY VISION — Planetshakers PRAYER requires PURPOSEPRAYER ALTERS A man on the inside, alters his mind and his attitude to things. The point of praying is not that we get things from God, but that we learn by prayer to detect the difference between God's order and God's permissive will. God's order is no pain, no sickness, no devil, no war, no sin; His permissive will is all these things. What a man needs to do is to get hold of God's order in the kingdom on the inside, and then he will begin to see how to handle the riddle of the universe on the outside. (from ‘Still Higher For His Highest’ by Oswald Chambers) LISTEN TO THIS MEDITATION BELOW…
COMING NEXT … #514 GOD IS TESTING YOU |
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