Visions in the Night

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.
Job 33:15–18
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Visions in the Night
Dreams have long been used as signs to predict the future. People today pay others good money to interpret their dreams in hopes of finding an answer to a seemingly unanswerable question.  We place meaning in our dreams more often than we ought.  Most would be best served by taking Ebenezer Scrooge’s stance, “You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”  Yet God did in the past come to people in dreams. He brought Joseph out of bondage by having him correctly interpret pharaoh’s dreams. The prophets often encountered God in their dreams. So why should we not listen to them?  Because dreams are not reliable, and we have a better source of understanding and hope.  The prophets and people recorded In the Bible did not have the benefit of the full revelation of God.  That is not our problem today. God has spoken to us through His Word, and it is inerrant and infallible. We need not chase ghosts in our minds when the Holy Ghost has revealed Himself to us clearer and more sound in the Means of Grace. Though the Word and Sacraments we have tangible means in which to know God and His will. We can hold in our hands the forgiveness of sins as we partake in the true body and blood of our Savior at the altar.  There is no need for hazy visions when the clear picture of Christ crucified is before our eyes in God’s Word, on our hearts and heads, placed there in Baptism.  In Christ Jesus there is no need for dreams, we have the real thing.