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 PrintableVersion Perchance to dreamA Christian perspective on dreams, part 2Nigel continues his article from last month with some historical reports of striking dreams among Christians. Katharine BostonKatharine, the wife of Thomas Boston (1676-1732), gave birth to a daughter, also Katharine, with a double hare lip. A few months later, she had to make an important visit to her mother accompanied by her husband. The child was left behind being cared for. At her mother’s she had a dream that the child was completely perfect, and trusted that she had been miraculously healed. However, while approaching the home, someone told her that her infant had died, and it happened the same hour as the dream. Baby Katherine was indeed perfect now, but not in the way her mother had anticipated. Fletcher of MadeleyArchibald Alexander recounts the amazingly detailed dream of the Judgement Day experienced by John Fletcher (1729-1785) of Madeley, which left a deep and abiding impression of eternal things on his mind. It led to a thorough examination of his religious principles by the Scriptures, and to his conviction that he was unconverted. He earnestly sought for justification in the blood of Christ, and never rested until he found peace with God by a living faith in the truth and promises of God. Alexander cautiously states that, ‘Whether God ever now communicates anything by dreams is much disputed. Many, no doubt, deceive themselves by fancying their dreams are supernatural. But there is nothing inconsistent with reason or Scripture in supposing that, on some occasions, certain communications, intended for the warning or safety of the individual himself, or of others, may be made in dreams. To doubt of this is to run counter to a vast body of testimony in every age. If dreams produce a salutary effect … in view of the divine truth, very well; such dreams may be considered providential, if not divine.’ John NewtonThere is the remarkable dream of John Newton (1725-1807), long before his conversion, and reminiscent of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was given a ring with an express charge to keep it carefully if he was to be happy, but parting with it would cause trouble and misery. He put it on his finger, but when a second person questioned him about it, and implied he was weak in the head to expect such things from a mere ring, he threw it into the sea. Immediately it touched the water, a terrible fire erupted from the mountains behind the city of Venice. His tempter then informed him that all the mercy God had for him was in that ring. He was, therefore, in a great agony of condemnation when the giver of the ring re-appeared and retrieved it from the depths. He came on board the ship and immediately the flames were extinguished. He would not give Newton the ring, however, but said he would keep it until needed. Newton awoke in turmoil of mind, unable to eat, sleep or conduct any business for two or three days. But the impression wore off and was not recalled for several years. Then he was able to pen the words of ‘Amazing Grace’. John FlavelJohn Flavel (1628-1691) describes several instances of dreams foretelling the future, including one about a man who was concerned for his parents in the Great Plague of London in 1665. A fortnight before they were infected he dreamt that he went into a bedroom in an inn, knelt by the bed and fixed his eyes on the plastered wall opposite while he prayed for his friends. The sun and moon shining in full strength appeared on the wall, and then a ring of black surrounded the sun and grew larger until it was entirely eclipsed, when it changed into a skull. The same thing next occurred to the moon. He told his wife these details and, comparing his dream with Joseph’s (Genesis 37.9-10), concluded that he was being prepared to part with his dear relations. Sure enough, his father died a fortnight later, followed in a month by his mother. A personal viewI suppose I have at least five dreams per night, or 1,800 a year, or over 113,000 so far in my life. Of all of these I reckon only two had a lasting effect, and I cannot recall the imagery involved, only the ‘message’. One impressed upon me the preciousness of time, it is a gift from God, and we are accountable to him for how we spend it — we are to number our days (Psalm 90.12). The other was more terrifying, and I found myself in a place where there was chaos and disorder. Nothing was stable, so that a house could be in one position, but on returning to the same place a short time later, it had disappeared. Time and distance had lost all meaning, and people’s words could not be trusted. Notably, God was absent or any sign of love, joy, peace, hope or fellowship with friends. I think I awoke at this point with my mind in turmoil, so I prayed about it. There then followed a strong impression of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven where it had been created perfectly by God. I read again the account (Revelation 21.9-27), and discovered there was an amazing sense of perfect order, starting with the fact that it was a perfect cube with sides of 1,400 miles. An angel even appeared to John with a golden measuring rod to prove the fact, and proceeded to measure the thickness of the walls also. There were also 12 foundations and 12 gates. How a city could be 1,400 miles high defies comprehension by our puny minds, but the main point of all these numbers and measurements now became clear: God is a God of order and he is in complete control of the planning and execution of the heavenly Jerusalem. Our Lord was seven days in creating the heavens and earth, yet from the time he told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them (John 14.2) he has been 2,000 years, so we can expect the new heavens and earth to be truly amazing! Traits and anxieties?An unbelieving psychoanalyst would, no doubt, and with good reason, ascribe such imaginings as arising from personality traits combined with the anxieties of present circumstances. But why only two such soul-affecting occasions about 37 years ago, and none since? Spiritually, one could question whether the disturbing experience of chaos originated from the devil trying to spoil a believer’s comfort and peace, as happened with Job, the Spirit then countering with the word of God. We do not need to try and fathom the exact cause of our dreams. If we have disturbing dreams, whatever the cause, then dealing with them in prayer before our Heavenly Father, and seeking guidance from the Scriptures as to how we might improve them for our holiness, is all that is required. Diabolical dreamsThese need not be of diabolical appearance, in fact, they could seem to come from an angel of light. They could even be visions of ‘Jesus’, or more often an impression of the Virgin Mary, possibly with a miraculous occurrence or predictions. This happened at Fatima in Portugal when Lucia dos Santos and her two cousins reportedly saw the Lady of the Rosary (Virgin Mary) on May 13 1917, and each subsequent month until October. Lucia is still alive in a convent at Coimbre, and the only one to receive the three prophetic secrets of Fatima. The Basilica of the Shrine at Fatima has an esplanade twice as large as St Peter’s in Rome, and set into it a long marble pavement in a poor state of repair. We saw a well dressed woman of about 50 years of age crawling along this irregular surface on her knees, provided with some sort of knee protectors, while her husband walked alongside. I felt like shouting out that there was no need for this self-inflicted suffering, Christ has borne all the pain our sins deserve, but she may not have understood me and I might have been considered a troublemaker. This is the doctrine of salvation by works which accompanies such diabolical visions. The bookshops of Portugal all contain storybooks for children and adults about the Virgin of Fatima who is nationally adored. ‘The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie…’ (2 Thessalonians 2.9-11). So although Satan may think he is clever in deceiving people, he is in fact only carrying out God’s secret plan all along. God sends the delusion as part of his righteous judgement on those who refuse to believe the clearly revealed gospel truths — ‘in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3.2). I will lie down and sleep in peace, Sources Nigel Faithfull© Evangelicals Now - September 2007 |
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