Developing dreams and true dream interpretation
You can also have dreams and learn how to interpret them just like Joseph did.
Joseph’s dream was fulfilled
Jacob’s son Joseph had a dream that several sheaves bowed to his sheaf that stood upright and then a similar dream about stars bowing to him. Most of his brothers hated his dreams and sold him into slavery and he ends up in Egypt.
Some years later Pharaoh in Egypt had dreams of 7 fine fat cows and 7 half sick and lean cows that did eat up the seven fat cows, but no one could interpret it.
At that time Joseph was in prison and he had developed gifts to interpret the dreams and the meaning was 7 fat years and 7 lean years which made Pharaoh consult him. Joseph was given the responsibility of collecting grain for 7 years and then distributing and selling during the 7 difficult years.
Some 22 years later, the dream with sheaves bowed to Joseph is fulfilled, because he had second highest position in Egypt under Pharaoh and his brothers come to his land and bow down to him to buy grain. (Gen 37:5-11 , 44:14)
Joseph’s life documented
Joseph’s life and dream are partly written in hieroglyphics on a large stone “Famine Stela” near Aswan in Egypt by the Nile. The text describes that Egypt’s Pharaoh Djeser (Zoser of the 3rd dynasty) consult Joseph (Imhotep) about how to handle 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine, it also tells about 7 years of famine that came
The reason why the text tells that Pharaoh was aware of the coming of 7 years of famine is because Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream about it. According to Egyptian religion, they were not allowed to eat at the same table as the Hebrews. Therefore, the Hebrew Joseph, must have been very important when Egypt’s Pharaoh entrusted Joseph with all the food supplies for 14 years.
In Yemen, a marble plate in a ruined fortress also describes 7 years of famine over several countries at that time.
True dream interpretation
Just as Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, prophets like John Paul Jackson also has developed the gift of interpreting dreams. He is known to have spent over 40 years helping people interpret some 50,000 dreams according to scriptural principles and has travelled all over the world teaching.
Dreams are something valuable that can change people’s lives or change history. Dreams from heaven are an invitation to gain knowledge through divine revelation, knowledge and understanding that we would otherwise never have access to.
Regardless of culture, there are universal symbols that can communicate spiritual truths, “interpreting a dream is like a spiritual puzzle,” says Jackson. Sometimes dreams are easy and other times a little more difficult, and then it’s like putting together a puzzle.
Interpret dreams correct
The following dream is an example of how important it is to interpret dreams correct and share the dream with the right person who has developed the gift of interpreting the dream, because otherwise the result can be completely wrong. The best friend may also not be the best person to interpret dreams.
One day a woman comes to Jackson and tells him he must pray for her because her husband is going to die.
Jackson wonders why she thinks that.
The woman replied that she had a dream: “a weasel was chasing chickens across the road, but then a car came and smashed the weasel”
She went on to tell me that the neighbour used to call my husband the weasel and the neighbour heard the dream and he says that my husband is the weasel in the dream and he says that my husband chases women and will be crushed just like in the dream.
Jackson said he would pray about it and get back to me.
When Jackson clarified the dream, he contacted the woman and said that the weasel is not her husband, but someone she knows at work and is acting like the weasel, the dream is symbolic.
Oh my, now I might know who that is said the woman, my boss goes after women at work and pats them on the back often she said.
It may be true that the boss is a weasel, Jackson said, and he will be fired soon.
A few days later, the woman contacted Jackson and told him that 2 days after their conversation, her boss was fired for sexual misconduct.
True teaching of dreams, visions and revelations
When Jackson began teaching about dreams, he discovered that most of the market was based on psychoanalytic profiles and occult interpretations because Carl Jung admits that his demon Philemon gives him instructions. For that reason he made a dream course in 3 parts, the first part is called “Hearing the Voice of God” and continues with “Dreams and Dream Interpretation” because clarity was needed based on Biblical principles with pure sources that are not tainted by new age.
Much of the Bible is made up of dreams, revelations and visions. The book of Revelation is the best known, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Minor Prophets contain almost only revelations and visions. Moses received revelations about the stone tablets, the law, the priests and the tabernacle.
Dream of playing the piano
One day, a young woman comes to Jackson and tells him her dream, which indicates that she will play the piano.
The woman comments on the dream and says that she cannot play the piano, so she is not interested in the piano, therefore the dream cannot be true.
Jackson replies that according to the dream she will play the piano.
But the woman then says that the interpretation of the dream is wrong, because it means something else than playing the piano, she thanks Jackson for trying to interpret the dream.
Okay, Jackson said, apologizing if she thought the interpretation of the dream was wrong.
5 years later, Jackson receives a letter from the woman with piano dream that begins “Sorry Jackson I didn’t believe your interpretation of the dream. Believe it or not, I play piano on a worship team now. 3 years ago I had a dream that gave me such a desire and inspiration to play the piano that I started taking piano lessons. The piano teacher said I learned to play the piano much faster than any other student she’s ever had.”
How to know if dream is real
The most common and important question is, how do you know that the dream you have received is genuine and from the Lord?
There are only 3 different sources from which dreams originate. Some dreams are demonically inspired, some are self-generated by the soul, while others are genuine from the Lord.
– self-generated, in dreams the soul can process conflicts, high fever as well as medicine and drugs can generate dreams, a person can crave so much for a certain thing or person that eventually the soul produces a dream of its own.
For example, the soul can produce dreams if a person is in love and fantasizes a lot about marrying a certain person, if one person is a believer and the other is not, it also shows that the dream is wrong because the scripture warns against yoking with unbelievers, it will be unfaithful couples, the believer will experience it as a spiritual prison.
The key to recognising a soulish dream is whether the content feels familiar or expected.
– from above, dreams from heaven are pure and contain life, provide guidance and strength, often contain multiple dimensions such as future and history, even if the dream is a warning, it contains hope and a way out of problems.
A true dream from the Lord contains the following:
¤ something new you didn’t know before and that it’s true
¤ contains the fruits of the spirit such as love, joy, peace
¤ bringing people closer to Jesus
¤ contains hope and not condemnation
¤ God is light and the dream contains light and colours
¤ agree with scripture, for example if someone dreams that they are going to marry 4 people, it is the opposite of scripture and thus a false dream
– from below, dreams inspired by the powers of darkness can be terribly real, usually they are black and white and dark, the common thing is that the dreams always create fear no matter what the content is and the same feeling of fear can continue many hours after you wake up. A dream that brings fear and dread should be tried to be forgotten and not spent trying to decipher it.
The key to dealing with dark dreams is to ask the Lord if any life situation has caused an open door that the darkness is affecting. Usually it is media and computer game choices or past events or spiritual activity.
When the answer is found and the door is closed, the nightmares usually end.
Developing dreams and dream interpretation
Your gift of receiving dreams from the Lord and interpreting them can be developed more and more. About a third of our lives we sleep, through dreams we can use the time at night. Try to always write down dreams you believe come from the Lord.
– what feelings did you experience in the dream
– note which colours were available
-how were people or objects related to each other.
– when, past, present or future.
Be encouraged to take the time to gain knowledge and understanding of dreams and dream interpretation so that the mind and heart are prepared in this area.
If a person wants to listen to a specific radio channel, then it is a matter of tuning in the right channel on the radio. Similarly with dreams, it is important to tune into the right channel where the Lord is speaking and can give dreams and help interpret the dreams. There seems to be a spiritual principle “the Lord seeks those who are devoted”.
– read passages in the Bible about dreams and parables
– pray for real dreams
– seek knowledge from experienced faithful dream interpreters through books and videos
(2 Chronicles 16:9 & Luke 11:10)
Many have gone year after year to a community, but may never have been taught about dreams. The lack of knowledge about the principles of dreaming can lead to completely wrong interpretation if such a person were to have many dreams.
For example, if the Lord gives a dream about a house with blemishes on the upstairs floor, a person who is not familiar with the principles of dreaming may think they are going to buy a house and renovate it and then the result of the dream will be all wrong. But a believer who has studied the dreams in the Bible and studied books and videos on dreams understands that the house is symbolic and is about the person’s life and the blemishes may be internal wounds from some tragedy that the Lord needs to heal. That is why it says in scripture that we believers are temples to the Holy Spirit, a temple is a building and a kind of house, therefore the Lord often uses the image of houses as symbolism for events in our lives in dreams.
The meaning of symbols in dreams
The dreams are often told in a story where different symbols have different meanings. The Bible is the starting point for dreams and dream interpretation. Never get inspiration or interpretation from psychiatrists like Carl Jung or other “impure sources”.
Many colours in different dreams are explained in the Bible. Moses had received revelations about the high priest and the tabernacle. The priest in the Old Testament had an ephod with 12 different stones, each stone had a colour and represented one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe had a prophetic statement from Jacob about its characteristics that was unique to that tribe. By connecting the color of the stone with the characteristics of the tribe, you get a picture of what that color represents in a dream, scripture explains scripture. Red color in a dream is usually associated with the blood of Jesus, which is red and is the salvation and atonement of the world Exodus 28, John 3:16
Each colour has a positive side and a negative side.
Red
(positive) – salvation,anointing, reconciliation
(negative) – anger, war
Blue
(positive) – revelation
(negative) – depression
Brown
(positive) – compassion
(negative) – compromise
Gold
(positive) – purity
(negative) – idolatry
Some words and symbols depend on culture, they may mean one thing in one country while it means something completely different in another country. Symbols can also change according to the times in which we live, technology is making mobile phones with mobile IDs more and more widely used and can take over the symbolic meaning of the wallet in dreams related to identity.
Some of the main meanings of the most common dreams:
Fly – a person has the ability to rise above problems and move in the world of the spirit.
Teeth coming loose – experience an inability to understand or discern something.
Snakes – person is exposed to lies and accusations.
Drop your wallet – in addition to financial loss, a dream can mean loss of status, identity or purpose.
Vehicles – is about what you do or the purpose of your life
Horses – often represents power or authority
Your house – refers to events in your life
Dogs – often represents friendship, loyalty, protection
Fall – lost control over part of their life and may feel anxious.
– Fall, the whole: falling into a dream can feel real. The severity of the fall in the dream indicates the seriousness of the event that the dream represents.
– Fall, details: the context and details show which part of life the dream represents. Where were you? What were you doing before the fall? Were you pushed or did you jump? Were you the only one who fell?
– Fall, action plan: dreams of falling indicate the presence of anxiety and fear due to a lack of control over a situation or the future. Ask the Lord to enlighten you about the root of the fear, ask for guidance to move forward and be filled with peace.
Important dream of spiders
While driving in California, John Paul Jackson listens to a radio show where people tell their dreams and are offered interpretations.
A woman calls to tell her dream: “I saw big ugly spiders in the yard where my children were playing. I went to the shop to buy something that killed the spiders, but the shopkeeper said: you have to kill what the spiders feed on, only then will the children be safe.”
Someone on the radio tried to interpret the woman’s dream: “The spiders are things that prevent contact with your inner childlike nature. Show your childlike side more, and the fear that came into childhood through spiders you were afraid of will disappear.”
Jackson got the correct interpretation of the dream from heaven, so when he hears the misinterpretation on the radio, he calls in to the radio show to contact the woman with the spider dream.
Jackson’s interpretation: “The shopkeeper is the Lord and there are things in the bloodline that are occult in nature and affect the children negatively, when the root through the bloodline is removed, the children will not be harmed by past sins in the bloodline.” (generational sin is mentioned many times in the Old Testament)
Decipher the dream
A dream without interpretation is an experience without meaning. Simple dreams can be like single puzzle pieces while other dreams are like parables with many puzzle pieces and can take time to interpret.
About 90% of the dreams the Lord speaks to us about us. It is guidance and encouragement and warnings for our life’s journey. Just because a person is in a dream does not mean that the dream is about that person.
Dreams from the Lord are a kind of revelation and therefore we need to seek the Lord and gain the wisdom to interpret the dream.
The apostle Peter found himself in such a situation that he wondered what the vision he had received meant. When Peter visited Joppa, he had same heavenly vision 3 times with all the animals in one cloth and the voice of the Lord saying “What God has declared to be clean, you shall not consider unclean.”
The next day the Lord seems to have given Peter more wisdom and revelation about what the vision meant, because it is the first time ever that Peter visits Gentiles and he says “Now I really understand that God does not discriminate between people, but accepts anyone who fears him and does what is right, whatever people he belongs to…”
Just as it was for Peter, it can be for us sometimes when we have a dream or vision we don’t understand. No matter how we twist and turn the dream, looking for the meaning of symbols, we feel like we are at square one wondering what the dream means.
Then we must do as Mary in Scripture when we do not understand everything, keep the dream in our heart and let the Lord enlighten us about its meaning.
Acts 10:1-48, Luke 2:50-51
John Paul Jackson teaches a method as a tool to divide the dream into parts in order to better interpret it.
– The focus of dreams
If the dreamer is the focus, then everything is seen through the eyes of the dreamer. The dreamer interacts with things or people in the dream. If you remove the dreamer from the dream, the story disappears and the dream collapses.
– Participants in the dream
The dreamer is part of the dream and interacts with other elements in the dream. Usually there are 2 or more people doing something together. Could be about family, community or work. If you remove the dreamer from the dream it doesn’t collapse but there are holes in it so the dream changes.
– Observer in the dream
As an observer, you only see what happens without being involved. Which person is the focus or which activity is the focus. The dream is about another person or group that you are just observing. The message of the dream is for them.
We can’t decipher dreams with dream dictionaries and the Jackson method alone, they are just tools to help decipher dreams. We must still seek the Lord for clarity, only the Lord can enlighten us so that in time we understand the dream to the maximum.
We are invited into a deeper relationship with the Lord when we have dreams and are confronted with the question “what does the dream mean?” Therefore, the foundation of dream interpretation is hearing God’s voice, this ability is developed through prayer and Bible reading and listening to other Christians who have learned to hear God’s voice.
When Elijah was in the cave at Mount Horeb, there was a storm and an earthquake and then fire, but the Lord was not in any of it. Last of all there was a still light wind and Elijah went out to the entrance of the cave and covered his face with his cloak.
We live in a stressful and noisy world, the Lord does not speak in the noisy like the storm, the earthquake and the fire, but in the quiet and calm. It’s about being still and hearing Him when He speaks within you.
Develop your relationship with the Lord and bend your knees at the bedside for a moment every day and be still, just be who you are, this is how simple prayer is.
Learning the dream language
We live in a stressful fast food world where everything has to happen so fast. That’s why you can’t think “it’s gone 5 seconds and no dream has come”.
It’s the same with the dream language as any other language, the more time is invested in learning a new language, the more the result will be.
The time aspect in dreams
Dreams we have are linked to time. Just because we have a dream, it rarely means that it will happen right now, even if we want it to. If it is a dream that is some kind of warning, it may be happening right now. Often it may take a few days or weeks for the dream to come true, and other times it may take years. For example, it has happened that someone had a dream about getting married, instead of waiting for more dreams to show who, this person hurry and marries the first best person that comes along and unfortunately such a hasty relationship does not turn out well. If it is something as important as marriage, it should be more dreams and show exactly who the person is.
Abraham made the mistake that when he received a promise to become the father of many nations, he did not wait for further instructions but set about fulfilling the promise in his own way. The result was not good at all.
Gen 15:1-17:21
Obstacles to dream interpretation
A detail in a dream can create confusion and cause misinterpretation or be the key that unlocks the dream.
When used correctly, details can provide the solution to what the dream means. But if the detail is given too much attention, it can complicate the interpretation process and even distort it.
Similarly, if you zoom in on a picture on your mobile phone or computer, the image becomes blurred and if you zoom in too much you can’t see what it is.
If you feel confused about the dream, take a step back, zoom out and see the whole picture. First, try to clarify what is the focus of the dream and what is the story itself. Once that’s clear, you can add details. Because details are meant to enhance the dream and not confuse it.
Another reason that hinders proper dream interpretation is if one seeks answers in impure sources such as New Age or psychoanalyses by Carl Jung. Because Carl Jung studied 8 different occult mediums and was involved in occult levitation with the Scotsman Douglas Home. Jung himself writes that the spirit/demon/archetype Philemon influenced him, just as Indian gurus have their spirits/demons. Much of what he wrote was inspired by such existences and this is what the Bible calls the teachings of evil spirits. (1 Timothy 4:1, Genesis 6:2, Jude 6, Revelation 12:9)
Dreams and dream interpretation in the Bible
Jacob’s son Joseph had a dream about sheaves bowing to him and then a similar one about stars.
Most of his brothers detest his dreams and sell him into slavery and he ends up in Egypt.
Many years later, there is a famine and Jacob’s sons go to Egypt to buy food.
Some 22 years later, the dream is fulfilled because Joseph is now a powerful man in Egypt and his brothers bow down to him to trade for supplies.
Gen 37:5-11
An angel appears in a dream to Jacob
Gen 31:11-13
Gideon hears a victory dream told by enemy soldiers
Judges 7:13-15
Mordecai had a dream of the future
Est 1:11
An angel appears in a dream to Joseph
Matt 1:20-24
An angel comes in a dream to Joseph with instructions
Matt 2:19-21
Interpreting dreams
Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
Dan 2:19 (1-49)
Joseph interprets dreams that the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker had
Gen 40:8-23
Pharaoh has dreams that Joseph interprets
Gen 41:14-39
Dream dictionary
Title: Divinity Code
Teaching – good video and books about dreams
John Paul Jackson has published books through Streams Ministries as well as posting some videos on the internet teaching about dreams and dream interpretation.
Link: John Paul Jackson’s Streams
Jackson has different good videos on internet as “Prophecy” and “Dreams” and “Hearing God” and similar.
Video youtube: How God speaks through dreams
Video youtube: Prophets & Psychics
Video youtube: The gift of prophecy
Jackson shares knowledge of the 20 most common dreams and most common categories of dreams. Discover what common dreams mean, learn what details are important, what steps can be taken to decipher the dream and act on it.
Author: John Paul Jackson
Title: Top 20 Dreams
Title: The 20 categories of dreams
Book: Top 20 Dreams
John Paul Jackson, through Streams Ministries, has trained teams that have travelled to Sweden and other countries and held 3 days of seminars on dreams and dream interpretation. The same course is available online.
Author: John Paul Jackson
Title: Understanding Dreams and Visions
Onlinecourse: Understanding Dreams and Visions
StudyBook: Understanding Dreams and Visions 201
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