DREAM LANGUAGE
Dreams are the language of the spirit world.
They are not simply “stories” your mind creates while you sleep. Dreams can serve as a instrument of connection with Father God. As Jacob said after awaking from a dream, “God is here and I did not even know it.” (Genesis 28:16)
I declare over you, God is speaking to you in the night and you may not even be aware of it! It is time for us to come fully awake to the fact that God is speaking to us in the night! It is time for us to be equipped with the ability to understand and interpret these divine messages.
This is the second installment in a series on Dreams. If you missed the first step then you can catch up here, "Hearing God through dreams." We laid the groundwork that God is always speaking - He is a communicator, and one of the ways He communicates is through dreams. Now we will build off that foundation and explore the symbolism of dreams.
Dreams are the language of the spirit world.
Acts 2:17 "It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.”
Did you catch that? God Himself declares that you will dream dreams! Your dream life is a heavenly mandate!
Dreams & visions are the language of the Holy Spirit.
And in Job 33:14-16 it says, “God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.”
What is Job’s meaning?
God is always communicating! Yet, His children are so busy that they fail to recognize His voice! So God awakens your spirit man, capturing your attention when your body is asleep and your soul is resting. It makes me think of the verse, “be still and know that I am God.” (Ps 46:10) You are a three-part person: body, soul, and spirit. (1 Thes. 5:23) At night your body and soul are dormant, but your spirit is always active. When your body and mind are calm, God often has an easier time talking with you straight to your spirit.
God speaks spirit to spirit through dreams.
You spend one third of your life sleeping! One third of your life is spent sleeping yet we spend little to no time talking about interpreting the messages God speaks to your spirit one third of your lifetime!
The church must talk about practical interpretation & application of these divine encounters! The church must wake up to the value God places on the dream life He gives us!!!
The Author
I want to talk about the language of dreams. The method we can use to translate dreams into a clear message. Often dreams seam elusive & we need help bringing clarity to the dream.
To begin understanding the dream world we must talk about the Author.
God plants dreams and God defines them.
The ultimate source of clarity is the Lord.
In Genesis 40:8 Joseph explained, “Interpreting dreams is God’s business. Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”
We see that God released dreams and God did not treat the dream as a second class encounter to what we would classify as a “heavenly encounter.” To God, a dream is significant & valuable! For example, Solomon dreamed of God asking him what his heart desired most. Solomon answered, “wisdom.” God honored it as reality. Only when Solomon awoke did he realize it was a “just” a dream. God honors dreams and so should we!
The main purpose of God-given dreams is to build relationship between you and your Daddy. The most important thing is not even the "message" but the love connection with the One who gave it. Dreams are intended to be relationship blocks between you and God. In India, a lot of people go to palm readers and get accurate instruction for their lives. But this true information does not come from God it comes from the wrong spirit. We must make sure we are in connection with the Holy Spirit. Accurate information is not the end result, the end goal is relationship. You can have accurate information and still miss God. I think if we get close to God then He will take care of the translation.
There are four sources of dreams. Dreams can be initiated by God, your soul, the demonic, or your body. To read more about this check out part 1.
Dreaming on purpose
What is the purpose of a God dream?
Dreams are given to provide:
1) Instruction: to guide life choices (Matthew 1:20)
2) Warning: to preserve man from danger (Matthew 27:19, Genesis 41)
3). Revelations: to reveal the future & God’s purposes (Acts 16:9-11 , Gen 37:5-10)
4). Encouragement: to encourage & strengthen you (1 Kings 3:5, Judges 7: 14-15)
Invite God to speak
Genesis 46:2 "And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”
God is calling you by name! Before you sleep, invite Him in and say, “Here I am God. I’m listening.” This was Jacob’s response to God’s interruption in the night.
It is not enough to simply invite Him to speak. Invite Him to interpret. Seek to understand the message.
Daniel 8:15 “When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it.”
The two main questions to ask after a dream are:
"What are you saying, God?
And
“How can I partner with You?"
You can grow your ability to understand God’s messages in the night.
Everyone has the ability, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to interpret dreams! There are some who the gift of interpretation comes naturally to, just as some are inclined to sports instinctively. But everyone has access to this and can strengthen their skills.
The purpose of this is to unpack the gift God has give you. God hides wisdom for those who are hungry to search it out.
Some dreams are filled with mysteries and God by His Spirit will give you the interpretation. The Spirit searches the deep things of God and makes them known to us.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 TPT "Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine— these are the many things God has in store for all his lovers. But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit. Yes, He has revealed to us His inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things."
I want to talk with you about practical interpretation. Biblical numbers, Biblical colors, to help you on your journey of understanding the voice of God.
These are a roadmap & guide, NOT an absolute! These are Biblical meanings developed from scripture by a prophetic culture who live this out every day. (Bethel, James Goll, John Paul Jackson, Cindy Jacobs, and Isaiah Saldivar) But at the end of the day it's all subject to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Keys before you begin
Everything must line up with scripture. But you also have cultural lenses. CULTURE & Scriptural lenses: God will build a dream language with you.
Keys to write down:
1. The date and time. The day and time you received the dream may be significant either as a prophetic word for the future or give you a hint in the interpretation.
2. Title your dream. Choose the theme and create a title. Dreams can seem chaotic so pinning it down to a title can be really helpful in understanding the meaning.
3. Write the details in order. If you don't have the details in the correct sequence then it can change the meaning. Include any numbers, colors, smells, imposing objects, or designs you see.
4. Write down the emotions you felt during the dream. The emotion is the primary filter for interpretation. Were you amazed, were you scared, did the dream feel suspenseful? It is important to write down how you felt during the dream because this can shift the interpretation. Emotions provide the context and filter for which to view the dream.
5. Determine if a series of repetitive dreams is involved. If the dream is from God then recurring dreams can be a significant call to your destiny or a solution to your situation. More than one dream the same night is often multiple looks at the same message - Josephs two dreams of the wheat & stars bowing. If you don't understand that repetitive dreams or theme dreams relate to the same subject then you will be searching for separate interpretations and miss that they are connected. Now, if there is a pattern of demonic dreams that is a different matter - that is warfare. You can do a few things. Reject it and speak God's plan over your life, use it to your advantage in locating an issue of fear you have, something toxic being brought to the surface, or it may reveal a lifestyle which needs to change for example what you are putting in front of yourself.
1. If you are active in your dream then you may be the main focus and "star" of the dream. This could hint that the dream is for you. If you are on the "outside looking in" or inactive then the dream may be an insight into the person, event, or country the dream is focused on.
2. Dreams are almost never literal. We have to think in symbolism and creatively when looking to find a meaning. Dreams use EXTREME language or symbolism to shock us awake to the message God is conveying! Maybe one reason dreams are often like parables is because God hides wisdom as a reward for people who are hungry for it. Not to be cruel, but to build passion and relationship with His kids. (Proverbs 25:2) So if you are looking for treasures in your dream life then you will find them!
3. Talk with people you trust about your dreams. Let a mentor in. Don't go solo. Allowing others to help interpret your dreams will keep you grounded in reality and in God's word. Build a community of dreamers by talking with friends and family about their dream life. This can help you all grow in the skill of translation.
4. Be mindful of what you watch and think about. If you watch an intense movie (horror, action, lustful) and have a dream a few nights later filled with similar content then the dream is probably induced by what you watched. Consider filtering what you feed yourself because focus is king. Entertainment contains the words “enter” & “containment” So, whatever you watch with our eyes enters and is contained within you. Jesus taught us that the eye is the lamp of the Body (Luke 11:33-36)
5. God will begin to develop a “dream language” or “dream alphabet” with you. He will introduce you to symbols, pictures, or words in your dreams which you may not understand at first, but as you develop history with God, read His written word, you will receive revelation into the meaning of these details. This lens will first be based on scripture, For example, lets say you have a dream in which an apple is a primary detail and you discern through the Holy Spirit that it symbolizes Israel according to Zachariah 2:8 where God calls Israel the “Apple of His eye.” Once the meaning of the apple has entered your spiritual alphabet you will become confident of it’s meaning in future dreams & visions because God is consistent in His revelatory symbolism. Second, this lens will be based on your personal or cultural worldview. For example, if you see a dog you may think, "man's best friend" or from a personal traumatic experience as a child you may hate dogs so a dog has an entirely different meaning for you. Culturally the color green could come in an American's dream and your mind thinks of finance, but to an Indian the color green can mean prosperity or LIES. You use the dreamer’s cultural lens to interpret.
While God is consistent with His revelatory symbolism He is never content to be placed in a box. Any time we put God in a box, He breaks out of it. The best way to interpret dreams is to rely on relationship with the Father, not a formula. For example, if you see a crow in your dream, Culturally this symbolizes witchcraft and evil, but we also see in scripture that Elijah was fed by the ravens so it could also mean God's supernatural provision. Rely on the Holy Spirit not a spiritual dictionary.
Dream Language
Colors
1. Amber/ fiery gold: The glory of God. The presence of God.
(Ezekiel 1:4) Ezekiel sees a whirlwind of fire! The cloud represents the glory and presence of God in the OT like the pillar of fire with Moses.
2. Black represents sin, death or famine.
Revelations 6:5-6 "When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!""
The black horse was representing death, famine, and results from sin.
3. Blue represents Holy Spirit or Heaven. Many prophetic people who encounter the Holy Spirit in visions say that He is blue. A blue flame! A blue flame is hotter than a red flame, it is the most intense and pure heat.
Numbers 15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.”
Cord of blue represents Holy Spirit or Heaven. Blue can also represent the promises of God.
4. Crimson or scarlet represents the blood of the atonement & sacrifice.
Isaiah 1:18 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
It could also be symbolic of divine wealth as the Proverbs 31 woman dressed her household in garments of crimson.
5. Purple speaks of kingship or royalty.
John 19:2 “The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe.”
They mocked Jesus’ Kingship.
6. Red often represents bloodshed or war.
Revelation 6:4 “Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.”
7. White represents purity, Holiness, and righteousness.
Matthew 17:2 - And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Jesus is the only righteous one!
8. Green represents life and growth.
Psalm 92:13-14 "Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green"
Life flowing in every season.
If you are in a dream and God impresses upon you, “This is what the color means” then you must go by what He impressed upon you. Often, as you begin to steward your dream life, you are creating expectation, and God’s voice will be amplified and clearer the more you seek it. In my own life I have found that if you steward my dreams then even in the midst of the dream God will begin to speak to me, “This is what this means” and through relationship He begins to refine the message even while I sleep. To those who steward more will be given.
Matthew 25:20-21 ESV "He who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’"
Numbers
If you see a number doubling, if you see a number tripling, are it just recurs again and again, this is significant! That recurring means “emphasis” or the message has “intensified.”
Another thing I love to do with numbers is search the scripture for them. Not only literally, but search the chapters and verses themselves which are assigned that number. Let’s say I see the number 5:2 I may search books or chapters for this reference and see if the Holy Spirit speaks to me. For example, the book of Acts is the 5th book in the NT and the 2nd chapter is about the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit anointed His children with the Holy Spirit. This could be an incredible call to be filled with the Spirit of God. God is very creative! He can lead you to inspired places if you allow Him!
The number ONE represents God, the beginning of something, or the Kingdom of God.
Genesis 1:1 “In the “beginning” “God” created the Heavens and the earth.
The Bible says to seek first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The number TWO represents witness or testimony.
Deuteronomy 17:6 "On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses"
The scripture also says where two or more are gathered I am there in their midst.
The number THREE represents the Godhead, the trinity, or divine completeness.
Matthew 28:19 "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
The number FOUR represents seasons or the earth. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
Genesis 8:22 - While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Ezekiel 37:9 "Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'"
Four can also be symbolic of north, south, east, and west or the creation/ earth.
The number FIVE represents the cross, grace, or the atonement, ministry.
Five wounds of Christ, two feet & two hands nailed, side pierced.
The number five is the symbol of grace in the Bible. There are five Levitical offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the trespass offering. Jesus took five loaves of bread and miraculously multiplied them to feed 5,000 people.
Ephesians 4:11 - And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
5 fold ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
The number SIX represents humanity, the beast, or satan.
Revelation 13:18 "This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666."
Genesis says that man was created on the 6th day.
The number SEVEN represents perfection or completion.
Genesis 2:2 "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."
It could even be a call to rest, the work has come to an end. Jesus gave 7 statements on the cross before He completed His assignment.
Joshua and the Israelites marched around Jericho seven times. 7 can be foretelling of the battle being won and entering into a promise season.
The number EIGHT represents Jesus, new beginnings & resurrection.
Boys were to be circumcised on the 8th day. The number 8 symbolizes circumcision of the heart through Christ and the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 17:10)
Jesus showed Himself eight times after his resurrection from the dead. His first appearance alive was to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9 - 11). He then showed himself to two disciples traveling to Emmaus (Luke 24). Next, he appeared to all the disciples except Thomas (John 20:19 - 24) then a week later to all them when Thomas was present (John 20:26 - 29). According to the apostle Paul, Christ also was seen by 500 believers at one time (1Corinthians 15:4 - 7). Jesus also met his disciples at the appointed place in Galilee (Matthew 28:16 - 17) and on Galilee's shores (John 21:1 - 24). His final meeting was on the Mount of Olives, where he gave his followers instructions before ascending to heaven (Acts 1).
Eight is the number of Jesus, whose name in the Greek adds up to 888.
The number NINE represents finality & fulness
Jesus died at the 9th hour of the day.
Gelations 5:22 talks about the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12 talks about the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit - The word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, prophecy, supernatural utterances, interpretation of tongues, gift of faith, gift of healing, working of miracles
The number TEN represents law or government.
The most obvious of this is the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.
The number Eleven represents disorganization, lawlessness, or the anti-christ
Daniel 7:24 “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.”
There are 10 horns and the eleventh rises up bringing division and breaking the rest.
The number TWELVE represents apostolic fullness.
Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes. Jesus had 12 disciples. The New Jerusalem, which is made in heaven and brought to the earth by God himself, contains 12 gates made of pearl which are each manned by an angel. Over each gate will be one of the names of Israel's twelve tribes.
The number THIRTEEN represents rebellion or backsliding.
King Solomon spent a little more than seven years building Jerusalem's temple (1Kings 6:38). He, however, spent a total number of thirteen years building a home for himself (1Kings 7:1)
The number SEVENTEEN represents Heavenly Victory.
The first biblical deliverance on the 17th of Nisan was through the Ark of Noah at the time of the Flood. There is significance in the fact that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month (Gen 8:4).
The most important of all the events that took place on the 17th of Nisan was the resurrection of Christ. Jesus rose from the grave on the seventeenth day of the month of Nisan. Christ was crucified on the 14th of Nisan, the day the Passover began. After remaining in the grave for three days and three nights, Christ rose from the dead on the 17th. Salvation came to full completion when Jesus defeated death and all the deepest powers of darkness on the seventeenth day of the seventh month.
Symbols & their meanings
Automobile: often a symbol of your life or call to ministry
Automobile wreck: strife in your life, conflict, feeling of powerlessness
Baby: new beginning, stewardship, innocence, call to ministry
Balance/ scale: Judgment
Barn: Abundance
Blood transfusion: transformation, deliverance, transformation
Bread: Jesus or life
Candle: Light of the Holy Spirit
Candlestick: the church as we hold up the Light of God
Caterpillar: transformation, new beginning
Cup: your life is a vessel,
Check: currency of Heaven
Choking: taking on too much
Unable to speak or see: demonic attack on your authority
Deer: grace, Intimacy, “As the deer pants for the water” Psalm 42
Dessert: waiting, dry place
Death: spiritual death, ending of a season or relationship.
Door: way forward, decisions
Dove: Holy Spirit
Dragon: devil
Elevator: the spirit realm, being promoted in the spirit
Falling: feeling abandoned or alone, but as Jesus said, “Your Father will not allow even your heal to hit the ground!”
Fire: purifying, Holy Spirit
Fish: souls of men, Peter was called to fish for men
Flies: evil spirits
Forest: symbol of the nations. The scripture often likens peoples and nations to mighty trees. Psalm 92:12 "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon."
Frog: unclean spirits, curses, frogs were one of the ten plagues of Egypt.
Garden: growth & fertility in the natural or spirit.
Gate: authority, breakthrough
Giant: strongman, spirit
Doctor: Holy Spirit as our healer
Driver: Holy Spirit
Grandchild: spiritual legacy, or actual grandchild
Grandparent: past, inheritance either from the kingdom of heaven, or generational curses, or actual grandparent.
Grapes: new levels in the spirit
Grass: strength of men, man is like grass who fades
Hammer: word of God
Hand: power, action
Helmet: protection of the mind, helmet of salvation
Horn: strength, defense,
Jewels: children of God
Key: authority, unlocking mysteries
Lion: kingship, or demonic activity
Lawyer: Jesus who is our advocate
Mechanic: angelic help, anyone in dreams who is in a position of empowering service is representing the Angelic. Nurse, banker, lifeguard,
Miscarriage: loss, stolen promise
Nail: sure place
Oil: Holy Spirit
Pasture: places of spiritual nourishment
Pencil or writing: It’s a sure thing
Pregnancy: process
Police: authority, spirits/ angelic help,
Rainbow: covenant
Rape: your boundaries are being crossed, you need to set up barriers
Raven: evil, or God’s provision as seen in the life of Elijah
Rearview Mirror or driving & looking back: works of the flesh, operating on the letter of the law rather than being lead by the Spirit.
Rings: covenant
Robe: covering, righteousness
Rock: Christ
Salt: flavorful to God.
Sparrow: Unassuming but precious to the Lord
Sword: word of God
Train: Connection, acceleration
Tree: immovable faith, planted in the Lord
Tree stump: unbelief
Vulture: devourer
Wall: block, or hiding place
Watch: prophetic intercession, guard
Winter: waiting
Window: openness, accessible to God
Wrestling: resistance, spiritual warfare, face to face with God (Gen. 32:22-32)
May you dream heavenly dreams and grow to understand their meaning!