CHAPTER 1
BIBLICAL DREAMS
Known unto God are all his works fromthe beginning of the world.—Acts 15:18
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I willpour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons andyour daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shallsee visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.—Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28-30
The Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant Bibles are collections of what wereoriginally a number of independent books written by various authorsin different languages. They were referred to as The Holy Scriptures,which are the inspired Word of God, also known as The Holy Bible.
The Holy Bible is a canonical collection of texts considered sacredin Judaism or Christianity. Different religious groups included differentbooks within their canons, in varying order, dividing or combiningbooks or incorporating additional material. Christian Bibles range fromthe 66 books of the Protestant canon to the 81 books of the EthiopianOrthodox Church canon.
The English word bible is derived through Latin from the Greekword bi.bli'a, meaning "little books." This is further derived frombi'blos, a word describing the inner portion of the papyrus plant fromwhich the early form of paper was created. Gebal, an ancient Phoenicianseaport famous for making and exporting papyrus paper, was called"Byblos" by the Greeks.
The Bible is divided into two sections. The Old Testament, whichdetails events from the beginning of creation until just prior to the birthof Jesus, was written in Hebrew and Aramaic from 1513 BC to 443 BC,and contains 39 books. It was written by numerous scribes, or authors,beginning with Moses in 1513 BC and ending with Nehemiah andMalachi in 443 BC. The Protestant Old Testament is identical with theHebrew Bible, also called the Tanakh, which includes the Five Books ofMoses (the Torah = "teaching" or "law"), as well as the Nevi'im (booksof the prophets) and the Ketuvim ("writings"). This was followed bya large gap of around five hundred years, until the apostle Matthewrecorded his historic account—along with Paul, Luke, James, Mark,Peter, Jude, and John.
The second half of the Christian Bible is the New Testament,containing 27 books: the four canonical gospels describing the lifeand teachings of Jesus; Acts of the Apostles telling of the early times ofthe Christian Church under the apostles; 21 epistles or letters, mainlywritten by Paul but also by James, Peter, John and Jude; and the bookof Revelation, largely a prophetic description of the end times. This waswritten in Greek some 500-600 years after the Old Testament, in thefirst and second centuries AD.
Therefore, the Bible was written over a period of 1600 to 1700 years.No other book in history has taken so long to complete.
All Scripture is "inspired of God." This expression is translatedfrom the Greek phrase theópneustos, meaning "God breathed" or "Godinspired." By "breathing" on faithful men, God caused his spirit, orforce, to become operative within them and directed what he wantedrecorded. God would use men who were even considered "unletteredand ordinary" in scholastic training to become his scribes, regardlessof their occupation: shepherd, tentmaker, fisherman, tax collector,physician, priest, prophet, or king.
On four occasions in the Bible, the "finger of God" is said to be themeans of carrying out God's will. Firstly, when Pharaoh's magicians sawMoses perform supernatural feats, they told Pharaoh, "This is the fingerof God" (Exodus 8:19). The second and third times refer to the finger ofGod writing His Ten Commandments on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18;Deuteronomy 9:10). The fourth is when Jesus, addressing his disciples inLuke 11:20, declared, "But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."
Though not stated as such, the moving finger that appeared inresponse to King Belshazzar's blasphemy could be considered anotherexample: "Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wroteon the plaster of the wall, near the lamp stand in the royal palace. Theking watched the hand as it wrote" (Daniel 5:5).
However, the most famous example of "God's finger" is depictedby Michelangelo's fresco The Creation of Adam, depicted on the SistineChapel ceiling. The painting (circa AD 1511-1512) is traditionallythought to illustrate the Biblical creation narrative from the Book ofGenesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. The imageof the near-touching fingers of God and Adam—his first creation ofman—represents one of the single most iconic images of the origin ofhumanity.
In 1990, a physician named Frank Lynn Meshberger noted in themedical publication, Journal of the American Medical Association, thatthe background figures and forms portrayed behind the figure of Godappear to be an anatomically accurate picture of the human brain.
Meshberger further claimed there appeared to be an activecommunication exchange between God and Adam, just as neuronstransmit biochemical information across synaptic clefts. God's rightarm also extends across what resembles the prefrontal cortex.
The question is this: how could Michelangelo have known of thisin AD 1511, centuries before the structure of the brain was identifiedby Spanish neuroscientist, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, in 1887—withthe regions mapped out many years later identifying their function?Perhaps, as Michael Salcman, in a paper entitled "The Creation ofAdam by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)" (Neurosurgery, Vol.59, December 2006), "a cynic might suppose that neurologists ... areprone to discover brains ... everywhere."
Meshberger was actually a gynecologist, so his further observationthat the red cloth around God has the shape of a human uterus and thatthe scarf hanging out—colored green—could represent a cut umbilicalcord (or perhaps the brain stem) might not be too surprising.
Be that as it may, English physicist and mathematician, Sir IsaacNewton once remarked, "I find more sure marks of authenticity inthe Bible than in any profane history whatsoever" (Two Apologies, R.Watson, London, 1820, p. 57).
Therefore, our dreams may be the unconscious means by which weare directed on the right path by God:
"For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth itnot. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleepfalleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then heopeneth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hidepride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pitand his life from perishing by the sword"—Job 33:14-18(King James Version).
Over 125 references to significant dreams which influenced thecourse of history appear throughout both the Old and New Testamentsof the Bible. Some of these are revealed in the following narratives.
Abraham (Abram)
The story of Abraham, as written in the Old Testament Book ofGenesis Chapters 11-25, is replete with dreams and visions (basically thesame as dreams but occurring when the person is fully awake).
Abraham's original name was Abram (Hebrew meaning "exaltedfather"). He was the son of Terah (Genesis 11:26-31) and the husbandand half-brother of Sarai (Hebrew meaning "she who strives" orMesopotamian version of Sarah) (Genesis 11:29; 17:15; 20:12). He alsohad two brothers—Nahor and Haran (Genesis 11:26). Haran was thefather of Lot.
Abram lived around the period 1812 BC to 1637 BC. He was thetenth generation born from Noah through Shem, in Urfa—which isidentified with "Ur of the Chaldees"—352 years after the flood in2018 BC. He is the patriarch of the Hebrew nation, from whose son,Isaac, originated the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Genesis 11:27-25:10), andis not only an important figure in both Judaism and Christianity butis recognized as an important prophet in Islam.
Terah—by then aged around 200—took his son Abram, togetherwith Abram's wife Sarai and nephew Lot (the son of Abram's brotherHaran), and migrated to Haran in upper Mesopotamia and settled there.
The Lord then said to Abram:
"Go from your country, your people and your father'shousehold to the land I will show you. I will make youinto a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make yourname great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless thosewho bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you."(Genesis 12:1-3 NIV).
Abram was 75-years-old when he left Haran in 1943 BC. He tookhis wife Sarai, together with his nephew Lot and all his wealth, andheaded for the land of Canaan.
As they passed through the city of Shechem, on the plains of Moreh,God appeared to Abram and said: "To your offspring I will give thisland." (Genesis 12:7 NIV).
From Moreh they traveled further on toward the east of Bethel.Journeying further south they encountered a great famine, so theyheaded toward Egypt. As they approached Egypt, Abram expressed hisconcern to Sarai that when the Egyptians saw how beautiful she wasthey would try to take her as their wife and kill him. So he pleadedwith her to identify herself as his sister so that his life might be spared.
Sarai had the effect on the Egyptians that Abram anticipated, andshe was taken to the royal palace. However, God so plagued Pharaohthat their exodus was secured.
Leaving Egypt, Abram, Sarai, and Lot took everything theypossessed and headed south toward the Negev desert. They thenreturned to where they had earlier camped at Bethel (Hebrew meaning"house of God")—a town about ten miles north of Jerusalem. Theycontinued journeying further until they reached the location of the altarwhere God had first appeared to Abram. By now Abram was a verywealthy man, having amassed a vast herd of cattle, and silver, and gold.
Abram and Lot Separate
As their herds began to greatly increase, conflict arose among theherdsmen. So Abram proposed to Lot it would be best to go theirseparate ways. Lot selected the basin region of the lower Jordan in theeast and established his camp in the fertile valley there—facing thecity of Sodom. Abram went to live close to the great trees of Mamre atHebron, where he had previously built an altar to the Lord.
The Lord there addressed Abram, declaring:
"Look around from where you are, to the north andsouth, to the east and west. All the land that you see Iwill give to you and your offspring forever. I will makeyour offspring like the dust of the Earth, so that if anyonecould count the dust, then your offspring could becounted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of theland, for I am giving it to you." (Genesis 13:13-18 NIV).
Abram Rescues Lot
Later, a war erupted in the Valley of Siddim between the four alliedkings from the north, led by the Elamite king Chedorlaomer, againstfive allied Canaanite kings from Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim,and Zoar. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were conquered, and Lotwas taken prisoner.
When Abram heard this news from someone who had managed toescape, he—together with 318 of his armed trained servants—pursuedthe captors into Dan and further on to Hobah, where they engaged inbattle. Abram—together with his army of servants—defeated the fourallied armies, and rescued Lot, together with all of his people and theirpossessions.
God's Covenant Promise with Abram
For this great act of courage, the word of the Lord came to Abramin a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your verygreat reward." But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord, whatcan you give me since I remain childless and the onewho will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"And Abram said, "You have given me no children; soa servant in my household will be my heir." Then theword of the Lord came to him: "This man will not beyour heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood willbe your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look upat the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can countthem." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspringbe." Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it tohim as righteousness. He also said to him, "I am theLord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans togive you this land to take possession of it." But Abramsaid, "Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gainpossession of it?" (Genesis 15:1-8 NIV).
So God set Abram the task of presenting animal sacrifices to Him.Abram dissected the chosen animals into pieces and laid them on analtar. As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and adisturbing dream came to him. Then the Lord spoke to him:
"Know for certain that for four hundred years yourdescendants will be strangers in a country not their ownand that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But Iwill punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwardthey will come out with great possessions. You, however,will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a goodold age. In the fourth generation your descendants willcome back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yetreached its full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16 NIV).
After sunset, a smoking fire-pot with a blazing torch appeared andpassed between the sacrificed pieces. The Lord then made a covenantwith Abram saying:
"To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi ofEgypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of theKenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites,Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites andJebusites." (Genesis 15:17-21 NIV).
Hagar and Ishmael
Ten years passed since Abram and his wife Sarai came to settlein the land of Canaan and, despite God's promise to Abram, theyremained childless. Sarai felt that God had forgotten his promise toAbram; so she offered Abram her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, andrequested he take her also as a wife, so that, according to contemporarylaw and custom as witnessed by the Code of Hammurabi, a son bornof this woman would be the freeborn son and heir of Abram and Sarai.
"And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now,the LORD hath restrained me from bearing:I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may bethat I may obtain children by her. AndAbram hearkened to the voice of Sarai."(King James Genesis 16:2)
However, when Hagar conceived, her insolence aroused thevindictive jealousy of Sarai and led to her unjustified expulsion. Later,at God's behest, she returned, humbled herself before Sarai, and boreher son Ishmael in the house of his father, where he remained the soleand rightful heir.
God's Covenant with Abraham
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to himagain and said, "No longer will you be called Abram; your name willbe Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations." (Genesis17:5 NIV). God promised Abraham that he would become fruitfuland kings would descend from him. God established his covenant withAbraham and all his descendants.
God then declared to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you areno longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah [Hebrew meaning"princess"]. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I willbless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples willcome from her." (Genesis 17:15 NIV).
By now Abraham was about a hundred years old, and Sarah around90. However, God assured Abraham that Sarah would have a sonnamed Isaac, to be born the following year, and he would be the fatherof 12 rulers.
While living in Mamre, Abraham and Sarah were visited by threeangels, who reminded them of God's promise to Sarah to have a son.
After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by the angels,Abraham and Sarah left Mamre and journeyed to Gerar, where Abimelekreigned. Again fearing that Sarah might be taken from him and himselfput to death, he referred to Sarah as his sister, as he had done in Egypt.
Just as Abraham feared, Abimelek seized Sarah to make her hiswife, assuming that the couple were brother and sister. So God cameto Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good asdead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."(Genesis 20:3 NIV).
However, Abimelek had not tainted Sarah, so he pleaded to God:"Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, `Sheis my sister,' and didn't she also say, `He is my brother?' I have done thiswith a clear conscience and clean hands." Then God said to him in thedream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I havekept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touchher. Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will prayfor you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be surethat you and all who belong to you will die." (Genesis 20:4-7 NIV).
God then instructed Abimelek to return Sarah to Abraham,together with compensation of livestock and servants. Abimelek did ascommanded and also offered for them to stay wherever they desired.As further compensation to Sarah—as a guarantee of her chastity—Abimelekfurther gave Abraham a thousand shekels of silver.
