Day Dreaming: Part III

The next installment... tomorrow I start "Bible in 90 Days". I do not know if I will post, but I will not be posting the entire scriptures, but just the notes.
Genesis 31:1-32

Jacob heard that Laban's sons were saying, "Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father." And Jacob noticed that Laban's attitude toward him was not what it had been.

Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. He said to them, "I see that your father's attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I've worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. If he said, 'The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, 'The streaked ones will be your wages,' then all the flocks bore streaked young. So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me.

"In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. The angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob.' I answered, 'Here I am.' And he said, 'Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.' "

Then Rachel and Leah replied, "Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father's estate? Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you."

Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

Then Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."

Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You've deceived me, and you've carried off my daughters like captives in war. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing. I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?"

Jacob answered Laban, "I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

God speaks to everyone in dreams. And I say everyone, because God talked to Laban in a dream. God spoke to Jacob in a dream, using an angel. God puts people in our lives to speak to us. Is God talking to me, either through dreams or people? Yes. Why? To advance his kingdom.

Tomorrow: Day 1 of the Bible in 90 Days

Day Dreaming: Part II

This is part II of this study.
Genesis 28:10-15

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

New Century Version (same passage)

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it to go to sleep. Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven, and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder. Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder, and he said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather, and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are now sleeping. Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will spread west and east, north and south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

The dream used here is châlam (pronounced: khaw-lam') which means to (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream or to cause to dream and to be in good liking or recover. God causes me to dream. I believe, and I am not sure if it is by upbringing or otherwise, that both God and Satan have access to dreams and visions. If I have a dream at night and wake up in the morning, is it from God or something/someone else? It's tough to say at first... I guess it depends on the dream. If it is good and worthy to call of God in advancing of God's Kingdom, then it is from God. If it is of worldly concern, then probably not. That is a sure fire way to tell.

I am gong to be changing speeds, I guess you could say... I am taking part in reading the Bible in 90 Days... starting Sunday. It really is reading the Bible in 88 days, but they give two days grace.

Tomorrow: Genesis 31.

Day Dreaming

The Dallas church is doing an extensive study on Biblical Dreams... so I thought I would also check out what the Bible says about it all. It would appear that I haven't done that on the 'blog...
So... I would assume we all know what dream means, but I would still like to just put it on the table as to what the definition is...

Dream (noun):

• An aspiration; goal; aim.
• A succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
• An involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
• A vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie.

Now, I guess the dreams we tend to think of are generally the first and second on the list, with the last two being also fairly popular when thinking of dreams.

Genesis 20:1-7

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she also say, 'He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands."

Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die."

Now, this dream that God came in was obviously one of sleeping? The word dream is as this in the Hebrew: Dream (chălôm) - pronounced: khal-ome' - meaning a dream or dreamer. Not too much gray area here. It means dream. But then there is still a thought of whether it was a daydream or a sleep dream. And being that it was night, there is a large chance it was a sleep dream. I guess I can glean from this that God does speak to us in our dreams, with maybe warnings and encouragment. I guess the question is: are we listening, am I listening?

Tomorrow: Genesis 28.