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The Bible indicates that God revealed His will to selected people through dreams or visions in Scriptures such as Genesis 37:5-10; 1 Kings 3:5-15; Daniel, chapters 2 and 7; Matthew 1:20; 2:13,19; and Acts 10:9-16; 16:9.

God may communicate through dreams or visions even today, but we need to carefully check any such guidance we receive with Scripture and godly counsel to be sure it is from the Lord. Anything which contradicts Scripture is not from God. Our minds and even Satan are capable of producing great deception in such subjective areas.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 shows that God has revealed His will to us primarily through His Word. It says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

https://billygraham.org/answer/does-god-reveal-things-through-dreams-and-visions/

Dreams And Visions


Joel 2:28 ESV / 5,335 helpful votes
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

Numbers 12:6 ESV / 3,862 helpful votes
And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.

Proverbs 29:18 ESV / 3,684 helpful votes
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Acts 2:17 ESV / 3,567 helpful votes
“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

Acts 16:9 ESV / 2,428 helpful votes
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Job 33:15 ESV / 2,304 helpful votes
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds,

Daniel 1:17 ESV / 2,226 helpful votes
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Daniel 2:19 ESV / 2,215 helpful votes
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Genesis 46:2 ESV / 2,100 helpful votes
And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”

1 John 4:1 ESV / 2,057 helpful votes
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Matthew 27:19 ESV / 2,001 helpful votes
Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”

Jeremiah 23:16 ESV / 1,936 helpful votes
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 5:7 ESV / 1,883 helpful votes
For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

Genesis 15:1 ESV / 1,878 helpful votes
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Daniel 4:5 ESV / 1,855 helpful votes
I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.

Matthew 1:20 ESV / 1,799 helpful votes
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Daniel 2:28 ESV / 1,793 helpful votes
But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:

Acts 18:9 ESV / 1,767 helpful votes
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

Habakkuk 2:2 ESV / 1,749 helpful votes
And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.

Psalm 89:19 ESV / 1,713 helpful votes
Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: “I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

Daniel 7:1-28 ESV / 1,627 helpful votes
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ ...

1 Samuel 3:1 ESV / 1,610 helpful votes
Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

Ecclesiastes 5:3 ESV / 1,583 helpful votes
For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words.

Amos 3:7 ESV / 1,557 helpful votes
“For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Daniel 7:15 ESV / 1,546 helpful votes
“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.

Ezekiel 1:1 ESV / 1,517 helpful votes
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

1 Kings 3:5 ESV / 1,502 helpful votes
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Daniel 2:1-49 ESV / 1,469 helpful votes
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. ...

Daniel 7:1 ESV / 1,466 helpful votes
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.

Joel 2:1-32 ESV / 1,462 helpful votes
Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. ...

Isaiah 1:1 ESV / 1,451 helpful votes
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Nahum 1:1 ESV / 1,441 helpful votes
An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

Daniel 7:13 ESV / 1,439 helpful votes
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

Daniel 4:1-37 ESV / 1,413 helpful votes
King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. ...

Matthew 2:13 ESV / 1,409 helpful votes
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

Daniel 7:7 ESV / 1,404 helpful votes
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

Acts 10:17 ESV / 1,391 helpful votes
Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate

Habakkuk 2:2-3 ESV / 1,391 helpful votes
And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Acts 2:1-47 ESV / 1,372 helpful votes
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ...

Isaiah 29:8 ESV / 1,364 helpful votes
As when a hungry man dreams he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

Habakkuk 2:3 ESV / 1,347 helpful votes
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Genesis 37:1-36 ESV / 1,346 helpful votes
Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ...

Genesis 41:1-57 ESV / 1,340 helpful votes
After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. ...

Hebrews 1:1 ESV / 1,339 helpful votes
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,

Obadiah 1:1 ESV / 1,337 helpful votes
The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”

Jeremiah 14:14 ESV / 1,327 helpful votes
And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Genesis 40:1-23 ESV / 1,315 helpful votes
Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. ...

Genesis 20:3 ESV / 1,302 helpful votes
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.”

Genesis 31:24 ESV / 1,285 helpful votes
But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

Revelation 9:17 ESV / 1,284 helpful votes
And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.

Hosea 12:10 ESV / 1,253 helpful votes
I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables.

Hebrews 1:1-2 ESV / 1,252 helpful votes
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Acts 16:9-10 ESV / 1,224 helpful votes
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Daniel 10:14 ESV / 1,174 helpful votes
And came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

Luke 24:23 ESV / 1,170 helpful votes
And when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

Ezekiel 7:26 ESV / 1,166 helpful votes
Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders.

Judges 7:13-15 ESV / 1,148 helpful votes
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.”

Matthew 2:1-23 ESV / 1,144 helpful votes
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ...

Daniel 8:15 ESV / 1,140 helpful votes
When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.

Acts 10:3 ESV / 1,134 helpful votes
About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”

Daniel 10:7 ESV / 1,130 helpful votes
And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves.

Ezekiel 12:22 ESV / 1,091 helpful votes
“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’?

Matthew 2:12 ESV / 1,069 helpful votes
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Micah 3:6 ESV / 1,069 helpful votes
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;

Acts 9:10-12 ESV / 1,067 helpful votes
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

Acts 9:10 ESV / 1,065 helpful votes
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

2 Chronicles 9:29 ESV / 1,048 helpful votes
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

Daniel 8:18 ESV / 1,040 helpful votes
And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up.

Lamentations 2:9 ESV / 1,040 helpful votes
Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord.

Zechariah 4:2 ESV / 1,036 helpful votes
And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 1,034 helpful votes
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Acts 2:15 ESV / 1,034 helpful votes
For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

Zechariah 10:2 ESV / 1,034 helpful votes
For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 1,034 helpful votes
A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Daniel 8:1 ESV / 1,030 helpful votes
In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.

Daniel 10:1 ESV / 1,011 helpful votes
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision.

2 Corinthians 12:1 ESV / 1,009 helpful votes
I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 32:32 ESV / 1,006 helpful votes
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

Zechariah 6:1 ESV / 1,000 helpful votes
Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze.

Joel 2:28-31 ESV / 994 helpful votes
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

Matthew 2:19 ESV / 989 helpful votes
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 988 helpful votes
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Jeremiah 23:28 ESV / 985 helpful votes
Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord.

Daniel 8:26 ESV / 966 helpful votes
The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”

Daniel 11:14 ESV / 965 helpful votes
“In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail.

Daniel 8:13 ESV / 965 helpful votes
Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”

Job 7:13-14 ESV / 957 helpful votes
When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’ then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

1 Samuel 28:6 ESV / 936 helpful votes
And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

Acts 9:10-11 ESV / 915 helpful votes
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

Ezekiel 11:24 ESV / 908 helpful votes
And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me.

Isaiah 21:2 ESV / 903 helpful votes
A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.

Genesis 40:8 ESV / 903 helpful votes
They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

Daniel 2:1 ESV / 890 helpful votes
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.

Job 20:8 ESV / 886 helpful votes
He will fly away like a dream and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

James 1:5 ESV / 869 helpful votes
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be giv