‘Frozen Dreams!’
“It will come about after this, that I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, and even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2: verse 28 NASB.
As I ponder on the text extracted from the prophet Joel, I am imagining what the response would have been from the people who were hearing the message for the first time. It was a message of uniqueness in as much as God’s word to Joel was past, present and future. Studying history, we discover the timeline between the book of Joel and today is estimated between 2275 and 2725 BC. While much has changed the promise in the word is as relevant today as it was yesterday.
I am convinced that God’s word to the prophet Joel has proven to be the bedrock of both ancient and contemporary speeches that have subsequently changed the world. In fact, the theme of Joel’s prophecy goes back as far as Moses speech to Israel, ‘thou shalt have no other Gods before me.’ Dreams ultimately become pathways to freedom from the slavery of sin to freedom of Evangelism as history has demonstrated. The ultimate message from Joel is that dreams are a God given gift given to ‘all mankind.’ They enter our world in times of trouble and joy.
For Christians the message of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, ‘blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5-7 has opened the eyes of believers and non-believers for the past two thousand years and continues to do so today. The scars of the cross of Christ continue still to heal humanity’s brokenness. While Dr Reverend Martin Luther King ordained as a Baptist Minister at the age of nineteen and awarded a PhD in systematic theology in 1955 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 then assassinated in 1968; is still remembered and revered for his speech, ‘I have a dream’ in 1963 and ‘I have seen the promised land,’ in 1968. Dr Kings presence is a constant reminder that dreams can go with freedom and freedom can go with God.
Taking account of the distance of time between Joel and today we must remember of the divine power of dreams and prophecy. The word ‘dreams’ appears in 95 verses across the Bible. This includes 87 times in the Old Testament and 8 times in the New Testament. The related word ‘Vision’ appears 193 times. This emphasises the significance of our spiritual dreams.
Several individuals in the Bible experienced dreams that held significant meaning, often conveying divine messages or foretelling future events. These include Jacob, Joseph (both the patriarch and the husband of Mary), Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and even Pilate’s wife. God used dreams as a means of communication, guidance, and warning. So how do we see dreams today? How often do our old men receive or believe dreams that the prophet Joel refers to. Similarly, how often do our young men testify to having those promised visions.
It seems that many dreams have been metaphorically frozen due to nothing more than undesire or a lack of belief. Have our dreams today become little more than a passing thought. If this is the case, how do we revitalise the promises of God through dreams. The notion that Joel’s prophecy can only be for yesteryear as opposed for today and tomorrow, is underpinned by Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts 2: 16-18. This fulfils Joel’s prophecy to support that all who call on the Lord will receive the promise.
There is often the confrontation for supremacy between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. For the believer it is the ongoing challenge of being in the world, yet not of the world. Under such circumstances the choice is simply, is my dream focused on my world or the Kingdom of God. Maybe it’s time to focus once again on Jesus’ sermon on the mount to provide us with spiritual clarity and wisdom that we need to activate our past and present dreams and prophecies.
We need to know what spiritual season we find ourselves in. Are we in the bleak mid-winter of frozen dreams or is spring just around the corner and ready to burst into flower. In some respect the choice is ours. It only takes just the breath of God to defrost our frozen dreams or prophecies.
Our bedrock comes from John 1 – verse 1-3. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God
Amen
David Conlon
