The Dream Paradox: Interpretations Belong to God

By Bob Overton

This book is about why we have certain dreams and it gives keys for interpreting. When we remember a dream, no matter how crazy it may seem, it holds clues to things in our life that we did not know. In the first couple of chapters, the authors provide us a solid basis for looking at dreams. In later chapters, they go in-depth into the mindset needed in order to see through the parables. The final chapters will help us to get started interpreting our own dreams. This book mainly regards the understanding of dreams in the night. However, the keys provided here will also help with understanding visions, impressions, songs we wake up hearing, and other symbols and parables God uses to speak to us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098376116

Book preview

Preface

W ithin the last decade, we have had the privilege of looking into over 50,000 dreams worldwide, including over 10,000 dreams of our own. In these years, we have compiled keys that helped interpret all types of dreams. Also, we have discovered amazing things about the purpose of dreams and the underlying heart of God, who created us with the ability to dream. It revealed a God more loving and engaged than our dreams may imply. In the spring of 2019, God invited us to write this book together and share our discoveries with the world.

A paradox is something that seems to be a contradiction, but when investigated or explained, it proves to be well founded and true. There couldn’t be a more appropriate word for describing dreams. They can be controversial, and interpretations are inconsistent at best. Dreams, in their resemblance to everyday situations, show parables that would often suggest no rhyme or reason as to why we had a dream. The Bible says that interpretations belong to God. Therefore, we believe that developing a relationship with God should be our foundation when trying to comprehend our dreams.

In this book, our focus will be the understanding of why we have certain dreams and keys for interpreting. When you remember a dream, no matter how crazy it may seem, it holds clues to things in your life that you did not know. In the first couple of chapters, we will provide you a solid basis for looking at dreams. In later chapters, we will go in-depth into the mindset needed in order to see through the parables. The final chapters will help you to get started interpreting your own dreams.

Our book mainly regards the understanding of dreams in the night. We do believe, however, that the keys we provide here will also help with understanding visions, impressions, songs we wake up hearing, and other symbols and parables God uses to speak to us.

The keys we bring to the table might challenge some of your previously established beliefs. We have seen the good fruit of these keys in the lives of many so we choose to share them with you, nonetheless. We hope you will prayerfully read this book and see how our keys bear witness to your spirit. We don't claim to have the entirety of truth on this matter. God has the freedom to make exceptions. That said, we dare you to assume that your dreams are not the exception so that your life in God might become exceptional.

We pray this book will help you find the understanding of dreams you long for in your own life, as well as in the lives of your near and dear ones. We wish you God’s blessing in this.

Bob Overton and Jeroen Doorn

1

Diving into Dreams

Introduction

I n this chapter, we will take a first look at the nature of dreams. As we explore dreams in scripture, we’ll discover how God uses dreams to speak. We’ll see dreams that do not need an interpretation and dreams that do. There is purpose in dreams. They show us things we do not know, giving us the opportunity to improve our relationship with God and our quality of life.

Who Dreams?

Everybody dreams. In fact, everybody dreams a lot. Scientific research shows that though we don’t remember them all, we have an average of five to seven dreams per night, lasting between five to forty-five minutes per dream. This means each year, we have around 2,000 dreams and spend a full month dreaming (International Association for the Study of Dreams).

We see dreams as a continual conversation going on at night. Hidden in this conversation are unseen things in our lives we do not understand, usually coming to us in the form of a parable. Because of the parable aspect of dreams, we do not see dreams as a source to answer questions like whom we should marry, what investments we should make, or where we should live and what house we should buy. Instead, they touch aspects of our heart, soul, and mind.

Many of us do not remember dreaming every night, but remember dreams periodically. This can range from one or two dreams a year, to a series of dreams at different times throughout the year. We also see these dreams as a continual conversation, which usually does not change.

It is very common to have dreams about the same topic for years until we understand their meanings. It is very rare that the subject will change in our dreams during a night of dreaming and usually weeks of dreams will cover the same topic. This information in tracking dreams helps us stay focused and understand the interpretation more easily.

Why We Dream

One of the first questions people ask us is: Where do dreams come from?. When trying to understand the source of dreams, we have to look at history. In our view, there is no book that speaks about the generations of man more completely than the Bible. In the recorded history of men in the Bible, dreams must have been very important because there are many recounted and documented.

Abraham, living approximately 4,500 years ago, was the first man to have a dream recorded in the Bible. In Genesis 15, we read that God talks to Abraham in the daytime with a vision. At the end of the same day, He speaks to Abraham in a dream. In these encounters, God speaks directly to Abraham and there is no interpretation needed. By this information we know for certain God uses dreams as one way to speak to mankind.

In Genesis 20, God comes to Abimelech in a dream and gives him direct instructions. Abimelech was not a believer like Abraham. This is the first dream in the Bible given to someone who is not actively devoted to God. It is also the first of many dreams recorded in the Bible received by people serving other gods.

When we look at these first dreams recorded in the Bible, we find God used dreams to speak directly to the dreamers. Abraham received promises from God and Abimelech received a stern warning. This is common today also: promises revealing hidden purposes and warnings disclosing things that will happen if we do not change our ways. In fact, these are the most common themes in dreams. We do not think it is odd that this is one of the main reasons why we dream.

We have been taught, and discovered for ourselves, that the first time something is mentioned in the Bible, it holds more weight towards its true meaning and purpose in our dreams. We will see more examples of this in the coming chapters. This perspective helps when we interpret dreams.

Dreams Apply to the Dreamer

Let’s examine the dreams of the butler and baker recorded in chapter 40 of Genesis. At this point in the story, Joseph found himself in prison after being falsely accused. The butler and baker were in prison because it seems someone tried to poison Pharaoh.

G

enesis

40:7-8

⁷ He asked Pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house, ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’ ⁸ Then they said to him, ‘We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.’ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.’

This is the first mention that interpretations of dreams belong to God. Joseph is a man that grew up dreaming and was devoted to God. He is the first to be recorded sharing a dream with his family. Though dreams do come with messages that do not need interpreting and anyone can have that type of dream, most dreams come by way of a parable.

Parables in essence are a story with a hidden meaning carrying a general moral or spiritual lesson. Parables in dreams are a bit different because often they are personal. We like to explain it this way: many times we are seeing events in our dreams and the only key we have to understand them is the continual conversation occurring in our dreams. If the conversation is unknown, we must examine what is going on in our life when the dream occurred.

Consider this scenario: In a dream in the night we are suddenly thrust into a drama. We are in a place that we may or may not recognize, with people we may or may not know. Here is what we have discovered: Everything we see in our dream that is in a parable is in code. Almost 99.9% of the time it is about us, something that we can influence, or that influences us personally. If that is not confusing enough, many times a main key to interpret the dream is found in what has been going on in our life (and there are a lot of things going on in our lives).

In comes the interpreter to hear our dream. They have studied symbols, the root meanings of names, and are used to looking at hundreds of dreams of others as well as their own. Still, they need to weigh each symbol and meaning of the names of the people in our dream. They do this to see which symbols carry more weight in their spirit and this is usually discovered through their relationship with God.

Getting back to the story of Joseph, we find he has a history with God and a history of dreaming. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather dreamed. In fact, his great grandfather is the same Abraham mentioned earlier as having the first recorded dream in the Bible. When the butler and baker shared their dream with Joseph, they found a true dream interpreter. Joseph tells them that interpretations belong to God and asked them to share the dreams.

We encourage everyone to read the story. From the text, we learn that Joseph correctly interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker, because everything happened just as Joseph’s interpretation indicated. The butler was restored to his post serving Pharaoh. The head of the baker was removed, and his body was hung on a tree for the birds to eat.

Element of Future Application

Some dreams are about the future and there is nothing we can do to change it. There are also dreams that concern a future we can change if we start living our lives differently. In the dream of the baker, there was nothing he could do but get his affairs in order and his life was taken from him as the interpretation revealed.

We have a different application in the next dream interpreted some years later by Joseph. Pharaoh can find no one to interpret his dream. The butler finally remembers Joseph. We know from the story that Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream correctly. This dream was also a parable that came in a code that only Joseph could interpret. Pharaoh listened to the interpretation and made the changes needed to affect the future.

There is something special that happens when our dream