Topic: Beware of Fake dreams
Text: Jeremiah 23:21-32
Key verse: Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord, have spoken.”- Jeremiah 23:32
We live in a time when spreading fake news is popular, from our key verse today, you can see that fake dreams have also been around for a while.
When is a dream fake? There are a few tips we are given from this text that are indicators of fake dreams. God speaks to prophets through dreams and visions but several career prophets now make up their dreams and deceive people to make money from them.
Who is a career prophet? A career prophet is the one whom God did not call, but they chose ministry as a means of livelihood. These people give dreams that are entire fables. When a dream produces fear and leads people away from the truth revealed in the scriptures, then it is fake.
People consult idols and fortunetellers, but the answers they get are lies and nonsense. Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you; the comfort they give is useless. So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.* – Zechariah 10:2
Fake dreams lead people into captivity instead of providing deliverance for them. Dreams ought to enable and guide people to make godly choices. These fake dreams are manipulative, controlling and their goal is covetousness.
How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented?* – Jeremiah 23:26
Dreams are God\’s way of communicating with man to deliver him from evil, but when dreams lead people away from belief in God to believe in idols they are fake! ( Deuteronomy 13:1-3)
If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do*. – Jeremiah 23:22
A dream must be told as a dream and it remains subject to the word of God. Having dreams does not make you a prophet, a prophet must also have a word from God. There is a difference between weed and wheat, both can grow from the same soil.
The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat? – Jeremiah 23:28
I encourage you to always write your dreams down as soon as you awake, take them before the Lord in meditative prayer and journal the answers you receive. God will confirm a dream to you by the scriptures and from the witness of others.
If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.* – Ecclesiastes 5:3
Never make major decisions only based on a dream, the mind is like a field all kinds of seed can fall on it, the understanding of the scriptures help you uproot error and seeds of destruction.
We have a wonderful counselor who leads us into all truth, the Holy Spirit is God\’s provision against error. If you have not learned to hear his voice then look for a spirit-filled, Christ-centered leader to share your dreams with and you can get the right counsel you need.
The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen*. – John 16:13
May the Lord bless you with the gift of dreams and interpretation, and may you not lack counsel of the Holy Spirit as you journey through life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Blessings
Roses&Thorns