Copyright 2012 Theresa Harvard Johnson All Rights Reserved. Used only with permission.
(These articles may also be helpful: Part I The Significance of Recording DATE & TIME in Dreams and Part II The Significance of Recording DATE & TIME in Dreams)
Over the course of my walk with the Lord, there have been so many things about the “Dream Realm” that have baffled me. (I don’t mean confused here, rather I am speaking to being left in a place of wonder.) I can remember saying to the Lord: “Father, why don’t you just TELL ME what you want me to know directly, instead of speaking in the parables of a dream?”
Well, let me tell you something — Father WILL answer our questions. He reminded me of something I’ve written and taught for years from the book, The Scribal Anointing, based on Matthew 13:10-11, 13. (I only skipped verse 12 because I am not teaching on this part in this article.)
Christ plainly says this after HIS OWN talmidim (disciples/students) asked him the same exact question that I did. Here it is:
10 Then the talmidim (disciples) came and asked Yeshua, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them. 13 Here is why I speak to them in parables: they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.
The short answer to my question was that the Lord speaks to HIS SONS in parables as a way of HIDING HIS SECRETS from His enemy. Those who are SONS OF GOD will be able to decipher them — meaning uncover the secrets – and those who are His ENEMIES will be confused and baffled by them.
The people referred to as “THEY” in this passage are His enemies (anti-Christ) – those who do not believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. I was immediately reminded of the established biblical truth which says that the NATURAL MAN cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The long answer is this: The Word of God is LIVING and it grows with us. Today, I might pull one meaning from a parable shared in the Word, but as I GROW and MATURE (which is constant) — that same parable will reveal deeper truths that I was previously unable to capture. People of God, dreams and visions released to us from the Spirit have this same kind of impact. You see, they LIVE! They mature with us!
Verse 13 really brings this discussion home. Our Lord is saying, “Those who do not know me CAN’T SEE THE SECRETS OR RICHES IN WHAT I AM SAYING AND REVEALING. It is STRATEGICALLY hidden from them.”
In the past session that I taught on The Significance of Recording Dreams & Visions, I urged God’s people to record their dreams — whether they were a scribes or not. This is imperative because of the “nature” of a parable.
You see, a “parable” – as it is taught in Voices of Christ – is any story that illustrates biblical truths whether it is written, oral, acted out or scripted for a movie. THE NATURE OF A PARABLE is TO BE A CATALYST FOR UNFOLDING OR REVEALING the secret MANNA of the KINGDOM. It’s like “Morse code” in the realm of the Spirit for the believer.
You see, in the world this might be called “fiction.” But in the culture of the Kingdom, fiction writing does not exist. The very heart of the word “fiction” constitutes the idea of “lies.” In the Kingdom, our words matter. Our Father does NOT inspire lies or untruths and should not be associated with such. Kingdom terminology is sometimes necessary for PROPHETIC understanding. Instead, He may release parables to us — EVEN IN DREAMS — that convey His heart and mind.
You might be asking, what does this have to do with “The Timing in Dream Interpretation?” My answer: “Everything!”
You see, I presented follow-up questions to Father: “Why is it that you do not interpret my dreams right after you give them to me? Why is it that some dreams go months or longer without an interpretation? Why can’t I interpret some of the dreams that I receive?”
He said to me, “My beloved scribe, SEE YOUR DREAMS as parables — biblical, unfolding truths released from my Spirit that reveal my will, my purpose and my plan for you and my people. There are some dreams, in which I give you an immediate interpretation because they are for NOW and you are able to properly digest them. There are some dream interpretations that gradually unfold as you meet pivotal points in your maturity and growth. I bring them back to your remembrance in a time when they can be properly digested. Some dreams “till” the ground, preparing the entrance for my Word. Until the ground is tilled, I cannot bring the revelation forth.
Other dreams I reveal as you need to know them — strategically unfolding one much needed piece at a time. There are even other dreams that I release others to interpret on your behalf — because your hearing may be clouded by emotion, rebellion, false humility, brokenness or other hindrances to my voice; or even because I need to release them under a specific mantle of authority — that can pierce the heavens on your behalf.”
Sons of God, these are just a few of the things Father revealed to me. He also began to press it upon me to remind those in midst of just how important it is to RECORD their dreams and visions. (I’m writing a book on this) But you see, if you don’t RECORD THEM… how can you watch them unfold or revisit them for greater revelation like we do with the scriptures? Failing to record, has the potential to CUT OFF the depth of revelation from the heavenly realm.
In the Spirit, I could see people who had become VEXED because they “did not receive” an interpretation to a particular dream. It was then that Father began to correlate dream interpretation with the “prophetic, preceding word” in a greater way. Now, we all know that dreams and visions are words of prophecy.
For example, many of us receive WORDS that speak to what is to come. But for whatever reason, the prophecy may seem delayed as we stand in expectation for its fulfillment. Just as we await the fulfillment of a written or verbal prophecy concerning our lives; it is also necessary that we wait for the “dream or vision” to be fully revealed. They are, in the realm of the Spirit, one and the same.
In other words, in everything that Father reveals — even through dreams and visions — there is an appointed time. There is purpose in what we interpret to be delay.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 CJB says, “He has made everything suited to its time; also, he has given human beings an awareness of eternity; but in such a way that they can’t fully comprehend, from beginning to end, the things God does.”
We don’t NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING! But those things that WE DO need to know, Father will bring forth as He wills. Our job in the midst of this is to PURSUE HIM within everything we have so that we will collide with that “appointed time” when it comes. CHECK OUT THE BOOK BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT “THE SCRIBAL REALM OF DREAMS & VISIONS.”