- Mar 5, 2024
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Interpret For The Light, Not The Darkness
The above is an image of Thoth, a demonic spirit worshipped in ancient Egypt as the god of the scribes. He was often depicted in sculpture and paintings as holding a pen, because he taught them how to write down for posterity all that was being communicated to them by the Egyptian pantheon. The God of the Jews likewise taught His people to do the same thing, only the difference was that the messages they were receiving were coming from the Holy Spirit instead of evil and deceptive ones.
This relates to another principle involved in dream interpretation that is important not to forget: Never allow yourself to begin interpreting, and in effect "translating," for the darkness. Not only will you end up serving the enemy, but evil spirits could tie you up endlessly so that there is no time left for serving the Lord Jesus Christ in the process. And you must be careful not to expend too much effort interpreting for those who are deeply caught up in the world for much the same reasons. You could end up expending an enormous amount of time and energy serving the needs of carnal, superficial people who won't even listen to what their dreams are telling them unless it suits them. They will simply use up all your time on the next dream and the dream after that, and ignore anything that tells them they need to change something and focus in instead on the ones that titillate them rather than actually growing spiritually.
I speak from experience, and it is why I stopped interpreting for those who are not strong vessels of the Holy Spirit a long time ago. But I was reminded of this principle yesterday when a brother sent me the following dream:
Football Game On TV Dream
My son and I are watching a football game on TV. We are watching it on a 13 inch TV but we are about 3 feet away from the screen. My wife said, "Why don't you watch the game on the big screen?" I tell her that this is almost as good since we are so close to the screen, LoL. Anyway I look for the remote to the big screen and turn on the big screen finally. The game was normal on the small 13 inch TV. But now, after we swapped to the big screen, the game was crazy. Regular people are coming off the sidelines and playing on both teams, no helmets, no pads, and the officials don't seem to care at all. We are dumbfounded by what we see going on on screen at the game.
The image he sent me of the type of small screen TV they were watching:
Sometimes less is more, and the message here was not to get caught up in lending one's services out too much to superficial Christians or the general public. The result will be interpreting for chaos. Now some might advise that you use your gift to demonstrate to others your ability to hear from God, like as a way of witnessing to them. But what in effect happens is that you switch from communicating what God Himself wants to center on to nine miles of self-consumed, lawless nonsense that's unfortunately going nowhere fast spiritually.
That's what the little screen and big screen TVs represented respectively. When you are tightly focused on what the Spirit of God is saying by spending your time interpreting for true vessels, the result will be a clear picture of the real spiritual war. Like watching a well-played, well-refereed football game, you will see two sides expending everything they have to defeat one another in a very serious contest of strength, speed, strategy and endurance. When you get into interpreting for the world and carnally-minded, soulish people, however, what you will "see" instead are tons of things that have nothing to do with the spiritual war but are instead simply a panoramic view of the chaos of their personal lives. And they often won't take correction from the Lord, won't change the direction of their lives, and will sometimes ignore all rules of morality and ethics in order to do whatever it is they want to anyway, no matter what their dreams might be saying. They will dismiss them if it's not something they want to hear.
Certainly God can sometimes lead you to minister to secular or soulish individuals for various reasons even when they are in the world, but I have literally had cases where people shared dreams with me about committing adultery, and then they insisted I sign off publicly on the idea that God wanted them to steal a married college professor away from another woman and marry them. The lesson learned was that you do not want to be interpreting for the darkness. Self-serving people will be users, and the enemy will be more than happy to make sure you are forever tied up interpreting for such nonsense, and ultimately serving them and not God.
Joseph had some similar experiences. He interpreted accurately for a couple of servants to the Pharaoh - unsaved men - and neither one listened to him. The one he interpreted negatively for didn't listen and ended up losing his life, and the one he interpreted positively for completely forgot about him when the man was back in Pharaoh's good graces and it came time to return the favor.
5 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. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 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.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me,10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you, and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker just as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. (Genesis 40:1-23)
The above is an image of Thoth, a demonic spirit worshipped in ancient Egypt as the god of the scribes. He was often depicted in sculpture and paintings as holding a pen, because he taught them how to write down for posterity all that was being communicated to them by the Egyptian pantheon. The God of the Jews likewise taught His people to do the same thing, only the difference was that the messages they were receiving were coming from the Holy Spirit instead of evil and deceptive ones.
This relates to another principle involved in dream interpretation that is important not to forget: Never allow yourself to begin interpreting, and in effect "translating," for the darkness. Not only will you end up serving the enemy, but evil spirits could tie you up endlessly so that there is no time left for serving the Lord Jesus Christ in the process. And you must be careful not to expend too much effort interpreting for those who are deeply caught up in the world for much the same reasons. You could end up expending an enormous amount of time and energy serving the needs of carnal, superficial people who won't even listen to what their dreams are telling them unless it suits them. They will simply use up all your time on the next dream and the dream after that, and ignore anything that tells them they need to change something and focus in instead on the ones that titillate them rather than actually growing spiritually.
I speak from experience, and it is why I stopped interpreting for those who are not strong vessels of the Holy Spirit a long time ago. But I was reminded of this principle yesterday when a brother sent me the following dream:
Football Game On TV Dream
My son and I are watching a football game on TV. We are watching it on a 13 inch TV but we are about 3 feet away from the screen. My wife said, "Why don't you watch the game on the big screen?" I tell her that this is almost as good since we are so close to the screen, LoL. Anyway I look for the remote to the big screen and turn on the big screen finally. The game was normal on the small 13 inch TV. But now, after we swapped to the big screen, the game was crazy. Regular people are coming off the sidelines and playing on both teams, no helmets, no pads, and the officials don't seem to care at all. We are dumbfounded by what we see going on on screen at the game.
The image he sent me of the type of small screen TV they were watching:
Sometimes less is more, and the message here was not to get caught up in lending one's services out too much to superficial Christians or the general public. The result will be interpreting for chaos. Now some might advise that you use your gift to demonstrate to others your ability to hear from God, like as a way of witnessing to them. But what in effect happens is that you switch from communicating what God Himself wants to center on to nine miles of self-consumed, lawless nonsense that's unfortunately going nowhere fast spiritually.
That's what the little screen and big screen TVs represented respectively. When you are tightly focused on what the Spirit of God is saying by spending your time interpreting for true vessels, the result will be a clear picture of the real spiritual war. Like watching a well-played, well-refereed football game, you will see two sides expending everything they have to defeat one another in a very serious contest of strength, speed, strategy and endurance. When you get into interpreting for the world and carnally-minded, soulish people, however, what you will "see" instead are tons of things that have nothing to do with the spiritual war but are instead simply a panoramic view of the chaos of their personal lives. And they often won't take correction from the Lord, won't change the direction of their lives, and will sometimes ignore all rules of morality and ethics in order to do whatever it is they want to anyway, no matter what their dreams might be saying. They will dismiss them if it's not something they want to hear.
Certainly God can sometimes lead you to minister to secular or soulish individuals for various reasons even when they are in the world, but I have literally had cases where people shared dreams with me about committing adultery, and then they insisted I sign off publicly on the idea that God wanted them to steal a married college professor away from another woman and marry them. The lesson learned was that you do not want to be interpreting for the darkness. Self-serving people will be users, and the enemy will be more than happy to make sure you are forever tied up interpreting for such nonsense, and ultimately serving them and not God.
Joseph had some similar experiences. He interpreted accurately for a couple of servants to the Pharaoh - unsaved men - and neither one listened to him. The one he interpreted negatively for didn't listen and ended up losing his life, and the one he interpreted positively for completely forgot about him when the man was back in Pharaoh's good graces and it came time to return the favor.
Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams
1 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.5 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. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 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.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me,10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you, and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker just as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. (Genesis 40:1-23)
