Correcting The Teaching That Dreams Cannot come From Satan

ALL PRAISES TO THE MOST HIGH GOD.

There are some people who subscribe to the belief that the devil has no ability to influence or infiltrate our dreams because according to them, all dreams come from God. People who share this line of reasoning usually assert that there is no evidence in the scriptures pointing to Satan ever giving a dream to someone. To the unassuming believer, this observation might seem logical and acceptable. The problem with a lot of such comments is that they are birthed from an erroneous mistake to interpret the things of The Most High using one's own understanding, which is forbidden (PROVERBS 3 VERSE 5 ), instead of pursuing all things of God in SPIRIT and in TRUTH (JOHN 4 VERSE 24). 

When you follow this instruction, you will discover that the Bible is a book of principles and the answer to a lot of question lie in nuances which can only be uncovered if you read the scriptures with spiritual eyes. 

It is always important to remember that Satan is capable of disguising himself as an angel of light (2 CORINTHIANS 11:14) and "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (EPHESIANS 6 verse 12). 

As we always do on this blog, let us use scripture to correct the teaching that Satan cannot infiltrate or influence our dreams. 

THE FALSE DREAM OF ELIPHAZ

When Job was going through his afflictions, one of his friends by the name of Eliphaz visited Job in an attempt to help him pinpoint the possible cause of his suffering. We are told that Eliphaz claimed to have had received a revelation about God through "a whisper... amid thoughts of the vision of the night" from a "spirit" that passed before his face (JOB 12 verses 13 - 15). This is what he had to say: 

In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair on my body stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence; then I heard a voice saying: "Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? If He puts no trust in His servants, if He charges His angels with error, how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, . . ."  (JOB 12 verses 13 - 19)  

Eliphaz used this dream to jump to conclusions as to why God's actions towards Job were justified, however we know that his justifications and the dream itself was not from God because The Most High later on admonishes Eliphaz by stating that: 

"My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has." (JOB 42 verse 7)

Now, if God had sent that dream to Eliphaz why would he be angry at him for not depicting God accurately? 

The dream was most certainly from an evil force (particularly a fallen angel) because it was filled with a lot of deception. 

Now let us dissect the deception that was peddled by the spirit that interacted with Eliphaz. The Spirit stated that God "puts no trust in His servants" (referring to his angels), as if to imply or state that God doesn't trust any of His angels which is a lie. Yes, God certainly charged SOME of "His angels with error", and rightly so, because they sinned (REVELATION 12: 4; JUDE 6). But God does put trust in HIS angels to a point where they are praised for obeying the voice of God's word (PSALM 103 verse 20). If God did not trust his angels, he would not give them the important task of being "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation" (HEBREWS 1 VERSE 14).

TEACHINGS AGAINST FALSE PROPHETS

The teachings in the scriptures against false prophets also provide insights to us that not all dreams are from God. 

We are told of how "idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams;" (ZECHARIAH 10 verse 2) and JUDE 8 speaks of how false prophets "relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones". 

Prophet Jeremiah warned the Children of Israel to not listen to prophets and diviners who had dreamt false dreams (JEREMIAH 28 verse 8) because these dreams had come from the idols that the Israelites had decided to worship such as Baal (JEREMIAH 23 verse 27). It is important to understand that by Idols, the scriptures are not referring to just the physical artefacts that the Israelite worshipped but also to the demonic entities that are attached to these physical idols. This is why Baal was referred to as "the prince of demons" (MARK 3 verse 22). God clearly states that "The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them" (JEREMIAH 14 verse 14). 

We can see that God is emphatic in his assurance that he is not responsible for the dreams that false prophets receive, which begs the question, who is responsible for their dreams? 

This is why we are called to "believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 JEREMIAH 4 verse 1). 

CONCLUSION

Now that you are armed with this knowledge and understanding, whenever you have dreams that may be undesirable or seem to project evil, it is important that when you wake you cancel and denounce such a dream in the name of Jesus Christ. If you do not understand the meaning of a particular dream, you should also pray to God to provide an interpretation of it because all interpretations of dreams come from The Most High God (GENESIS 40 verse 8).