The first set of verses
refer to "visions" and "dreams" from God
His miraculous revelations
to His faithful people.
"As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in
all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all
visions and dreams."
Daniel 1:17
"And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit
on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old
men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions."
Joel 2:28
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will
pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall
dream dreams."
Acts 2:17
The vision of Isaiah... which he saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem...
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken:
'I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
The ox knows its owner and the donkey its masters crib;
But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.
Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity."
Isaiah 1:1-4
"The
whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is
sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, 'Read
this, please.'
And he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.'
Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying,
Read this, please.
And he says, 'I am not literate.'
Therefore the Lord said:
'Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me 'with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.'"
Isaiah 29:11-14
"The Lord
has purposed to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying....
The Law is no more,
And her prophets find no vision from the Lord."
Lamentations 2:8-9
"...as I was
among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were
opened and I saw visions of God."
Ezekiel 1:1
"Disaster will
come upon disaster,
And rumor will be upon rumor.
Then they will seek a vision from a prophet;
But the law will perish from the priest,
And counsel from the elders."
Ezekiel
7:26
Then the
Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God
into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had
seen went up from me. So I spoke to those in captivity of all
the things the Lord had shown me."
Ezekiel
11:24-25
False
Dreams & Visions
"...the Lord
said to me, 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not
sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to
you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the
deceit of their heart.
"
Jeremiah
14:14
"Your prophets
have seen for you false and deceptive visions;
They have not uncovered your iniquity....
But have envisioned for you false prophecies and
delusions."
Ezekiel
2:14
"Thus says
the Lord of hosts:
"Do
not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
They continually say to those who despise Me,
The Lord has said, 'You shall have peace';
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own
heart, they say, No evil shall come upon you."
Jeremiah
23:16-17
"They have
envisioned futility and false divination, saying, Thus says
the Lord! But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the
word may be confirmed. Have you not seen a futile vision, and
have you not spoken false divination? You say, The Lord says,
but I have not spoken.'
"Therefore thus says the Lord God:
'Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore
I am indeed against you,' says the Lord God. 'My hand will
be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine
lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people....
"Because,
indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace!
when there is no peace.
Ezekiel
13:6 -10
"While they
see false visions for you,
While they divine a lie to you,
To bring you on the necks of the wicked...."
Ezekiel
21:29
"Her prophets
plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions
and divining lies for them, saying, Thus says the Lord
God, when the Lord had not spoken."
Ezekiel
22:28
More
Visions from God
"God gave
them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Daniel 1:17
"...the
secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel
blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel 2:19
"...there
is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to
King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream,
and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these....
Daniel 2:28
"In the
first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and
visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream,
telling the main facts.
Daniel spoke, saying, 'I saw in my vision by night, and
behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.
And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from
the other. ...
Daniel 7:1-3
How
long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the
transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and
the host to be trampled underfoot?'
"And he said to me, 'For two
thousand three hundred 'days; then the sanctuary shall be
cleansed.
Daniel 8:13
"...when
I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the
meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the
appearance of a man.
Daniel 8:15
And the
vision of the evenings and mornings, which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the
future.'....
I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
"
Daniel 8:26
"In the
third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel.
"
Daniel 10:1
"I,
Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not
see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled
to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone when I saw this
great vision, and no strength remained in me."
Dan 10:7-8
"...violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in
fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall. "
Daniel 11:14
New
Testament Visions from God
"Now
as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying,
'Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the
dead.
Matt 17:9
"When
they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen
a vision of angels who said He was alive. "
Luke 24:23
"'And it
shall come to pass in the last days,' says God,
'That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and 'your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.'
Acts 2:17
"...the
Lord said in a vision, 'Ananias.'
And he said, 'Here I am, Lord.'
So the Lord said to him, Arise and go to the street called
Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of
Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen
a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that
he might receive his sight.
Acts 9:10-11
"While
Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'Behold,
three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with
them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.
Acts 10:19-20
"...a
vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and
pleaded with him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' "
Acts
16:9
"...the
Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid, but
speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will
attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.
Acts
18:9-10
"I was
not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first
to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region
of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to
God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the
Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore,
having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both
to small and great...
Acts 26:19-22
"I will
come to visions and revelations of the Lord.... "
2 Corinthians 12:1
"I saw
the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of
fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the
horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came
fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three plagues a third of
mankind was killed. "
Revelation 9:17-18
The world's
visions
These come, not from
the Bible, but from man's thoughts, desires, goals, dreams, agendas
and imagination.
"...cast a
vision!" "I have a vision...."
"Dream big!"
"Achieve your dreams!"
"He is a man of vision!"
"A visionary!"
"I have a vision of greatness for this organization."
God's view
of man's futile imagination
"Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually."
Genesis 6:5
"And the LORD said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have
one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that
they propose to do will be withheld from them."'
Genesis 11:6
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;
who can know it?"
Jeremiah 17:9
"He has shown strength with His arm; he has scattered the proud in
the imagination of their hearts."
Luke 1:51
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened."
Romans 1:21
The
Church Growth Movement:
Adding vision statements
and grandiose dreams to the stated requirements of a successful
church is new to the last 50 years. As the new management systems
were conceived and fleshed out by leading change agents in
behavioral laboratories, progressive universities (such as Harvard
and MIT), and large corporation, church leaders followed close
behind.