11. How Jesus Interprets Dreams
Symbolic dreams are like parables. A parable is a type of metaphorical analogy requiring a proper interpretation before it releases its message.
The simple Christian definition is, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. This definition also recognises the need for interpretation.
Jesus told parables and explained to his disciples how to interpret all parables. This occurs in Mark in The Parable of the Sower, which is like a complex symbolic dream. We have to read the whole passage but it will be worth while. The Bible says,
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The
crowd that gathered around him was so
large that he got into a boat and sat in it
out on the lake, while all the people were
along the shore at the water’s edge. He
taught them many things by parables,
and in his teaching said: “Listen! A
farmer went out to sow his seed. As he
was scattering the seed, some fell along
the path, and the birds came and ate it
up. Some fell on rocky places, where it
did not have much soil. It sprang up
quickly, because the soil was shallow.
But when the sun came up, the plants
were scorched, and they withered
because they had no root. Other seed
fell among thorns, which grew up and
choked the plants, so that they did not
bear grain. Still other seed fell on good
soil. It came up, grew and produced a
crop, some multiplying thirty, some
sixty, some a hundred times.”
Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to
hear, let them hear.”
When he was alone, the Twelve and the
others around him asked him about the
parables. He told them, “The secret of
the kingdom of God has been given to
you. But to those on the outside
everything is said in parables so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never
perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be
forgiven!’”
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you
understand this parable? How then will
you understand any parable? The
farmer sows the word. Some people are
like seed along the path, where the word
is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan
comes and takes away the word that was
sown in them. Others, like seed sown on
rocky places, hear the word and at once
receive it with joy. But since they have
no root, they last only a short time. When
trouble or persecution comes because of
the word, they quickly fall away. Still
others, like seed sown among thorns,
hear the word; but the worries of this
life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the
desires for other things come in and
choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear
the word, accept it, and produce a crop
—some thirty, some sixty, some a
hundred times what was sown.” [1]
The method Jesus uses to interpret this parable can be called The Symbol Replacement Method. The main eight images in this parable are,
• The farmer
• The seed
• The birds
• The sun
• The roots
• The path without soil
• The rocky place with little soil
• The good soil
In Mark, Jesus replaced these symbols with other images that helped to unlock the true meaning of the parable.
• The farmer obviously represented a preacher. (Though Jesus doesn’t say this.)
• The seed represented the word of God.
• The birds represented Satan and his demons.
• The sun represented trouble or persecution because of God’s word,
• The roots represented the ability to survive and flourish.
• The path without soil represents no capacity to receive or nurture God’s word.
• The rocky place with little soil represents people with shallow faith.
• The good soil represents people of spiritual depth and faith who reproduce themselves.
So instead of the parable being a story about a farmer planting seed and facing difficulties it becomes a revelation of the process that occurs when a preacher or a prophet speaks the word of God. The world, the flesh and the devil all kick in and the hearer’s hearts are tested.
Jesus said to his disciples, Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? Here He was offering them a key.
What He really meant was, If you understand this parable then you will be able to understand all parables.
All the dream interpreters in the Bible including the interpreting angels use The Symbol Replacement Method of dream interpretation.
For example, Pharaoh dreamed two dreams in quick succession. His first dream contained seven skinny cows that ate up seven fat cows, and his second dream contained seven thin heads of grain that ate up seven full heads of grain.
Using The Symbol Replacement Method Joseph interpreted the seven fat cows and the seven full heads of grain as seven years of abundant food production. Using the same method he then interpreted the seven skinny cows and the seven thin heads of grain as seven years of famine.
Consequently Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream was, Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. For this Joseph was put in complete charge of the entire feeding program of the most powerful nation in the world. Not too difficult. Eh?
Another good example comes from Daniel in Babylon. Scripture says God gave Daniel knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning and in understanding visions and dreams of all kinds.[2]
Let’s take a look at Daniel interpreting, Nebuchadnezzar’s ‘Large Statue’ Dream. Now this process was a little more difficult because Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t or couldn’t tell Daniel the dream and he was going to kill Daniel and others if they couldn’t discover what his dream was and also interpret it. So Daniel had to get the dream from God and interpret it, which he did. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was,
“Your Majesty looked, and there before you
stood a large statue—an enormous,
dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
The head of the statue was made of pure
gold, its chest and arms of silver, its
belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of
iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of
baked clay. While you were watching, a
rock was cut out, but not by human
hands. It struck the statue on its feet of
iron and clay and smashed them. Then
the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver
and the gold were all broken to pieces
and became like chaff on a threshing
floor in the summer. The wind swept
them away without leaving a trace. But
the rock that struck the statue became a
huge mountain and filled the whole earth.[3]
The symbols in this dream are,
• The large statue
• The head of gold
• The chest and arms of silver
• The belly and thighs of bronze
• The legs of iron
• The feet, partly of iron and partly of baked clay
• The rock not cut by human hands
When Daniel used The Symbol Replacement Method, these symbols changed into what they represented.
• The large statue represented four kingdoms.
• The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar’s’ kingdom.
• The chest and arms of silver represented an inferior kingdom.
• The belly and thighs of bronze represented another inferior kingdom.
• The legs of iron also represented another inferior kingdom.
• The feet, partly of iron and partly of baked clay represented disunity.
• The rock not cut by human hands represented Jesus’ eternal kingdom
When Daniel used The Symbol Replacement Method, to interpret this dream he basically replaced each dream symbol with what it represented in reality.
Because of this Daniel could explain Nebuchadnezzar was shown the successive kingdoms starting with his own kingdom that God would use to rule over Israel until their Messiah would come. With hindsight we now know, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream spoke of four different empires - Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Afterwards God would send His Messiah who’d establish His everlasting Kingdom.
The Scripture showing the The Symbol Replacement Method, in operation says,
“This was the dream, and now we will
interpret it to the king. Your Majesty,
you are the king of kings. The God of
heaven has given you dominion and
power and might and glory; in your
hands he has placed all mankind and the
beasts of the field and the birds in the
sky. Wherever they live, he has made you
ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
“After you, another kingdom will arise,
inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom,
one of bronze, will rule over the whole
earth. Finally, there will be a fourth
kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks
and smashes everything—and as iron
breaks things to pieces, so it will crush
and break all the others. Just as you saw
that the feet and toes were partly of
baked clay and partly of iron, so this will
be a divided kingdom; yet it will have
some of the strength of iron in it, even as
you saw iron mixed with clay. As the
toes were partly iron and partly clay, so
this kingdom will be partly strong and
partly brittle. And just as you saw the
iron mixed with baked clay, so the people
will be a mixture and will not remain
united, any more than iron mixes with
clay.
“In the time of those kings, the God of
heaven will set up a kingdom that will
never be destroyed, nor will it be left to
another people. It will crush all those
kingdoms and bring them to an end, but
it will itself endure forever. This is the
meaning of the vision of the rock cut out
of a mountain, but not by human hands
—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze,
the clay, the silver and the gold to
pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what
will take place in the future. The dream
is true and its interpretation is
trustworthy.”[4]
It Is God Who Gives The Interpretation
Now all of that seems very simple, doesn’t it? Well maybe not the bit about having to discover the contents of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream otherwise you’ll be killed.
So, before we begin to think it’s as easy as painting by numbers I better mention something else. Both Joseph and Daniel understood this something else. Lets look at what they said about dream interpretation.
When Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker had dreams Joseph said, Do not interpretations belong to God? [5]
Later, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.
Joseph’s truthful answer was, I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.
Joseph was not being polite and self-effacing here. Although he intuitively understood The Symbol Replacement Method he also knew it was only God who could give the proper interpretation.
The same thing happened with Daniel. When Nebuchadnezzar asked him, Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it, Daniel honestly replied,
No wise man, enchanter, magician or
diviner can explain to the king the
mystery he has asked about, but there is
a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar
what will happen in days to come. [6]
Daniel also told Nebuchadnezzar,
The revealer of mysteries showed you what
is going to happen. As for me, this
mystery has been revealed to me, not
because I have greater wisdom than
anyone else alive, but so that Your
Majesty may know the interpretation and
that you may understand what went
through your mind. [7]
Daniel like Joseph was also not being polite and self-effacing. Although he also intuitively understood the Symbol Replacement Method he also knew it was only God who could give the proper dream interpretation.
But what about the pagan Midianite’s dream you might say?
Good question! I’m glad you asked it because the soldier’s friend also interpreted The Midianite’s Dream for Gideon using the Symbol Replacement Method. The Bible says,
Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a
friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he
was saying. “A round loaf of barley
bread came tumbling into the Midianite
camp. It struck the tent with such force
that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
His friend responded, “This can be nothing
other than the sword of Gideon son of
Joash, the Israelite. God has given the
Midianites and the whole camp into his
hands.” [8]
The symbols in this dream are,
• A round loaf of barley bread
• The Midianite camp
• A tent
When the friend used The Symbol Replacement Method, these symbols changed into what they represented in reality.
• The round loaf of barley bread represented Gideon’s sword of power and his small army.
• The Midianite camp represented the Midianite army
• The tent represented the protective covering and place of rest for the Midianite soldiers.
The soldier’s friend understood these symbols and was able to declare God’s truth that Gideon’s small army would be victorious over the vastly superior Midianite army.
1 Mark 4:1-20
2 Daniel 1:17
3 Daniel 2:31-35
4 Daniel 2:38-45
5 Genesis 40:8
6 Daniel 2:27-28
7 Daniel 2:29-30
8 Judges 7:13-14
