Dreams and Visions

“God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” (Job 33:14-1714For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. (Job 33:14‑17)). When man is awake and spoken to, there are multiple things going on in him in how hears. If his will is working, he may not have ears to hear and not listen to the message. His feelings toward the person speaking will be involved in how he interprets what he hears. If his pride is at work, he may be thinking about what he plans to say when the other person has finished what they are saying. As Elihu explained to Job, God, in speaking by means of a dream or vision, “openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,” for He bypasses all of the things which hinder the message from getting into the mind of a person. They are in a state of listening without distractions, without their will being at work, without pride distorting the message to their mind. Sometimes, like Nebuchadnezzar, the result may trouble the spirit and remove sleep from man to make him ready to listen to God’s messenger to him – “a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand” to make him understand. God made Nebuchadnezzar listen to Daniel and Job listen to Elihu. Job listened and repented. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride stopped him the first time, so God had to speak twice by taking his understanding from him for a time.