Genesis 20:3-8 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." (4) But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? (5) Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." (6) And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore, I did not let you touch her. (7) Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die you and all who are yours." (8) So, Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.”
The third primary way that God led the saints under the old covenant was through dreams. I am not referring to dreams given to His prophets when the saints inquired through them; I am referring to dreams given to the saint directly from the Lord. A point that needs to be made here is that when scripture refers to “visions in the night”, that it is just another term for dreams (Job 4:13). Remember that a saint under the old covenant became a saint in exactly the same manner as the saints under the new covenant do, i.e. by faith. Those who believed God under the old covenant were accounted as righteous. In the above quoted account we see the Lord speaking to Abimelech through a dream. Abimelech was a believer, for he said to the Lord, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also”. An unbeliever would not have said such a thing to the Lord. And the Lord did not correct him in his statement, thus implying that the Lord had acknowledged him as a believer. The context of this incident is that Abimelech had taken Abraham’s wife Sarah, to be married to her. And so we see that in this dream God gave Abimelech, who was just an ordinary believer, specific guidance as to what he was to do.
Matthew 2:13-14 “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." (14) When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and gave him very clear direction from the Lord. Even though Joseph was the earthly parent of our Lord Jesus, he was still just an ordinary believer who received guidance from the Lord through dreams. In fact the scripture reveals to us that Joseph had three separate dreams over this period, in which he received guidance from the Lord. And so we see that under the old covenant that God’s servants could expect to be led primarily through dreams, by the Urim, and through prophets.
Michael E.B. Maher
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