Understanding the Symbols in Your Dreams
About ninety-five percent of our dreams carry symbols. Once we understand them, these symbols point to a larger truth, a clearer picture of the message God wants us to grasp.
A symbol stands in for something else. In a dream, a vision, or a story, an object, a person, or an idea points to a deeper meaning, whether the connection is obvious or hidden.
Symbols work as the language of our dreams. They carry the coded message inside every dream we have. A dream starts as a mystery. Interpretation turns that mystery into revelation. A dream interpreter translates the symbols and uncovers the spiritual message God built into them.
Dreams lean on symbols because the spirit world where dreams form is complex. The natural mind cannot fully grasp it on its own. Symbols give us something concrete, a way to reflect on real situations in our lives. Scripture uses this same pattern. Parables carry symbols to deliver a message from God or to show the difference between spiritual and physical realities.
Isaiah 5:1-7 tells the parable of the vineyard. A farmer loves his vineyard. He fences it, clears out the stones, and plants the finest vine. He builds a tower in the middle of the vineyard and digs a winepress. He expects the best grapes, since he gave the vineyard the best of everything. Instead, the vineyard produces wild grapes.
In verses 3 and 4, the farmer turns to the people of Jerusalem and Judah: "Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What could I have done more for my vineyard than I have done? When I expected grapes, why did it bring forth wild grapes?"
He answers his own question in verses 5 and 6. He removes the hedge that protected the vineyard, and it faces ruin and exposure. He stops pruning it and plowing it. Thorns and wild bushes grow up in its place. He commands the clouds to withhold rain.
Verse 7 gives the meaning behind every symbol in the parable. The vineyard represents the house of Israel. The men of Judah are the farmer's pleasant plant. The farmer is the Lord God himself. God gave Israel protection and provision and expected righteous judgment in return. Instead, Israel produced oppression. Because of this, God removed his protection, and other nations moved in against them. Poverty and hardship became their portion.
Every symbol in this parable maps onto Israel's past, present, and future, because the nation failed to produce what God equipped it to produce.
Matthew 12:43-44 gives a second example. Jesus describes what an unclean spirit does after it leaves a person. The spirit wanders through dry places looking for rest and finds none. Then it says, "Let me return to my house, the place I came from." Jesus calls the person's life a house. When a house shows up in a dream, it usually points to a person's life. A large house or an apartment complex points to a family or a group of people.
Learning the language of our dreams means learning to read these symbols. That kind of understanding comes through the Holy Spirit, sent to lead us into all truth.
Written by Kevin L.A. Ewing
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com



