“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

• Joel 2:28

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

• Acts 2:17

“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.

• Jeremiah 23:25-27

So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

• Jeremiah 27:9

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”

• Daniel 2:1-3

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

• Matthew 2:12

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.

• Jude 1:8

This quiz is about verses containing the word “dream” with about ninety mentions in the Old Testament.

The questions are in biblical order.  All are from the Old Testament.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	The first two references to dreams in the NIV are a story about Abraham moving to the Negev.  He told the people that Sarah was his sister, and King Abimelek took her.  What did God tell Abimelek through the dream?
2	In the next dream in the Bible, who had a dream about angels going up and down a stairway (or a ladder)?
3	In the next mention of a dream, both Jacob and Laban had dreams.  To what did these lead?
4	Joseph had two dreams.  Each had things bowing down to another thing.  What were the things?
5	In the next story about dreams, Joseph is in prison. He interprets the dreams of which two people?
6	The next dreams were given to Pharoah, seven of one healthy thing were swallowed by seven unhealthy ones.  There were two dreams.  What things swallowed the healthy ones in each case?
7	Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers when they came to Egypt to get grain.  What did Joseph accuse them of?
8	When Aaron and Miriam confront the authority of Moses, God says that prophets see visions or dream dreams, but Moses is different.  In what way?
9	Moses, in one of his farewell addresses, says that if a prophet dreams, then performs a sing or wonder, and then tells the people to worship false gods, who from and why was that prophet sent?
10	When Gideon dreamed of a barley loaf tumbling down a hill and crushing a tent in the Midianite camp (with the subsequent interpretation), what did Gideon do?

I went to bed the night before writing this with a prayer that I had not thought of a quiz topic.  I had a fitful night’s sleep.  My watch recorded twelve times that I awoke, about half of those groggy and half asleep.  Each time, I had a dream that was vivid enough for me to remember.  Some dreams were disturbing.  Some dreams were simply strange.  But when I finally awoke and got out of bed, I knew what I would use for the quiz theme.  One or two dreams and I might have thought about the theme of the dream.  But a dozen dreams got my attention.  There might have been more.  My watch does not catch everything.

And strangely, with all those interruptions in my sleep, I feel better today than I have all week.

In most of the dreams in the questions, God is getting someone’s attention, and God is sending a message.

But let’s not think all dreams come from God, as will be discussed between the Bible References and the Answers.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	The first two references to dreams in the NIV are a story about Abraham moving to the Negev.  He told the people that Sarah was his sister, and King Abimelek took her.  What did God tell Abimelek through the dream?	Genesis 20:3-6
2	In the next dream in the Bible, who had a dream about angels going up and down a stairway (or a ladder)?	Genesis 28:10-12
3	In the next mention of a dream, both Jacob and Laban had dreams.  To what did these lead?	Genesis 31:10-24
4	Joseph had two dreams.  Each had things bowing down to another thing.  What were the things?	Genesis 37:1-9
5	In the next story about dreams, Joseph is in prison. He interprets the dreams of which two people?	Genesis 40:1-8
6	The next dreams were given to Pharoah, seven of one healthy thing were swallowed by seven unhealthy ones.  There were two dreams.  What things swallowed the healthy ones in each case?	Genesis 41:1-7
7	Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers when they came to Egypt to get grain.  What did Joseph accuse them of?	Genesis 42:9
8	When Aaron and Miriam confront the authority of Moses, God says that prophets see visions or dream dreams, but Moses is different.  In what way?	Numbers 12:1-8
9	Moses, in one of his farewell addresses, says that if a prophet dreams, then performs a sing or wonder, and then tells the people to worship false gods, who from and why was that prophet sent?	Deuteronomy 13:1-3
10	When Gideon dreamed of a barley loaf tumbling down a hill and crushing a tent in the Midianite camp (with the subsequent interpretation), what did Gideon do?	Judges 7:13-18

While many of the dreams in the quiz questions came from God, not all dreams come from God.  Note in the selected Scriptures above, the Scriptures from Jeremiah 23 and 27 are talking about false prophets that either fake having a dream or really have a dream, but nothing from God.  The last Scripture, Jude verse eight, warns us that we will have dreams that could lead us astray.  This is the last mention of ‘dream’ in the Bible.

Even one of the questions is about false prophets speaking of dreams.

My wife had three prophetic dreams near the time she accepted Jesus.  The first one was a dream of her own death and the details of the dream that could be verified were verified.  That was indeed a dream from God.  She woke up from that dream at precisely 3:16 in the afternoon, according to the hotel clock, and she praised God from that moment until the day she died.  The other two were ominous.  One referred to family.  The other referred to the church.  Both showed some going to Heaven and others being lost.  Those could possibly be said of any family or any church.

And also note that Pharoah had dreams that came from God and Nebuchadnezzar did as well.  God speaks to us in various ways.  Sometimes, the Holy Spirit speaks in dreams to let us know that we are lost, and we need Jesus.  Other times, the dream is to encourage us along our faith journey.  And sometimes, the dream is given to an unbeliever so that someone else can interpret the dream and glorify God before third parties.

Let us not get the idea that because we had a dream, God thinks we are special.  God has His purposes in mind, and God uses what is available.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	The first two references to dreams in the NIV are a story about Abraham moving to the Negev.  He told the people that Sarah was his sister, and King Abimelek took her.  What did God tell Abimelek through the dream?	Genesis 20:3-6	First, to not touch Sarah for she was married.  Then God assured Abimelek that his conscience should be clear, not knowing the circumstances when he took Sarah.
2	In the next dream in the Bible, who had a dream about angels going up and down a stairway (or a ladder)?	Genesis 28:10-12	Jacob, setting up a stone pillar and poured oil on it, calling the place Bethel, the House of God.
3	In the next mention of a dream, both Jacob and Laban had dreams.  To what did these lead?	Genesis 31:10-24	Jacob was reminded by God of Laban’s deceit.  Laban was warned not to say anything good or bad to Jacob.  Then Jacob gathered his belongings and family and went back to the land of his fathers.
4	Joseph had two dreams.  Each had things bowing down to another thing.  What were the things?	Genesis 37:1-9	Each son of Israel had a sheaf of grain.  All the other sheafs bowed down to Joseph’s sheaf.  The second dream had the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to Joseph.
5	In the next story about dreams, Joseph is in prison. He interprets the dreams of which two people?	Genesis 40:1-8	Pharoah’s cupbearer and baker.  The cupbearer would be restored in three days, but the baker would die in three days.
6	The next dreams were given to Pharoah, seven of one healthy thing were swallowed by seven unhealthy ones.  There were two dreams.  What things swallowed the healthy ones in each case?	Genesis 41:1-7	First cows, then heads of grain.  His magicians and wise men could not interpret the dream, but the cupbearer remembered Joseph and he interpreted the dream.
7	Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers when they came to Egypt to get grain.  What did Joseph accuse them of?	Genesis 42:9	He said they were spies.
8	When Aaron and Miriam confront the authority of Moses, God says that prophets see visions or dream dreams, but Moses is different.  In what way?	Numbers 12:1-8	Moses speaks with God face-to-face, clear words, no imagery or riddles.
9	Moses, in one of his farewell addresses, says that if a prophet dreams, then performs a sing or wonder, and then tells the people to worship false gods, who from and why was that prophet sent?	Deuteronomy 13:1-3	God is testing the people to ensure they will remain faithful.  And the prophet should be put to death (13:5)
10	When Gideon dreamed of a barley loaf tumbling down a hill and crushing a tent in the Midianite camp (with the subsequent interpretation), what did Gideon do?	Judges 7:13-18	He took his 300 men, “armed” them with trumpets and jars with torches inside.  And they took the high ground on three sides of the Midianite Army.  And then scared the army into killing each other and the remnant fleeing.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here are Casting Crowns singing Dream for You.

And here are Need to Breathe singing Dreams.  This song is fun.  It is kind of assumed who makes those dreams come true.

And here is One Voice Children’s Choir singing Dream.  A beautiful song, but this could work in an unbeliever’s life.  We need to believe in God and trust the dreams that He provides.

And here is Matthew West singing Dream Again.  Another beautiful song, again, no mention of God or Jesus, but the singer is “the voice of God,” with references to “me” and quoting part of Jeremiah 29:11.  But with Matthew West, you know He is talking about returning to God when he says “Dream again.”

There were three of these songs that did not mention God or Jesus.  Maybe all of them were pointing in that direction, but if popularized outside a worship setting, would anyone know they were talking about our Heavenly Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit?

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.