![]() ![]() Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” Proverbs 3:24-26, “If you lie down, you will not be afraid when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” ![]() What Does the Bible Say about Sleep/Sleeplessness?Īs many people throughout Scripture experienced bad dreams and sleeplessness, we do have verses we can go to that discuss this topic. This turns out to be the various kingdoms of earth (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome/The Antichrist’s Kingdom, Daniel 2). ![]() First, this Babylonian ruler has a dream about a statue, made of various materials, that gets crushed by a huge stone. Nebuchadnezzar is our prime poster boy for bad dreams in the Bible (next to Daniel who experiences some terrifying visions in Daniel 6-12). Yes, people in the Bible had nightmares and there are stories of them in Scripture. All in all, although God does speak to us through dreams, we do need to exercise extreme caution. Visions also tend to have more symbolic elements.įurthermore, upon prayer and guidance of a Christian mentor, even if you have a vivid dream, you may determine it is not from the Lord via the Holy Spirit’s answer to your prayer. Nightmares do have some distinguishing details, but visions tend to have more vivid, sensory details. Visions tend to be a bit more vivid than nightmares. Darren Carlson of the Gospel Coalition writes that Jesus has appeared to many people, such as Muslims, in dreams, but once a person has access to Scripture, these dreams tend to go away.īut, for the sake of argument, let’s distinguish between a vision and a nightmare. It doesn’t seem that he will often reach us through a bad dream, especially if we have access to special revelation, like Scripture. We do know that God most often speaks to us through his Word, through preachers, mentors, etc. So how do we distinguish between a “threat rehearsal” and an actual threat? Now that we’ve established some different varieties of nightmares, where do visions fit in? We see (in examples below) that many people in the Bible experienced bad dreams that foretold bad events to come in the future. These often involve recurring nightmarish dreams that can affect day-to-day activities. And those who experience these frightening dreams, that happen often during non-REM, may not remember the details.Įven certain nightmaric disorders can stem from these, explains Psychology Today. Night terrors, as discussed in the National Sleep Foundation article, occur more often in children. Some researchers feel that nightmares can help the body prepare for “threat rehearsals.” In other words, the brain runs us through some worst case scenarios, so when we encounter them, we’ll know how to act. Nightmares are, as quoted in a WebMd article, “vividly realistic, disturbing dreams that wake you up from a deep sleep.” They often occur during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep when the brains tends to experience the most vivid dreams, and those who have these tend to remember the contents of that dream upon waking. According to the National Sleep Foundation, we have distinct differences between something known as a nightmare and something known as a night terror. It appears we have several different flavors of unsavory dreams that can haunt us at night. How do we distinguish between a bad dream and a vision of something foreboding to come? And how can we find peace in God when we experience night terrors? Let’s dive in to what the Bible says about nightmares. The Bible has no shortage of dreams and visions, and this includes nightmares. ![]()
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