This is written as a series of Dream Interpretation Helps concerning dreams from God. I will cover the things that I feel are mandatory for correct dream interpretation and application of the truths revealed in the dream. All scripture references are NASB, unless otherwise noted. Emphases are mine. © 2013, 2022 Elizabeth Elam. All rights reserved.
SYMBOLS THAT HAVE CONSTANT MEANINGS
There are a few symbols in dreams that I have had that have never varied in meaning:
-Snakes. They always seem to represent a spiritual attack from satan or demonic forces. Usually in a dream it is obvious that the snake is a bad thing. But, if you find yourself having ‘compassion’ on a snake in a dream for whatever reason... watch out! Don’t have compassion on demons (snakes) no matter how ‘pitiful’ they are portrayed. If a snake represents a person with a Pharisaical attitude, don’t kill the snake or you will become like it. Jesus didn’t kill the Pharisees, but He did forcefully address them. If the snake is scaly, red and a viper, it represents the spirit of harlotry or spiritual adultery. Leviathan, representing pride (Job 41), has thick scales.
- Dark clouds or darkness are descriptive of the ‘Day of the Lord’ (coming in judgment).
-Light, lamp, candle: God's Word is our light to light our path.
-Wearing a used coat: A calling or 'mantle'. Elisha was given Elijah's prophetic mantle. Your calling, ministry or spiritual gift will be similar in some way as the one who gave you the coat. The dream will explain by the style and/or colors of the coat. Putting on used climbing gear for a climb up a high mountain would have a similar meaning. This is the climb up Mount Zion, the City of God, following in the footsteps of those Christians who have gone before us.
- Another unchanging symbol is shoes. Being conscious of losing your shoes, putting on shoes that are inappropriate for the terrain, needing to clean your shoes, or not putting them on in circumstances in real life where you would wear shoes is symbolic of not walking (fully) in the true gospel that the Bible teaches. God is trying to say that something is missing from your walking out the gospel truths of the Bible or sharing it with others. The gospel shoes are part of the full armor of God. Eph.6:15 states, “…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace”.
I know that Moses took off his shoes on Holy ground and King David went barefoot in humility when his kingdom was in jeopardy. But in this time in America, the Lord is trying to get the truth of the gospel out in an imperative manner and the only meaning in dreams for shoes I’ve come across in this hour is what I just stated.
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I would like to sidetrack this paper about dream interpretation with an urgent statement about the gospel according to the Word of God. You see, I have had many dreams about shoes and I keep hearing dreams from others that they are missing their shoes (the gospel). Just this week as I was writing this, I found out a man from the church we attend had a dream about walking barefoot on thorny, prickly dead grass as he tried to work, to mow the grass. He heard a voice in his dream saying, “You can’t work without your shoes.” In other words, he couldn’t do God’s Kingdom work without preaching and living the full gospel. His dream was on Monday and he had the same dream again on Wednesday. My latest dream about shoes came on the Tuesday between his two dreams.
So without being aware of each other’s dreams, the Lord gave dreams about shoes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this past week as I was writing this section, not to mention a dream that a woman in our church had that same week about a false gospel being preached in America that was difficult to escape from. That is also equivalent to being without the correct shoes. By the way, note that it was difficult to escape from the false gospel in my dream, too (next paragraph). Many of us have entrenched within us an American gospel of SELF. I know that I’m still in the process of coming out of that false gospel. And these are just some of the dreams that I’ve been made aware of from among our own congregation. What alarmed me about my ‘shoe’ dream on Tuesday was that it was the first time I have dreamed about more than one pair of ‘lost shoes’.
In my dream, I was on the property of a mega-church walking barefoot on its grass which had numerous thorns in it (just like our brother’s dreams). I had lost my sandals (a partial gospel that can’t take you ‘everywhere’ a true Christian is asked to go by the Lord, to take up our cross and follow Him) and I was looking for those sandals to protect my feet from the thorny ground, as well as looking for a way out of this mega-church which was trying to keep me from leaving, that is, from getting free of the deceptive teaching. As I was searching for a way out, I came across the biggest dumpster that I’ve ever seen. It was full of hundreds of pairs of sandals – a partial gospel. I understood that many who had attended this mega-church had cast off even the little bit of gospel truth they had once walked in (Yes, I know that there are some wonderful mega-churches out there that really DO preach the complete gospel).
Dear Reader, please don’t cast off the gospel for which Jesus paid such a high price. The Lord is speaking to the American church about this ‘lost gospel’ repeatedly at this point in time. He wants it embraced once again. So what exactly does it mean to walk in and to preach the complete gospel? What are American Christians missing? (You will recall that I have already mentioned my dream where I went back in time to the founding of America to find the pure white, clean, sturdy gospel shoes to bring them back to present day America. The dream ended before I could see if I had succeeded.) I have since then had a dream where I was putting on those same sturdy, white lace up shoes. I was aware that wearing these shoes would cause me to die (to self). I chose to put them on anyway. The true gospel asks us to take up our cross and follow Him! The Lord is indicating that I (America?) had succeeded in bringing back the gospel which includes dying to self that we might live! Praise God!
I have done a Bible study of the gospel and wish to offer my thoughts as to what the Lord is so concerned about that He is giving repeated dreams on this subject. That article follows next...
SYMBOLS THAT HAVE CONSTANT MEANINGS
There are a few symbols in dreams that I have had that have never varied in meaning:
-Snakes. They always seem to represent a spiritual attack from satan or demonic forces. Usually in a dream it is obvious that the snake is a bad thing. But, if you find yourself having ‘compassion’ on a snake in a dream for whatever reason... watch out! Don’t have compassion on demons (snakes) no matter how ‘pitiful’ they are portrayed. If a snake represents a person with a Pharisaical attitude, don’t kill the snake or you will become like it. Jesus didn’t kill the Pharisees, but He did forcefully address them. If the snake is scaly, red and a viper, it represents the spirit of harlotry or spiritual adultery. Leviathan, representing pride (Job 41), has thick scales.
- Dark clouds or darkness are descriptive of the ‘Day of the Lord’ (coming in judgment).
-Light, lamp, candle: God's Word is our light to light our path.
-Wearing a used coat: A calling or 'mantle'. Elisha was given Elijah's prophetic mantle. Your calling, ministry or spiritual gift will be similar in some way as the one who gave you the coat. The dream will explain by the style and/or colors of the coat. Putting on used climbing gear for a climb up a high mountain would have a similar meaning. This is the climb up Mount Zion, the City of God, following in the footsteps of those Christians who have gone before us.
- Another unchanging symbol is shoes. Being conscious of losing your shoes, putting on shoes that are inappropriate for the terrain, needing to clean your shoes, or not putting them on in circumstances in real life where you would wear shoes is symbolic of not walking (fully) in the true gospel that the Bible teaches. God is trying to say that something is missing from your walking out the gospel truths of the Bible or sharing it with others. The gospel shoes are part of the full armor of God. Eph.6:15 states, “…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace”.
I know that Moses took off his shoes on Holy ground and King David went barefoot in humility when his kingdom was in jeopardy. But in this time in America, the Lord is trying to get the truth of the gospel out in an imperative manner and the only meaning in dreams for shoes I’ve come across in this hour is what I just stated.
***************************************************************************
I would like to sidetrack this paper about dream interpretation with an urgent statement about the gospel according to the Word of God. You see, I have had many dreams about shoes and I keep hearing dreams from others that they are missing their shoes (the gospel). Just this week as I was writing this, I found out a man from the church we attend had a dream about walking barefoot on thorny, prickly dead grass as he tried to work, to mow the grass. He heard a voice in his dream saying, “You can’t work without your shoes.” In other words, he couldn’t do God’s Kingdom work without preaching and living the full gospel. His dream was on Monday and he had the same dream again on Wednesday. My latest dream about shoes came on the Tuesday between his two dreams.
So without being aware of each other’s dreams, the Lord gave dreams about shoes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this past week as I was writing this section, not to mention a dream that a woman in our church had that same week about a false gospel being preached in America that was difficult to escape from. That is also equivalent to being without the correct shoes. By the way, note that it was difficult to escape from the false gospel in my dream, too (next paragraph). Many of us have entrenched within us an American gospel of SELF. I know that I’m still in the process of coming out of that false gospel. And these are just some of the dreams that I’ve been made aware of from among our own congregation. What alarmed me about my ‘shoe’ dream on Tuesday was that it was the first time I have dreamed about more than one pair of ‘lost shoes’.
In my dream, I was on the property of a mega-church walking barefoot on its grass which had numerous thorns in it (just like our brother’s dreams). I had lost my sandals (a partial gospel that can’t take you ‘everywhere’ a true Christian is asked to go by the Lord, to take up our cross and follow Him) and I was looking for those sandals to protect my feet from the thorny ground, as well as looking for a way out of this mega-church which was trying to keep me from leaving, that is, from getting free of the deceptive teaching. As I was searching for a way out, I came across the biggest dumpster that I’ve ever seen. It was full of hundreds of pairs of sandals – a partial gospel. I understood that many who had attended this mega-church had cast off even the little bit of gospel truth they had once walked in (Yes, I know that there are some wonderful mega-churches out there that really DO preach the complete gospel).
Dear Reader, please don’t cast off the gospel for which Jesus paid such a high price. The Lord is speaking to the American church about this ‘lost gospel’ repeatedly at this point in time. He wants it embraced once again. So what exactly does it mean to walk in and to preach the complete gospel? What are American Christians missing? (You will recall that I have already mentioned my dream where I went back in time to the founding of America to find the pure white, clean, sturdy gospel shoes to bring them back to present day America. The dream ended before I could see if I had succeeded.) I have since then had a dream where I was putting on those same sturdy, white lace up shoes. I was aware that wearing these shoes would cause me to die (to self). I chose to put them on anyway. The true gospel asks us to take up our cross and follow Him! The Lord is indicating that I (America?) had succeeded in bringing back the gospel which includes dying to self that we might live! Praise God!
I have done a Bible study of the gospel and wish to offer my thoughts as to what the Lord is so concerned about that He is giving repeated dreams on this subject. That article follows next...
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