“And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.”
Acts 2:17 (RSV)
The apostle Peter spoke these words in a sermon at Pentecost, while quoting the prophet Joel. There are many instances in scripture of God speaking to people through a vision or a dream, but Joel said that God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh in the last days and there would be many dreams and visions, among young and old. The “last days” actually began at Pentecost.
During the time around Pentecost, a gentile, named Cornelius, sought to please God, while having minimal knowledge about Him. He was visited by an angel one day, telling him that his prayers and alms giving have been noticed by God. The angel told him to go and meet Peter, who would tell him more about Jesus, and Cornelius became one of the earliest gentile converts to Christianity. (Acts 10:3-5)
While this was happening to Cornelius, Peter received a vision about including the gentiles into the church ministry. Until then, Peter didn’t think the gospel message was for those outside of his own culture. God sent him a vision to correct him, and then Peter went to meet Cornelius, and the gospel spread to gentiles.
Paul once had a vision of a man from Macedonia, begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul went, but he never saw the man in his vision again, and the scriptures never tell us whether the man in his vision was an actual person living in Macedonia, or a Macedonian, calling him from heaven, or an angel. (Acts 16:9)
Thankfully, the apostles, Paul and Peter all obeyed the messages sent to them, whether through angels, visions or dreams, otherwise the gospel would not have spread across the nations as it did.
One of my favorite scenes in the Chosen movie series is Season 5, Episode 3. Jesus is grieved over the religious authorities’ rejection of Him. While He was praying, He began to weep with compassion for those in Jerusalem who totally rejected Him. While filled with sorrow in that scene, He suddenly hears harp music and someone singing a psalm. He walks a few yards away and sees a vision of David, singing and playing his harp in front of him. David, who died 1,000 years earlier, looks at Jesus and smiles at Him, which brought Him comfort, in his sorrowful state of mind.
Even though this scene is not found in scripture, it’s a beautiful reminder that Jesus felt the emotions we also feel. God gives all of us moments of encouragement from heaven. As Joel foretold, those moments could come through a dream, a vision, an angel or a friend who brings comfort in the right moment. God knows what we are feeling and sends us comfort at the precise moment to refresh our faith in Him.
I recently heard of two true stories about people who were given a special gift of comfort in a time of sorrow after losing a loved one. One story was about a grandfather who passed away in his late sixties, whose family was devastated by his untimely death.
While his adult daughter was still grieving over his death, she went into her two year old son’s room one morning, and the lively little boy said, “I love you, Mommy” She answered, “I love you too.” The two year old boy’s eyes were then focused on something behind his mother and he said, “And Papa loves you too.”
She turned around and saw nothing, but knew something very unusual just happened. God granted the little toddler a vision of seeing his late grandfather, her father, who sent a message of love that only a small child would be receptive to. Since only the pure in heart can see God, maybe they can occasionally see our loved ones who are in Heaven, when God allows them to.
The second story is about a friend whose aging mother had been in the ICU, due to kidney failure and diabetes. She was not permitted any water to drink by mouth, since she was receiving IV fluids. It was difficult for her loved ones to hear her ask for water, but be denied. She eventually passed away and went to be with the Lord.
During the mourning period, while riding in the car one day, the family’s young son said something in the car that stunned everyone. He said, “Grandma told me that she can have all the water and sugar that she wants now.” Christian, who was five years old, never knew anything about his grandmother’s medical condition, and never even saw her in the ICU. His parents asked Christian to repeat what he just said and he did. They pondered how he could have known such information. There was no other explanation except that his grandmother visited him in a dream or a vision. Children have pure hearts and they don’t lie about spiritual things.
God promised through the prophet Joel, that both young and old people would receive visions, dreams or an occasional visit by an angel. He said that our sons and daughters would prophesy, but most of the time, God sends people, like you and me to be the earth angel that someone else urgently needs at a specific time in their life.
Lord, thank you for pouring out your Spirit upon all flesh, whether it is through dreams, visions or angel visits. Open our hearts and the hearts of our sons, daughters and grandchildren to receive your Spirit’s outpouring. Amen
(PHOTOS: Two year old with his Papa and Christian below on the left with his brother)
