I dreamed of four angels who presented themselves to me as "The Four Horsemen of Awakening." Each angel identified the move of God's Spirit he represented, and their arms were linked together indicating they were a solid, unified force to be reckoned with—the necessary team to bring nations into revival and awakening.
Strangely, we were on a golf course and they hit a ball down the fairway. The ball landed about 10 feet away from a large crocodile, which prevented them from continuing to play. I could see that at the end of the course a large party was waiting for them to finish. But instead they were waiting for something. Then in the dream I realized they were waiting for the church to pray so they could deal with the crocodile and finish the course.
I had this dream during my first night of ministry in Australia and New Zealand. I was there to speak at some conferences in which I was to help them understand what God was saying to their nations, to the church and to each one individually. I was there to release God's prophetic voice.
Was this a dream from the Lord? Or was it the pizza I ate the night before? Or was it merely a story line produced from my overactive imagination? Could it be that God was giving me a message to share with those I would be speaking to at the conferences? I got up and wrote this dream down and began to pray God would bring the clarity and wisdom needed to understand what He was saying.
God has always desired to communicate with His people. Yet for centuries God was thought of as a silent, distant, almost indifferent Creator who ruled the affairs of the universe and, though omnipotent, took little interest in the day-to-day lives of His children.
The church has become increasingly aware not only that God wants to speak to His people, but also that He is, in fact, concerned with even the smallest details of our lives: "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows" (Luke 12:6–7).
Throughout Scripture we see a God who cares and who communicates His concerns, His direction, His judgments and His blessings to the people of this world. At times He spoke directly to His servants; other times His mouthpieces, the prophets, delivered His messages. Judges, kings, priests and even musicians carried God's instructions to the people. And in numerous instances in Scripture, God directed, corrected and instructed individuals through dreams and visions.
Dreams and visions are perhaps some of the most common ways God has communicated with humankind. The Bible contains more than 50 references to dreams and visions in which God delivered messages. Abraham learned of his promised lineage through dreams and visions. Jacob's life was drastically changed through a series of dreams in which he received God's promises regarding his heritage. God revealed Joseph's destiny through his dreams. Daniel, Obadiah, Nahum and Zechariah were among the prophets often visited with revelations from God through visions and dreams.
Great protection was given to the Christ child as God's messengers spoke to Joseph and the Magi in dreams. The apostles Peter, Paul and John were later visited by the Spirit of God in visions.
Webster's dictionary defines a dream as "a succession of images or ideas present in the mind during sleep." Dreams are formed in the subconscious mind based on images and symbols that are unique to the individual, depending on his or her background, experience and current life circumstances. Dreams can communicate truth about ourselves—or others—that our conscious minds might have failed to acknowledge. One word for dream in the Greek language is enupnion, which is defined as "something seen in sleep or a vision in a dream." Dreams can originate strictly within the natural mind or can be given as messages from God's Spirit and received within the mind. They are not always easy to understand, but dreams are one means by which God might choose to speak to us.
Webster's dictionary defines a vision as "the act or power of perceiving abstract or invisible subjects as clearly as if they were visible objects." A vision is also defined as "foresight." One Hebrew word for vision is chizzayown, which literally means "a revelation." A Greek word translated as "vision" in the New Testament, horasis, means "the act of gazing at something or an inspired appearance."
Dreams and visions are basically the same except that a dream occurs during periods of sleep, while a vision generally refers to images or revelations received in picture form while awake. I have often heard people say that they had a dream just before getting out of bed in the morning, but they were not sure if it was a dream or a vision since they thought they were awake at the time. Whether these were dreams or visions is immaterial. More important is the message of the revelation.
Joshua 1:8 tells us to meditate upon God's Word both day and night. Meditating on God's Word before bed often results in revelation through a dream. At times this might be a divine revelation—God speaking to you through the dream. Or it might be a personal revelation—your subconscious mind revealing your deepest, innermost thoughts. Psalm 16:7 confirms this: "I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my affections also instruct me in the night seasons."
How We Receive Dreams
Dreams are messages sent either from God's Spirit or from our own souls, which comprise the mind, will and emotions. The subconscious mind within our souls provides the background or screen for these messages to be displayed on. Spiritual dreams are inspired by God, then communicated to our subconscious minds. These must then be received and discerned by our conscious minds through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Just as television and radio waves are broadcast through the air and must be tuned in to, so dreams are constantly being broadcast to the subconscious mind, both by God's Spirit and by our own souls. We must learn to turn on our receivers and tune in to the messages being sent.
The prophet Micah said that he "saw" the Word of the Lord (Micah 1:1). How did he see this word? The New International Version of the Bible calls this a vision. Micah likely saw images or pictures projected on the screen of his mind, which communicated God's word to him.
If we compare the communication of the Spirit of the Lord through dreams to other methods of divine communication mentioned in Scripture—prophecy, a word of knowledge, etc.—the primary difference is that dreams are given first to the subconscious mind before being perceived by the conscious mind.
Interpretation of the Four Horseman Dream
The dream at the beginning of this chapter was a prophetic word, not only to those nations where I was ministering but also to the Body of Christ. The four angels, or "Four Horsemen of Awakening," are being sent to earth to assist the Church in bringing a last days revival and harvest. Unlike the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse described in the book of Revelation, which bring death, war, famine and conquest, these angels are being sent for breakthrough, revival and miracles. They were on a golf course, for Paul speaks of finishing the course. The crocodile was a symbol of leviathan (Job 41), which represents a spiritual force of darkness that tries to threaten, intimidate and delay God's purposes from moving forward.
The key to the dream was that the angels were waiting for something in order to confront the opposition and be able to advance. What were they waiting for? They were waiting for the church to arise and pray, to engage in the battle with them so the final celebration could take place.
God still speaks today through dreams and visions, but only those who have their hearts and spirits tuned to His Spirit will hear and receive all that God has for them. 
Excerpted from Jane Hamon's book, Dreams and Visions: Understanding and Interpreting God's Messages to You, © Chosen Books, 2016.
Pastor Jane Hamon is a gifted teacher and storyteller. She has written three insightful books including Dreams and Visions, The Deborah Company, and The Cyrus Decree. She and her husband, Tom, have been in ministry together for more than 30 years and are the senior leaders of Vision Church and Christian International Ministries.
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