Join Rabbi Schneider on a transformative journey as he breaks down the barriers of understanding concerning prophecy, visions, and dreams. This episode highlights the need for spiritual sensitivity to perceive God’s messages and the importance of acting in faith when addressing these profound spiritual insights. With relatable examples and thoughtful explanations, listeners are encouraged to embrace these essential elements of faith for personal growth and divine alignment.
00:00:01 Introduction to Prophecy, Dreams, and Visions
In the last days, I’ll pour forth my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. The foundational scripture that we’re launching this series from is found in the book of Bereshit, the book of Genesis, chapter number five, verse 23 through 24. Hear the word of God. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. Beloved, this is a prophetic type of what it means to walk with God today. Enoch was so intimate with God. He was so locked arm in arm in his walk with God that he ascended right up into God’s presence. Beloved, this is the call on your life and my life to be conformed to the image of God’s son and to be raised up with him, even as Enoch was with the Lord himself. Right now in this series, I’m looking at the phenomenon of prophecy, dreams, and visions. In Joel chapter 2, verse number 28 and 29, Joel prophesied that in the last days, the Father would pour forth His Spirit on all flesh. He said the result of this outpouring of the Ruach HaKadosh would be that sons and daughters would be able to speak by inspiration of the Spirit, that they would prophesy. Secondly, that young men would be able to see in the Spirit things that are not known in the natural. And thirdly, that when we’re sleeping at night, the Father would be communicating with us through dreams. And so the experience of walking in the Spirit should be that we’re experiencing the reality in our daily lives of prophecy, dreams, and visions. Now, I know that this sounds kind of far-fetched or out of the box for some of us. That’s why I’m going to qualify exactly what I mean by these terms. But before I qualify and describe what prophecy is, what a vision is, and what dreams are, before I qualify, I want you to hear me, Eddie Dean, beloved ones, that I’m not the one that has come up with this. This is not something that I’ve invented. This is from the Word of God. In Acts chapter 2, when the Spirit of God came, A Hebrew holiday had come, Shavuot, which is known in Greek as Pentecost. Suddenly, as they’re sitting there on this Jewish holiday, the Spirit of God comes into the room in Acts 2, a violent rushing wind. He manifests Himself over the disciples as a tongue of fire, a speaking oracle. A tongue is a speaking oracle because God gives us His Spirit that He would communicate to us and speak to us. So Peter, Kepha, has to stand up and say they’re not drunk. What they’re experiencing is what was prophesied by Joel. And then he quotes from the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, Joel chapter 2, verse 28 and 29. And he says, this is what the Lord prophesied in Joel when he said, in the last days, sayeth the Lord, I’ll pour forth my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. And so as the Spirit of God is poured out, Peter says in Acts chapter 2 that what has happened is the fulfillment of Joel 2, which is God’s Spirit upon us now being manifest on our lives and in our lives through prophecy, dreams, and visions. And so with that said, what I want to do now is I want to qualify. The Hebrew word, beloved, for prophesy is the Hebrew word naba. And it most simply means to speak by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So someone is prophesying in the most simple sense of the word when they’re speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And so in Acts chapter 2, Peter, in describing what happened at Pentecost, says this in verse number 17, your sons and daughters shall prophesy. What is he meaning? that because the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in the believer, the believer will be inspired to speak God’s words by God’s power. Now, many times when people hear the word prophecy, they think about just something that has yet to be fulfilled, but was spoken about in an earlier time. And that is one dimension of prophecy, something that speaks about what will happen in the future. that has yet to be fulfilled, or maybe has come to be fulfilled, and as a result of that, the prophecy was fulfilled. That’s one element of prophecy. Other people, when they think of prophecy, they think only of personal prophecy. And the personal prophecy, for those of you that are familiar, are in groups of believers that are coming from a more charismatic or Pentecostal persuasion. And oftentimes, someone will give what they say is a word from the Lord, and they’ll say, thus saith the Lord. And they’ll begin to speak, and they’re saying that they’re delivering a word from the Lord, either to a congregation or maybe you’ve even had somebody speak over your life individually and say, I have a word from the Lord for you. And they’ll say, thus sayeth the Lord. And they’ll begin to speak something over your life that they say is a word of the Lord. That’s another dimension of prophecy. Let me simply comment that my experience with that type of prophecy is that it is legitimate, but much of what people claim is from the Lord is oftentimes maybe a good word, but not God’s word. In other words, I’ve had people come to me and say, I have a word from the Lord for you. And they speak something over my life that they say, this is God’s word for you. And God told me to say this to you. They say to me, thus sayeth the Lord. and they begin to speak a word over my life. And I’ve had instances that it was a true word from the Lord, but the majority of the time, maybe 80% of the time, the person might have been sincere, but it wasn’t actually a word from God. They thought it was a word from God, but it wasn’t a word from God. Now, I share that with you for those of you that are familiar with this or those of you that will have somebody come and speak a word over your life to be careful not to just go act on it if the Lord doesn’t confirm it to you. And don’t just receive it if it’s not bearing witness with your spirit. Be open before the Lord. Be humble before the Lord. Be willing to receive. But just because somebody says, thus saith the Lord, this is what God’s saying to you, don’t receive it and believe it just because they say it’s from the Lord. You take it and you bring it before the Lord and let the Lord bring confirmation to you or tell you not to receive it. So that’s another type of prophecy. But I’m not talking about prophecy that has to do with the future event being fulfilled. And neither am I just talking about personal prophecy or a word to the church where someone says, thus saith the Lord. I’m talking about something more simple, beloved. Peter says, your sons and daughters, and that means everybody. That’s the whole point of this. This is for all people. All whom His Spirit has been poured upon will be able to operate in communication with me through prophecy, dreams, and visions. Prophecy then, nabah in Hebrew, simply means to speak by inspiration of the Spirit. Let’s say, beloved, that you just feel inspired to reach out to somebody, to tell them that you love them and you feel that God is calling you to do that. That’s prophecy. That’s not about because you’re speaking by inspiration of the Spirit. It wasn’t you that came up with that love. It wasn’t you that led yourself to reach out to that person. The Spirit of God in you was compelling you, was motivating you towards that person. Those of you that are parents or grandparents, you have children. You’re very concerned about your children. You love your children. They all go through things in life. Growing up is a hard thing. And as you look to the Lord for your children, the wisdom that you’re sharing with them is the heart of God. The Lord will give you wisdom how to counsel your children, how to speak to your children, how to speak into their lives. When you speak to your children, beloved, out of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, You’re prophesying in the general sense of the word.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. But first, I want to invite you to take Rabbi’s teachings with you wherever you go with the Discovering the Jewish Jesus podcast available on Spotify, Apple podcast, and many more. You can listen to all of Rabbi’s powerful messages anytime. Stay rooted in God’s word. Just search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on your favorite podcasting platform today. Did you know that this ministry is all about preparing the way for the inevitable return of King Jesus? Well, it’s true. And we’d love for you to partner with us in this life-changing mission today. Together, we will change lives, not just locally, but all over the world. To support this team, call 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. Or you can visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi Schneider.
SPEAKER 03 :
Prophecy is simply speaking by inspiration of the Spirit. The second element here is visions. So the Lord said, your young men in Acts chapter two, verse number 17, will see visions. And to have a vision simply means that God shows you something in the spirit that you wouldn’t be able to see in the natural. It’s like he’s unveiling a mystery to you. And oftentimes when we think about a vision, again, we think of something that’s so out there that we kind of disconnect from it. But remember, Peter said that those whom the Spirit of God has been poured out upon, they’re going to be able to prophesy. They’re going to speak by inspiration of the Spirit because there’s a life force in you. Jesus is in you. He’s imparting Himself to you. And how could you not speak by His inspiration if He’s in you? If Jesus is in you and you’re in Him, how could you not prophesy? How could you not be speaking with His inspiration? How could you not be speaking with His clarity? How could you not be speaking with His motivation? How could you not be speaking with His heart and His feeling? You’re prophesying because He lives in you and He lives through you. He also said that you would see in the Spirit, that you would be able to have vision, spiritual vision, And what this means is to be able to perceive by the Spirit. Now, again, sometimes when we think of a vision, we think of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter six, sees the Lord high and lifted up with seraphim around him crying out day and night, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And Isaiah is so overwhelmed by this experience, he falls on his face trembling and he says, woe is me from a man of unclean lips. And I live among an unclean people. And he’s so overwhelmed by it that he’s almost like a dead man. And you think, I never had an experience like that. I’ve never had a vision. But most visions I have found that God’s children are having are not of that nature. They’re not at that level. But rather, beloved, they’re very subtle. Why does the Lord give prophecy, dreams, and visions? For the purpose of what? Of communication. And so the Lord is giving you a vision to communicate something to you. And I have found that visions often come to us very subtly through a picture that will simply flash in our mind, just simply a picture that we see in our mind. And God is telling us through the image or the picture that he shows us in our mind of something that he’s doing. For example, we had a really special service. There was just the Spirit of God just came in a special way. We were celebrating Pentecost, Shavuot. And then a woman that was with us that I really respect, very stable person, she got up and she said she had a vision. She said the Lord put a picture in her mind. And she said in this image, she saw a rainbow. And remember, before the Lord’s throne, we read in Revelation and Ezekiel, there was a rainbow. She said, before his throne, I saw a rainbow. And on both sides of the rainbow, there were pots of gold coins. And I saw Jesus, she said, just throwing the gold coins out into the congregation. And some people were catching them. But some of the other gold coins, she said, were just falling on the ground. And it was making Jesus sad because he wanted to give these gifts to people, but people weren’t taking them. And when she shared that with me, because I know her and I know her integrity, I knew it was really the Lord. That was a vision. She wasn’t overwhelmed in the sense that she fell on her face and couldn’t move. It was just a picture that God gave her of this rainbow and the gold coins and Jesus throwing the gold coins to the congregation, Him wanting to bless us. We had people being healed and people feeling the fire of God. It was just awesome and it was wonderful. This was the Lord’s way of showing us and encouraging the congregation that He was in our midst and He wanted us to take and receive, beloved, what He was giving us. I remember years and years ago, beloved, when I was taking a sabbatical from ministry, I was thinking about doing something in a particular line of work. And as I was sitting in the chair contemplating, in my mind, very subtly, just an image, just a picture comes into my mind of a ball in a socket, like a joint. And I knew that the Lord was communicating to me and he was saying to me, this is right for you. This fits for you right now in my plan for your life, like a ball in a socket. It’s perfect. Do it. And so God was able to lead me into this particular action at this point in my life through a vision. I’ve had many visions, beloved, over the years. We need to be paying strong attention because they’re so subtle usually that if we’re not paying attention, we’ll miss them. I mean, most of the visions that I’ve had are not so overwhelming that it’s like I fall over. But because I’ve settled myself to a degree in God, and I talk about how to settle yourself in the Lord in the earlier messages in this series as Enoch walked with God, because I’ve settled myself by the grace of God to some degree, I’m more attentive and more able to discern when the Lord is speaking to me. I remember years ago when I was shepherding Adad and I, I came to a prayer meeting one day and we were in a circle and there was a man that sat down across from me in the circle. And right when the man was sitting down, I saw a hammer just in the spirit. It was so subtle I would have missed it if I didn’t pay attention. It was so subtle. I saw a hammer coming down on his head. I said to him, as you were seated, I just saw a hammer coming down on your head. He said, I just found out I was sued today. So the Lord was revealing to me that this man really just felt like a hammer was come down upon him. And that gave him comfort to know that Jesus sees, Jesus cares. Let’s pray for you through this. Jesus is with you. We should pay attention, beloved, to the images, to the pictures that the Lord puts in our mind. So we’ve talked about prophecy, nabah in Hebrew, just the ability to speak by inspiration of the Spirit. We should be confident, beloved, that Jesus is in us, and because He’s in us, we have the ability as we practice abiding in Him to speak by inspiration of the Spirit, whether it be to our friends, our grandchildren, our children, our neighbors, whoever it might be, Jesus leads us and guides us. That’s why He said when witnessing, don’t worry about what you’re going to say because He said, I’ll give you the words in the hour thereof. Isn’t that prophecy that Jesus said when you witness, I’m going to give you the words in advance. I’m going to prepare you so when you speak, they’re going to be my words. That’s prophecy, speaking by inspiration of the Spirit. And then we talked about visions and there are different levels of visions and different types of visions that have different impact. But I have found the most common form of visions for God’s people are very subtle. They’re simply pictures, images that flash in our mind, almost like an emotion picture screen, just for a second, soft and subtle, that if we’re not paying attention, we’ll miss them. But remember, a picture tells a thousand words and God can give you discernment and insight and allow you to perceive things what you need to perceive in him through paying attention to these visions. Remember, Acts chapter 2, prophecy, dreams, and visions are the experience of those whom the Spirit of God has been poured out upon. But the third area that I want to talk about, and I’m going to talk about in greater length, beloved, is this area of dreams. Because the third area that Kepha, that Peter said, would be the experience of those whom the spirit of God was working in and on is dreams. And he says this, verse 17 of Acts 2, quoting once again, Joel 2, 28 and 29. Peter says this, and it shall be in the last days, God says, I will pour forth my spirit on all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, we’ve talked about, your young men shall see visions, we’ve talked about, and your old men, get this now, shall dream dreams. Now, once again, he’s not talking about achieving some kind of American dream or having a dream of becoming a star athlete or accomplishing some big thing. That’s not what he’s talking about in this instance. He’s talking about that God will save speak to you and communicate to you while you’re sleeping in your bed at night. When you go to sleep, beloved, God is still awake. God neither slumbers nor sleeps. And when you’re sleeping, you’re oftentimes at the right state for the Father to speak to you. I have found that some of the most significant times in my life of hearing from the Lord has been in my sleep. But you have to believe that He’ll speak to you in your sleep. And when He does speak to you in your sleep, You have to cultivate it. Many of you say, God doesn’t speak to me in my dreams. Well, I want you to know, I realize that some people are heavier sleepers than others, but get this, we all dream. So on next broadcast, I’m going to talk about how God speaks to us in dreams. how we can become better at retaining our dreams, and the different types of things that God will speak to us about in our dreams. So Father, you said to us in Acts chapter two, that because you poured forth your spirit upon us, that our sons and daughters would prophesy, young men would see visions, and old men would dream dreams. Father, we know you are covering all classes of people, that this would be, Father, the blessing upon us from having your spirit in our life. So I pray, Father God, that you’ll draw them in, that they’ll enter in, Father God, to walking with you, even as Enoch did, Father God, arm in arm, by hearing from you with greater clarity in their life through prophecy, dreams, and visions. In order to experience the weight of God’s supernatural glory on our shoulders, upon our lives, we must walk in the clean fear of the Lord. We oftentimes don’t hear about this much in the church. People are afraid to talk about the fear of the Lord. But the fear of the Lord is clean and it’s the beginning of wisdom. In fact, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 14, verse 23, when it comes to tithing, the Lord said, tithe unto me that you might learn to fear me. I want to encourage you as I encourage myself to Honor the Lord with your finances. I honor the Lord with my finances for many reasons. One of them is because I want to fear the Lord. Beloved, God’s a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. If God’s using this ministry to bless you, I encourage you to honor him with your finances through DJJ.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. And if God is communicating with you that he’d like you to sow into this ministry, would you please give a gift today? You’ll find Discovering the Jewish Jesus online at our website, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And if it’s easier for you, give us a call. Our phone number is 800-777-7835. And you can also send your financial donations in the mail today. Our address is Discovering the Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. And you know, your support, it doesn’t just keep this ministry on the air. It also helps us to reach those our world often forgets. Through our prison ministry, we’re bringing the love of Jesus, the Messiah, and the truth of God’s word to men and women behind bars. There are thousands being saved every year through the prison ministry of Discovering the Jewish Jesus. So I want to thank you so much for helping us to bring light and to share the freedom that only Jesus can give. These programs and our additional resources, they’re available because of friends like you who give generously. So again, if the Lord is encouraging you to support this ministry, would you so today? Give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com or again, Send your donation to our mailing address, PO Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. That’s PO Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. And you know, your gift, it really does make a difference. So thank you so much for supporting this nonprofit ministry. And now let’s turn things back over to Rabbi again, as he sends us off with God’s sacred and special blessing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Rabbi? The Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers, chapter 6, is not a blessing that comes from an impersonal being out there somewhere in the heavens. This special blessing comes from a person, Yahweh, God Almighty, our creator and maker. So receive God’s blessing into your life right now.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. Be sure to join us tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider explains where our dreams come from and how God could be trying to get your attention. That’s Thursday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
