True Vs. False Visions and How to
Tell Them Apart
Had any good visions lately? As we close out the 20th
century, it seems that stories of visions inside and outside the church have increased to
significant proportions.
The term vision has different applications depending upon
one's worldview. From a biblical sense it may be used to describe an actual vision or
revelation from God. For materialists the term is often used in a skeptical or derogatory
sense. For example, they would argue that the resurrection appearances of Christ were
merely "visions," i.e., internal phenomena having no objective reality or even
necessarily any reality at all, something like hallucinations.
That the resurrection appearances were not visions or
hallucinations is evident not only from the biblical text but commonsense as well. First,
the disciples were not psychologically susceptible to visions because they did not expect
Christ to rise from the dead. Second, the total number of people who saw Jesus alive after
His death (500 on one specific occasion, 1 Cor. 15:6) present far too diverse a
psychological population to suggest they all experienced visions. Third, visions are
normally of short duration whereas some of Jesus' appearances were of very long duration
such as along the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-28). Further, Jesus appeared over a period of
40 days at many different times and places; visions cannot do the kinds of things Jesus
did such as taking food and giving it to the disciples to eat; encouraging and allowing a
skeptic to place his hands and fingers in your wounds, etc. True, some of the disciples at
first thought Jesus was a ghost. This was a normal reaction since they knew He was dead,
didn't expect a resurrection, and would logically assume little else. But Jesus Himself
replied, "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see; a ghost
does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Lk. 24:39). Then He ate fish,
something visions don't normally do. (For more information on the resurrection, please see
our just released Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection, available for a gift of
$5.)
In this article, we are going to look at visions from a
biblical worldview in both a positive and negative sense. By doing this we can discern
when a vision is true and when it is not true. In other words, assuming the vision is
real, how do we know whether it is from God, the devil, or our own psychological make-up?
In the Bible we find over 100 references to the word
"vision" or "visions." Illustrations of some of the biblical prophets
and individuals who received true visions from God include Abraham (Gen. 15:1), Isaiah
(1:1), Ezekiel (1:1), Daniel (1:17, 8:15), Obadiah (1:1), Nahum (1:1), Amos (1:1), Iddo (2
Chron. 9:29), and others. In the New Testament, we also find many examples of visions,
including to Zacharias (Lk. 1:22) and among the apostles (Mt. 17:9), e.g., Peter (Acts
9:10; 10:3), Paul (Acts 16:9, 2 Cor. 12:1) and John (Rev. 9:17).
There is no doubt that God has used visions in the life of
His people in both the Old and New Testaments or that He continues to do so today when it
suits His purposes. For different reasons, considered historically, visions may be
infrequent in number (1 Sam. 3:1; Ez. 7:26, Lam. 2:9) or relatively frequent (Joel 2:28;
Acts 2:17; Hos. 12:10).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
provides the following descriptive "short list" of biblical visions briefly
describing how and why they come:
The vision may come in one's waking moments
(Dnl 10 7; Acts
9 7); by day (Cornelius, Acts 10 3; Peter, Acts 10 9ff; cf Nu 24 4.16) or night (Jacob,
Gen 46 2); but commonly under conditions of dreaming (Nu 12 6; Job 4 13; Dnl 4 9)....The
character of the revelation through vision has a double aspect in the Bib. narrative. In
one aspect it proposes a revelation for immediate direction, as in the case of Abram (Gen
15 2 and frequently); Lot (Gen 19 15); Balaam (Nu 22 22), and Peter (Acts 12 7). In
another aspect it deals with the development of the Kingdom of God as conditioned by the
moral ideals of the people; such are the prophetic visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and
Micah, and the apocalypses of Daniel and John....From the nature of the vision as an
instrument of Divine communication, the seeing of visions is naturally associated with
revivals of religion (Ezk 12 21-25; Joel 2 28; cf Acts 2 17), and the absence of visions
with spiritual decline (Isa 29 11.12; Lam 2 9; Ezk 7 26; Mic 3 6).
One may see visions without being visionary in the bad
sense of that word. The outstanding characters to whom visions were vouchsafed in the
history of Israel--Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jesus and Paul--were all men of
action as well as sentiment, and it is manifest from any fair reading of their lives that
their work was helped and not hindered by this aspect of their fellowship with God.1
An example of a godly vision outside the Bible would be
that of Constantine the Great, Emperor of Rome. Constantine was a pagan prior to the key
Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D. Just before this battle, he saw a vision of the
monogram for Christ, and he heard the words, "In this sign, conquer."
Constantine was indeed victorious in battle and he took this symbol as his standard. The
dramatic vision led to his conversion to Christianity.
Nevertheless, Scripture is equally clear that all visions
are not from God. Some are from the vain imaginings of individuals and some are, clearly,
demonic. False visions lead people away from God's will and, frequently, into idolatry. In
Matthew 4:8, a rather startling passage, Satan gave Jesus Himself a vision of all the
kingdoms of the world: "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he said,
'if you will bow down and worship me.'" We all know the outcome.
So how do we tell a godly vision from an ungodly one? A
godly vision fits the characteristics of godly visions: The vision itself contains nothing
opposed to biblical teaching and the results of the vision glorify God. (As we will see
below, natural and demonic visions do the opposite.)
Consider the case of Constantine as an example of a godly
vision. First, it led to Constantine's conversion from paganism. Second, prior to the time
of Constantine, the church had experienced severe persecutions. In fact, some were
horrendous. And even the best arguments of the early apologists were unsuccessful, or not
completely successful, in turning away the hostility of the Roman government. As one
result of his vision, Constantine established the edict or constitution of Milan in 313
A.D. which required an expression of tolerance for Christianity. (It was not Constantine,
but Justinian who actually made the church a state church and turned heresy into a
criminal action against the state.) Third, Constantine himself convened the Council of
Nicaea which played a key role in the history of the church relative to the formulation of
the doctrine of the deity of Christ and also by extension, later, the doctrine of the
Trinity at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D.
In other words, as a pagan, it would be highly unlikely
that Constantine would invent the story of a vision that supported a religion he had no
interest in and was probably opposed to. The devil would certainly not give him such a
vision. If the vision did not come from the mind of Constantine or from the devil, it had
to come from God. Consider again its outcome. It helped convert Constantine to Christian
faith. The vision resulted in the ceasing of persecution of the church, which permitted
the church to grow dramatically.2 Indirectly, it lead to one of the most important
doctrinal creeds in the history of the Christian church. Indeed, given the fact that the
church had experienced nine major persecutions prior to this vision, one would think the
devil would have done all in his power to prevent such a vision.
So godly visions have certain characteristics; they teach
nothing unbiblical and their end result is to glorify God. But there are also false
visions. Jeremiah the prophet had to repeatedly warn Israel about the people claiming to
be God's prophets who were really false prophets leading the people astray: "Then the
Lord said to me, 'The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or
appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations,
idolatries and the delusions of their own minds'" (Jer. 14:14). Jeremiah also warned,
"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Do not listen to what the prophets are
prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. The speak visions from their own
minds, not from the mouth of the Lord'" (Jer. 23:16). Further, "The visions of
your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your
captivity. The oracles they give you were false and misleading" (Lam. 2:14).
In the above verses we see another manner by which to judge
true and false visions. In these cases, the godly visions exposed sin and prevented divine
judgment. But the ungodly visions of the false prophets, whether generated naturally or by
the devil, helped to rationalize sin, and later, when sin bore its full fruit, led to
judgment. In other words, godly visions speak the truth and encourage holiness; false
visions speak lies, divinations and idolatry and lead to sin and judgment.
Obviously, visions that endorse evil and destruction in the
lives of people, regardless of their source, are to the devil's best interests.
God declared through the prophet Ezekiel that those who saw
false visions were to have no part among His people:
Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They
say, "The Lord declares," when the Lord has not sent them; yet they expect their
words to be fulfilled. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when
you say, "The Lord declares," though I have not spoken? Therefore this is what
the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you,
declares the Sovereign Lord. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions
and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed
in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you
will know that I am the Sovereign Lord...."those prophets of Israel who prophesied to
Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace," declares the
Sovereign Lord. (Ezek. 13:6-9,16)
Listening to those who give false visions has its
consequences:
Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of
Israel: "The days go by and every vision comes to nothing"? (Ezek. 12:22)
Her prophets whitewash these [evil] deeds for them by false
visions and lying divinations. They say, "This is what the Sovereign Lord
says"--when the Lord has not spoken. (Ezek. 2:28)
Isaiah the prophet also mocked the false prophets,
"And these all stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger
from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing
visions, they stumble when rendering decisions" (Is. 28:7).
The prophet Zechariah warns: "The idols speak deceit,
diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wonder like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd." (Zech.
10:2) and "On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will
not put on a prophet's garment of hair in order to deceive" (Zech. 13:4).
In the New Testament also, we see that professing or even
genuine Christians can be led astray by false visions, e.g., "Do not let anyone who
delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a
person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him
up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body,
supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to
grow" (Col. 2:18-19).
The NIV textnote at this point comments that the term
"what he has seen" refers to "professed vision by the false teachers"
who were seeking to lead the Colossian believers astray. This is why the NASB translates
this verse, "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in
self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has
seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,..." (Col. 2:18). The word visions
is italicized so the reader understand that it is not part of the original text, but
implied.
Modern examples of false visions include those found in the
world of the cults and the occult (e.g., among psychics, astrologers, channelers, etc.)
where they are legion and they bear all the fruit of false visions: false doctrines, sin,
pride, idolatry, divination and other occult practices, etc. But false or dubious visions
may also occur within the church.
If we remember correctly, we recall that Oral Roberts had a
dramatic vision of a 60 ft. Jesus who appeared to him and told him that if he didn't raise
the money necessary for his medical hospital, that Jesus would kill him. But this was a
false vision. The hospital failed anyway and Roberts wasn't killed.
In the case of Kenneth Hagin he claims that in 1958
"the Lord Jesus suddenly appeared" before him, with an angel standing three feet
behind Him. In I Believe in Visions he reveals, "He [Jesus] said, 'This is
your angel.' 'My angel?" I asked. 'Yes, your angel, and if you will respond to him,
he will appear to you as I will at times; and he will give you guidance and direction
concerning the things of life...'"3 Those who have read of Kenneth Hagin's other
visions from "Jesus" in his I Believe in Visions will realize these
visions could not have come from God because their content was unbiblical e.g., they
supported Hagin's false theology regarding his unbiblical "Faith" teachings. (We
documented this in The Facts On False Teachings in the Church, The Facts On the
Faith Movement and our Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs.)
We do not mention these illustrations to negate whatever
good these men may have accomplished for the Lord, only to issue a warning. In
Pentecostal, charismatic and other experientially-oriented Christian circles, there appear
to be more false than genuine visions.
Because of this, Christians must become more discerning and
less accepting of claims surrounding contemporary visions. Consider Kenneth Copeland as an
example: In 1987, Copeland gave a prophecy "from Jesus Christ" in which
"Jesus" promised that new and dramatic angel manifestations were going to
increase in the church and that many "will have visitations from the spirit
realm." Concerning the angels, "Jesus" allegedly told Copeland:
A very outstanding time is on the way. A time is coming
when there will be manifestation of angels more than usual, more than there has been in
the past. Many of you are going to witness for yourselves the angel that has been put in
charge and in command of your ministry and your life. Many of you are going to have
visitations from the spirit realm. Many of you will have divinely appointed visions and
dreams....Oh, there's no time nor distance in the spirit realm. You'll be connected
together at times like you've never witnessed before. Suddenly, you will be standing in
that [spiritual] country, and suddenly you'll deliver a message and then suddenly you'll
be brought back in your kitchen again. Oh, I have some outstanding things, saith the
Lord.4
But this "Jesus" also denied his own deity when
he said: "Don't be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you are God....They
crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I
walked with Him and that He was in me. Hallelujah. That's what you are doing."5 (See
2 Tim. 2:13.) But in the Bible Jesus did claim to be God when He said, "He who has
seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:6) and "I and the Father are one" (Jn.
10:30) and "Before Abraham was, I Am" (Jn. 8:58, cf., Jn. 1:1,14; Phil. 2:9;
Heb. 1:3,8-10; Titus 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:1).
In an subsequent issue, Copeland explained that he does
believe in Christ's deity and that "Jesus" only meant to say He never claimed to
be God while on earth.6 But Copeland is incorrect again. (For example, the Gospel of John
is full of Christ's claim to be God while on earth--Jn. 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 15:26; 20:28,
29). Even the Kenneth Copeland Ministry Staff admitted in a letter dated February 9, 1988
(on file) that while on earth, "Jesus revealed His deity only in a very limited
number of situations." Copeland's own staff admits that Jesus did reveal His deity on
earth, thus denying Copeland's statement.
Another example of false visions would be those of Catholic
mystics throughout church history who have frequently had visions that confirmed
unbiblical Catholic beliefs or led people into unbiblical practices. Catholic mystics and
saints have had visions of purgatory in which they saw the souls of dead Catholics
suffering horribly and in which these souls frequently cried out to them or otherwise
communicated to them that they could ease their torments or get them out of purgatory by
praying to Mary, participating in the Catholic mass, performing duties with the Rosary,
etc. Obviously, the implications for the atonement of Christ, works salvation and the
entire structure of Catholic theological belief is variously supported by these visions
and therefore they could not have come from God. Nothing in Scripture indicates purgatory
even exists, let alone that we or Mary can help people out of purgatory when we use the
Rosary--that we should pray for the dead, etc. (See our next article.)
Some Catholic saints and mystics have also had visions of
"Jesus" with resulting stigmata, such as Padre Pio. Since the results of these
visions, again, actively support unbiblical Catholic beliefs, such visions could not have
been from Jesus Himself. (For a critique of Roman Catholic beliefs on salvation, see our Protestants
and Catholics: Do They Now Agree?, available for $15 plus $3 shipping and handling.)
This also is true for supernatural healings associated with these visions, which are
frequently related to the veneration of or prayers to Catholic saints and mystics.
While we cannot exclude God's mercy at any point, one must
be skeptical of miracles that support false beliefs. When we subsequently consider the
phenomenon of visions and apparitions of dead Catholic saints and mystics who may give
supernatural healings and/or unbiblical revelations, it is even more difficult to accept
such phenomena as having a divine origin.
As a final example of false visions, consider the TV
special "Miracles and Visions: Fact or Fiction?" for March 31, 1996 on the Fox
Network. This program discussed visions and apparitions of the Virgin Mary, the appearance
of the stigmata, with serious wounds healing so quickly something supernatural seemed
required; appearances of the Catholic host on a child's tongue, statues that wept real
liquid for weeks, glowing crosses in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, statues of Hindu gods
drinking milk by the liter, etc. The program observed in Medjugorje that, "the
miraculous is commonplace." In fact, this was declared by a former military
intelligence officer who had personally witnessed miraculous events. In examining the
miracles discussed on this show, we find that almost all of them support Roman Catholic
belief. The miracles referred to were seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses and many were
confirmed and/or authenticated photographically.
These kinds of miracles are apparently now happening around
the world, in many different countries and in most of the 50 states. The program moderator
noted, "Whether believer or skeptic, it's hard not to be amazed by the sheer number
of these events."
The program also discussed weeping icons in Brooklyn, New
York that ooze "healing" oil, "visions" of Jesus in the clouds and of
a blinking sun seen in Conyers, Georgia, where a woman "channels" revelations
from the alleged Virgin Mary. In fact, Conyers, Georgia was called "a modern day
Fatima"--no mean accolade.
In
Fatima, also, thousands of people saw a vision of the
sun that moved in circles and messages from Mary were given to teenagers. In Medjugorje as
well, the sun "pulsated." Thousands of people were convinced they saw the sun
blink, pulsate or move in circles and in the case of its pulsating and blinking, this was
said to have been captured on video. The program pointed out this was impossible to
explain physically or scientifically. Obviously, whether in Conyers, Georgia, Medjugorje
or Fatima, the sun did not pulsate, move in circles or blink, etc. No observatory recorded
this and it would be physically impossible regardless. While a natural explanation may be
possible for what people think they saw, we know the sun did nothing extraordinary.
However, the miraculous is also at least a possible
explanation in some cases. There are incidents in occult literature of film being
impregnated with false images and there are also cases of mass visions, both apparently
accomplished by spiritistic power.7
Regardless, in Conyers, Georgia, other things that people
saw included strange cloud formations and thousands of rose petals falling from the sky in
the dead of winter, something reminiscent of certain poltergeist events. Some people
heard, in a statue of Mary, a heart beating.
Now considered as a whole, there is little doubt that at
least some miraculous events are occurring. On the one hand, this may involve a simple
manipulation of the mind whereby things are seen that have no reality external to the
individual, as in the case of the moving sun. Or they may involve actual materializations
or apparitions of "Mary" or physical phenomena such as the rose petals falling
from the sky. In either case, the end result is a confirmation of unbiblical teachings, in
this case, Roman Catholic theology, and in particular its Mariology and everything
associated with it.
Significantly, there is evidence of direct physiological
influence on Nancy Fowler, the lady who receives revelations from "Mary" in
Conyers, Georgia. She has been tested by scientists who have found that her EEG pattern
goes into delta waves whenever she begins to receive messages from "Jesus." The
odd thing is that she goes into delta waves fully conscious, something that was said to be
physiologically impossible.
What do we make of all this? In light of the seemingly
great number of these kinds of false visions happening worldwide, this might be considered
a precursor to the statement of Jesus concerning the last days, "For false christs
and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the
elect--if that were possible" (Mt. 24:24).
As we have seen, godly visions honor God's character and
glory Him and when they contain prophecy, come true 100 percent of the time. Godly visions
will declare God's will, even if the vision is terrifying, as in the divine judgments of
the book of Revelation or the Old Testament. Godly visions are also never unbiblical.
To the contrary, false visions usually don't come true. But
even when they do, they still lead people away from the God of the Bible, or confuse
people spiritually--and they never bring honor and glory to God. In light of this, we must
remember that Scripture declares that counterfeit visions can be accompanied by genuine
miracles. In Deuteronomy 13:1-5 we read,
If a prophet [i.e., a seer, one who has visions], or one
who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or
wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says,
"Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship
them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God
is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your
soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands
and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to
death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of
Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the
Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
We began this article noting there were over 100 uses of
the term "vision" or "visions" in the Bible. We conclude it by
presenting a brief description concerning the most important usages. This material
indicates that three common themes of godly visions are 1) for encouragement in difficult
times, 2) warnings of future judgment for sin, whether national or individual and 3)
giving specific information e.g., regarding the future or other revelation of needed
information at a particular time e.g., Daniel's interpretation of the dream that God gave
to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
We hope the reader will find that reading these
illustrations is instructive:
Genesis 15:1--To encourage Abram concerning his
inheritance.
Genesis 46:2--To encourage Israel to go down to
Egypt.
Numbers 12:6 + Hosea 12:10--God reveals Himself to
His prophets in visions and dreams.
1 Samuel 3:15--The young Samuel is given a
vision-prophecy of judgment upon Eli.
Job 7:14--Visions can be disturbing or terrifying
(cf., Dan. 4:5; 7:15; Is. 21:2).
Job 33:15-18--God may give believer or unbeliever
warning visions in (or as) their dreams to keep them from sin and evil (cf., Daniel with
Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. ch. 2; Dan. 4:5, 25-27).
Isaiah 1:1--A vision concerning the judgment of
Judah and Jerusalem given to Isaiah.
Isaiah 21:2--God sends a terrifying vision that has
painful consequences to Isaiah.
Isaiah 29:11--The ungodly do not understand visions.
Isaiah 30:10-11--The rebellious and ungodly reject
divine visions.
Jeremiah 14:14/23:16--False prophets give false
visions, false hope, encourage idolatries, divination and self-delusion (cf., Lam. 2:14).
Lamentations 2:9--Visions may be sealed up during
periods of divine judgment.
Lamentations 2:14--False visions do not expose sin
or prevent judgment; they help rationalize sin (cf., Ezek. 22:28).
Ezekiel 7:13--A vision of judgment.
Ezekiel 7:26--Visions can't be forced.
Ezekiel 8:3--Ezekiel is taken in a vision to
Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 8:24--In a vision, the spirit of God takes
Ezekiel to the Babylonian exiles who then tells the exiles of the vision.
Ezekiel 22-24; 13:6-8--There are "false visions
and flattering divinations" when God's people have been unfaithful and rebellious
(cf., 13:9, 16; 21:29).
Ezekiel 43:3--Ezekiel is taken in a vision into the
temple inner court.
Daniel 2:19-23--A vision in the night to the prophet
Daniel explaining the meaning of the divine dream given to King
Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 2:28/7:1/1 Kings 3:15--Visions can occur
within dreams or be dreams.
Daniel
chs. 2/7--Visions to Nebuchadnezzar/Daniel
regarding the future kingdoms of the world and the second coming of Christ.
Daniel
ch. 8--A vision of the time of the end.
Daniel 8:15--Daniel was "watching the vision
and trying to understand it."
Daniel 8:26-27--The vision is sealed up and is
"beyond understanding"; godly visions may bring exhaustion and illness.
Daniel 9:22-24--The angel Gabriel explains Daniel's
vision to him.
Daniel 10:1--A revelation from God, a vision
concerning a great war and Daniel's mourning and fasting for three weeks.
Daniel 10:7--Only Daniel sees the vision, not those
with him. (However the men were terrified and fled, so they experienced something.) The
vision leaves Daniel extremely sick.
Daniel 10:16-17--Daniel is overcome with anguish
from the vision and weakened so that he can hardly breathe.
Joel 2:28:--In the Day of the Lord/last days, young
men will see visions--this is fulfilled in Acts 2:16-19.
Obadiah 1--Obadiah's vision concerning Edom's
judgment.
Micah 1:1--Micah's vision about the judgment of
Samaria and Judah.
Nahum 1:1--Nahum's vision regarding the judgment of
Ninnevah.
Zechariah 1:8ff--Zechariah's vision of God's mercy
to Israel and of judgment to her enemies.
Zechariah
ch. 13--God will remove false prophets
from the land.
Luke 1:22--Zechariah's temple vision from the angel
Gabriel regarding John the Baptist. (Note: even though this is stated to be a vision, it
concerns a obvious space-time appearance of the angel Gabriel i.e., not all visions are
internal, mental events, cf., Paul's vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:10
below.)
Luke 24:23--The women receive a vision of angels
regarding Jesus' resurrection.
Acts 9:10--God's vision to Paul and Ananias
concerning Ananias' healing ministry to the new convert Paul. (Note: by examining Paul's
conversion experience in Acts 9:1-9, and Paul's account of it in Acts 26:12-19, we see
that Paul referred to this experience as a "vision from heaven" and yet that it
included space-time manifestations. In Acts 9:7, Paul's traveling companions "heard
the sound" and in Acts 26:13-14 it says that a light brighter than the sun blazed
around Paul and his companions and "we all fell to the ground.")
Acts 10:3--The vision to the godly Roman centurion
Cornelius to send for the Apostle Peter in Joppa.
Acts 10:9--At the same time the messengers arrive
from Cornelius, Peter falls into a trance and has the three visions of the
"sheet" of animals coming down from heaven; this is the divine lesson which
teaches him to accept the Gentiles as co-participants of the Abrahamic covenant blessings.
Acts 10:19--Peter is "thinking about the
vision" and the Spirit interrupts him.
Acts 16:6--Visions may direct the course of
evangelism. Here Paul's vision of the man of Macedonia beckoning to him results in
preaching the gospel to those in Macedonia.
Acts 18:9--Jesus speaks to Paul in a vision to
encourage him to keep preaching.
2 Corinthians 12:1--Paul had momentous visions.
In conclusion, the above listing of visions in the Bible is
conclusive proof that godly visions have particular characteristics and therefore that
godly visions can be and are distinguished from ungodly, false visions.
Footnotes
1. James Orr (gen. ed.), q.v. "Vision," The
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), pp.
3057-08; a more complete list is given in Naves Topical Bible.
2. Harold O. J. Brown, Heresies (Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1984), pp. 3, 76, 120, 186.
3. Kenneth Hagin, I Believe in Visions (Tulsa, OK:
Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1984), p. 93.
4. Kenneth Copeland, "Take Time to Pray," Believers
Voice of Victory, February 1987, p. 9.
5. Kenneth Copeland, "Take Time to Pray," Believers
Voice of Victory, February 1987, p. 9.
6. Pre-publication copy, p. 1.
7. e.g., the editors of Time-Life Books, Psychic Powers
(Mysteries of the Unknown Series), (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1987), p. 117.
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