Genesis 28:12-15 NIV
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. [13] There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. [14] Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. [15] I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. ”
They can be, though they are not always. In this case, God repeated the promises he had made to Jacob’s father and grandfather. The dream corresponded to the already revealed will of God. Likewise, if God chooses to reveal his will to us in a dream, it will correspond to the teaching of Scripture.
Dreams should not take precedence over sound and well-thought-out decisions. Scripture and respected members of the church should be consulted. We shouldn’t expect God to tell us in a dream whom to marry or what career track to choose. That isn’t God’s normal pattern of revealing his will.
This dream was given to assure Jacob that God was present with him and that God intended to bless him, keeping the promise made to his ancestors. It also marked the beginning of Jacob’s lifelong relationship with God.
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