BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT (1 John 4:1)

I’ve written many articles across the internet as well as given some testimonies to people and in churches of experiences called visions. In this article, I want to point out my understanding of visions according to the Bible. So then, what really is a vision? A vision is a supernatural presentation of a visual (and many times audible) message from God to the mind of a person. If a person is asleep when this happens, then it is a dream or what the Bible calls a night vision (Genesis. 46:2; Job 33:15; Daniel. 2:19; Acts 18:9) and is seen not by our physical eyes, but is a mental image.

When a person is awake and sees a vision, it is the Lord showing him something in his mind's eye, even though to the person it may be so real that he actually thought he saw it with his physical eyes. In the case of Ezekiel (Ezekiel. 8:1-11:24), others were present when he had this vision (8:1) but they were not transported "in the visions of God" to Jerusalem (8:3) as he was. Ezekiel's body stayed put while he experienced being transported to Jerusalem in his mind. In Acts 12:9, Peter didn't think that what he was experiencing was real, but thought he saw a vision. This leads us to conclude that a vision is not a physical reality, but a spiritual happening.

A trance and a vision are the same thing according to Numbers 24:4, 16 and Acts 10:10, 19. In a trace or vision a person's physical eyes are open and usually fixed into a stare, but they are not receiving the normal physical images. Instead they receive direct supernatural images from God.

The transfiguration of Jesus is called a vision (Mathew. 17:9), and is therefore possibly something that didn't suddenly happen physically. Instead, the disciples' spiritual eyes were opened to glimpse the glory of Jesus that was always there, but that they had been blinded to when looking through their physical eyes. This would be the same thing that happened to Elisha's servant when the Lord opened his spiritual eyes to see the horses and chariots of fire surrounding them (2 Kings. 6:17).

The scriptures clearly state that Abraham (Genesis. 15:1), Jacob (Genesis. 46:2), Balaam (Numbers. 24:4, 16), Samuel (1 Samuel. 3:1, 15), Nathan (2 Samuel. 7:17; 1 Chr. 17:15), Isaiah (Isa. 1:1), Ezekiel (Ezekiel. 1:1; 7:13; 8:13; 11:24), Daniel (Daniel. 2:19: 8:1-27; 9:21-24), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel. 2:28), Zacharias (Luke. 1:22), Peter (Acts 10:10, 19), John (Revelation. 9:17), Ananias (Acts 9:10), Cornelius (Acts 10:3), and Paul (Acts 16:9-10; 18:9; 2 Corinthians. 12:1), all had visions. Although the word "vision" is not mentioned, the criteria of a vision was met with Elisha's servant (2 Kings. 6:17) and Micaiah (1 Kings. 22:19-22).

We should also note that the devil with his deceit can bring about fake visions meant to lure the believer from the will of God or to strengthen the unbeliever’s heart in wickedness and give him reason to stray. Many religions are a result of this kind of deceit. One that I’ve so often had, is people who claim that they’ve seen a vision of Mary ‘the mother of Jesus’ Mary did not save any one-it is Jesus that bore the sins of the human race, was smitten and hang on the cross to accomplish the salvation plan of God and not Mary. Yes she did a good work but it is Jesus that ought to be worshiped. Whatever the vision you get , you’ve got to try it with the word – Is it in line with the word of God?  The ‘Bible’ -

1 John 4:1 ‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. The Word of God also speaks against false dreams of false prophets (Jeremiah. 23:27-32; 29:8; Zechariah. 10:2).  

Glory to God!