Metaphors & Similes
Ancient scripture is full of metaphors, similes, parables, idioms, and allegories. We will focus on metaphors this time. A metaphor says “this is that”. It shows two objects as being identical. For instance, Jesus is the Lamb of God, Jesus is the Lion of Judah, Jesus is the branch, Jesus is the Vine, etc. The scrolls don’t say Jesus is like a lamb or like a lion, it says He IS. This is how a metaphor is different than a simile. Similes use the words “like” and “as”. The bible is also full of those. For purposes of dream interpretation, you can look at them both the same. They compare two things as being alike. Here’s a free nugget: One thing you will notice about satan is that your adversary the devil is like a roaring lion. You’ll notice that the bible says Jesus IS the Lion of Judah. Notice also it says that the enemy IS LIKE a lion, not he is a lion. What attributes of satan are like a roaring lion? He likes to intimidate, he’s got a big ferocious mouth (mocker), he attacks people, and he thinks he rules the jungle, but we all know he doesn’t…he just likes to think he does.
Like the bible, dreams are often parables filled with metaphors and similes – not to mention riddles, idioms, enigmas, etc. Often when I am interpreting a dream and the object, animal, etc., doesn’t seem to make sense in the dream, I will ask myself if this is a metaphor for me or the person who the dream is about. Am I or another person like this item, object, animal, etc.? How? I will often look at the item, object, creature, etc., and ask what else has the same characteristics. If there is an alligator in the dream, ask what the characteristics are…a big mouth, attacks, tries to stay hidden, (and makes a nice purse! he! he!). What or who is like that? Are there people in the dreamer’s life like that? Are they like that? Just start asking questions. For instance, in one of my dreams there was an oven and I was baking cookies and taking them out of the oven to cool. My pastor (in my dream) liked that I was doing that. After meditating on this I wondered what the oven was. I asked myself what characteristics it had. It opens and it is warm inside. It was revealed to me that the oven was my heart. The oven represented how my heart was opening up to others and being “sweet” (the cookies). I was taking time to “cool off” before speaking (serving the cookies). God (my pastor in the dream) was pleased. If this had been a negative dream, it could have represented being “hot” or angry. In two other dreams there was a microwave oven. One was positive and one was negative. Context is always the key to correctly interpreting. In the positive one, the microwave represented preparing things quickly for others. The characteristic that the microwave had was “quick”. In another dream, a microwave represented someone’s mouth, as in quick to respond, not really thinking before they spoke…the result is doing that cooks up trouble. Another example is a chest of drawers. Taking something off the top could represent “getting something off your chest”. The bottom drawer might represent the bottom of your heart (sincerity)…the key word is chest. What is like a chest? The human body…it has a chest that can represent the heart. The heart can store things up like a chest of drawer. Refrigerators in my dreams often represent my heart…I am relieved when I discover the type of refrigerator is an “upright” one instead of a side-by-side or “divided” one! Although, I suppose a side-by-side refrigerator could also represent unity if interpreted that side-by-side means supporting or coming along beside someone. The freezer could represent a cold place in my heart or it could represent storing things up for later or preserving something.
One of the exercises that really opened up this way of thinking is an exercise called an object lesson. And while I learned it while studying with John Paul Jackson and Streams Ministries, I have since met people who have also done this exercise in school and have shared how they were impacted as well. In the exercise, you take any object and ask God how you are like that object. The point of the exercise is to understand how to think metaphorically. I was teaching a class in Florida, called “The Art of Hearing God,” and was going over this exercise explaining to people how important it was and how God wanted to speak to them anytime, anywhere, and through anything. Upon coming back from lunch that day, a lady came up to me in tears with two Taco Bell hot sauce packets in her hand. She said God had been really dealing with her in that class and her heart had been hard and unrepentant. When she went to Taco Bell for lunch, she was using two hot sauce packets and one said, “It’ll be o.k.” and the other said, “I love you anyway”. She was profusely touched by God and said she knew He was speaking directly to her and could feel His tangible love through two hot sauce packets!. There is story after story of testimonies of how God really touched people through this exercise. When you understand God can and does use objects, items, animals, etc., to speak to us, interpreting them in dreams becomes easier. Simply start by meditating on the characteristics of what you’re trying to interpret and ask yourself and God how this is like something else with the same characteristics or what else has these same characteristics.
EXERCISE: An object lesson. Take any object and ask God how you are like that object. Consider the size, function, color, purpose, attributes, flaws, improvements that could be made, multiple uses, etc. It doesn’t have to be long. Share with us what God says to you or how it impacted you. Email us at dreams@gatewaytodreams.com.
