Prophecy, Déjà Vu, and the Dream State
Questions Concerning the Discernment of Future Events
ABSTRACT: One of the most overlooked aspects concerning the subject of biblical prophecy is that some one-third of the prophecies in The Bible originated as a dream—or as is sometimes the case, a vision, which is just another way of saying a waking dream. If that’s true, then perhaps the domain of prophecy isn’t restricted to just the prophets of old but is also open to all humans due to the fact that we all dream…
ASK THE AVERAGE PERSON on the street: “Why are there prophecies in The Bible?” And no doubt you’d receive the same answer every time.
They’d say, “Why, of course, that’s easy—to predict the future, silly. Why else?”
Yes, how silly of me—to predict the future, of course; that’s the assumption of most people, believers and unbelievers alike. I mean, even the dictionary defines the word “prophecy” as the foretelling or prediction of what’s to come. What’s more, this word “prophecy” is accompanied by an assortment of synonyms, all which allude to the same thing—words like “forecast,” “prognostication,” “prognosis,” and “divination.” Based on this, then, why else would anyone think otherwise? If the dictionary defines “prophecy” as a prediction, and The Bible uses the word “prophecy” when speaking of events that are yet to occur, then naturally we’d assume that God has His prophets “prophesying” to predict the future.
There’s only one problem with that kind of logic: The way mankind defines words is usually different from how the God of The Bible defines them, as is the case with words like “saint,” “sanctify,” and “holy.” And just as we’re able to determine the true meaning of those words by looking to their scriptural context, we’ll do the same thing with the word “prophecy.” Not only will this provide us with its true meaning, but it’ll also impart a greater insight into the purpose of prophecy itself, as well as The Bible as a whole.
But before we turn to Scripture to see how it conveys the meaning of prophecy, let’s first establish why most people assume that prophecies in The Bible are placed there by God so we can predict the future.
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Prophecy, Déjà Vu, and the Dream State: Questions Concerning the Discernment of Future Events
“Intriguing… Shakes up how we think about not just prophecy but human consciousness itself… Broadens the scope of our understanding…”
To hear Price’s essay review of Prophecy, Déjà Vu, and the Dream State, CLICK HERE.
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Apart from strictly biblical texts, several sources promote the idea that prophecy enables humanity to foretell the future. Of the various religions besides Christianity and Judaism, others, like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Bahá’í Faith, and some Native American tribes, have their prophecies and prophets. Sometimes, as in the case of the Grecian culture, the notion of prophecy was associated not with a particular religion but with a particular site where oracular utterances occurred, like the Oracle of Delphi. Then, quite apart from any particular religion or place, certain unique individuals became famous for their apparent ability to predict future events, like Joan of Arc, Nostradamus, and Edgar Cayce.
Against such a universal backdrop of human experience, it’s no wonder that whenever we consider the role of biblical prophets and prophecy, we expect the same thing. Of course, before we go along with the crowd simply because that’s how we’ve always been taught to view prophecy, I’d like to offer a tool in deciphering the true meaning and purpose of this prophetic gift that pervades humanity.
IN PROVIDING THIS TOOL, I hope to accomplish two things. First, I’d like to show that, although prophecy plays a huge role in The Bible, it’s by no means limited to its pages. Second, although the gift of prophecy isn’t just in the biblical record, its role in Scripture is unique among all other sources, particularly in terms of the historical nature of those prophecies. And by that I mean, whereas many cultures contain traces of this prophetic impulse, the prophecies in The Bible are unique in the way they’re historically grounded and verifiable in terms of the timing of their fulfillment. It’s this central fact of biblical prophecy—again, as distinct from all other prophetic traditions—that’s given rise to the notion that those prophecies can predict future events virtually down to the year and day of their occurrence.
But before we can make our final judgment on this aspect of prophecy, we should first examine how the gift of prophecy isn’t limited to the prophets in The Bible but is something all humans exhibit, although to lesser degrees.
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To hear Kent and Zen Garcia talk about correcting biblical misconceptions, from October 28, 2021, CLICK BELOW.
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Truth be told all humans possess this gift simply by virtue of being human. How can I make such a claim? I do so because of a peculiar phenomenon, which, like the universal belief in Heaven or Hell, just happens to be another of those distinctly human traits common to people the world over. I’m talking about déjà vu.
Returning to the dictionary, we find that déjà vu is an expression derived from the French, meaning “already seen,” which describes a feeling of having already experienced our present situation. By some estimates, roughly seventy percent of the global population claims to have experienced déjà vu in one form or another. Sometimes it occurs upon entering a room in which we feel we’ve been before, even though we know we haven’t. Other times, we might feel we recognize someone, even though we know we’re meeting this person for the very first time. Or, during a conversation with someone, we suddenly feel like we’ve had this same conversation with this same person, even though we know we haven’t. In each and every case, we come to the vague realization, however irrational it may be, that our present life has somehow merged with either our past or our future—depending on our philosophy of life.
Now, at this point, you might be saying, “So, this is all well and good, but what’s it got to do with whether or not prophecies in The Bible predict the future?”
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Prophecy, Déjà Vu, and the Dream State: Questions Concerning the Discernment of Future Events
“Goes down some intriguing rabbit holes… A big deal, with big ideas… Compelling, refreshing, a cool take…”
To hear Academia’s essay chat about Prophecy, Déjà Vu, and the Dream State, CLICK HERE.
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The reason I mention it is because I’m not interested just in looking at the pros and cons of a given misconception. I’m also interested in the question of how they got started in the first place. As I’ve previously stated, because I don’t believe misconceptions are the product of institutionally-driven conspiracies, I see their development in terms of how humans function as a species. In other words, I see them developing as the result of the tendencies of the human psyche itself.
So, before I offer my final verdict in the matter of “biblical prophecy,” I’d first hope to lay a secure foundation on the nature of “human prophecy,” if I may call it that. I say “human prophecy” because unlike those who insist that déjà vu is the result of an aspect of the past that’s acting upon our present, I believe what’s intruding into our consciousness is the future.
Now, before you dismiss this possibility too quickly, let me steer you toward a way to connect this all-too-human experience of déjà vu with that all-too-spiritual phenomenon of prophecy. Consider for a moment: What aspect of our humanity connects these two apparently different phenomena? If we reduced each of them to their most basic element, what would remain?
Well, based on what we know about prophecy, we’d say it has something to do with an ability to know the future before it happens, quite apart from a clear-cut understanding of why this is possible. Then, based on what we know about déjà vu, we’d say it speaks of a collision point in our conscious minds, in which our future makes itself known to our present, at least according to one major school of thought. In both cases, we have examples of an ordinary, human ability to embrace an extraordinary, superhuman quality. And in this ability, there seems to be just one human trait that provides us with a common denominator to them both.
But before I reveal what that is, let’s take a brief side road, and hopefully this apparently unrelated detour will supply us with just enough signposts to guide us in our journey.
