Dreams & the First Christmas

Dreams have always fascinated me. From the time I was eight years old, I can remember entire dreams, dreams which  somehow stamped themselves on my brain forever. There's the nightmares and dreams that made absolutely no sense (when I woke up) lol. And then.... there are certain dreams which have changed my life.  

Dreams can replay the longings of your heart....but that aside, what about visions?
What about God using dreams?
And hey, what about the Christmas story?

Christmas
In Matthew 2, we see God using dreams to protect Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus, first by warning the wise men not to return to King Herod with the Christ child's location.

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route." (Matt. 2:10-12)

Herod is out to kill Jesus-- but God protects Him and Joseph and Mary. After the wise men leave, He warns Joseph in a dream to take his family and flee to Egypt, then guides them back to Israel.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,  where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matt. 2:14-15)

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt  and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. (Matt. 2:19-23)

There are many other instances where God used dreams in the Bible, including through Joseph, Jacob, and others. The first Christmas was just one of the amazing times He chose to appear to His creation in their secret heart: in their dreams.