A lot of people are having difficulty sleeping these days as their minds are filled with worry, stress, and uncertainty. The Psalmist wrote: “My soul is in deep anguish. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my (pillow) with tears” (Psalm 6:3a, and 6). When they do finally sleep, many people often experience very vivid dreams.
Could these dreams be messages from God or premonitions of the future? According to the Book of Job in the Bible, God can speak to us through the imagery of our dreams:
For God does speak
now one way, now another
though no one perceives it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber in their beds,
He may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings.
(Job 33:14-16)
What if your dreams are about an intimate subject or location like a bedroom? Could those types of dreams be from God? Could they instead be sinful in nature? What is the biblical meaning of bedroom in a dream? Let us see..
Biblical meaning of bedroom/bed in a dream:
Some people are concerned about dreams that depict a bedroom. They wonder if these are meant to reveal some hidden or suppressed emotions or desires. Others feel guilt or shame when the dreams of a bedroom are sexual in nature. They may feel a sense of conviction that these nocturnal fantasies are some suppressed temptation of lust or sensuality that they need to confess.
Perhaps you are hesitant to talk about these dreams due to their sensual location or subject matter. What does the Bible say about dreams of this nature? How should someone respond to a bedroom/bed dream according to the Bible?
First of all, not all bedroom dreams are sexual in nature. I recently had a dream in which too many people were trying to sleep in my bedroom. My grown kids, my cousins from out of town, people from my church, friends and neighbors in the community, and even one creepy tall guy I did not know, all filed into my bedroom looking for a place to sleep. Now even under normal circumstances, I am a private person, so this seemed like a real intrusion and inconvenience. In my dream, I expressed my displeasure with this arrangement by saying something I have been known to say in my awake life, “I need my alone time.” Yet it was to no avail. They piled on the bed and on the floor with pillows and blankets. I was so unnerved by their disregard for my private sacred space that I took my own pillow and blanket to another room to sleep on the couch, but there was someone there too!
Now, we could have a lot of fun dissecting and analyzing my dream about my bedroom, but what I really want to know is what God and the Bible might be telling me. Could there be some important meaning to the images of the night that flood our minds? In many ways, our dreams are the suppressed thoughts from our subconscious soul. They unlock our most intimate thoughts. They are miniature vignettes of our hidden longings, desires, fears, or burdens. According to the Bible they can also be spiritual in nature, a conduit for God to speak to us.
However, there are no stories or references to dreams about bedrooms/beds in the Bible. There is no indication that a dream about a bedroom has any kind of spiritual significance. We must acknowledge that not every dream is a direct or subliminal spiritual message from a Divine Being. While the Bible does record several dreams and their spiritual interpretation, it is wrong to look at the Bible as a dream interpretation handbook. There is also no evidence or instructions within the Bible to indicate that certain images in our dreams should be associated with something in the waking world. Therefore, I would caution anyone who tried to look for a message from God in a bedroom dream.
Some people see dreams about bedrooms as hidden or secretive thoughts that we are unwilling to bring into the light of day. If they are sensual in nature, then they could reveal some unhealthy sexual thoughts that we need to confess. For example, if you have a dream that you are in a bedroom with someone other than your spouse, do not assume this is a message from God that you should leave your husband or wife for another partner. Hebrews 13:4 clearly states, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Messages from God are usually confirmed in multiple ways and should always be in alignment with the Bible. God will not contradict Himself. I would suggest that you examine the images and thoughts that you entertain when you are awake that may be negatively influencing your dreams. A closer look at that passage from the Book of Job (Job 33:13-18) reveals that when God does speak to us in our dreams, they are often warnings that are meant to keep us from falling into the trap of sin.
For God does speak
now one way, now another
though no one perceives it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber in their beds,
He may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,
to turn them from wrongdoing
and keep them from pride,
to preserve them from the pit,
their lives from perishing by the sword.
What I have discovered about my own dreams is that they are often nothing more than a mashed-up story with images from the things I have seen, heard, or thought about recently. Some images may be distorted pictures of something I saw and did not even realize it. For example, I recently dreamed about someone who to my knowledge I had not seen or interacted with in several months, but on further reflection, I realized I had scrolled past their picture on a social media site just before going to bed. In this sense, dreams are a reflection of our thoughts; and bedroom dreams could be an open door into the secret chamber of the mind and soul. If they are pleasant or soothing dreams, then perhaps it means we have found a place of serenity or refuge from the world. Perhaps that is what I was looking for in my own bedroom dream.
May this prayer from Psalm 4 give you peaceful dreams upon your own bed.
Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Tremble and do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord.
Fill my heart with joy…
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Dr. Richard Sams is a top Biblical and Religious educator, who holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (Evangelism and Church Growth emphasis) from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He has two masters’ degrees (Master of Divinity and Master of the Arts of Religion) from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg and also serves on the Pastoral Leadership Advisory Board of Liberty University. Moreover, Richard Sams has been serving as a pastor (Pastoral Ministry) at Calhoun Baptist Church in Calhoun, KY, from the past Nineteen years. He loves practically imparting biblical truths to the next generation, while occasionally conduct spiritual challenges on his facebook page facebook.com/MakeItCountChallenge