People often have some crazy and even embarrassing dreams: they are naked in public; they find themselves in compromising, questionable, and even scary situations; and some people even dream about poop. Yes, you heard it right. Many people do dream about poop and sometimes even feces in their dreams.
It’s gross, right? Yet, many people believe that our dreams serve as a portal to our subconscious minds, revealing some hidden or spiritual message, that we fail to acknowledge in our waking thoughts.
The different interpretations of ‘feces in a dream’ are as varied as follows: we need to rid ourselves of something unpleasant; we are disgusted by something in our lives; we are unloading shame or guilt; or perhaps we are even smearing our disdain on someone with whom we dislike.
So, out of all these, what is the actual truth? What is the True biblical meaning of feces in one’s dream? How can poop dreams be interpreted, according to the bible? Is God saying you something deep?
Let us know…
What the Bible actually says about Feces and Poop?
Some people may question why a pastor would talk about poop, but surprisingly the Bible frequently mentions the taboo subjects of feces, dung, and other bodily excrements.
In Ezekiel 4, we are told that God instructed His prophet to bake bread over a fire of human feces and eat it in public every day for over a year. When Ezekiel objected at this defilement, the Lord agreed to allow him to use cow dung for the fuel of the fire instead. God’s purpose was to vividly and shockingly display the disgusting behavior of the people of Israel, suggesting that they willingly consumed every vile sinful act as acceptable and pleasing.
On four different occasions (Jeremiah 8:2; 9:22; 16:4; and 25:33) the prophet Jeremiah compares the sacrilegious behaviors of the people as defecations against God. He writes that the Lord would punish the people for these defilements against His Holiness by declaring, “They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.”
In the prophetic book of Malachi God even said, “I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it” (Malachi 2:3). Just as it is disgusting for us today, this foul verbal imagery was meant to be a shocking assault to those who heard it. The message is clear: When we defiantly choose to disobey God’s commands, we are in essence “taking a dump” on His Holiness!
Biblical meaning of Feces in a dream – A Message from God to Rid Yourself of Some Impurity?
So could a dream about feces be a message from God that you should remove some impurity from your life? That’s certainly possible.
The Bible frequently describes how God uses dreams to speak to people about their spiritual condition. For an excellent example of this read Daniel 4 where the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that he would become like a wild ox and eat the grass of the earth. That dream was actually fulfilled when he momentarily went mad because he refused to acknowledge God as the ruler of heaven and earth.
In my own life, I can attest that God has used dreams to speak to people about their relationship with Him. On one occasion, I could not sleep and at 3:00 a.m. I felt an urgent need to pray for someone, although I didn’t know who at the time. The next day a woman came to my office and said, “What were you doing at 3:00 this morning?” When I asked her why she wanted to know, she said, “I had a dream that you came and stood at the foot of my bed and told me all of the things I was doing that were displeasing to God.” She described it as an embarrassing vision because it revealed her true heart. She said, “I fell under such conviction that I got on my knees beside the bed and repented in prayer.” So yes, God may indeed be using an embarrassing and disgusting dream about defecating to get your attention about something that is defiling your relationship with Him.
There is actually an interesting command in the Old Testament concerning that feces on the surface just seems to be an instruction about sanitation and the disposal of human waste, but upon closer examination, there is also a spiritual element.
In Deuteronomy 23:12-13 it says: “Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.” This seems like a reasonable request, God wants you to clean up your poop! I agree with this directive completely; no one wants to see or step in your poop.
Personally, I hate using a public restroom because it is often a stench filled disgusting place, with fecal matter spread on the floor, on the walls or even over-flowing from the toilets. If I ever have a dream about poop/feces, I am certain it will be a nightmare about being locked in the stall of a public restroom!
Deuteronomy 23:14 goes on to say, “For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.” Once again, God is using this very disgusting imagery of feces to emphasize that we should make a conscious effort to keep our lives and the places where we live pure. He is equating the stench of sin with the foul and disgusting impurities of our physical body. Just as you should keep your physical body clean, God desires that our lives remain pure – no potty mouths, keep your mind out of the toilet, and don’t poop on other people by the way you treat them.
Conclusion:
Let me offer one final word about dreams and messages from God.. – if He wants to convey a message to you, there’s no need to guess at its meaning, God will always clearly reveal to you what He intends for you to know. That’s what a loving and good God does. He doesn’t play games or hides messages from those to whom He speaks. He wants us to know and understand clearly His will for our lives, because it is the best plan for us.
As Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:27-30, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.” Not every dream is a message from God, but if God is speaking to you in a dream, I believe you will know.
If He wants you to rid yourself of something unpleasant; if there are disgusting things in your life that need to be cleaned up or removed; if you need to unload some shame or guilt; or if there is someone who is desecrating your life that needs to be dealt with; God will certainly make that clear to you as you pray and read the Bible for clarity and direction.
Malachi 2:2-4a (New Living Translation) says, “Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. Then, at last, you will know it was I who sent you this warning ….” A poop/feces in a dream is a gross image, but God’s message to our waking minds should be clear: If you continue to dishonor Him, He will eventually wipe the defecation of your sin on your own face. So keep your life pure.
Note: Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this article are to the Holy Bible: New International Version, (Biblica, Inc., 2011).
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