The fascinating role of dreams in the Nativity story

The shepherds, manger, Magi, and star are all well-known features of the Christmas story. But there is one important aspect of Christ’s Nativity that we rarely emphasize: dreams. The birth of Jesus is accompanied by a host of inspired dreams—that all show us something important about receiving revelation.

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’s birth, the Baby is repeatedly safeguarded by people acting on revelation received while dreaming.¹ Interestingly, this emphasis on dreams likely would have surprised many ancient people. Though inspired dreams are somewhat common in scripture, many ancient Jews were skeptical of dreams. In fact, several passages from the Old Testament rank dreaming as the least reliable form of revelation.²

According to a common Jewish worldview, messages in dreams could be from God, or they could be inspired from a host of other sources, including one’s own imagination.³ So, dreams were of questionable reliability and were to be treated with caution.

This notion could explain why Lehi’s family complains against the prophet who “dreamed a dream.”⁴ Lehi’s doubting wife and children express similar sentiments to Sirach, a popular Jewish writing from the second century BC, which asserts, “dreams give wings to fools…. for dreams have deceived many, and those who put their hope in them have perished.”⁵

And yet dreams were instrumental in the Savior’s infancy.

With the ancient attitude toward dreams in mind, consider Joseph’s predicament in Matthew chapter one. After learning that his espoused wife is pregnant, Joseph ponders his difficult options, and he decides to separate from Mary quietly. However, the unexpected occurs when Joseph has a dream in which he is told by an angel that Mary’s conception is the result of divine intervention—Joseph is to marry her despite the pregnancy. Shockingly, Joseph heeds this instruction.

Imagine being Joseph’s friend at this time. What if he told you he is going to marry his pregnant fiancée because the child in her womb is God’s own son, and this seemingly impossible truth was relayed to him in nothing more than a dream? What friend would not try to talk Joseph out of continuing his relationship with Mary?

Similar dream revelations occur later in Matthew’s account. For instance, Joseph is informed in another dream to arise and take his family to Egypt for protection. Joseph follows this direction immediately, venturing to distant Egypt “by night” (Matthew 2:14). Significantly, traveling at night was an “exceptional” occurrence in ancient times due to its potential danger.⁶ Virtually no one traveled in the dark. But Joseph and his family broke with convention—another decision based on a message received in a dream.

Similarly, the Magi followed instructions relayed in a dream. After they journeyed to Bethlehem, the Magi were told in a dream to return home a different way in order to avoid murderous Herod. The prospect of finding an alternative route through foreign terrain must have been difficult, and the questionable medium of a dream must have made this instruction even more challenging. Were they really supposed to forge a new path home simply based on a message from a dream?

The dreams in Matthew’s account are somewhat puzzling. Why would God use dreams—the most questionable means of revelation—to bring about the safety of baby Jesus? The stakes could not be higher, as the security of the Savior hung in the balance. Yet, rather than sending heavenly hosts or a pillar of fire to protect the Christ child, God sends simple dreams to simple people.

I wonder if the faithful recipients of these dreams had second thoughts about their dream messages. Like the faithful of every age, did they question their ability to recognize divine promptings? Were they sure that the dream message they received was from God and not just the product of their own imagination?

Regardless, through their faith, God worked wonders. Indeed, the ancient dreamers demonstrate that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”⁷ Followers of Christ can do great things if they recognize and heed the small and seemingly insignificant promptings of the Spirit.

Like the ancient faithful, we are also promised by President Russell M. Nelson that God will perform “some of His mightiest works” in coming days.⁸ But to participate in God’s great plan requires spiritual perception like that of Joseph and the Magi.

President Nelson warns:

As we improve our ability to recognize the Spirit, we will come to be like the ancient dreamers of Matthew 1–2 who acted on revelation that others likely would not have valued. If we prepare ourselves, God will entrust us with spiritual instruction to do His great work.

Other articles to help you put you in the Christmas spirit:

▶ What only the Book of Mormon reveals about Mary’s perspective as the mother of the Savior
▶ The beautiful Nativity reenactment you should watch this very second (and again on Christmas Eve)
▶ Watch: Temple Square is almost back to normal with dazzling Christmas lights

Notes
1. Matthew 2:2. 2:13, 2:19, 2:22.
2. See especially Deuteronomy 13:1–6; Jeremiah 23:25–32; Jeremiah 27:9–10; Jeremiah 29:8–9. See also Jean-Marie Husser, Dreams and Dream Narratives in the Biblical World (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999).
3. See Jeremiah 23:25–32; Jeremiah 14:14; Zechariah 10:2. Frances Flannery-Dailey, Dreamers, Scribes, and Priests: Jewish Dreams in the Hellenistic and Roman Eras (SJSJ, 90; Boston/Leiden: Brill, 2004).
4. 1 Nephi 2:11, 3:2, 5:2.
5. Sirach 34:1–8. For allusions to Sirach in the New Testament, see Matthew 6:7 and Sirach 7:14; Matthew 6:12 and Sirach 28:2; Matthew 7:16 and Sirach 27:6; and Matthew 11:28 and Sirach 51:27.
6. R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 79.
7. Alma 37:6.
8. Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” April 2018.
9. Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” April 2018.