… as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. – Isaiah 29:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 25, 2020): Isaiah 29

I dream. Lately, my dreams have seemed to be on the increase. And often, my dreams reflect my current circumstances when I am awake, although translated into the world of my unconscious in a bizarre way. What I am unable to do is know that I am dreaming. Some people seem to understand that they are dreaming while still held within the dream, or at least be able to question whether or not they are awake while in the grip of a nightmare. It is the “pinch yourself so that you will know that it is real, or maybe wake up” syndrome. When I dream, questioning my conscious state doesn’t even occur to me. In fact, when I wake up, at least for a few minutes, I remember my dream as if it was established history, something that I did when I was younger. (Did I mention that? In my dreams I am usually younger.) There have been times that I have lived with a gnawing fear because of crimes that were only committed in my nightmares. But most of the time I wake up, and for a while, I am either depressed or happy because of the events that happened only in my dreams.

Dreams can be like that, at least for me. They can change my mood, but ultimately they are without substance. As real as the dream might seem to be while we are held in its grip, the influence that they have on the waking world is minor. They exert their power only for a short time, until the moment when we realize that it was all just a dream.

So, Isaiah speaks about dreams. When someone goes to bed hungry, sometimes that hunger can be translated into the world of their dreams. And in their dreams, they can imagine that they are sitting at a banquet table, offering the person all of their favorite foods. And they can eat and eat at the table, but the food is without substance. When they wake up, they will still be hungry. Or maybe they go to bed thirsty and, in their dreams, they come upon a brook offering clean, clear, cold water. And they drink and drink from the stream, but when they wake up, they will still be thirsty.

Isaiah's allusion to the dream world seems to be speaking of the coming Assyrian conflict. On that day, the enemy will lay siege to Jerusalem or Mount Zion. The battle will be heavily weighted in favor of those who attack Jerusalem. They will have the military strength and desire to defeat the Judeans. There will be nothing that can stop them, except that God will stand on the other side. And with the presence of God standing on the side of Jerusalem, all of the military might that stands on the other side of Jerusalem’s walls are ultimately without substance, as if they are nothing more than the result of a dream. There is no reason that those who gather against Jerusalem should be defeated, and yet that will be their reality. Because in a fight against the presence of God, their conflict will only end in victory in their dreams.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 30