The grain and the straw

“‘Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has My word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:28
God speaks to us in many different ways – through His word, through dreams, through angels, through the gift of prophecy working in another person – the list goes on. However, Jeremiah tells us, there is one way that is much better than another.
In Jeremiah’s time, the kingdom of Judah was under attack from the Babylonians. Already, some of the people had been taken captive to Babylon, along with most of the gold and silver implements used in the temple. There were many false prophets going around saying that they had a dream that the people and the temple items would soon be returned. This is what Jeremiah is speaking out against. They may have dreamed a dream, but the dream was not from God.
God may speak to us through dreams. He did so for Pharaoh (Gen. 41), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2 and Dan. 4), Daniel (Dan. 7), Joseph (Matt. 1:20-21, 2:13, 2:19-20), the Magi (Matt. 2:12), etc. He may speak to us through visions, as he did for Peter (Acts 10) and John (Rev. 1:10). But we need to realise that if we do have a dream or vision, these are ‘straw’ compared with the ‘grain’ – the Word of God, the Bible. If there is a conflict between these, we must stay with what the Bible says. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit. He will not contradict His word with a message given in a dream or vision. If they are contradictory, then that dream or vision is not from God.