Vision

(Luke 1:22), a vivid apparition, not a dream (comp. Luke 24:23; Acts 26:19; 2 Cor. 12:1).

vizh'-un (chazon, chizzayon, mar'ah; horama, optasia): Psychologists find that man is prevailingly and persistently "eye-minded." That is, in his waking life he is likely to think, imagine and remember in terms of vision. Naturally then, his dreaming is predominantly visual; so strongly visual, we are told, that it is not rare to find dreams defined as "trains of fantastic images." Whether man was made this way in order that God might communicate with him through dreams and visions is hardly worth debating; if the records of human life, in the Bible and out of it, are to be trusted at all, there is nothing better certified than that God has communicated with man in this way (Ps 89:19; Pr 29:18; compare Am 8:11,12; Ho 12:10). If one is disposed to regard the method as suited only to primitive peoples and superstitious natures, it still remains true that the experience is one associated with lives and characters of the most saintly and exalted kind (1Sa 3:1; Jer 1:11; Eze 1:1; Da 2:19; Ac 9:10; 10:3; 16:9).

The vision may come in one's waking moments (Da 10:7; Ac 9:7); by day (Cornelius, Ac 10:3; Peter, Ac 10:9 ff; compare Nu 24:4,16) or night (Jacob, Ge 46:2); but commonly under conditions of dreaming (Nu 12:6; Job 4:13; Da 4:9). The objects of vision, diverse and in some instances strange as they are, have usually their points of contact with experiences of the daily life. Thus Isaiah's vision of the seraphim (Isa 6:2) was doubtless suggested by familiar figures used in the decoration of the temple at Jerusalem; Paul's "man of Macedonia" (Ac 16:9) had its origin in some poor helot whom Paul had seen on the streets of Troas and who embodied for him the pitiful misery of the regions across the sea; and "Jacob's ladder" (Ge 28:12) was but a fanciful development of the terraced land which he saw sun-glorified before him as he went to sleep. Among the recurring objects of vision are natural objects--rivers, mountains, trees, animals--with which man has daily and hourly association.

The character of the revelation through vision has a double aspect in the Biblical narrative. In one aspect it proposes a revelation for immediate direction, as in the ease of Abram (Ge 15:2 and frequently); Lot (Ge 19:15); Balaam (Nu 22:22), and Peter (Ac 12:7). In another aspect it deals with the development of the Kingdom of God as conditioned by the moral ideals of the people; such are the prophetic visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Micah, and the apoealypses of Daniel and John. The revelation for immediate direction has many correspondences in the life of the devout in all ages; the prophetic vision, dealing in a penetrating way with the sources of national growth and decay, has its nearest approach in the deliverances of publicists and statesmen who are persuaded that the laws of God, as expressed in self-control, truth, justice, and brotherly love, are supreme, and that the nations which disregard them are marked for ultimate and speedy extinction.

From the nature of the vision as an instrument of divine communication, the seeing of visions is naturally associated with revivals of religion (Eze 12:21-25; Joe 2:28; compare Ac 2:17), and the absence of visions with spiritual decline (Isa 29:11,12; La 2:9; Eze 7:26; Mic 3:6).

One may see visions without being visionary in the bad sense of that word. The outstanding characters to whom visions were vouchsafed in the history of Israel--Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jesus and Paul--were all men of action as well as sentiment, and it is manifest from any fair reading of their lives that their work was helped and not hindered by this aspect of their fellowship with God. For always the vision emphasizes the play of a spiritual world; the response of a man's spirit to the appeal of that world; and the ordering of both worlds by an "intelligent and compelling Power able to communicate Himself to man and apparently supremely interested in the welfare of man.

Charles M. Stuart

• → A mode of revelation Nu 12:6; 1Sa 3:1; 2Ch 26:5; Ps 89:19; Pr 29:18; Jer 14:14; 23:16; Da 1:17; Ho 12:10; Joe 2:28; Ob 1:1; Hab 2:2; Ac 2:17
• → Of Abraham
  • Concerning his descendants Ge 15:1-17
• → Of Jacob
  • Of the ladder with ascending and descending angels Ge 28:12
  • At Beer-sheba Ge 46:2
• → Of Joshua
  • Of the captain of the Lord' s army Jos 5:13-15
• → Of Moses
  • Of the burning bush Ex 3:2
  • Of the glory of God Ex 24:9-11; 33:18-23
• → Of the Israelites
  • Of the manifestation of the glory of God Ex 24:10,17; Heb 12:18-21
• → Of Balaam
  • In a trance Ac 22:17-21
  • See BALAAM
• → Of Elisha
  • At the transporting of Elijah 2Ki 2:11
• → Of Elisha' s servant
  • Of the chariots of the Lord 2Ki 6:17
• → Of Micaiah
  • Of the defeat of the Israelites; of the Lord on his throne; and of a lying spirit 1Ki 22:17-23; 2Ch 18:16-22
• → Of David
  • Of the angel of the Lord beside the threshing-floor of Ornan 1Ch 21:15-18
• → Of Job
  • Of a spirit Job 4:12-16
• → Of Isaiah
  • Of the Lord and his glory in the temple Isa 6
  • Of the valley of vision Isa 22
• → Of Jeremiah
  • Of an almond rod Jer 1:11
  • Of the seething pot Jer 1:13
• → Of Ezekiel
  • Of the glory of God Eze 1:3,12-14; 23
  • Of the roll Eze 2:9
  • Of the man of fire Eze 8; 9
  • Of the coals of fire Eze 10:1-7
  • Of the dry bones Eze 37:1-14
  • Of the city and temple Eze 40:48
  • Of the waters Eze 47:1-12
• → Of Daniel
  • Of the four beasts Da 7
  • Of the Ancient of Days Da 7:9-27
  • Of the ram and the he-goat Da 8
  • Of the angel Da 10
• → Of Amos
  • Of grasshoppers Am 7:1,2
  • Of fire Am 7:4
  • Of a plumb-line Am 7:7,8
  • Of summer fruit Am 8:1,2
  • Of the temple Am 9:1
• → Of Zechariah
  • Of horses Zec 1:8-11
  • Of horns and carpenters Zec 1:18-21
  • Of the high priest Zec 3:1-5
  • Of the golden lampstand Zec 4
  • Of the flying roll Zec 5:1-4
  • Of the mountains and chariots Zec 6:1-8
• → Of Zacharias
  • In the temple Lu 1:13-22
• → Of John the Baptist
  • At the immersion of Jesus Mt 3:16; Mr 1:10; Lu 3:22; Joh 1:32-34
• → Peter, James, and John
  • Of the transfiguration of Jesus and the appearance of Moses and Elijah Mt 17:1-9; Lu 9:28-36
• → Of the people
  • Of the tongues of fire at Pentecost Ac 2:2,3
• → Of Stephen
  • Of Christ Ac 7:55,56
• → Of Paul
  • Of Christ, on the way to Damascus Ac 9:3-6; 1Co 9:1
  • Of Ananias Ac 9:12
  • Of a man of Macedonia, saying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us,” Ac 16:9
  • In Corinth Ac 18:9,10
  • In a trance Ac 22:17-21
  • Of Paradise 2Co 12:1-4
• → Of Ananias
  • Of Christ Ac 9:10-12
• → Of Cornelius, the centurion
  • Of an angel Ac 10:3
• → Of Peter
  • Of the sheet which was lowered from the sky Ac 10:9-18
• → Of John on the island of Patmos
  • The Book of Revelation
  • Of Christ and the golden lampstands Re 1:10-20
  • The open door Re 4:1
  • A rainbow and the throne Re 4:2,3
  • The twenty-four elders Re 4:4
  • The seven lamps Re 4:5
  • The sea of glass Re 4:6
  • The four living creatures Re 4:6-8
  • The book with seven seals Re 5:1-5
  • The golden vials Re 5:8
  • The six seals Re 6
  • The four horses Re 6:2-8
  • The earthquake and the celestial phenomena Re 6:12; 14
  • The four angels Re 7:1
  • The sealing of the one hundred and forty four thousand Re 7:2-8
  • The seventh seal and the seven angels Re 8:11
  • The censer Re 8:5
  • The hail and fire Re 8:7
  • The mountain that was thrown into the sea Re 8:8,9
  • The falling star Re 8:10,11; 9:1
  • One-third of the sun, the moon, and the stars were darkened Re 8:12
  • The bottomless pit Re 9:2
  • The locusts Re 9:3-11
  • The four angels released from the Euphrates River Re 9:14
  • The army of horsemen Re 9:16-19
  • The angel that had a book Re 10:1-10
  • The seven thunders Re 10:3,4
  • The measurement of the temple Re 11:1,2
  • The two witnesses Re 11:3-12
  • The court of the Gentiles Re 11:2
  • The two olive trees and the two lampstands Re 11:4
  • The beast that came up out of the bottomless pit Re 11:7
  • The fall of the city Re 11:13
  • The second and third woes Re 11:14
  • The woman clothed with the sun; the birth of the male infant Re 12
  • The red dragon Re 12:3-17
  • The war in heaven Re 12:7-9
  • The beast rising out of the sea Re 13:1-10
  • The beast coming out of the earth Re 13:11-18
  • The Lamb on Mount Zion Re 14:1-5
  • The angel having the everlasting gospel Re 14:6,7
  • The angel proclaiming the fall of Babylon Re 14:8-13
  • A son of man with a sickle Re 14:14-16
  • The angel reaping the harvest Re 14:14-20
  • The angel coming out of the temple Re 14:17-19
  • The angel having power over fire Re 14:18
  • The vine and the winepress Re 14:18-20
  • The angels with the seven last plagues Re 15
  • The sea of glass Re 15:2
  • The temple opened Re 15:5
  • The plague upon the men who had the mark of the beast Re 16:2
  • The sea turned into blood Re 16:3
  • The seven angels with the seven vials of the wrath of God Re 16; 17
  • The destruction of Babylon Re 18
  • The multitude praising Re 19:1-9
  • The one who is faithful and true, riding a white horse Re 19:11-16
  • The angel in the sun Re 19:17-21
  • Satan bound for one-thousand years Re 20:1-3
  • The thrones of judgment, and the resurrection, and the release of Satan Re 20:1-10
  • The great white throne Re 20:11
  • The opening of the Book of Life Re 20:12
  • Death and hell (gehenna) Re 20:14
  • The New Jerusalem Re 21
  • The River of Life Re 22:1
  • The Tree of Life Re 22:2
• → See DREAM