Another iteration of Angels delivering messages to people is through their appearances in dreams. There are many verses from the Bible where Angels deliver messages from God to people while they’re sleeping. Although Angels appearing in dreams have a close tie to religion and Christianity, this isn’t always the case. Angels can appear in our dreams for any reason.

Angels may appear to us in our sleep during times of great need. It’s easier for them to speak to us and deliver their message when we dream because our subconscious mind truly knows what we need. We are in a more pure and free state while we are sleeping and our hearts are more open to the light of the Angels when we are not awake to actively refuse their help.

Although Angels may appear in a dream surrounded by bright lights and feelings of warmth and love, they can choose to appear as a normal person. Due to this, it may not always be evident that an Angel has appeared to you. During these times, it is only upon reflection that someone will recognize that an Angel visited them in the night. To know whether an Angel really came to you in a dream here are some things to look out for:

• Did the dream leave you with a feeling of awe or wonder?
• Did the messenger point you toward God? Angels are God’s messengers and they appear when they need you to hear the word of God. It is their job to steer you back toward God even if you are a non-believer.
• Did the dream make sense? God will never send you a nonsensical message.
• Do you feel a renewed faith in God? A real Angelic dream message should bring you closer to God.

Angels can speak a few different ways to us in our dreams. They can deliver a message verbally, telepathically through a feeling of enlightenment for the recipient, or through images.

Now that you know a little more about how Angels appear in dreams here’s a couple of times where Angels appeared in dreams in the Bible:

In this part of Jacob’s story, he is on the run because Jacob tricked his father into giving him the blessing meant for his elder brother Esau. Esau is enraged and looking to kill Jacob for robbing him of the blessing. While on the run, Jacob rests for the night and dreams of a ladder from Heaven. From Genesis 28:11 – 12:

When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

The Lord makes an appearance and tells Jacob that He will give him and his descendants the land he is sleeping on and that all peoples on Earth will be blessed through Jacob and his offspring. When Jacob awakens his faith in God is strengthened. From Genesis 28:16 – 17:

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.

In another well-known instance of Angels appearing in dreams, in several verses of the Christmas story Angels appear to Joseph to deliver messages and warnings.

The first time Joseph is visited by an Angel in his dreams is when Joseph considers ending his engagement with Mary because of her pregnancy. Joseph is worried that people will think he and Mary conceived a baby before marriage. From Matthew 1:18 – 21:

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

Soon after Jesus’ birth another Angel comes to Joseph in a dream, this time to bring a warning. The Angel was sent by God to warn Joseph of King Herod, the leader of Judea at the time, that he planned to murder Jesus because he perceived him to be a threat to his kingdom. The Angel tells Joseph that Herod’s soldiers are looking for them and that he needs to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. From Matthew 2:13 – 15:

When they [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.

After Herod’s death an Angel comes to Joseph for a third and final time. This time, the Angel brought good news and told Joseph that he and his family could return to Israel. From Matthew 2:19 – 20:

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.