What does the Lord say about prophets who say, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed”?

The Lord says, I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name. They may have deceived the people, and even themselves, but the Lord from whom no one can hide (Jeremiah 23:24) exposes the prophets’ words as lies spoken in the Lord’s name. Throughout these verses the word name is from the Hebrew word sem and it refers to the Lord’s character (Exodus 3:13–14; Isaiah 9:6).¹ The prophets have not just spoken lies about what will happen to Judah, but more importantly they have spoken lies about the Lord himself; they have misrepresented his character.

These prophets say, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. They claim to have heard from the Lord via dreams. In the Old Testament dreams and their interpretation are an important and valid way that the Lord uses to reveal his words to his prophets (Numbers 12:6–8, Genesis 37:1–36, Genesis 41:1–57; 1 Kings 3:1–28; Daniel 2:1–49;  Daniel 4:1–37;  Daniel 7:1–28; Numbers 12:6–8). Messages received by dreams were therefore not necessarily false.² However, prophets could not simply claim to have received a dream from the Lord and then speak a message that denies who the Lord is and the covenant he has made with his people.