A Dream While Reading Daniel
It was the night of 30–31 January 2024. I had just learned I would be retained on a job contract until March while others around me were given two weeks’ notice. That evening I went to do exercise, came home, showered, and picked up the book of Daniel.
That night I had a troubling dream.
The Dream
I found myself in a competition. The objective was to kill or poison “our father.” Everyone was attempting to trick him by giving him “our shirt” as the means of poisoning. I threw out large amounts of snacks in an effort to win. In the end, someone else succeeded. They killed the father and gave him the shirt to wear. I cried out for my father.
I woke up disturbed. The images — the deception, the shirt used as a weapon, the successful competitor claiming the covering, and my own cry — stayed with me.
Biblical Symbols and the Theme of Deception
Several elements in the dream connect directly with Scripture, particularly warnings about deception and apostasy.
“Our father” often represents God the Father, spiritual authority, or the source of true provision and protection. Schemes to poison or kill the father echo rebellion against God’s authority.
The shirt is a powerful symbol. In the Bible, clothing frequently represents identity, covering, or righteousness. Joseph’s coat marked him as favoured and set him apart (Genesis 37). Isaiah speaks of being clothed with “the garments of salvation” and covered with “the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). At the same time, Scripture warns that all our righteous deeds can become like “a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6). Using “our shirt” to poison the father suggests something intimate — our claimed Christian identity or covering — being turned into an instrument of deception and harm.
The competition and trickery picture a crowded arena where many voices compete, some using subtle means to undermine true authority. The one who “wins” claims the shirt after the father has been removed. This mirrors how deception often operates — not always through open rejection, but through people who use the language and appearance of faith to lead others away from the truth.
The cry for the father at the end feels like grief, awakening, and desperate dependence. It is the response of those who recognise what has been lost and turn back to the true source.
These elements align with clear biblical warnings about apostasy and false teachers:
“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3 ESV)
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” (1 Timothy 4:1 ESV)
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies…” (2 Peter 2:1 ESV)
False teachers and prophets often operate by using Christian identity, language, and outward covering while subtly poisoning the truth about God the Father and leading believers astray. The dream captures this dynamic vividly.
Connection to Daniel
Daniel is a book of dreams, mysteries, and divine revelation in the midst of competing kingdoms and deception. In Daniel 2, when the king demands an impossible interpretation, Daniel does not rely on human wisdom or join the competition of the wise men. Instead, he calls his companions to prayer and seeks mercy from the God of heaven. God then reveals both the dream and its meaning.
The dream I had while beginning to read Daniel felt like an invitation into that same posture: bring the troubling vision to God Himself rather than trying to win through worldly or compromised means.
Application for Today
This dream carries a timely warning. Christianity today contains many voices claiming the name of Christ while using that identity to promote teachings that undermine the authority of God the Father and the purity of the gospel. Some gain influence through subtle deception rather than truth. The “competition” is real, and those who succeed in it often do so by wearing the shirt of Christian identity while removing or poisoning the true covering.
The right response is not to compete on those terms, but to cry out to the Father and seek His wisdom directly — just as Daniel did.
A Call to Discernment and Dependence
If you are reading this and sense similar themes in your own life or in the broader church, bring it before the Lord. Ask Him for interpretation and discernment. He is the God who reveals mysteries and who changes times and seasons.
The stone cut out without human hands will one day strike every competing and deceptive kingdom and become a mountain that fills the earth. Until then, we are called to faithfulness, clear-eyed discernment, and wholehearted dependence on the true Father.
