In the last 8+ years since I’ve been interpreting dreams through this website, I have received countless emails where people have sent me their dreams about wolves and other predatory animals. Most of the time, these dreams are negative and contain a warning to the dreamer. Today, I want to focus exclusively on the meaning of wolves and other predatory animals in your dreams so you can get a solid idea of what they mean and, most importantly, what you should do in response to such a dream.

In this blog, I will use the same Biblical methods and principles for interpreting dreams that you can see in all my blogs, ebooks and email interpretations. This blog will be a more in-depth follow up to one I wrote many years ago after my own (first) dream of being attacked by a wolf.

Animals: Parabolic Symbols In Dreams

When I first started learning to interpret dreams, at least 12 years ago, it was impressed upon me that many of the symbols we see in our dreams can be found in the Bible. Not everything will be in the Bible but, you can many times find either the symbol, or a similar one, or the root of it somewhere in those 66 books. As I have said in the past, one of the best ways to find the meaning of your dreams is to do a word search in the Bible for the thing you saw. This is especially true for animals.

Animals often appear in our dreams because they represent people we encounter in our life. This is why Jesus warned about dogs and swine in a parable. He was not talking literally about animals because He was referring to the characteristics of people who act like certain types of animals.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Matthew 7:6 (KJV)

Dogs bite and attack with the mouth and can at times be unpredictable. Swine (pigs) have no regard for anything they step on (a symbol for dishonor). When you see an animal like a dog or wolf (or any other predator) attacking you, it often means a vicious verbal attack. The type of predatory animal you see is a symbol of the level of threat and the strength or position they have relative to you.

Dream tip: Predatory animals usually represent people who have a predatory nature, whether it is a financial predator or a sexual predator or any other variety. These animals can also represent demons who often act through people but can attack you directly in many ways.

Discerning Positive & Negative Meanings

Some animals in your dreams will have a primarily positive meaning while others will have a primarily negative meaning. Each animal usually has both a positive and negative meaning, even when they are predatory. The reason for this is because, in the beginning, God created everything to be good. It was only after the fall of Adam and Eve that evil came into the entire world and animals began to be polluted by that evil.

As a perfect example, we see in Genesis that the snake (serpent) had very clearly described characteristics which can be either good or bad. Just by observation, snakes are low to the ground, which represents humility and they are very quiet, which represents meekness. Having said that, most of the time you see a snake in your dream, it represents deception, a person speaking poisonous words intended to murder you spiritually.

Now the serpent was more subtil [shrewd, sensible, prudent, subtle, crafty, sly] than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1 (KJV) with Strong’s Concordance notes

The same positive or negative meaning applies to lions, leopards, wolves, cheetahs, bears and all the rest. The easiest way to understand whether they are positive or negative in a dream is simply by the feeling you got when you saw them or the action or behaviors they were displaying. For example, if you saw a wolf staring at you or circling around in a dark night setting behind your house, that is generally a warning and a negative symbol.

Considering The Opposite

Using the example of a non-predatory animal… elephants can represent strength, carrying heavy loads, caravans of merchandise, the ability to learn new skills and intelligence. However, if you see a stampede of elephants destroying things or charging at your, that is obviously very bad.

Even though we are strictly focusing on predatory animals, we can apply the above in the opposite way. For example, a lamb is almost always a positive symbol, especially in the Bible. We are taught to like be a lamb but when taken to an extreme, a lamb can be a negative symbol of weakness. Lambs are not bold, they do not take dominion over territory, they cannot put down enemies by any type of strength. Lions are the opposite and that is why we are told to be like them in the Kingdom of God!

The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1 (KJV)

A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;

Proverbs 30:30 (KJV)

So let’s deal with wolves again since they are one of the most common symbols in dreams. Wolves are of course predators and most of the time, in your dreams, they are a warning. But, wolves are also intelligent hunters that work well in teams and know how to watch a situation in order to get the advantage over their prey. We can gain useful wisdom from observing the behavioral characteristics of these animals! That is what Solomon said regarding the ant, eagle and serpent in these verses below…

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Proverbs 6:6 (KJV)

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.

Proverbs 30:18-19 (KJV)

Finding the Meaning of Symbols Not Found in the Bible

So what happens when you see an animal in your dreams that does not appear in the Bible? There is a very simple answer for that. If you see an animal you are not familiar with, go online and do a search on a nature website and find out all the characteristics of that animal. The character traits you see for that animal are the same traits you will find in the person whom that symbol represents in real life.

Some animals, even if they do appear in a Bible-based symbols list can be difficult to understand. A perfect example of that is a tiger. Tigers can represent a person in a high level of authority (business or ministry). But… why is that?? Here’s the simple answer…

Biblically, a lion is at the top of the animal kingdom and represents the top person in authority (eg: Jesus as the head of the church). A tiger does not represent the number one animal but, it can be described as one step down from that (a secondary position). So, if a lion represents the top position, then a tiger represents the second-level position. Just as Jesus is the top of the church, a ministry leader would be in the secondary position of leadership.

We must remember that just as there is an “animal kingdom”, there is also a spiritual kingdom – the Kingdom of God! Everything in the spiritual world has parallels in the natural world. When you want to know the meaning of a symbol in your dreams that is not found in the Bible, you must study and carefully consider the character traits which God put into that animal when He created it. This is why Daniel and Joseph were observed to be so intelligent – they each had understanding of science and nature!

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Daniel 1:4 (KJV)

And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

Genesis 40:18-19 (KJV)

Note: Here’s the decode clue to Joseph’s interpretation: birds eat what falls to the ground, including dead animals, just as the baker was about to be put to death in 3 days.

Responding Properly To Warnings In Dreams

Let’s now get to the most important part of interpreting warning dreams about predatory animals – taking the proper action! When God shows you a predatory animal attacking or stalking you in a dream, there are three primary responses you must take:

1. Understand who the animal represents in real life and avoid them if at all costs.
2. If you cannot avoid the person, then diligently ask God for wisdom in how to handle them.
3. Ask God to deliver you from any situation where you are unable to free yourself from the evil person.

Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

Psalms 22:20 (KJV)

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple [foolish, naive] pass on, and are punished.

Proverbs 22:3 (KJV) with Strong’s Concordance notes

Relevant Bible Passages

Here are a few of many verses found in the Bible that refer to predatory animals.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Acts 20:29 (KJV)

Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

Luke 10:3 (KJV)

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Ezekiel 22:27 (KJV)

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Matthew 7:15-16 (KJV)

For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Revelation 22:15 (KJV)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Daniel 7:5 (KJV)

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

Jeremiah 5:6 (KJV)

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Revelation 13:2 (KJV)

Need More Help?

If you need personal help with interpreting your dreams, there are several options available to you! Here are 3 ways you can get direct, personal Bible-based dream interpretation either from me or my parent global ministry:

1. Email me your dreams using this contact form (when I’m available): Dream Request Options.
2. Schedule a live meeting with me: Restarting Live Personal Video / Audio Meetings for Dream Interpreting?
3. Contact the 24-hour staff at my parent global ministry: Joshua Media Ministries International.

NOTE: Each of these options is based on either my availability or that of my parent ministry. Sometimes I’m able to respond to emails within 24 hours but usually it takes several days. My parent ministry has an extremely large global reach and response times can vary widely based on many factors. Either way, take advantage of the options available to you here!

If you are new to Bible-based dream interpreting, get my short and concise FREE ebook where I introduce this huge topic and give you a few tips and principles that will help you get started…

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Resources

• Article: WOLF: Ignoring Warning Dreams Will Cost You Severely
• Article: Animals in Dreams: How To Find The Meaning | Reader Testimony
• Online symbols reference: Joshua Media Ministries International online dream symbols

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