After Jesus feeding the five thousand attracted a large
following. In another effort to
discredit him the came asking of a sign as Matthew 16:1 describes. “The
Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would
show them a sign from heaven.” In
essence, they were asking him to prove again that he was the Messiah, Just as
Satan did when he tempted him. Jesus
didn’t fall for their request either.
Instead, he pointed out that they did not need some miraculous
signs to predict the weather, because certain natural events lead naturally to
a certain result, as he pointed out in Matthew 16:2-3. “He
answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair
weather: for the sky is red. And in the
morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the
signs of the times?” When the sun
heats the ground and the air above it, the heated air rises, carrying moisture
from the surface with it, and allowing cooler air to flow in and take its
place. As the hot air rises, it cools,
and flows toward the place where the cooler air was originally.
Since the sun moves from east to West, surface winds tend to
flow from west to east, while upper winds flow from east to west. Red skies indicate light shining through very
humid air. As the air cools that
humidity will condense and fall as rain. Storm clouds tend to follow the upper
level winds, so a red sky in the evening indicates the storm has already passed
by, while a red sky in the east indicates rain clouds which are coming toward
you. Thus one can predict rain with a reasonable
degree of accuracy near the ocean or other large bodies of water. The farther one is from such bodies of water
the less water is available, so it becomes less predictable. Israel sits right on the Mediterranean coast
and such predictions can be quite accurate.
If the Jews could predict something as changeable as the
weather by simply observing what was going on around them, why couldn’t they
see the trends of much less volatile events and understand what was going on? They had hundreds of prophecies describing
what would be happening when the Lord came, and had seen many of those
prophecies fulfilled.
Jesus described their constant looking for more signs as
being like an unfaithful wife who repeatedly threatens to leave her husband if
he doesn’t prove his love by giving her what she wants, In Matthew 16:4. “A
wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign
be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.” He told them that there would be no
special signs. They would have to decide
whether they wanted to be God’s people or not on the basis of the things he had
already done for them.
Like the unfaithful wife, as long as they were depending on
another sign to keep them there, there was danger that someone else would come
along with another offer and they would turn away from God. Mark 13:21-23 warns, “…if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is
there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and
shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you
all things.” People who are
constantly looking for another sign that this is of God are susceptible to
false teachings just as an unfaithful or uncommitted wife is susceptible to
being seduced by someone other than her husband. The refusal to commit is wicked.
Thanks for the great post! Even today, with signs of the times ever increasing, like the supermoon/eclipse, wars, wickedness, natural disasters, persecution, etc., so many fail to believe. May the Holy Spirit open their eyes before it is too late.
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ReplyDeleteSo many only pay attention when someone touts some supposedly special sign such as the four blood moons or the supper moon, not realizing they are just part of the natural progression of nature toward the Lord's return. They try to use them to set dates instead of just believing God's promise.
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