As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, He said, “This evil generation keeps asking Me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that He was sent by God. The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on Judgment Day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on Judgment Day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.”
Luke 11:29-32
There are a number of times when God’s people are encouraged to ask for a sign in the Bible. Then there are other times when God or Jesus, seem to react to people asking for signs, as if it is the worst thing they could do. What is going on here? Is it ok to ask for a sign (of confirmation) or not? We are faced with this example in the passage before us (Luke 11). The crowd (according to Luke) asked for a sign and Jesus told them they were an evil generation. According to Matthew (12:38), it was the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees who asked for a sign, and Jesus called them an evil and adulterous generation. So seemingly, asking for a sign from God, is not a good thing to do. But as I have told you before, always interpret Scripture by Scripture. What does the rest of the Bible tell us?
It is interesting in Luke, that he told us the crowd had already asked for a sign before this (Luke 11:16). They have been given a very significant sign of who they are dealing with in the person of Jesus. So, it seems the problem is the fact that they have asked for a sign before, and have actually already been given one. Matthew doesn’t record that however, and just has one occurrence of asking, but indeed, after they have already seen the sign of releasing the captives from the clutches of the evil one. The Messiah, when He came, among other things, was to heal the sick and set free those held captive by demon spirits. Well, that was what happened. Jesus demonstrated the signs that were supposed to accompany the Messiah. Yet, they asked for more. Maybe that is the problem.
But look at the story of Gideon in the book of Judges, the classic story of asking for a sign. Judges 6:17 – “Show me a sign, that this is really You speaking to me.” The issue here for Gideon: is this really God who is talking to him, and telling him to go and rescue Israel from the hand of the Midianites? There is lots at stake here. Gideon makes his request in verse 17 and then when he comes back with the offering to put on the altar, God sends down fire from heaven to consume his offering, without him doing anything. [Note that this is something that Gideon does later, in front of the Prophets of Ba’al. I.e. Sending down fire.] We work in ways that are familiar to us. Interesting! That is a really impressive sign, in response to his request. Yet, the thing we are familiar with in the Gideon story, is the fleece. Gideon asked two more times for a sign, both to do with confirmation relating to his assignment to free Israel. “Lord make the fleece wet and the ground dry.” The Lord does it. “Lord make the fleece dry and the ground wet.” The Lord does it. Yet in all of this, God doesn’t seem to get exasperated with Gideon. It seems that it is all right to ask for more signs.
Those of you who have been following Gems for a long while, know we have experienced some interesting signs in seeking God’s guidance too. Way back when the Lord appeared to be leading us into mission work, I had been reading a book called Bruchko, which was an amazing mission story. On June 8th, 1981, the Lord seemed to call us specifically and dramatically, but maybe, just maybe, it was because of reading THAT book. So I asked Him to confirm the book. God confirmed it in a spectacular way, and then again later. You can read all about that in Gems 197 and 198. The point is, there seemed to be no problem with asking God for a sign, to confirm what we thought He was saying, to make SURE it was actually what He WAS saying.
In 2 Kings 20:8, 9,Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What sign will the LORD give to prove that He will heal me, and that I will go to the Temple of the LORD, three days from now?” Hezekiah is told that God was going to make the shadow go backwards, as a sign. Now you have to admit, that is clearly a spectacular sign. Once gain there seems to be no problem with Hezekiah asking for a sign, any sign, and God gives THAT one.
Isaiah says to the evil King Ahaz in Isaiah 7:11,”Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as Hades.”
Ahaz says in the next verse, “I will not ask for a sign, I will not put the Lord to the test.”
Ahaz is told in no uncertain terms in that classic Emmanuel verse, that before the child has grown beyond a baby, God’s judgment will fall on him. (Isa 7:14ff) Ahaz’s answer to God sounds very spiritual. Oh, I won’t ask for a sign, I won’t test the Lord. But unfortunately for him, God knows Ahaz’s heart and knows that his so called spiritual answer, is a smoke screen for not wanting to do what God was asking him to do. It is the same thing with the signs, the miracles, performed by Moses for Pharaoh, so that he would let God’s people go. People get upset with the Bible when they read in Exodus 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10 and 14:8, that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But in all the verses before that in Exodus, Pharaoh was the one who hardened his own heart. The issue of signs and our response to God over them, is all to do with the state of our hearts. If we are playing with God over something He is asking us to do, supposedly seeking “confirmation” when in fact, we are refusing to do what He asks, it is just a smoke screen. God sees through that kind of reaction.
In the case of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, and through them to the section of the crowd they influenced, it wouldn’t have mattered what sign Jesus gave them. Their hearts were closed to any input God might give them. He could have stopped the sun; He could have made the sun, moon and stars gyrate or move; or painted a message in the sky for them, but still they would have refused it. He could have rendered the heavens and come down, and I suspect they would still have asked for “another sign”. Their hearts were hardened.
Beware when your heart is hardened. It is a dangerous place to be.
Next Gem we will dig into the significance of the sign of Jonah and the sign of the Queen of Sheba.
God made the sun, moon and stars as signs; many astronauts have gone into space and seeing the signs from another perspective have become Christians.
Anon
Oh help us to see the signs from a different perspective Lord.
Ian Vail
Feel free to ask for a sign from the Lord your God, make it as high as the heavens. But be sincere in your response to what He shows you in the sign you asked for.
Ian Vail
Don’t think you can dupe God by asking for a sign; He is the creator and inventor of signs.
Anon
We don’t know what it takes to run the world, and wise are we who leave the work to God’s hands.
Max Lucado