Sign of the Times

Matthew 16:2-3 “He (Jesus) answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times?”

My dad, a US Navy veteran of WWII & the Korean War, used to say: “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.” Obviously, mariners have know this discerning the sky fact on the oceans and seas of the world since biblical times. But, in the passage above Jesus was using this well-known observation to drive home a point and this sharp rebuke by the Lord Jesus was well deserved, for His critics were challenging Him to prove His right to be heard by performing a miracle. But they had already been confronted with a tremendous body of evidence, both in their Scriptures and in the very life and teachings of Jesus (as well as in the miracles already wrought by Him) that identified him as their Messiah. They paid great attention to weather forecasting and other mundane matters (like total eclipses), while ignoring or rejecting the evidence that God Himself, in Christ, was in their midst.

 One commentator that I read claims that today we are more occupied with daily weather and seven day forecasts even than they were, with all sorts of forecasting devices (i.e. satellites and Doppler radar in operation. There is also a growing army of doomsday forecasters, loudly concerned about a predicted nuclear winter, overpopulation, pollution, global-warming, increase in hurricanes and tornados, plus a host of other foreboding secular “signs of the times.” Our coverage of the “great American total solar eclipse” had the total attention of the nation. What is with this fascination of distractions that people love?  I remember that our church’s youth director read a study that “end-times prophesy” (Eschatology) books of the Bible (Daniel, Ezekiel & Revelation) were College and High School age kids favorite studies. Movies about a life-ending meteor hitting the earth, a giant solar flare of radiation or a super-nova of our sun seem to produce great box office returns at the theaters.

Romans 1:17-23 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

We focus our attention on “Cosmos Chaos”, yet they ignore the overwhelming evidences, both in science and Scripture, that our great Creator/Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is always in control and is coming again soon to fulfill His great purposes in creation and redemption. A mere listing of the many real signs of God’s times would take many pages. One such sign, of course, is this very proliferation of science and technology. At “the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” – Daniel 12:4. Studies have shown that “knowledge” is doubling every 12 months.  Another is the great following achieved by these false teachers, as multitudes “turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” - 2 Timothy 4:4. In America, Darwinian Theory of Macro-Evolution is the only allow explanation for the origin of life and the diversity therein, even though the physical evidence does not support it and the facts have always pointed to creation by intelligent design, just as the Bible states. We should be looking around at the order and beauty of creation and see the fingerprints of God everywhere.

“Hypocrites,” Jesus said, are concerned with secular trends, but spiritual discerners can recognize the true signs. They are posted everywhere, on everything: “Made in Heaven by God”. Praise be to God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth!

Blessings in Christ.