the Week of Proper 27 / Ordinary 32
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Bible Dictionaries
Sign
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
or The word is used as a type to represent or express some great truth. Here are some of the signs mentioned in Scripture:
Exodus 4:8 (a) Moses, taking the serpent by the tail, represents the power of GOD over Satan and the power of the servant of GOD over the evil powers of earth. Moses' hand in his bosom became leprous. Upon removing it from his bosom it became well. This indicates that man is first wicked within and then through the command and work of GOD he becomes right within.
Exodus 8:23 (a) The plague of flies demonstrated the power of GOD over nature and the purpose of GOD to punish His enemies.
Exodus 13:9 (a) Evidently this refers to the Word of the Lord which was to be bound both upon the hand and the head as a constant reminder of the fulfillment of GOD's Word in delivering Israel from the bondage of Egypt. (See also Deuteronomy 6:8).
Exodus 31:13 (a) The Sabbath was a sign of that blessed rest which would be offered in its fullness through the Lord JESUS and in His blessed Person when He came and said, "I will give you rest."
Numbers 16:38 (a) The brazen censers (of the rebels). which were beaten into broad plates were to remind Israel and also us today that it is fatal to rebel against the Word and the plan of GOD.
Numbers 26:10 (a) The disaster sent upon Korah and his company was ever to remind Israel and us, too, of the punishment of GOD upon those who rebel against His order.
Judges 6:17 (a) GOD saw the genuine desire of Gideon to really know His will and therefore granted him the evidence he requested. It is not always so. Very few servants of GOD ever have asked for a sign to confirm the Word of GOD. JESUS said about this matter. "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." ( Mark 8:12). We should believe GOD's Word without signs.
Isaiah 7:14 (a) The coming of CHRIST was a sign to the world that no other remedy for sin would avail.
- it was a sign of man's helplessness and inability to save himself.
- it was a sign of the miraculous gift of a Saviour without human means or device.
- it was a sign of GOD's plan and pleasure in sending one who could and would be the Mediator between GOD and men.
- It was a sign of GOD's loving interest in the needs of men.
- in the first sign they had nothing to drink, and in the eighth one they had nothing to eat. Then JESUS came and their needs were satisfied.
- in the second sign the boy was ready to die, and in the seventh sign the man was dead. Then JESUS came and life, and life more abundant was present to defeat death.
- in the third sign the man could not walk and in the sixth one the man could not see.
- in the fourth sign and the fifth one reveal the presence of fear in the heart. In the fourth one they were afraid of dying of hunger, and in the fifth they were afraid of dying by drowning. Then JESUS came and the fear of death was removed. These eight signs are as follows:
Chapter2 (b) Water into wine. The Lord can take the ordinary things of life and make them unusually profitable for His glory. There can be no joy in the sweetest scenes of earth unless He is present.
Chapter4:54 (b) The young man was at the point of death but was not yet dead. The Lord JESUS is able to sustain and to support the life which He gives. He only can keep us from the second death.
Chapter5:9 (b) This indicates that those who are unable to walk with GOD and have no power to change their condition need the Saviour to touch them and enable them to walk with GOD and to live for His glory.
Chapter6:11 (b) We learn the lesson from this sign that the hunger of the heart and the desires of the soul can only be satisfied and gratified by the presence and power of the Lord JESUS.
Chapter6:21 (b) This sign teaches us that the storms of life and fears of the soul may be quickly and surely calmed by the presence and the word of the sovereign Lord.
Chapter9:7 (b) This reveals that only the Lord JESUS can open blind eyes to see their need and to see the sufficiency of the Saviour. It is interesting to note that the lame man was by the pool and the blind man went to the pool. The pool may represent the Word of GOD or the Spirit of GOD or both. We should note also that both of these "signs" were given on the sabbath to teach us that when we are able to walk with GOD and are able to see the things of GOD as we should, then we have rest in our souls.
Chapter11:44 (b) This is a blessed sign to teach us that only JESUS CHRIST can give life to a dead sinner and only the Word of CHRIST can break open the grave and cause a resurrection. As the young man in joh4was about to die and needed to be kept alive, so in this case the man was already dead and needed to be restored to life. Only CHRIST JESUS can do either or both of these blessed miracles in our lives today.
Chapter21:6 (c) This is to teach us that we cannot be successful in life in the true sense of the word unless the Lord directs our way. We learn also that in the ministry of preaching we shall not gather in a harvest for Him except as He directs both as to the manner and the place. In the first sign, they were lacking wine to drink. Only He could provide. In this, the last sign, they were lacking food to eat and only He could provide. So in these eight signs in John we are told that CHRIST JESUS is GOD's answer to every need of the human heart.
Romans 4:11 (a) The circumcision of the Old Testament was a constant testimony to Israel; first, that they belonged to GOD; and second, that they were not to live according to the lusts and desires of the flesh, but according to the will of GOD. (See also Genesis 17:11).
1 Corinthians 14:22 (a) The gift of tongues was a gift in which the servants of GOD were enabled to instantly speak in a different language from the one they knew. The Spirit of GOD gave them immediately the power to preach the Gospel in foreign tongues which had never been learned. This has never been repeated since the apostles' day. Those who today claim to have that "gift" must always learn the language of the country to which they go as missionaries. The message was always an intelligent message, and understandable to those to whom it was addressed. The gift was not given for Christians, but for the heathen. If today those from this country could go to China or Russia and immediately speak freely and fluently in the language of those countries, though they had never learned those languages, that would be a sign to the natives of that country that GOD was working.
Revelation 15:1 (a) In almost every case the Lord forewarned the earth of impending judgment. He did so in this case. When John saw those seven angels with the seven plagues he knew there was trouble ahead for the inhabitants of the earth. This is written in the Scripture so that all men everywhere will today take heed to this sign and repent and turn to GOD.
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Watson, Walter. Entry for 'Sign'. Wilson's Dictoinary of Bible Types. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wdt/s/sign.html. 1957.
