This week's Bible Study - August 16, 2009
Do You Require Signs?
 Background Scripture:
Judges 6:1-40; Matthew 16:1-4; Romans 12:1-2
Quote of the Week:
“A sign on the door of Opportunity reads Push.”
-- Source Unknown
Signs are a part of our everyday lives. We are accustomed to seeing traffic signs as we drive. If you are in an unfamiliar place, the signs are even more important. I was recently in my brother's hometown of Campbellsville, and the streets off the 'main road' were given numbers. Probably great to say make a left on 4, but if someone was looking for Columbia street, the signs are less than helpful. When you are driving around your own town, street signs may be less important. Over the past several years, I have traveled to several places for my job and I generally have a rental car. Although I may have a clear map, I am still very dependent on road signs to determine where to turn.
In other areas of life, we also become acquainted with using signs to know what, when, where and how to do things. Signs are all over high schools and universities. Signs are a good way to get direction. When you fly to an airport anywhere in the world, it is very important to follow signs to get to the baggage claim, passport control, rental cars and so forth. I've often wondered about the problems that people have if they don't read English in most airports. Other than the occasional 'welcome' sign in many languages, they are fairly lost very quickly.
So, we see the importance of signs in how we live. However, there are many other areas of our lives where signs do not exist. Each of us comes across decisions that we need to make in life and we will often look for signs from God. Occasionally, God will give signs, but what he desires is a relationship with him. When you truly develop a relationship with another person, you begin to know what he or she is like and the best way to deal with them. You act based on that knowledge and less on signs. It should be the same way with our relationship with God. As we get to know him, we should be acting in accordance with who he is and less looking for signs.
The Israelites continually did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so he gave them into the hands of the Midianites, their enemies. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. The Israelites had many opportunities to stay in God's graces, yet they chose their own path. Eventually, it caught up to them and they began to turn towards the Lord from despair. From time to time, we may find ourselves crying out to the Lord due to our own consequence. I wonder how it would it have turned out if we had not waited until it got 'so bad' before crying out to the Lord.
God sent a prophet to remind them that he had snatched them from the hand of their oppressors, Egypt. He had told them to not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land they lived. They didn't listen and began to blend in with the Amorites. We may not be worshipping other gods - it is doubtful that any of us have statues of Buddha or some other idol, but in our society, people are tempted to place higher value on other things rather than God.
The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, who was threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from the Midianites. The angel called Gideon a mighty warrior - hiding in a winepress. Gideon didn't understand why they were experiencing such distress. He had heard the stories of the God of his fathers and his mighty wonders. Why had God abandoned them and put them in Midian's hand? Sometimes, the consequences fall upon the innocent. You may find yourself in a situation that has nothing to do with anything that you had done. Many people today find themselves in a state of distress because of something that another person or people had done in previous years. Gideon was seen as an upright man, but he was also experiencing the weight of Midian's control.
God told Gideon to go in the strength that he had and to save Israel out of Midian's hand. Gideon could only see his own potential. His clan was the weakest and he was the least in his family. In his own strength, Gideon saw no possibility that he would be able to fulfill this task. The Lord told him that he would be with Gideon, and that Gideon would strike down all the Midianites. Gideon had to be thinking that this was an impossible task, because he knew what he could do and he knew that he was scared. Have you been there? What do you do when God gives you a task, but you 'know' you can't do it?
Gideon pushed the envelope and asked for a sign. He wanted to bring his offering and set it before the Lord. He was instructed to put his offering on a rock. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. Gideon realized it was the Lord who had spoken. That same night the Lord told him to take another bull from his father's herd and to tear down his father's altar to Baal (apparently the following of foreign gods had hit close to Gideon's family). He was to build a proper kind of altar to the Lord, and to offer the bull as a burnt offering. Gideon knew that this would cause problems with those who worshipped Baal, so he did it at night. In the morning, the people were outraged and they wanted Gideon to die. Joash, Gideon's father, replied to the crowd that if Baal was really a god, he would defend himself.
All of the enemies of Israel began to join forces and cross over the Jordan. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning others to follow him. Gideon was taking steps in the right direction and preparing to lead in battle against Israel's enemies. However, he needed another sign from God. If God was going to save Israel by Gideon's hand, then he would make wool fleece that Gideon had left out on the floor to be covered with dew, while the rest of the ground was dry. The next morning, Gideon found it as he had said, and was able to squeeze the fleece and wring out a bowlful of water. However, Gideon needed yet another sign. He would again lay out wool fleece, and asked that the fleece would be dry, while the ground was covered with dew. The next, morning, Gideon found that to be true.
Many people look back at this story and believe that God is always going to give them a sign. God does still give signs, but it is wrong to take everything as a sign and it is wrong to continually ask for signs prior to action. In my own life, I have at times looked for signs to validate what I wanted to do. It is amazing the lengths we might go to in validating our own desires. When God has clearly spoken in his word, you will not find signs that counter those words. Many situations in which we want signs can be solved if we seek guidance from His word.
On the other hand, there have been other times when I have truly been seeking God's will and he has given me very specific signs. For example, as I recently prayed about a mission trip to China, I felt that God clearly gave me signs to go, even though I was not interested at first. When you realize that God has given you the sign, you need to be ready to act upon it, rather than waiting to see if you got the answer you wanted.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ, he performed many miracles. He showed that he had power over sickness, infirmities, nature and demons on multiple occasions. People followed him and many brought their sick friends or presented their situations to Christ. He often healed in miraculous ways, and we learn that the people marveled and were amazed at the things that he could do. They thanked God for this power, but they didn't equate the power with the person that Jesus Christ really was.
In many situations, Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious leaders saw what Jesus did, but they were unmoved. They were generally following Jesus, only to criticize and to dig up dirt. They saw God's power clearly portrayed, but they did not believe. In this passage, they come to Jesus and tested him. They wanted to see a sign from heaven. Generally, when people are looking for signs over and over, they have no desire to follow - they just want to see the show.
Jesus told them that they could interpret the skies. They must have had something on meteorologists today, as they often seem to miss the weather. Of course, Jesus was talking about how they could see the color of the sky and predict fair weather or stormy weather. We understand this, as most people can generally tell when it is going to rain, or storms are approaching or when it will just be a clear day. Jesus said they could interpret the skies, but they could not interpret the signs of the times.
A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign. Jesus told them that no sign would be given, except for the sign of Jonah. Jesus was alluding to his own death, burial and resurrection that was coming up. They would not have believed or understood if he told them more clearly, as we know that the disciples never really understood until after it had happened. Jesus then left and went away.
Paul urges us in Romans to get the right perspective on life, and then to live as God intended. This doesn't involve looking for signs to direct our behavior. In this passage, Paul urges the brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. In the Old Testament, being the sacrifice was not a good thing - the animal gave its life (and died). Here, Paul tells us to be living sacrifices. This is living our lives sold out to God, being available for whatever he has called us to do or to be who he has called us to be. This, in fact, ins our spiritual act of worship. We think of worship as what we do on Sundays, or some other time during the week - generally involving listening to certain types of music and feeling a closeness to God, as we praise him. That is important, but God is calling for us to worship him throughout the week.
We are to be no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What does it mean to be conformed? When I was growing up, there was a toy called Silly Putty. It may still exist, but probably went by the wayside with all the techno-toys. It came in a plastic egg, and it was also called by other names - Nutty Putty, It was not created as a toy, but became wildly popular. When you took the substance and laid it across a comic strip on a newspaper, it would have that picture on the putty. You could form it into whatever shape you desired. I think this is somewhat like how we are when we are conformed to the world. We begin to look like whatever or whoever we are around. We are malleable and end up like everyone else. This is not what God called us to be. If, indeed, we are like Silly Putty, we should become more and more like him. However, that is not an external task - it is something that happens internally. It involves the renewing of your mind. What are you placing into your mind? Are you becoming more like Christ or more like the world?
When our minds have been transformed and are in alignment with God's will, we will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His will is good, pleasing and perfect. As we understand God's will, then we are more able to understand his direction in our lives - in the daily choices that we make.
Closing
Face it. Many people would rather have the signs. We want the specific direction from God. We'd like the personalized email or newspaper from God each day that outlines what he wants us to do during the day. We say we want that, but if you look back over the last year or five years or ten years, do you think it would have helped to know those things? Many people have gone through tragedy. What if they saw that coming?
Sometimes, in our lives, God will provide signs. I've found that we often have a preconceived notion of what we want God to 'sign' to us, so we keep asking for more signs, if it doesn't seem to be in alignment with our wants. In other cases, I've seen where people are trying to create signs for others to do something. As we live our lives, we need to be seeking what God is saying to us, through Bible Study, prayer and the relationship we have with him. Each of us is to seek God for direction. We may pray for others and encourage others, but we should not try to coerce them into what we want them to do.
When you read Biblical prophecy, you hear of many things that will happen. We can be assured that these things will happen, but we do not know of the timing. There have been people who have taken global events as signs and have predicted the end of the world for many years. I am well aware of some in the late 80s, 90s, 2000s and others who are looking at other dates to come. It is a good thing to know about the signs, but when we go overboard on them, it can lead to behavior that is distracting. What about those who thought the world was going to end in the 80s? I was teaching youth at the time, and some of them decided they didn't need to go to college. Others cared less about their jobs and focused on getting ready. We should always be getting ready, generally, but when specifically target a date, we are in danger of missing the bigger picture.
In conclusion, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Seek God. Get in his word. Spend time in prayer. Follow what he has called you. In doing this, you will begin to know what God would have you do.
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