Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Then it says in the next verse:

Genesis 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth:

We saw that these were the four purposes of the lights that God put in the heavens: 1) signs; 2) seasons; 3) days and years; and 4) lights in the firmament of heaven. We looked at how the sun, moon and stars were for “signs” and we saw that God uses the Hebrew word translated as “signs” in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, where He said of His Words that we are to “bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” He said the same thing in Deuteronomy 11, verse 18.

Then we considered what the Lord said in Matthew 12, where He said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it,” and if He would have stopped there we would have thought that “signs” are completely forbidden and that there is to be no signs, but He did not stop there. He went on to say, “And there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” This means that God will give “signs,” but the sign has to be something found in the Bible because that is where you can read about the prophet Jonah and how he was in the whale’s belly, and so forth. When we put this fact together along with the statement in Deuteronomy 6, verses 6 through 8 about His Words being bound for a sign upon our hands, then we understand that signs outside of the Bible are not to be sought – that is what an evil and adulterous generation seeks. In other words, God is not going to give a sign concerning the physical sun, moon and stars, like solar flares or the moon being in a certain alignment or the recent phenomenon of a “blood moon.” Some in the churches were very excited about the “blood moon,” but that does not mean a thing as far as the Bible is concerned because that is an outward sign. You can look for signs in the “sun, moon and stars” because God says He created them for signs, but it is a wrong understanding to look at the literal, physical sun, moon and stars and to seek a sign there. In that case, no sign will be given by God in the physical realm.

The disciples asked Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” They were not wrong to ask because Jesus proceeded to give Scripture and signs in the Bible are permitted and, therefore, Christ gave signs of false prophets and the abomination of desolation in the holy place and fleeing to the mountains, and so on. Then we read in Matthew 24:29-30:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…

Some might say, “Well, there it is! You will know Christ is coming when you look into the heavens and you see that the sun is dark and the moon is not giving light and the stars are falling. That is the sign of the Son of man coming.” No, this is not possible, physically or literally, because it would go against what Jesus said: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.” Anything outside the Bible in the world or in the sky above is not permitted. God will not give that kind of sign. The disciples asked, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” The sign is when the heavens are dark and the light of the sun, moon and stars can no longer be seen. The sign is darkness in the heavens above. What does that mean? Let us look at the same account in Mark 13:3-4:

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what *shall be* the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

This is the parallel passage and the disciples are asking the same question. One thing to note is that in Christ’s response, He says:

Mark 13:22-23 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

Again, how could you tell the difference? If we are looking for the sign of Christ’s coming and the end of the world, it says that at the time of the end false Christs and false prophets would show signs and wonders that would seduce (if it were possible) even the elect. How can we distinguish between a false sign and a legitimate sign that God permits?

What are the “signs” in evidence today in the churches? They give the “sign” of speaking in tongues as a sign of having the Holy Spirit. They give the “sign” of falling over backwards as a sign of “being slain the spirit.” (They think that is a good thing, but it is not.) These are evidences that God is not with them in any way because their signs are outward signs. It is just like an evil and adulterous generation that seeks after a sign in the physical heavens above. So, too, if the sign is someone falling over backwards or if the sign is someone speaking in a tongue or receiving a dream or vision, these are outward signs that are outside of the Bible and we can know they are not from God. God has told us He will not work that way. That is not His program of “signs” to give those physical indicators. It is the “still small voice” of God through His Spirit as He leads His people to truth in the Bible itself. It is in the Bible that you can find information (if God is pleased to reveal it)

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