Is it a Sin to ‘Seek After a Sign’?

[Posted July 24, 2023]

Hey Mike,

Hope you are well. During prayer I found myself asking God for a sign. Not an external sign like fire from heaven, or physical healing, but an internal one. That His faith and His righteousness ​a​re indeed increasing in me. That these recent trials have led to righteousness and produced fruits worthy of repentance. An obvious sign that a recurring sin is no longer having dominion over me.

This brought to my remembrance the sign of Jonas.

Mat 12:38  Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mat 12:42  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

I thought it was evil to ask for a sign, but what I got from these 5 verses in Matthew is not that it’s evil to ask for a sign, but that because we are an evil and adulterous generation, we’ll only get the one sign; the sign of Jonas.

Obviously, Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection is the “was” fulfillment of this. But then it occurred to me that the “is” fulfillment is exactly what I prayed for: a sign of repentance and wisdom via “Christ in us.” His righteousness and His faith. The power of the Holy Spirit working in us…

Col 1:27 To whom God would MAKE KNOWN [give a sign] what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory:

These “riches of the glory of this mystery” are the fruits and might produced in us by the Holy Spirit as we are changed from glory to glory.

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY, to be strengthened with MIGHT by his Spirit in the INNER MAN;
Eph 3:17  That Christ may DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

I think this is further solidified by Jonah’s prayer:

Jon 2:3  For thou hadst cast me INTO THE DEEP, in the MIDST OF THE SEAS; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Jon 2:4  Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
Jon 2:5  The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
Jon 2:6  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the EARTH with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption [sin; body of this death], O LORD my God.

Jon 2:9 …salvation is of the Lord.

As Christ was in the midst of the seas, cast out of sight, brought up from corruption…, the elect, too, are in the world, dying daily and walking in newness of life. I take away from this that it is OK to ask God for a sign of His work(s) in us.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in DEMONSTRATION of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the POWER OF GOD.

I hope I’m not way off here. Would love to hear your perspective on this. It’s possible there’s already an article explaining the sign of Jonas, but I couldn’t find it.

I do know one thing, that when God wills for me to overcome these trials, these lusts and pride… no fire from heaven or miraculous physical healing will increase my faith more.

May God continue to change us from glory to glory and increase our faith through Christ in us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Love you both. And thank you for the prayers. I felt like today I was able to study and absorb a lot of spiritual information from your study and my own studies later in the day. Praise the Lord!

YbiTC,
R​___

Hi R​____,

Thank you for these very revealing and encouraging observations concerning what Christ said about an evil and adulterous generation not being give any sign other tha​n the sign of Jonah:

Mat 12:38  Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Not once in those words of our Lord does He say anything about signs not following those who believe in Him. “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign” does not mean that ‘A righteous and faithful generation must never seek or display any signs.’ The exact opposite is true:

Mar 16:17  And these signs [G4592: ‘semeion‘] shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

The Greek word translated as ‘sign’ in Mat​thew 12:39 is G4592, ‘semeion‘, and this is Christ Himself telling us that ‘signs’ would follow them that believe, and indeed they did:

Act 2:43  And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

Act 5:12  And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

I think your words explain why Christ said ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.’ This is what you said:

“I thought it was evil to ask for a sign, but what I got from these 5 verses in Matthew is not that it’s evil to ask for a sign, but that because we are an evil and adulterous generation, we’ll only get the one sign; the sign of Jonas.” (End Quote)

Amen! and Amen!! While physical signs are nowhere nearly as prolific for us as for those of Christ and His apostles, we do still have healings from time to time, and “greater thing than [we] do”, every time we cast out an evil lying spirit with the power of the word of God and convert a soul, which Christ did not once do in His three and a half year ministry:

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Saving a single soul from death is a much greater work than all physical healings combined:

This is a subject worthy of posting for future reference.

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Your grateful brother, Mike