Signs that make me wonder.

Yes, this is a re-post because the previous title may have been misleading.

When is a sign not a sign? When there is no unimpeachable nor unambiguous interpretive source to attach it to.

For instance, all of the “signs” that Jesus did, served as fulfillments of Old Testament prophecies. 

The signs which occurred at Pentecost and beyond, were rooted in the same. But that didn’t stop others from trying to interpret the “signs” at Pentecost. The text says that everyone was amazed and tried to figure out what it all meant. And some said it was a sign that these people were drunk already at 9 in the morning!

Without the book of Joel as an infallible interpretive grid (along with other passages) – the “sign” was in the imaginations of the beholders.

It is still a problem.

When some event occurs in the world, or even in our own lives, we do not have the freedom to turn it into a sign at will and give it our own interpretation. This is not Biblically responsible.

Now let me apply this to the recent, wicked attempt to assassinate former president Trump. 

Some, immediately began claiming his survival was some sort of sign. He must be “God’s man” if he was spared. It must mean something specific in terms of blessing for America. But we simply do not have Biblical precedent to make that jump, and to arbitrarily turn the failed attempt into a sign; beyond perhaps a sign of the continuing state of human depravity which incites men to senseless violence.

Can we say for certain in God’s providence he was spared? Absolutely. But even then, we do not know what he was spared for!

By the very same “signs” logic, shouldn’t we say that Deitrich Bonhoffer’s failed attempt to assassinate Hitler was a sure sign that God was pleased with Hitler and thought he should remain for the good of Germany?

I don’t think so.

Beware these random assignments (no pun intended) brethren. It is equivalent to seeking omens and using divination to make wild interpretations. 

The old tale of the Chinese Farmer illustrates part of the problem.

“Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”’”

So it goes.

Taking an isolated event, and trying to insert it into the greater fabric of human history and reading God’s providence that way is a fool’s errand. Above and beyond sparing the President’s life in that moment, we have NO idea what God’s larger plan in it all is. Only time will tell us that. Scripture, for certain, will not. And Scripture, must be our interpreter. Not our imaginations.

One thinks of the prayer of Hezekiah upon hearing from Isaiah that he was to die soon, and to put his house in order (2 Kings 20). Hezekiah cried out to God and was granted a reprieve of 15 years. “Fabulous!” we say. But wait! It was during those 15 years that Hezekiah fathered Manasseh – who went on to become one of the most wicked, idolatrous and brutal kings Judah ever was unfortunate enough to live under. 

Praise God President Trump was spared. And how tragic for the one whose life was not spared and for the wounded.

What if the brave firefighter – Corey Comperatore – who died protecting his family – would have one day saved the life of the man or woman who would go on to cure cancer? What if the shooting was more about him and his family, and Trump’s injury was only incidental to that? Or what if it was more about the other two men wounded, David Dutch and James Copenhaver? What if God intends to use them and their families in some extraordinary way, and a wicked man incensed at the President was the means to accomplish what God wanted in their lives? What are the signs to be interpreted, and how? We cannot know.

What we CAN know is that God, in His providence, was and is working in and through all of their lives to His ends, and that over-interpreting this event to color in some line drawing of our own invention is utterly fruitless and without basis in fact.

Let me ask, why was it Trump was spared, when all the Apostles but one were martyred? Were their deaths somehow a sign that they were not as important as he? Not as good as channels of God’s grace to us far beyond Mr. Trump? Were not Peter and Paul of more value to the Church and all of Christendom than Mr. Trump even to America? 

Neither their deaths nor Trump’s survival are specific signs to be read as omens of general good or bad in the moment. To do so, is to live in folly. 

Stick to the Word, and eschew all forms of mystical interpretations and omen reading. Leave that to the pagans. 

Follow Christ. 

Follow The Word soundly interpreted.

Isaiah 8:20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Woe to us, if it is professed Believers who do not keep themselves to these.