SIGN
[Heb., ʼohth; Gr., se·meiʹon].
Among the many signs that Jehovah has provided for human guidance, the first mentioned as such are the heavenly luminaries, the sun and the moon. (Gen. 1:14) They are time indicators as well as visible signs of God’s existence and qualities. (Ps. 19:1-4; Rom. 1:19, 20) Evidently because of looking to these luminaries as well as to the stars for omens, as by astrology, the nations have been “struck with terror,” as stated at Jeremiah 10:2. Other “signs” might include any object, act, situation or unusual display that served as a guide for present or future action or attitude.
PURPOSES OF SIGNS
Jehovah gave signs as an assurance of truthfulness and dependability of his words. (Jer. 44:29; 1 Sam. 2:31-34; 10:7, 9; 2 Ki. 20:8-11) They gave evidence of God’s backing of Moses or other servants (Ex. 3:11, 12; compare Judges 6:17, 20-22); of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12); of the Christian congregation.—1 Cor. 14:22.
Signs were not essential to prove God’s backing, as is seen in the case of John the Baptist. (John 10:41; Matt. 11:9-11) Also, a false prophet might perform a sign, but he could be identified as false by the means Jehovah provided.—Deut. 13:1-5; 18:20-22; Isa. 44:25; Mark 13:22; 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 13:13, 14; 19:20.
Certain signs are reminders, remembrancers, memorials. (Gen. 9:12-14; 17:11; Rom. 4:11) The sabbaths and the Passover constituted memorial signs for the Jews. (Ex. 13:3-9; 31:13; Ezek. 20:12, 20) A sign of a literal or symbolic nature could serve as an identification.—Num. 2:2; Ex. 12:13.
A SIGN DEMANDED OF JESUS
During Jesus’ ministry he performed numerous signs that helped many to believe in him. (John 2:23) But the signs did not produce faith in hardhearted ones. (Luke 2:34; John 11:47, 53; 12:37; compare Numbers 14:11, 22.) When on two occasions religious leaders asked Jesus to display to them a sign from heaven they likely were demanding that he perform, as proof that he was the Messiah, the sign foretold at Daniel 7:13, 14, namely, the “son of man” appearing with the clouds of the heavens to take his kingdom power. But it was not God’s time for that prophecy to be fulfilled, and Christ would not perform a showy display merely to gratify their selfish demand. (Matt. 12:38; 16:1) Rather, he told them that the only sign that would be given them was “the sign of Jonah the prophet.” (Matt. 12:39-41; 16:4) After about three days in the belly of a huge fish Jonah had gone and preached to Nineveh. Jonah thereby became a “sign” to the capital of Assyria. Jesus’ generation had the “sign of Jonah” when Christ spent parts of three days in the grave and was resurrected. In this Christ was a sign to that generation, but even that did not convince most of the Jews.—Luke 11:30; 1 Cor. 1:22.
SIGN OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE
Shortly before Jesus’ death his apostles asked him: “What will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7) There were distinct differences between this question and the requests for a sign that the religious leaders had made. While right there, able to see him and his works, those leaders would not accept him as Messiah and king-designate. (John 19:15) Once they asked for a sign “to tempt him” (Luke 11:16); also some may have been infected with idle curiosity about Jesus’ signs, as was Herod. (Luke 23:8) Quite the opposite, the disciples who asked about the sign of Christ’s presence already accepted him as Messiah and King. (Matt. 16:16) But Jesus had said that the Kingdom was “not coming with striking observableness.” (Luke 17:20) Consequently (though the apostles mistakenly believed that the Kingdom would be established on earth [Acts 1:6]), they did not want to be like the Jewish leaders when the Kingdom should arrive—blind to Jesus’ presence. Accordingly, they asked, not for a miraculous sign to be performed right there, but what the future identifying sign would be.
In response Jesus described a composite “sign,” one made up of many evidences, including wars, earthquakes, persecution of Christians and a preaching about the Kingdom. (Matt. 24:4-14, 32, 33) The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple was under consideration when the disciples asked Jesus for the “sign” (Luke 21:5-7), and his reply gave prophecies that applied to Jerusalem and Judea, that were fulfilled during their lifetime. (Luke 21:20; Matt. 24:15) But his answer also dealt with the establishment of the kingdom of God and its effects on all mankind.—Luke 21:31, 35.
“Sign of the Son of man”
On that occasion Jesus said to his disciples: “And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30; Luke 21:27) Just before this comment he had spoken of the prophet Daniel. (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 9:27; 11:31) And from the expression Jesus here used it is evident that he was now referring back to Daniel 7:13, 14, where the vision depicted “with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man” gaining access to the “Ancient of Days” and receiving a ‘kingdom that will not be brought to ruin.’ This linked the “sign of the Son of man” with the time when Jesus would be given Kingdom power. Jesus applied the expression “Son of man” and the prophecy at Daniel 7:13, 14 to himself.—Matt. 26:63, 64; Mark 14:61, 62.
About 96 C.E., twenty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem, John wrote about things that would take place in the future, and he saw in vision Jesus Christ “coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him.” (Rev. 1:1, 7) Hence, both this statement about something that was to take place after 96 C.E. and what Christ said about the “sign of the Son of man” referred to Jesus as coming in the clouds and as being seen by all people. (See CLOUD.) It should be noted, however, that while the Greek verb ho·raʹo, “to see,” used at Matthew 24:30 and Revelation 1:7, can mean literally to “see an object, behold,” it can also be used metaphorically, of mental sight, to “discern, perceive.”—A Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell and Scott (Ninth ed., p. 1245a).
For a comparison of “miracles,” “portents” and “signs,” see MIRACLES; PORTENT.