Seder 103: Luke 11; Matthew 12, 16----The Sign of Jonah

 In the Bible a "sign" is something, miraculous or otherwise, that carries a message.  Prophets can be signs, for example.  Isaiah says in Isaiah 8:18, "Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion." 

Recall that Isaiah's children had special names.  The name of his son Shear-Jashub (Isa 7:3) conveyed the message that Judah would suffer exile, and a remnant would return.  (The name means, "a remnant will return.")  The name of his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz predicted that Damascus and Samaria would soon fall to the Assyrians (Isa 8:1-4).  

A generation or so before Isaiah, Jonah was another prophet who was a sign.  Jesus stated that "Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh" (Lk 11:30).  The Ninevites responded to Jonah's warning of coming judgment with sincere repentance (Jonah 3:4-5).  

An important aspect of the sign of Jonah is the fact that Jonah was rescued from death after being swallowed by a giant fish.  Jesus stated that this miracle pointed forward to his own coming resurrection from the dead (Mt 12:38-40).  

What was it about Jonah that made him a sign to the Ninevites?  Old Testament scholar Eugene Merrill addresses this question in an interesting 1980 paper.  

Jonah prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II of the northern kingdom of Israel (793-753 BC).  He was from Gath-hepher (2 Ki 14:25), about 3 miles northwest of Nazareth.  

Merrill explains that Assyria faced a number of external and internal challenges during the first half of the eighth century BC.  Perhaps their difficulties during this period made them more receptive to Jonah's message than they might have been otherwise.  

Merrill also points out that the name "Nineveh" seems to have meant something like "Fishtown," and there were legends that "Assyria's arts and sciences were brought from the Persian Gulf by a half-man, half-fish deity called in the Greek Oannes" (p. 27 of the paper).  Given this background, we can see why the Ninevites would have been interested to hear from someone who had been regurgitated by a large fish.  Was Jonah's God more powerful than Oannes?  

At Church of the Messiah on February 14, 2026, Kyle Kettering gave a sermon on the sign of Jonah and signs in general.  In Matthew 16:1 Jesus, who had performed many miracles, was asked for a "sign from heaven.''  Those who asked him may have been hoping for some encouraging news about when Israel's restoration would come.  Jesus replied that they should have been better able to discern "the signs of the times" (verse 3).  They were in a time, like that of Jonah, when repentance was called for.  People who understood the signs of the times would heed Jesus' message, as the Ninevites had heeded Jonah (verse 4).  

When we look at the times we live in, we see lots of discouraging things.  Kyle encouraged us to set an example that would be a positive sign to those around us.  

Seder 7: Isaiah 42---The Servant of God, Collective and Individual

 A major figure in Isaiah 41-53 is God's Servant.  In some places Isaiah uses this term collectively, to refer to the Israelites as the people of God.  For example, in Isaiah 41:8, God speaks to "Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend."  When the term is used collectively, God may be pointing out Israel's shortcomings in carrying out its calling, as in Isaiah 42:19:  "Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send?  Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?" 

There are also places where the term is used for a special individual, an ideal representative of Israel, as in Isaiah 42:1:  "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations."  

Isaiah 42:1-6 has often been interpreted messianically, as we see in the Gospels.  For example, Matthew 12:15-21 applies this passage to Jesus.  The divine voice at Jesus' baptism references Isaiah 42:1 (Mt 3:17). 

Isaiah 42:6 is also applied corporately to the work of the apostles in Acts 13:46-48.  The apostles indeed were furthering Israel's mission to be a light to the nations.

Seder 118: Numbers 21---The Bronze Snake

 After the first "water from the rock" episode in Exodus 17, the Israelites were attacked by Amalek and achieved a military victory.  Similarly, after the second "water from the rock" episode in Numbers 20, the Israelites were attacked by Arad the Canaanite and defeated him in battle as well (Num 21:1-3)..  

The younger generation of Israelites was showing some courage, but they also shared some of the problems of their ancestors.  As the journey dragged on, they began to speak against God and against Moses (Num 21:4-5), turning up their noses at God's provision for them.  

God sent correction in the form of poisonous snakes (v 6), a punishment with symbolic significance.  Kevin Chen describes this incident as a kind of "fall" for the younger generation of Israelites.  By slandering God and his provision for them, they were succumbing to the temptations of the Serpent.  Chen sees significance in the fact that the Hebrew word for "serpent" in verse 7 is singular rather than plural.  The Israelites ask for relief from the poisonous snakes, but their real problem is with the same Serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3).  It's really that Serpent which needs to be taken away.  The word for serpent appears five times in both Gen 3 and Numbers 21:4-9, linking the two chapters.

God provides relief by having Moses make a bronze snake and hold it up on a pole.  An Israelite who looked at the bronze snake on the pole would be healed of a snakebite (vv 8-9).  

This remedy has symbolic significance, as is pointed out in John 3:14-15.  The bronze snake is a type of Jesus, who was raised up on the cross to defeat the Serpent.  When the Son of Man is lifted up, the ruler of this world is cast out (Jn 12:31-34).  All who look to Jesus in faith are saved.  

In the imagery of the bronze snake Chen also sees a hint of the hiddenness of the Messiah's identity.  Some wrongly accused Jesus of being a servant of the Serpent (Mt 10:24-26; 12:24-29) and did not recognize a crucified man as the Messiah.

The Son of Man is lifted up on the cross, and we also should lift him up continually in our lives.  Kyle Kettering made this point in a sermon on John 3 at Church of the Messiah on September 24, 2022.