Sign אוֹת

We are in chapter thirty-one of Exodus with our word for today. אוֹת sign, signal, military ensign. It is used 79 times in the Old Testament, twice in our chapter. We looked at our word before when it was used in the sense of miracle in the context of God’s judgments against Egypt. Here is a good example. Deuteronomy 6:22 And the Lord showed אוֹתֹ֣ת signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. In our chapter today it is used in reference to the Sabbath in the sense of a signal that is a nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message. Exodus 31:12-13 And the Lord said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a א֨וֹת sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. So did you catch the message that the Sabbath was sending as a signal? God clearly says “that you may know” me “the LORD, sanctify you.” God gives his people the meaning of the Sabbath in that it is a time of stopping and reflecting on the work God was doing in them. Part of this is how God makes his people holy. This happens when we stop all of our activity and reflect on God, his word and prayer. This theme is seen throughout the Bible. Notice the second time it is used in our chapter is with this very idea of Sabbath as a signal to rest. Exodus 31:16-17 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a א֥וֹת sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. It is also repeated in Ezekiel 20:12-13 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a לְא֔וֹת sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. God shows his love and compassion in giving his people this weekly reminder to stop and let him make them holy. We see in this psalm what happens when we forget and don’t see our signs from God to remind us of him and the great things he wants to do. Psalm 74:9-10 We do not see אֽוֹתֹתֵ֗ינוּ our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? The good news is that God has given us the greatest sign of all his Son Jesus to die in our place for our sins to make us holy like himself. I’ll close with this messianic prophecy that uses our word twice in its prediction of Jesus who was to come to save us and transform us into his likeness. Isaiah 7:11-14 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a א֔וֹת sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a א֑וֹת sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Matthew 1:21-23 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).