A sign is an announcement, a proclamation of sorts, it points to something.

Type

Practically anything can be a sign. A sign may be

1. Something

   1. The sun, moon and stars and constellations are signs that mark times and seasons [Gen 1:14]

2. Someone

   1. Isaiah and his sons were signs [Isa 8:18 cf., Isa 8:1-4; 7:3]
   2. Ezekiel was “a sign to Israel” [Eze 12:6,11]

3. An action

   (the following were all at God’s command)
   1. Isaiah went about “stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush” [Isa 20:4]
   2. Jeremiah wore a yoke on his neck as a sign of Israel’s captivity in Babylon [Jer 27:2; 28:10]
   3. Ezekiel packed up his things, dug a hole in the wall and went through it covering his face as an exile [Eze 12:3-7]. This was a sign of what would befall the king of Judah and Israel [Eze 12:8-16]

4. Or, An Event

   1. The death of Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt was to serve as proof to Judah that the prophecies of Jeremiah were going to happen [Jer 44:29-30]

Time

With regard to the period of time a sign is concerned with, a sign may point to

1. The Past

   (serving as a reminder or an indicator of an existing agreement/covenant between two or more parties),
   1. The rainbow serves as a sign of the covenant between God and all living creatures that he will not destroy all things with a flood again [Gen 9:9-11,12-13,17].
   2. Circumcision in the flesh is a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants [Gen 17]
   3. The Passover meal was a reminder of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt by Yahweh with a mighty hand [Exo 13:9,1-8]

2. The Present

   1. The sun, moon and stars and constellations are signs that mark times and seasons [Gen 1:14]
   2. The Sabbath was a sign to Israel, a reminder that they belonged to Yahweh [Eze 20:12]

3. Or, the Future

   1. The sign on Cain prevented anyone who found him from killing him [Gen 4:15]

Power

With regard to power, sign from God may be

1. Supernatural

   1. The signs Moses presented to the Israelites Yahweh had appeared to him were miraculous [Exo 4:8-9,1-7,29-31]
   2. The sign that God gave through Isaiah that King Hezekiah would recover and would have another fifteen years was certainly supernatural—the shadow of the sun went backwards [Isa 38:5-8]

2. Or, Not Supernatural

   1. Although commanded by God, Isaiah going about as a sign “stripped and barefoot for three years…” [Isa 20:4] was not supernatural.
   2. Though commanded by God, Ezekiel’s demonstration of the fate of the prince of Judah was not supernatural [Eze 12:3-7]
   3. The observance of the Sabbath is certainly not supernatural

Recipient

When God gives a sign, it is meant to be observed or interpreted by

1. God

   1. Although the rainbow ought to remind men of the covenant they have with God, nevertheless, the rainbow as a sign is primarily meant for God and not for man [Gen 9:14-16]

2. An Individual

   1. The shadow cast by the sun going backwards was a sign to king Hezekiah that he would recover and that God would deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians [Isa 38:5-8]

3. Or to a group of people

   1. The three signs Moses presented to the elders of Israel were directed at the people of Israel
   2. The signs of Ezekiel were directed at the people of Israel