Red Sky, the Sign, and A Humbled Mother

When I was a little girl, I remember one Christmas that my Daddy got this book as a gift. It was a book of quotations and sayings and the meanings behind them. One of the sayings that I vividly remember is,"Red sky at morn' sailors take warn. Red sky at night sailor's delight." Daddy explained to me that it meant if the sky was red in the morning then the sailor's needed to be prepared for a storm. If the sky was red at night then the next day would be a calm day on the water. I never forgot it and to this day when the sky is red I think about that quote.

Red sky came up again when we bought a CD by Brandon Heath and one of the songs is, "Red Sky". (words of the song are below)
Soon after I really listened to the words of the song, I began to wonder if the words red sky were in Scripture somewhere. (No, I didn't know if they were or not.) One day as I was reading in Matthew 16 I saw the words, red sky, I was shocked, excited and wanted to know more about the context. Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and Saducees (again, not surprising, they were questioning Jesus) and they wanted a sign from Heaven and Jesus used red sky to show them that they knew how to read the signs in the sky about the weather but they were unsure about the signs of the times. That was all I read and studied, until yesterday.

As I studied, read emails, and blogged, I was listening to the song Red Sky. Lily bounds in the room and stands still and begins to listen. "Mama, what does that red sky song mean?" I brushed her off and said,"It's in the Bible I will explain it to you later." Later that night she begged me again to explain. I brushed her off again, I know a bad mother. This morning when I woke up she said, "Mama, please teach me about that song and show me where it is in the Bible!" We sat down and read the passage together. As we read it outloud together, I knew that this was a big piece of meat that may take time for her to really understand. As we got to verse 4 I was humbled because I knew the story of Jonah but wasn't quite sure what Jesus was saying here. Was he saying that they were disobedient and would be punished like Jonah then restored again after their repentance? Hmmm. Lily and I discussed and she began to understand.

Then I hit the commentaries and read different translations of the same verse and found that in Matthew 12:38-41 Jesus explains what the "sign of Jonah" really means. I became the learner and not the teacher at this point. "for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40) Jesus was telling them that he had come, would die, and rise again, HE WAS THE SIGN! Jesus was also telling them that they were an evil and adulterous generation that would not accept or see any other signs only the one of Jonah. "The men of Ninevah will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented  at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:41) Wow. I stopped and realized the magnitude of Jesus' teaching here. The sign has been sent to us, to the entire world, and yet so many of us are like the Pharisees saying, "give us a sign!" All we need has come, is here. Are we looking to live for Him, to share about His love, and to tell others about what He did for them? Or are we leaning upon men, their words, their works, and recognition of man? Are we the evil and adulterous generation that Jesus is talking about? I became the learner....I was humbled. The magnitude of this teaching penetrated my heart and thankfully God wanted Lily to really desire to know and understand "red sky".


"There's a man on my street he reminds me everyday, better take what you can get, 'cause there's nothing more than this. Daylight fades into the ground, O Lord, I need you now! Cover me with a red sky tonight. A promise of a better day to come. Sing over me an angelic symphony, tell me everything will be alright. With a red sky tonight.
We're so taken with our fear. That we're folded up in shame. With our feet nailed to the floor, we're the only ones to blame. I can't help but wonder why nobody bats an eye. You can see it in the faces of all the passersby. Cover me with a red sky tonight. A promise of a better day to come. Sing over me an angelic symphony, tell me everything will be alright.
I sail into the sun, and when the day is done I will meet you in the night. So wake me in the dark, I see you in the sun when the day is done. Cover me with a red sky tonight, the promise of a better day to come. Sing over me an angelic symphony and tell me everything will be alright. Tell me everything will be alright. It's a red sky...." Red Sky by Brandon Heath