 |  |
Thus the central pair of signs turn from Israel's need to the person of the Messiah
Himself, their only hope.
Each set of four signs is complete however in itself. This is quite compatible with the
existing correspondence already pointed out on page 2 of this volume. Briefly they may
be set out thus:--
Israel's
|
A
| No wine.--Fully supplied.
Condition at
|
B | At the point of death.--Seventh hour.
B | Thirty-eight years.--Sabbath.
the
|
A | No bread.--Fully supplied.
First Advent.
|
Present
interval.
Israel's
|
A
| The Sea.--I AM.
Condition at
|
B | The born blind receive sight.
B | The dead and buried receive life.
the
|
A | The Sea.--It is the Lord.
Second Advent.
|
#6.
The Man Born Blind (9:).
pp. 167 - 170
With this miracle we commence the corresponding signs of the second series. The
healing of the man born blind echoes the healing of the impotent man who had been in
that case for 38 years. In this sign however we are dealing with a type of Israel after the
rejection of the Lord had taken place. We have already drawn attention to the
intensifying of the conditions of the second set of signs. As this is important and may
have been missed, we give again the following figure.
Before Rejection.
After Rejection.
No wine.
Nothing.
At the point of death.
Dead and buried.
Important for thirty-eight years.
Blind from birth.
While the Lord tells His disciples that the cause of the man's blindness was neither his
own sin nor that of his parents, the dispensational application is found in the closing of
the chapter:--
"For judgment I am come into the world, that they which see not might see: and that
they which see might become blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with Him
heard these words and said unto Him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye
were blind ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth."
We observed in our consideration of the corresponding sign that John is careful to tell
us what the name of the pool (Bethesda) was in the Hebrew tongue. Something similar
occurs again in this sign. "Go wash in the Pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation