Mt. 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
Because of being stung by His words of rebuke in the preceding segment, the Pharisees try to take the offensive. They demand yet another sign as if Yeshua had done nothing so far to authenticate His Messiahship. He has performed numerous miracles since the beginning of His ministry, including two miracles the Pharisees themselves had labeled Messianic Miracles. Yet, in spite of the evidence, they reject His claim.
Mt. 12:39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
Because of their rejection, Israel, He says, is to receive no more signs but one; the sign of Jonah, which is the sign of the resurrection. Yeshua continues to perform miracles even after this time but His purpose has changed. Up until now, the purpose of His miracles was to serve as signs for the nation, to get the nation to come to a decision regarding Him. But now, they have come to that decision, and the decision is that He is not the Messiah on the grounds of demonic possession. From this point on, His miracles are for the purpose of training the twelve disciples for the work they will have to conduct once He is gone.
Mt. 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Source: Jonah 2:1
Mt. 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”
Mt. 12:42 “The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the whisper of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”
From the Dead Sea Scrolls and other archaeological finds, we can say, with certainty, that the language in which Yeshua taught was Hebrew and that the language of the common person in Judea in Yeshua’s day was Hebrew; not Greek, and not Aramaic. There are two passages of Scripture in the Gospels that establish this conclusively and this is one of those passages. In English Matthew 12:42a reads:”The queen of the South will rise up in judgment......." In Hebrew the text reads: “Malcat Teyman will rise up in judgment (translated as Queen of the South).” Teyman is the country of Yemen. Only in Hebrew does Teyman have the directional meaning of south. In Hebrew there are three words that are used for south: darom, negev, and the word teyman. In Aramaic, south is doromah.
Sources: II Chron. 9:1; I Kings 10:1-10; Bible Scholars.org
Mt. 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.”
The story of the demon is that it wasn’t cast out, but simply left on its own volition, looking for a better place to stay. He searches for a while, but he finds no vacancy. So he returns to the man he indwelled earlier. He finds that person swept and garnished, but at the same time the demon finds him still empty. He is still empty because in the interval the man never took the opportunity to be indwelt by another spirit, be it the Holy Spirit or another demon. The demon re-enters the man, but no longer wanted to live by himself and he invites seven other demons to join him, and the last state has become worse than the first. At the first he was possessed by only one demon, but now he is possessed by eight.
This passage draws on folklore from Assyria and the land of Canaan dating from as much as 1,000 years before the time of Yeshua. It was a common belief of the pagan religions that devils and/or demons dwelt in deserts or dry places. Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14 reflect this belief. In a later passage mention is made of the “he-goat” known in Hebrew as Sa’er, which is also used for the Satyr, the half-goat/half-man. This figure is known later in Greek mythology as Pan and remains the symbol of the devil even to this day. Isaiah also mentions the Lilith or the night demon. Before she became the “night demon,” tradition says that Lilith was actually Adam’s first wife, who rebelled and refused to submit to him. Further mention of the dry places as habitation for demons can be found in the Apocryphal books of AP:Tobit 8:3 and AP:Baruch 4:35.
Sources: Isaiah 13:21; 34:14; AP:Baruch 4:35; AP:Tobit 8:3
Mt. 12:44 “Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.”
Mt. 12:45 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of the man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
The point of the story is that even so shall it be unto this generation that began with the preaching of Yochanan haMatbil. By means of the preaching of Yochanan that generation was swept, and that generation was garnished. But now, with the rejection of the Messiahship of Yeshua, that generation also remains empty. The last state is worse than the first.
At the first state they were under Roman domination. They had to pay tribute to Rome. Nevertheless they retained their national identity. Jerusalem was standing and the Temple was functioning in all of its Herodian glory. But, forty years from those words the Roman Legions would come and invade the land. One million, one hundred thousand Jews would be killed. Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed. Not a stone would be left on top another that would not be thrown down, and the Jews would be dispersed all over the world. And this last state of that generation indeed became worse than the first. This was the judgment for the unpardonable sin.
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