Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning." This common saying has very ancient roots and, in fact, was used by Jesus to make an important point. He asked how it was possible for people to read those signs and predict the weather and yet not be able to practice prophecy in their daily lives.
"When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red," he said. "And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Matt. 16:2, 3.
What exactly was Jesus asking his followers to do, and in such strong terms? "Most men are not trained weather prophets, but almost any man can learn from experience—in regard to weather," explains a writer in The Interpreter's Bible. "Few men are able to forecast the issues of the complicated economic and political affairs of any generation. But that is not the demand. The demand is that in affairs of life a man shall not ignore the clear signs." As the exegesis goes on to note, "Jesus' hearers should be able to observe the wickedness in Israel and realize that there is little time for repentance, since doom and judgment are coming." The Interpreter's Bible (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1951—1957). vol. VII, p. 445 .
