In this study I would like to examine the signs or omens that HaShem uses to communicate with His people. As with all signs, they have significance only to those who see them. For example, if a solar eclipse is a sign, then it is only a sign to those who actually see the eclipse. If the rainbow is to be a sign, then it is a sign to those who see it. If the rainbow is visible in Seattle (they have lots of rainbows in Seattle), then its message is to those who see it in Seattle. It has no meaning to those in Vancouver, B.C.

 

Keep this in mind as we examine the various signs that HaShem use to communicate. We will explore some of these signs and try to understand what we are to learn from these signs. Pay attention to the audience of the sign.

 

The first use of signs in the Tanach[1], is in:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for festivals, and for days, and years:

 

This word signs is the focus of this study. I will look at the uses of the Hebrew word in the above passage. Later, we will examine the equivalent Greek word. The Hebrew word, "sign", is defined in Strong's as:

 

226 'owth, ot; prob. from 225 (in the sense of appearing); a single (lit. or fig.), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:- mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.

 

Ot, signs, are used for a variety of purposes. The moon, for example, is used as an ominous sign to the Jews when it is eclipsed, because Jews reckon time by the moon. The Midrash provides some insight into the celestial signs:

 

Midrash Rabbah - Genesis VI:1 AND HASHEM SAID: LET THERE BE LIGHTS (I, 14). R. Johanan began thus: Who appointest the moon for seasons (Ps. CIV, 19). R. Johanan commented: The orb of the sun alone was created to give light. If so, why was the moon created? ‘For seasons’: in order to sanctify new moons and years thereby.[2] R. Shila of Kefar Temarta[3] said in R. Johanan's name: Yet even so, The sun knoweth its coming (ib.): from the sun one knows its coming [sc. of the month], for we count the beginning of the month only from sunset. Justa Habra[4] said in R. Berekiah's name: And they journeyed Irom Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, etc. (Num. XXXIII, 3): but if you count by the moon, then so far there were only thirteen sunsets?[5] Hence it follows that we count not from the moon but from sunset. R. ‘Azariah said in R. Hanina's name: The orb of the sun alone was created to give light; yet if so, why was the moon created? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that the peoples of the world would treat them as divinities. Said the Lord: ‘If they are two, opposed to each other,[6] and yet the peoples of the world treat them as divinities, how much more would they do so if there were but one!’ R. Berekiah said in R. Simon's name: Both were created in order to give light, as it says, AND LET THEM BE FOR LIGHTS, etc. AND LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS: this refers to the Sabbaths[7]; AND FOR SEASONS: to the three pilgrimage festivals; AND FOR DAYS: to the beginnings of the months; AND YEARS means the sanctification of the years.[8]

 

Thus we see that HaShem uses celestial signs, as communicated by the sun, moon, and stars. These signs are meant to communicate their message to those who see them for their intended purpose. The use of the sun, moon, and stars for signs, is a dramatic way to communicate to the those on earth. When the moon is eclipsed, for example, it is visible to more than half the world’s population.

 

Rashi says that we should read omen rather than signs, in Bereshit 1:14, for when the luminaries are eclipsed it is an ill omen for the world[9], as in the verse:

 

Jeremiah 10:2 'Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven'

 

The Talmud tells us about the meaning of an eclipsed moon when used as an omen:

 

Succah 29a It was taught: R. Meir said, Whenever the luminaries are in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel since they are inured to blows. This may be compared to a school teacher who comes to school with a strap in his hand. Who becomes apprehensive? He who is accustomed to be daily punished. Our Rabbis taught, When the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for idolaters; when the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel, since Israel reckons by the moon and idolaters by the sun. If it is in eclipse in the east, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the east; if in the west, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the west; if in the midst of heaven it is bad omen for the whole world. If its face is red as blood, [it is a sign that] the sword is coming to the world; if it is like sack-cloth, the arrows of famine are coming to the world; if it resembles both, the sword and the arrows of famine are coming to the world. If the eclipse is at sunset calamity will tarry in its coming; if at dawn, it hastens on its way: but some say the order is to be reversed. And there is no nation which is smitten that its gods are not smitten together with it, as it is said, And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. But when Israel fulfill the will of the Omnipresent, they need have no fear of all these [omens] as it is said, Thus saith HaShem, 'Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed at them, the idolaters will be dismayed, but Israel will not be dismayed’.

 

But when you comply with the will of HaShem, you need not worry about punishment. There are many such verses in the Tanach alluding to the heavenly bodies as omens, for example, in reference to Hezekiah in:

 

Melachim (II Kings) 20:9 This sign shall you have ... the shadow shall go back ten degrees.

 

Thus the sun’s movement was the sign for King Hezekiah. In this next verse, HaShem is indicating that he will use celestial events as signs of the end of the age.

 

Yoel (Joel) 3:3 and I will exhibit wonders in the heavens and the earth.

 

According to many of the Sages, signs refers to the luminaries function as man's guide (i.e. compass) as navigational aids.[10]

 

HaRechasim leBik'ah comments: They are 'signs' of HaShem's greatness in two ways: (1) they are constant signs and symbols of His omnipotence, as in the verse:

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 40:26 Lift up you eyes on high and behold Who has created these things;

 

(2) and that they sometimes diverge from their natural course to comply with His will as when the sun stopped for Joshua:

 

Yehoshuah (Joshua) 10:12-14 On the day HaShem gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to HaShem in the presence of Israel: "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when HaShem listened to a man. Surely HaShem was fighting for Israel!

 

The Book of Jasher, chapter 88:59, records this:

 

59 And Joshua and all the fighting people went up from Gilgal, and Joshua came suddenly to them, and smote these five kings with a great slaughter. 60 And the Lord confounded them before the Children of Israel, who smote them with a terrible slaughter in Gibeon, and pursued them along the way that goes up to Beth Horon unto Makkedah, and they fled from before the Children of Israel. 61 And whilst they were fleeing, the Lord sent upon them hailstones from heaven, and more of them died by the hailstones, than by the slaughter of the Children of Israel. 62 And the Children of Israel pursued them, and they still smote them in the road, going on and smiting them. 63 And when they were smiting, the day was declining toward evening, and Joshua said in the sight of all the people, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon, until the nation shall have revenged itself upon its enemies. 64 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Joshua, and the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and it stood still six and thirty times, and the moon also stood still and hastened not to go down a whole day. 65 And there was no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.[11]

 

Another very visible sign, is the sign of the Noachide covenant and has come to represent the Gentiles who have turned to HaShem and now follow the Noachide commands. The rainbow is a sign of the Noachide covenant.

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 9:12-17 And HaShem said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between HaShem and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So HaShem said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

 

What is the message communicated by the rainbow to those who see it? To answer this question, we need to understand what it means when a rainbow does not appear:

 

Soncino Zohar, Vayikra, Section 3, Page 15a R. Jose continued: ‘What is the meaning of “this (zoth) is to me”, in the verse quoted? Said the Holy One, blessed be He, The waters of Noah have caused me to reveal zoth in the world, as it is written, “zoth (this) is the sign of my covenant with them, my bow have I set in the heaven” (Gen. IX, 12, 13), as much as to say, there is none who heeds the glory of My Name which is alluded to by the word zoth. Hence it is one of the signs of a saintly and virtuous man that the rainbow does not appear in his days and the world does not require this sign while he is alive. Such a one is he who prays for the world and shields it, like Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai, in whose days the world never required the sign of the rainbow, for he was himself a sign. For if ever punishment was decreed against the world he could annul it.

 

Chazal have taught that the rainbow appears when HaShem sees that the world deserves to be flooded, He then puts His bow in the sky to let the people of that place know that they deserve to be destroyed by a flood. Thus the flood in Noah’s day came because the people were wicked. Thus the message of the rainbow sign is to encourage the people to repent of their wicked deeds.

 

In the narrative of Noah, the Hebrew root for covenant appears eight times. The number of people saved via the ark is eight (Noah, three sons and their wives). The sign of the covenant (Bereshit 9:12) is the rainbow, with a gematria of eight hundred. The word rainbow, in all forms, appears eight times in the Torah. This is interesting because the number eight is also associated with the sign of the covenant that HaShem made with Avraham.

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 17:9-14 Then HaShem said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner--those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

 

We circumcise Jewish males on their eighth day of their life. So, what does eight have to do with signs and covenants? We learned elsewhere that the number eight always alludes to a departure from the natural world, and entry into the supernatural world. This suggests that the Noachide covenant will bring the Gentile who obeys the Noachide commands, into the olam haba. In the same way the covenant of circumcision is meant to bring the Jews into the olam haba.

 

The writer of the book of Romans indicates that the sign of circumcision is a seal of the righteousness that Avraham had by faithful obedience to HaShem’s command.

 

Romans 4:9-12 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

 

There was another covenant which also had signs. The covenant that HaShem made with Israel at Sinai came with specific commands that are signs. The first sign is that they would worship at Mt. Sinai. Following this first sign, the Bne Israel would be given the Shabbat as a sign. This sign would be used to cause us to remember that HaShem makes us holy, to cause us to remember that HaShem created the world, and finaly to cause us to know that He is HaShem.

 

Exodus 3:12 And HaShem said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship HaShem on this mountain."

 

Exodus 31:13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am HaShem, who makes you holy.

 

Exodus 31:17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days HaShem made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'"

 

Ezekiel 20:11-12 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign: between us, so they would know that I HaShem made them holy.

 

Ezekiel 20:19-20 I am HaShem your HaShem; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign: between us. Then you will know that I am HaShem your G-d."

 

Sabbath is a sign of the covenant that HaShem made with the Bne Israel at Sinai. No Gentile may observe the Shabbat under pain of death. When Jews observe the Shabbat, they confirm the covenant at Sinai.

 

Shabbat is presented here as a sign, because, with the introduction of the Mishkan (Shemot 25:1ff), HaShem's Presence will become manifest among the people. Shabbat is the weekly sign of that constant Presence. Unlike the physical Mishkan, the existence of which has not always been assured in our history, Shabbat is an eternal (for your generations) focal point and sign of our ongoing encounter with HaShem.

 

Another sign of the Sinai covenant, is recited in the Shema, twice a day by observant Jews. The command of tefillin and mezzuzah are signs of the Sinai covenant.

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: HaShem our God, HaShem is one. Love HaShem your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads (tefillin). Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (mezzuzah).

 

These signs of tefillin and mezzuzah were important enough that HaShem reiterated them. To fulfill this command, pious Jews will lay tefillin six days a week, during the morning prayer service (shacharit). We do not lay tefillin on Shabbat because Shabbat is a sign and we do need two covenantal signs.

 

Deuteronomy 11:16-20 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then  HaShem’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land HaShem is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 

Tefillin were to be a constant reminder of the Exodus. The hand Tefillin are to be a "sign for you", indicating a sign for you to see and which will remind us; and the head Tefillin are to be a remembrance (zikkaron), a commemoration for you to remember that HaShem took us out. This wording is nearly identical to the two terms used to describe the blood on the doors (ot lakhem), Shemot 12:12ff, and the celebration of that day (zikkaron).

 

Not only were mezzuzot to be signs on our doorposts, but blood was once used on the doorposts as a sign. We will see that the blood on the doorposts of the houses in Egypt were a sign to the HaShem to pass over that house.

 

Exodus 12:12-13 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the G-ds of Egypt. I am HaShem. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

 

In addition to the blood on the doorposts, the celebration of Pesach (Passover), itself, was to be a sign. Who sees a Pesach seder? Clearly all the participants at that seder. Any others to witness the seder would be accidental.

 

Exodus 13:4-10 Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. When HaShem brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month: For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to HaShem. Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what HaShem did for me when I came out of Egypt.' This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of HaShem is to be on your lips. For HaShem brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.

 

Pesach was a sign for the Jews. More than that, the Pesach seder is a rehearsal for our redemption. It is not some stale, meaningless ritual. It is a rehearsal for our redemption!

 

While the seder spoke to the Jews, the miracles that HaShem did in Egypt were signs for the Egyptians and the Jews. These signs were so important that HaShem is going to repeat them multiple times throughout the Tanach, and He will also cause us to remember them multiple times every day, and multiple times during the year.

 

Deuteronomy 4:32-35 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day HaShem created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of HaShem speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any G-d ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation