A SURE SIGN

As a child growing up, one of my favorite bible stories we would hear in temple was about the walls of Jericho coming down.  Jericho is the first significant battle that the Children of Israel face after entering the promised land of Canaan. 

In this blog post I'm going to revisit the story in the Book of Joshua. But, before I do, it is important to note that the first time the Children of Israel stood at the edge of the promised land, it didn't go well. That is another story. 

Spying out Canaan, Caspar Luyken, 1708

Moses sent spies in to scope out the land. Despite the assurances of Caleb and Joshua that God would go before them, the people listen to the ten other spies and became afraid. As a result of that fear, they chose not to cross over the Jordan. God sentenced that generation to die in the wilderness. 

And now, 40 years after leaving Egypt, the Israelites are again, ready to cross the Jordan and face their fears and Jericho. This time, rather than Moses leading the people, Joshua is. As in Numbers 22:1, they are camping on the plains of Moab, across from Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan. Only this time, they move from Shittim to the Jordan, miraculously cross it, and come into the land directly opposite Jericho (Joshua 3–4). Ready for the great test.

From that bridgehead at Gilgal, their first major military operation in the land of Canaan is the siege and destruction of Jericho as we will read about in Joshua 6. Jericho is the initial fortified city they confront as they enter Canaan, guarding the approach from the Jordan Valley up into the central hill country.

While this is a new generation, surely Joshua remembers what happened the last time they faced the prospects of Jericho, as described back in Deuteronomy 1:28 (recounting Numbers 13–14). Moses sends in spies who report: “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven;”  

Jericho represents exactly the type of city we heard about in Deuteronomy.  In Joshua 6, Jericho is discribed as a walled city “securely shut up” with gates barred because of Israel, functioning more like a compact fortress than a village. 

The Israelites Prepare

After crossing, they encamp at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho’s territory, the new generation is circumcised. They celebrate Passover there (Joshua 4–5) and they wait to do battle. Gilgal marks a major turning point in the bible. It marks renewed faith.  

Theologically, Jericho is presented as the first city designated for destruction by God. In Joshua 6:17 Joshua declares, “The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction,” using the term "ḥerem." It's dramatic fall with marching, trumpets, and collapse of the walls, displays that the land is being given by the Lord rather than taken by Israelite military strength.

A LOT IS RIDING ON JERICHO

There is a lot riding on the conquering of Jericho. This is a validation of what Caleb and Joshua said nearly four decades previously. Back then, in Numbers 13–14, the ten spies emphasized the strength of the fortified cities and the giants, concluding, “We are not able to go up against the people.”  Caleb and Joshua, insisted that the land is good and that “the Lord is with us; do not fear them,” urging Israel to go up at once and take possession. 

Jericho is the stage for vindication. In Joshua chapter 2, here they are again, about to face off against Jericho, and what does Joshua do? He sends in spies! REALLY?  Yes, only this times there is a very different outcome!

This Time Is Different: God is at Work, Because the People Took Action

This time they decided the cross the Jordan.  But before they do. Before they witness God stopping the waters of the Jordan River to let Joshua and the people cross, Joshua hears what may be the greatest speech of encouragement ever given. In Joshua 1.1—"the Lord said to Joshua." 

These are the words spoken by the Lord: 

Joshua 1:2— “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 

Further the Lord tells Joshua in 1:5-9 ESV—

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[a] wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Stage Is Set

Now let's go back to chapter 2 to look at "the sign that was given."  This is why I titled this blog post "A Sure Sign." 

[Note: sign of faith & hope. For handy reference, I copied the entire ESV translation of Joshua chapter 2 at the end of this post.]

This sign is given by no less than a prostitute woman named Rahab. A prostitute who as it will turn out is to become King David’s great-great grandmother. 

Rahab of Jericho later marries Salmon of Judah. Their son is Boaz, who marries Ruth, who we all know from the book of Ruth. Boaz and Ruth have Obed, Obed fathers Jesse, and Jesse fathers David.  Ultimately, Rahab will be noted in the line of Jesus. 

So the prostitute Rahab is no minor figure in the book of Joshua with respect to conquering Jericho. And Jericho is no minor city in the story of conquering Canaan. And going to Canaan is the story of why the Children left Egypt. And that is made possible by the blood of the Passover lamb. Rahab is truly a major character in the grand scheme of the entire bible. 

Chapter 2 begins with the reminder that Joshua is the son of Nun. Don't miss that fact since Nun is a very special Hebrew letter. Nun is 50 (Pentecost), Jubilee. It's pictograph is a seed.  Joshua's name is the English translation of Yehoshua, Jesus. 

In Joshua 2.1, Joshua sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 

What's key here is what the book tells us that the spies have to report! The two spies are sent “to look over the land, especially Jericho,” but the narrative gives no description of walls, armaments, weak points, or numbers in their report. The only thing the bible tells us is what Rahab had to say. 

Rahab knew the Israelites would defeat Jericho! She had faith in the strength of the God of Israel. So she did the smart thing: she helped the spies. 

Before I write about "the sign," there is something in Joshua chapter 2 that Rahab told the spies which I believe was huge and often overlooked. 

8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

In simple other words, The people of Jericho are already defeated. The battle is already won!  All that was needed was for the walls to fall down and for the Israelites to go in and STEP FOOT in Jericho!  God brought the walls down for them to do just that. The victory was the Lords because they stepped forward in faith!  

I encourage my reader to review my word study of Gilgal. 

Finally, Now for "The Sign"

Rahab brought the spies up to her roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the king's men that were pursuing them couldn't find them. At just the right time, she lowered them down on a rope.

In exchange, for her service Rahad pleaded with the spies to swear to her by their Lord that, as she dealt kindly with them, that they will also deal kindly with her father's house. Rahab wanted the men to give her a "sure sign" that Joshua and his men will "save her father and mother, brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver their lives from death.” 

The men agree and said to her "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

SIGN OF DELIVERANCE

In Joshua 2:18, she is told the sign:

"Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household." 

I can just imagine the spies holding out a scarlet cord and saying "behold." Do you sense the reverence for the scarlet cord?  Did it remind them of Exodus 12:13—"The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you,?"

Rahab agreed and she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. (Joshua 2:21 esv)

What is So Special About the "Scarlet Cord?"

To understand the significance of the Scarlet Cord you need to know more. It is in this chapter of the Hebrew bible that we see the word for "hope" for the very first time. The Hebrew word for the type of cord is a "Tikvah." I wrote about in a post I called "The Hope." You've come this far...you need to hear the rest of the story.  Follow that link! 

In closing...

I named one of my sheep Rahab. That's her, the white one on the left.  The big white one on the right is named Grace. They are all females, and they are breed each year. In the English spelling of the name Rahab, if you switch the letters "B"and "H" it spells "Rabah," which is Hebrew for "to increase" and "to multiply." To increase, abundance, is in essense, the meaning of the Hebrew word "Bracha," blessing.  Hopefully, Rahab will Rabah. That would be a Bracha. 

Epilogue: 

Below is the complete Joshua Chapter 2 (ESV):

2 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” 

2:15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” 17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. 19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

ROLLING STONES AND THE BIBLES LONG ARC

Joshua's Altar is within the most famous of the "Footprint Structures  (gilgalim) is found on Mt. Ebal. 

Rolling Stones and the Bible’s Long Arc  

A Word Study of Gilgal

There are six huge, foot-shaped stone structures found in the Jordan Valley and Samaria that are believed to be Iron Age I (13th–12th centuries BCE). These are known as "gilgal sites" (Gilgalim) or "footprint sites" built by early Israelites to ceremonially mark ownership of the land upon entering Canaan. They symbolize the biblical concept of "foot ownership," or claiming territory by treading upon it. 

They represent a physical monumental expression of taking ownership of the land, aligning with the biblical promise in Deuteronomy 11:24 that "every place where the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours".

Gilgal Argaman

Gilgal Argaman is an Iron-age ceremonial site in the Jordan valley near Moshav Argaman. It is likely that this site was erected by the Israelites, led by Joshua, and was their first camp after crossing the Jordan.

The shape itself acts as a "footprint" of God or the community and representing divine possession and protection. 

1. Core observations about Gilgal

Gilgal (גִּלְגָּל) comes from the root ג־ל־ל (galal), “to roll,” and also carries the sense of “circle / wheel / round thing.”  

In Joshua 5:9, God says, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. And so the name of that place is called "Gilgal" to this day. The name is explicitly tied to the verb “to roll.”  

Events at Gilgal:

• Twelve stones are set up from the Jordan (memorial for the twelve tribes).  
• Mass circumcision of the wilderness generation.  
• First Passover in the land; manna stops and they eat the land’s produce.  
• Gilgal is the site where Israel’s shame (Egypt, wilderness unbelief, uncircumcision) is removed and their identity as a landed covenant people is marked.
• Joshua makes camp in preparation for his attack on Jericho.

2. Rolling Stones and Milestones

There is a pattern: Rolled stones signify milestones. Round stones mark thresholds, opening/closing wells, caves, altars, tombs.

Old Testament: 

  - Stones rolled from wells (Genesis 29) give access to life‑giving water.  

  - In Joshua 10:16-18 Large stones were rolled against cave mouths sealed in 5 kings of Israel's enemies who would be judged and killed.  

  - In 1 Samuel 14:33 A great stone is rolled to Saul marking a great sin during battle with the Philistines.

3. Gilgal, Gulgoleth, Golgotha

New Testament:  

  - A large stone rolled in front of Jesus’s tomb, then found rolled away on the first day of the week.  

- Gilgal = ג־ל־ג־ל (glgl) and Skull = גֻּלְגֹּלֶת (gulgoleth) share the same "GLGL.

- Golgotha from the Aramaic "gulgolta" is  equivalent to gulgoleth→ “place of a skull.”  

- The final letter in גֻּלְגֹּלֶת is the final 22nd Hebrew letter Tav which is represents a cross and means mark/sign. In other words, add the cross, the Tav, to Gilgal and it is the place of the skull where Jesus was crucified. 

Letters and numbers:

  - Gimel (ג) = 3, Lamed (ל) = 30.  

  - Gilgal = ג־ל־ג־ל = GL + GL = 33 + 33 = 66.  

66 plus the Cross (the 22nd letter) = 88. 

Connections:  

•  Gilgal = “rolling/circle” place where reproach is rolled away for Israel.  
•  Gulgoleth/Golgotha = skull‑place, same root family, now with tav/cross marking the hill where Jesus bears and removes ultimate reproach.
• Jesus is generally believed he was 33 years old when crucified.
• The tomb and Joshua 10 are cases where the stone is rolled both ways, to seal and to open (33+33). The tomb is a hinge point of the rock. 

4. 33 and Lag BaOmer

This section is probably going to confuse most any reader. Since I write to think, I am going to write it anyway.  Besides, if the reader isn't already familiar with the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, they are going to be lost from the very beginning of this section. 

Lag BaOmer is a Jewish holiday that celebrates a very old story about a plague among Rabbi Akiva’s students. It is associated with “hidden Torah” / inner light coming to expression.  

33 becomes a shorthand for a turning point (plague to joy, outer to inner). 

Hebrew writing of 33 is ל״ג (lamed‑gimel), pronounced "lag." Lag BaOmer is the 33rd day of counting the Omer between the Passover and Revelation at Sinai. 

Gilgal’s structure (33 + 33) can be seen as a two doors connected by a hinge. There is Egypt <> Canaan with the wilderness being the hinge. Circumcision is hinge point. The New Testament adds a third door with another gilgal another stone rolling away, being another hinge. 

5. Gilgal and the Empty Tomb as Parallel “Rolling Away” Points:

Gilgal (Joshua 4–5):

  - Twelve stones (tribes) 

  - Circumcision  

  - Passover in the land  

  - “I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt” 

Golgotha:

  - Skull‑place from same root family as Gilgal.

  - Cross (tav) planted on the skull‑hill.  

• Living water is marked by stones. Stone rolled from a well → life‑water for flocks. 
• Stone‑rock in the wilderness → water for Israel, Miriam’s rock that rolled with the 12 tribes.  
• Stones from the river at Gilgal → boundary crossed, new food, shame rolled away.  
• Stone from the tomb → living water and resurrection life disclosed.

Parallel:

  - Gilgal: reproach of Egypt rolled away, Israel marked and fed (Passover, land’s produce).  

  - Golgotha/garden: reproach of sin and death rolled away.

The “stone circle” of twelve tribes at Gilgal runs forward through the twelve apostles to the "final city." The people of God stay twelve‑shaped, but the circle widens to include all nations.

Notice an important progression that lines up well with how Joshua 5 and Deuteronomy frame the story.

Shame of slave‑labor in Egypt

Commentators on Joshua 5:9 note that “the reproach of Egypt” includes the stigma of being slaves: told when to get up, when to eat, what work to do, how long to labor.

In that setting, their work primarily enriched Pharaoh, a false master, and publicly exposed them as a humiliated, dominated people.

That “slave mentality” is part of what God is rolling away at Gilgal: they are no longer defined as forced laborers for another man’s empire.

Wilderness: no production, pure dependence

In the wilderness Israel does not plow, sow, or harvest. God feeds them with manna “to humble you and test you… and to do you good in the end.”

Deuteronomy stresses that they had “no bread and no wine,” their clothes didn’t wear out, and God Himself became their Feeder.

This period strips away both Egyptian slave‑economy and self‑reliant farming: no shame of serving Pharaoh, but also no pride in “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”

In the land: dignified labor, still under God

Once they enter Canaan, God intends them to work the land: sow, harvest, plant vineyards, build houses. Deuteronomy 8 explicitly contrasts manna in the wilderness with the “good land” where they will eat bread without scarcity.

That labor is not a return to slavery. It is honored work under God, because:  

  - He gives the land and the power to get wealth.  

  - They bring firstfruits and tithes to acknowledge that their increase is from Him.

- Deuteronomy 26 lays this out: when they have harvested, they take the firstfruits in a basket, confess “He brought us to this place and gave us this land,” and present it before the Lord.

Judeo-Christian Work Ethic

Entering the Land (Canaan) represents a crucial shift. Work itself is not shameful; being owned by the wrong master. Work is covenant stewardship, not self‑made pride. In the wilderness, there is no production; God feeds them with manna “to humble you… and to do you good in the end,” so they will not say, “My power…has gotten me this wealth.” In the land, God insists that even their good, dignified labor must be framed by offerings—firstfruits and tithes that confess, “He brought us to this place and gave us this land.”  So the ethic is: work diligently, but never as if you are self‑made; you work on God’s ground, with God’s strength, and you give back to Him.

The Gilgal are milestones on the road to understanding this Covenantial relationship. 

Conclusion: 

So the movement is:

1. Egypt: shameful labor under a false master, no ownership, no true rest.  

2. Wilderness: no production at all; total dependence on God’s daily gift (manna). This is the hinge point. The time for the hiden to be revealed. The 33. 

3. Land: full, fruitful labor with no shame, because it is exercised as stewardship—they “still have to give to God” in firstfruits and tithes, publicly declaring that the land and its produce are His gift, not Pharaoh’s and not their own achievement.

Gilgal sits precisely at that hinge: the slave‑shame is rolled away; they are not going back to forced work for Pharaoh, but forward into dignified, covenant work in a God‑given land, where giving back to God (bikkurim, tithes) is not humiliation but the sign that their labor has been redeemed.

This post is still a work in progress. I've only recently started to really think about gilgal and make connections. So there's a good chance I'll be making change and updates to this blog post. I welcome any ideas or input.

The word "Gilgal" and the concept the I wrote about it, inspired my next post called "A Sure Sign." 

SHADDAI

אֲנִי־אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י - I Am the Almighty God

Genesis 17:1—And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to Abram, and He said to him, "I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect.

That verse is the first time in the Torah we see the Hebrew word שַׁדַּ֔י Shaddai.

In Genesis 17, God appears to 99-year-old Abram, reaffirming the covenant by changing his name to Abraham ("father of many nations") and Sarai’s to Sarah, promising them a son named Isaac despite their old age. God establishes circumcision as the physical, everlasting sign of this covenant. While blessing Ishmael, God clarifies the covenant passes through Isaac. 

El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי) is an ancient, primary name for God in the Torah, commonly translated as "Almighty God". It appears in the Torah, particularly associated with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to signify God’s power to perform supernatural acts, especially in fulfilling covenants of fruitfulness, reproduction, and inheriting the land when natural means fail. 

According to Exodus 6:3, God was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, distinct from the name YHWH. Thus, Shaddai is referred to as the Patriarchal name. Other, related names used during this period include El (God), El Elyon (God Most High), and El-Elohe-Israel (God, the God of Israel). 

Almighty/Power, often understood as "God Almighty" (from shadad), implies supreme, irresistible power. The name is used in blessings (Genesis 28:3, 49:25) and when calling for protection (Genesis 43:14).

Shaddai On the Doorposts

In modern Judaism, the letter Shin (ש) on a mezuzah case is a reference to Shaddai. Shin is the 21st Hebrew letter with a numerical value of 300. 

Shaddai Numerical Value:

Shin (ש): 300

Dalet (ד): 4

Yud (י): 10 

Total Numerical Value (Shaddai): 

300 + 4 + 10=314*

* By the way, the number 314 most commonly represents the first three digits of the mathematical constant Pi.  

There is a belief that Pi is hidden in Genesis 1:1 through gematria (numerical values of Hebrew letters) and mathematical, equidistant letter sequences, often cited as a ~99.96% accurate approximation, what amounts to the first few digits-314. Proponents suggest this is a deliberate encoding representing a Divine signature in the text. 

The Gaurdian of the Doors of Israel, on the doorposts of Jewish homes, is El Shaddai. Inside a mezuzah is the Shema. 

THE SHEMA PARALLEL

Shema is the Hebrew word "Hear." The Shema is a also a prayer which begins with a well know Hebrew verse:

יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה | אֶחָֽד

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One

The Shema is made up of three passages: 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9—Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord 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 on 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. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 11:13-21—“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

Numbers 15:37-41—The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated* to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’”

To be "Consecrated To God" is to be "Set Apart." In Hebrew, the word for Nazirite is Nazir (נָזִיר), which literally means "consecrated" or "separated". 

In Hebrew, mezuzah (מזוזה) literally means "doorpost". It refers to a small, decorative case containing a sacred, hand-written parchment scroll (klaf*) that is affixed to the right-hand doorpost of Jewish homes and rooms. The scroll contains biblical passages (Deuteronomy 6:4–9, 11:13–21) proclaiming the oneness of God and the commandment to "write them on the doorposts of your house". 

* A klaf (Hebrew: קְלָף) is a piece of specially processed, kosher animal hide parchment used by a sofer (scribe) to handwrite sacred Jewish texts, including Torah scrolls, Tefillin, and Mezuzahs.

Rabbinic sources, midrash and Jewish mysticism all draw a direct line from the blood placed on the lintel and mezuzot in Exodus 12 to the later mitzvah of mezuzah, treating both as a protective sign on the doorway that prevents the “destroyer” from entering. The mezuzah is a present sign of past blood. 

The practice of placing a mezuzah on doorposts has both a traditional religious timeline and a distinct historical/archaeological timeline: 

Religious Tradition (Biblical Era): According to Jewish tradition, the commandment was given at Mount Sinai in approximately 1312 BCE. While the Israelites were likely exempt during their 40 years in the desert (as their dwellings were temporary), the practice is believed to have become permanent once they settled in Canaan around 1272–1258 BCE.

Archaeological Evidence (Second Temple Period): The earliest physical evidence of mezuzahs—actual parchment scrolls—dates back roughly 2,000 years to the Second Temple era. These were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran caves. 

Historical Accounts: The historian Josephus (1st century CE) documented the mezuzah as an established, ancient custom in his time, describing how Jews inscribed God’s blessings upon their doors.

Standardization (Talmudic Era): While the practice was ancient, the specific laws—such as the exact parchment requirements, the slant of the case, and the specific 22 lines of text—were codified in the Talmud several centuries after the start of the Common Era. 

Hanukkah (commemorating the rededication of the Temple) is historically connected to the mezuzah through the thematic battle against forced Hellenization, which forbade Jewish practices like the mezuzah and Shabbat. The Maccabees fought to restore these practices and rededicate the Temple, linking the physical defense of Torah, including mezuzahs on doorways, to the freedom celebrated during the eight-day festival. 

Key Connections:

The Struggle for Observance: The Maccabean Revolt occurred because the Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawed core Jewish observances, including the Shabbat, the study of Torah, and the placing of mezuzahs. The rebellion was not just for the Temple, but for the freedom to practice these commandments.

Rededication: The name Hanukkah means "dedication" or "inauguration". Re-establishing the mitzvah of the mezuzah (placing the scroll on the doorpost) was a direct way to re-sanctify homes and the city after liberation.

In summary, Hanukkah celebrates the victory that allowed Jews to once again openly place mezuzahs on their doors, honor the Shabbat, and maintain their religious identity. 

The association of the Mezuzah with the Hanukkah is an important detail as we will see when we get to the Gospel of John chapter 10. 

THE ORIGINAL SING ON THE DOORPOSTS

Exodus 12:13 -- 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.

The very first time the word “mezuzah” (doorpost) appears in Torah is Exodus 12, where the Israelites are commanded to put the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and lintel so that the plague of the firstborn will “pass over” their houses and not destroy them. This linking of blood on the mezuzot with protection is foundational for later mezuzah symbolism.

Classical midrash and Zohar explicitly draw a line from that Passover blood to the later mitzvah of mezuzah, presenting both as a protective sign on the doorway, with God promising, in effect, “You mark your doors with the sign of My covenant, and I will stand guard outside and protect you.” 

Later Traditional and contemporary Jewish teachers often say that mezuzah “remembers” or “recalls” the Exodus.  Instead of lamb’s blood on the doorframes, we now mark our doors with the words of the Shema, testifying to the same God who redeemed us from Egypt and who still guards our homes. 

So in Jewish thought, the mezuzah is not only a fulfillment of Deuteronomy’s command but also a standing, daily echo of the Passover night, when marked doorposts were the means by which Israel was spared and brought out from Egypt.

Shepfold with Shepherd Guarding the Door

In the ancient Near East a shepherd would often lie down in the opening of a low stone sheepfold, literally becoming the “door” so that anything had to pass through to reach the flock. This image underscores that that flock’s security from thieves, wolves, and other dangers relied on the shepherd. 

John 10:1-3—“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

John 10:27-30—My sheep hear (shema) my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is also the Door, and in new‑covenant terms he is the one who “writes” what the mezuzah signified. 

Shepherd, Door, and  Writing on Hearts. 

In John 10, Jesus unites two roles: “I am the door of the sheep” and “I am the good shepherd,” so the same person both guards the entrance and cares for the flock inside. 

Jeremiah 31 promises a covenant where God will “put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” instead of on external objects. 

The Good Shepherd who is the "Door" is also the one, through his Spirit, inscribes God’s will inside his people, doing inwardly what the blood on the doorposts and the mezuzah announced outwardly.

John 10 intensifies this logic by making Jesus himself the living locus of that guarding presence: he is both shepherd and door, so that hostile powers must “get past” him to reach the sheep, and they ultimately cannot.  In Johannine theology, what the mezuzah signifies on wood and parchment—God’s watchful protection at the threshold—Jesus embodies personally at the boundary between God’s people and the world.

john 10:30 brings the together, and mirrors the first line of the Shema. 

John 10:30 (“I and the Father are one”) gathers together everything John has just said about the Shepherd and the Door, and it does so in a way that strongly resonates with the first line of the Shema.

Echo of “the Lord is one”

The Shema begins, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one,” declaring the unique oneness of Israel’s God as the basis for exclusive loyalty and love. 

In John 10, after describing himself as the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep and as the door through which the sheep are saved and kept secure, Jesus climaxes with “I and the Father are one.” 

A number of scholars and teachers have argued that, in a Jewish setting saturated with the daily recitation of the Shema, this claim of oneness in the context of divine care for the flock is best heard as deliberately resonating with, and pressing into, that Shema-confession of God’s oneness. 

Bringing Shepherd, Door, and Shema together

In John 10, both Father and Son are portrayed as jointly holding the sheep in a grasp from which “no one can snatch them,” and Jesus immediately grounds that shared protective role in a shared “oneness.” 

That means the same One God who was confessed in the Shema as uniquely Israel’s protector and shepherd (cf. Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34) is now being revealed, in Johannine terms, as acting toward the flock through the Son, the Shepherd‑Door who embodies that divine guarding at the threshold. 

When you hear John 10:30 next to Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema’s “the Lord is one” and Jesus’ “I and the Father are one” form a deliberate theological rhyme, gathering the themes of covenant protection, shepherding, and unique divine identity into a single new‑covenant disclosure.

The scribal practice around the final dalet of אחד in the Shema visually reinforces exactly the theological move I am tracing. In a kosher Sefer Torah and on mezuzah parchments, the dalet of אחד in “יְהוָה אֶחָד” is traditionally written larger than the other letters and with great care, because if it were mistaken for a resh (turning אחד into אחר, “another”), the verse would read as if confessing “the Lord is another” instead of “the Lord is one.” This enlarged dalet is understood to guard the confession of God’s unique oneness at precisely the point where a tiny graphic change could introduce “another” god.

In that light, the link from John 10:30 (“I and the Father are one”) to the Shema is not only conceptual but visually prefigured in the script itself: the written dalet at the heart of Israel’s doorway confession of oneness anticipates the living “Door” who claims that same oneness in John 10.

The Holy Tongue (Lashon Ha‑qodesh) Chose Echad

In Hebrew, both echad and yachid mean “one,” but they have different typical nuances and are used differently in Jewish thought and in debates about the Shema.

Basic meanings:

Echad (אחד) is the ordinary cardinal “one,” with a broad range: one day, one person, one flock, one stick, or “one flesh” when two become a unified pair. It can describe either a simple “one” or a unity that includes plurality, depending on context. 

Yachid (יחיד) usually means “only, unique, solitary,” as in an only child or someone alone. It stresses exclusivity or “only one of its kind” more than it does the bare number one. 

Echad can describe a unified plurality and argue that this leaves room for multi‑personal oneness in God. 

The Shema uses echad: “YHWH our God, YHWH is one (echad).” Deuteronomy could have used yachid but does not. Jewish interpreters generally read echad here as affirming God’s unique, incomparable oneness—an “absolute” oneness, not merely a “compound unity,” even though echad elsewhere can cover composite unities.

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING ECHAD AND YACHID IN GENESIS 22:

In Genesis 22 God pointedly switches from echad to yachid.  Contrast the Shema’s echad is with Genesis 22 and “your only one”. 

In Genesis 22:2 God tells Abraham: “קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ יִצְחָק – Take now your son, your yachid, Isaac…,” and repeats “your yachid” in verses 12 and 16. 

Yachid here means “only, unique, one‑of‑a‑kind,” stressing that Isaac is the singular covenant heir, not merely one son among others. 

This is a deliberate contrast with Shema’s “echad.” The Shema confesses “YHWH … is echad,” the more broad, flexible “one.” 

At Moriah, however, the Torah does not call God yachid but reserves yachid for the beloved son placed on the altar, creating a textual pattern where God is echad, while Abraham’s offered son is yachid. 

The Holy Tongue uses echad at the doorway confession (Shema), but yachid at the Akedah, so that when later Scripture speaks of the Father and the Son, the “one” God of the Shema and the “only” Son of Moriah is a carefully differentiated, covenant‑loaded relationship.

John 10:1--“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them."

John 10:6 strongly supports my sense that the “door” language is deliberately symbolic and tightly bound to Scripture rather than a casual metaphor. Furthermore, that Jesus intentionally was making an association to the Shema.

“Figure of speech” as Deliberate Scriptural Imagery

John 10:6 labels the door/shepherd discourse a paroimia—a veiled, allusive way of speaking that expects the hearer to search out its scriptural resonances, much like a mashal or riddle. Mashal is Hebrew for the words "Proverb" and "Parable." 

This means Jesus is not merely using a picturesque shepherding image; he is compressing into that “figure” Israel’s whole story of God as Shepherd (e.g., Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34) and the guarded threshold of Passover and mezuzah, then centering it on himself as the decisive Door and Shepherd of the flock. 

Why “they did not understand” Matters

The note that “they did not understand what he was saying to them” shows that this imagery demands an interpretive leap: one has to recognize that the familiar door/sheepfold is now being re‑read christologically. 

In that light, the association of John 10’s Door with the Shema at the doorway and the Passover-marked posts is exactly the kind of scriptural cross‑reading this paroimia invites, even if Jesus’ original hearers did not yet perceive how fully those threads were converging in him.

If these thoughts interest you, I invite you to visit my blog post regarding DOOR (DALET)

Epilogue:

Shaddia, the Gaurdian of the Doors of Israel

Shepherding and Psalm 23 - hearing the voice of the good Shepherd. 

PHYSICAL AI

This is Dino, a robot for large-scale vegetable farms. courtesy of Naio Technologies *

Physical AI has an incredible future, not only as technology and an investment opportunity, but also as a means of improving our lives.  To help myself and you better understand what "Physical AI" is, i asked Grok the three following questions and below are the answers: 

1. What is Physical AI? 
2. What are examples? 
3. Who are the leaders.

1. What is Physical AI? Physical AI, also known as embodied AI, refers to artificial intelligence systems that integrate with physical hardware to perceive, reason about, and interact with the real world in real time. Unlike traditional AI, which operates primarily in digital environments, physical AI combines AI models with sensors, actuators, and control systems to enable machines—such as robots—to sense their surroundings, make decisions based on physical dynamics like space, motion, and interactions, and perform actions autonomously. This represents a shift from generative AI (focused on creating content) to systems that "embody" intelligence in machines, allowing them to adapt to complex, unpredictable environments. Popularized by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, physical AI is seen as the next major wave of AI innovation, with 2026 marking an inflection point for broader adoption in daily life and industries. Currently, about 58% of industry leaders report using physical AI to some extent, with projections reaching 80% adoption within two years, particularly in Asia-Pacific markets.

2. What are Examples of Physical AI?

Physical AI is already transforming sectors like manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and transportation. Key examples include:

- **Humanoid robots**: These perform complex tasks like folding laundry, assembling boxes, or preparing coffee in real time, adapting to dynamic environments without predefined programming. Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot, for instance, navigates human spaces and handles physical interactions.

- **Industrial automation robots**: Used in factories for welding, assembly, or quality control, these systems learn from experiences and handle variable tasks, addressing labor shortages and improving efficiency. Collaborative robots (cobots) work alongside humans in workcells.

- **Autonomous vehicles and mobility**: Self-driving cars, robotaxis, drones, and autonomous forklifts use sensors and AI to detect surroundings, make decisions, and operate safely.

- **Service and healthcare robots**: Robots in hospitals for tasks like patient assistance or charging electric vehicles, or in food services for preparation and delivery.

- **Agentic AI systems**: Modular platforms for logistics or personal assistance that act autonomously, handling extended tasks like 20-hour engineering workflows.

These applications are expanding beyond factories into offices, homes, and public spaces, with real-world rollouts accelerating in 2026.

3. Who are the Leaders?

Several companies and organizations are at the forefront, driving innovation through hardware, software, and ecosystem development. Key leaders include:

- **NVIDIA**: A pioneer in popularizing physical AI, providing foundational models like GR00T for humanoid robots and platforms like Cosmos for world modeling. They're collaborating on industrial AI with partners like Dassault Systèmes and powering systems for companies like Figure AI and 1X.

- **Boston Dynamics (Hyundai Motor Group)**: Leading in humanoid robotics with the Atlas robot, focusing on real-world mobility and tasks. They're expanding into charging robots and modular platforms like MobED.

- **Physical Intelligence**: A rising unicorn (valued at $5.6B after a $600M raise in late 2025) building AI software stacks for robots to learn complex tasks like coffee preparation and laundry from demonstrations.

- **Universal Robots**: Specializing in collaborative robots with AI-driven features like vision-guided welding; they're emphasizing predictive math and ecosystem innovation for physical AI.

- **SoftBank and Yaskawa Electric**: Jointly developing physical AI robots for offices, hospitals, and schools, focusing on integration and deployment.

- **Other notable players**: Qualcomm for sensor-based real-time AI, Arm for efficient computing in physical systems, Path Robotics for autonomous welding, and emerging firms like Figure AI and 1X using NVIDIA tech for humanoids. Organizations like the World Economic Forum are also highlighting its industrial impact.

* READ MORE about DINO the weeding robot. 

JONAH AND THE GOD OF SECOND CHANCES

"Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,[a] three days' journey in breadth."

Jonah, Jesus, and the God of Second Chances  

by Jonah

When people learn my name is Jonah, they usually smile and make a joke about big fish or running from God. But for me, the Book of Jonah is not a children’s story. It has become a lens through which I see Israel, the nations, Jesus, and even myself. In this essay I want to trace how Jonah—prophet and book—sits at the crossroads of Jewish and Christian faith, repentance, and atonement, and how his story reaches from Nineveh all the way to Yom Kippur and the words of Jesus.

Jonah, The Reluctant Prophet Of Mercy

Jonah didn’t run away out of fear for his life or because he doubted God. He ran because he knew God’s character. And make no mistake, God knew Jonah when God chose him! 

After Nineveh repents, Jonah finally spills the real reason for his flight: “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2). He wasn’t afraid that God would fail to judge; he was afraid God would succeed in showing mercy. Jonah understood that the covenant formula from Exodus 34—gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love—could be applied to Gentiles too, even to Israel’s brutal enemies.

In other words, Jonah knew that if the Ninevites repented, the God of Israel would forgive them.

That knowledge infuriated him. Jonah wanted God for Israel, not for Assyria. He embodies an Israel that is happy to receive covenant mercy, but deeply reluctant to see that mercy poured out on the nations—especially Israel’s enemies.

The Final Question: Jonah And Israel

The Book of Jonah ends on a question and then goes silent:

“Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left…?”

We never hear Jonah’s response. That silence is intentional. The question is addressed to Jonah’s heart, but it is aimed over his shoulder at Israel. Jonah is a mirror held up to God’s people. The closing question forces Israel—and later, the church—to ask: Do we begrudge God’s mercy to those we count as enemies? Are we offended that God loves those we fear or despise?

The phrase “do not know their right hand from their left” is an image of moral and spiritual ignorance. In Israel’s frame, it is precisely what it means *not* to know Torah, not to know the way of the Lord. Nineveh is pictured as a people without covenant instruction, morally disoriented, and therefore objects of pity rather than mere targets of wrath. Jonah wants them destroyed; God wants them restored.

Asleep In The Ship: Israel Asleep To Its Calling

Before Jonah ever reaches Nineveh, the pattern is staged on a smaller scale in the boat.

The pagan sailors are crying out to their gods while Jonah is “fast asleep” in the hold as they are about to perish. The captain’s rebuke—“What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God!”—is almost prophetic. Jonah, appointed to be a messenger of the living God, literally sleeps through Gentile distress.

It is not hard to hear the theological message: Jonah’s sleep is Israel’s sleep. Israel, called to be a light to the nations, a kingdom of priests, is spiritually asleep to its vocation. Surrounded by perishing Gentiles, the bearer of revelation is unconscious, uninterested, even when his own disobedience has contributed to their danger.

And yet, God still uses Jonah. The sailors end up fearing YHWH, offering sacrifice, and making vows. This “conversion of the pagan sailors” foreshadows the repentance of Nineveh. The irony is sharp: the Gentiles are responsive; the prophet is resistant. The nations are awake; Israel is asleep.

Jonah In The Fish: Idols, Salvation, And Vows

In the belly of the fish, Jonah’s prayer crystallizes the theology of the book:

“Those who cling to empty folly [worthless idols] forsake their own mercy.  
But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you;  
what I have vowed I will pay.  
Salvation belongs to the LORD.”

Here Jonah recognizes that idol‑worship is self‑destruction. To cling to idols is to let go of your own welfare; to hold onto false gods is to abandon the very mercy that could be yours. Praying to idols is not a path to salvation. “Salvation belongs to the LORD” is one of the clearest statements in Scripture that all true deliverance—physical and spiritual—is God’s work alone.

His line, “what I have vowed I will pay,” is modest next to what comes later in the canon, but it still matters. Jonah emerges from symbolic “death” with renewed resolve to fulfill his commission. In that sense, his descent, “death,” deliverance, and return to obedience form a faint, imperfect pattern that will be fulfilled and magnified in the obedience of Jesus.

Dagon, The Fish God, And Jonah’s Sign To Nineveh

Jonah’s story resonates with earlier biblical confrontations between the God of Israel and the gods of the nations—especially Dagon.

In 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines place the ark of God in the temple of Dagon. Twice Dagon falls before the ark; finally, his head and hands are broken off. The message is unmistakable: the idol is powerless before Israel’s God. And yet the Philistines, instead of turning to YHWH, simply send the ark back and cling to Dagon. Confronted with the true God, they choose their god of choice.

Dagon is remembered in tradition as a fish‑associated deity. Assyrian and Mesopotamian iconography includes fish‑man figures, and there is at least a strong symbolic connection between fish imagery and some of the gods venerated around the region of Nineveh. Against that backdrop, the idea that a man vomited out of a great fish would carry particular weight to a fish‑fixated culture is not far‑fetched. To Ninevites surrounded by fish‑god imagery, Jonah’s emergence from the depths in the belly of a great fish would mark him as a man stamped, in their idiom, with divine significance.

In that sense, God takes the cultural “language” of Nineveh—their fish symbol—and uses it against their idolatry. Jonah does not belong to the fish‑god; his story proves that the Lord of heaven and earth commands the sea and its great creatures. Jonah comes out of the fish not as a priest of Dagon, but as a prophet of YHWH. The true God wields the “fish” to assert His supremacy over the fish god.

No wonder the Ninevites listen. Jonah himself becomes a living contradiction of their idolatry and a sign of a greater power.

Samson Between The Pillars: Arms Outstretched

The struggle with Dagon appears again in Samson’s death.

Samson was seduced to give up his Nazarite vow. Blind, betrayed and humiliated, is brought into Dagon’s temple, where the Philistines praise their god for delivering him into their hands. Samson asks to be placed between the two central pillars. With his arms outstretched—right hand on one pillar, left hand on the other—he pushes, the temple collapses, and the house of Dagon falls with its worshipers.

Samson was set apart as a Nazarite from birth. In the Scriptures we see this same pattern of lifelong consecration in two other key figures: Samuel, whose mother vowed that no razor would ever touch his head (echoing the Nazarite law), and John the Baptist, who was set apart from the womb and forbidden wine or strong drink in a way that clearly recalls the Nazarite pattern. Together, these Nazarite—and Nazarite‑like—lives form a line of men specially dedicated from birth whose ministries prepare the way for God’s anointed king, culminating in Jesus Himself.

Judges 16:28—Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

We see the silhouette of a figure with arms outstretched, dying among enemies, and in his death overthrowing the powers behind the idols. Samson’s death is deeply flawed and violent, but ultimately Samson brings down the house of false gods. Samson’s posture between the pillars foreshadows the cross, where the greater one with outstretched arms breaks the power of the principalities and powers behind all idols.

When I line up Dagon in 1 Samuel 5, Samson in Dagon’s temple, Jonah from the fish in Nineveh, and Jesus on the cross, I see a consistent theme: the God of Israel humiliates idols and wins Gentiles through self‑giving acts that look like defeat but are actually victory.

Jonah, Yom Kippur, And The Shared Grammar Of Repentance

Jonah is not marginal in Judaism; he stands at the heart of the holiest day of the year.

Every Yom Kippur afternoon, the Book of Jonah is read in synagogues. The story is the liturgical climax to a day devoted to confession, repentance (teshuvah), and atonement. Jonah reminds the congregation that:

- No one is beyond judgment.  

- No one is beyond mercy.  

- Even a violent Gentile city can be given mercy if it turns.  

- Even a reluctant prophet is pursued by God’s grace.

The logic is simple and profound: if God accepted the repentance of the Ninevites, how much more will He accept the repentance of Israel? Jonah becomes a didactic lesson in God’s readiness to forgive, His compassion for those “who do not know their right hand from their left,” and His patience even with His own sullen prophet.

Christians read Jonah through the lens of Jesus, but the grammar is the same: sin, judgment, repentance, forgiveness, and a God who is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Jonah is a shared text. Jew and Christian may articulate atonement differently—especially in relation to the cross—but we kneel under the same words: “salvation belongs to the LORD.”

Jonah, Jesus, And The Sign

Jesus does not “replace” Jonah; He interprets and fulfills him.

When the religious leaders demand a sign, Jesus replies that no sign will be given except “the sign of the prophet Jonah.” As Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. Jonah’s descent into the depths and return to the land of the living becomes a prophetic sketch of death and resurrection.

But Jesus presses the comparison further. The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment and condemn “this generation,” because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and now One greater than Jonah is here. The contrast is devastating: Gentile Nineveh, steeped in violence and idolatry, hears one reluctant prophet and repents; many of Israel’s leaders, saturated in Torah, hear and see the Messiah Himself and refuse.

Jonah was a sign to Nineveh, to Israel and the nations: the living embodiment of God’s mercy and the crossroads of judgment and grace.

Tradition, Evidence, And Faith

There is a long tradition—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—that Jonah ended his days in or near Nineveh, in what is today Mosul. A shrine on the ancient mound has been venerated for centuries as his tomb. Archaeology has uncovered an Assyrian palace under that site, situating the tradition in authentic Assyrian soil.

Can I prove, historically, that Jonah stayed there and continued teaching Torah to the Assyrians? No. The text of Scripture is silent after the book ends, and archaeology can’t yet trace the prophet’s last steps.

Perhaps that is precisely where faith enters—not as blind belief in any pious legend, but as trust that the God who really spoke through Jonah, really turned Nineveh, and really raised Jesus has woven more into His story than I can document. Jonah himself becomes a sign at this point: a man whose narrative ends with an open question, inviting me to respond in my own life rather than demanding a tidy epilogue to *his*.

My Name Is Jonah

All of this lands a little differently when your own name is Jonah.

I hear God’s question—“Should I not have compassion on Nineveh?”—as addressed to me. Do I want God to be generous only to people like me, or am I willing for Him to lavish mercy on those I might secretly prefer He judge? Am I asleep in the hold while the world around me is in a storm, clinging to idols that cannot save? Am I clinging to my own “empty follies,” forfeiting the mercy that could be mine? Do I really believe that “salvation belongs to the LORD,” or am I still trying to manage who gets it?

The ancient prophet Jonah stands at the intersection of Judaism and Christianity, of Israel and the nations, of idols and the living God, of death and resurrection. His story confronts me with all my reluctance and resentment, but it also comforts me with the same truth he finally confessed from the depths:

"Those who cling to empty folly forsake their own welfare. Salvation (Yeshua) belongs to the LORD."

Epilogue:

Did you know that in the fish jonah prayed the psalms?