Return to 7 Feasts IndexTo: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com> Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 02:14:36 Subject: The Shofar: First Trump / Last Trump
From: Eddie Chumney To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: The Shofar
From the Book
The Seven Festivals of the Messiah
Rosh HaShanah (Head of the Year) is also known by the Biblical name of YOM TERUAH. In Psalm 98:6 it is written:
"With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the Lord"
The blessing that we receive when we understand the meaning of Rosh HaShanah and the blowing of the shofar is found in Psalm 89:15 as it is written:
"How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound (blast of the shofar"
Rosh HaShanah is referred to in the Torah as YOM TERUAH, the Day of the Sounding of the shofar (or the day of the awakening blast). On Yom Teruah (Rosh HaShanah), it is imperative for every person to hear (Shema) the shofar. The mitzvah (biblical commandment) of the shofar is to HEAR (Shema) the shofar being blown, not actually to blow it yourself, hence the blessing for the shofar, "to hear the sound of the shofar".
Teruah means "an awakening blast". A theme associated with Rosh HaShanah is the theme "to awake". Teruah is also translated as "shout".
In I Thessalonians 4:16-17 it is written:
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a SHOUT, with the voice of the archangel and with the TRUMP (shofar) of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"
In I Corinthians 15:51-52 it is written:
"Behold, I show you a mystery (sod = deeper spiritual meaning), we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at THE LAST TRUMP: for the TRUMPET (shofar) shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed"
THE THREE TRUMPETS (SHOFARIM) OF GOD
The three great trumpets (shofarim) that mark MAJOR events in the redemptive plan of God are associated with days in the Biblical calendar. The FIRST TRUMP is associated with and was seen as being blown by God on the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) when God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai. In Exodus (Shemot) 19:18-19 it is written:
"And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the TRUMPET sounded LONG and waxed LOUDER and LOUDER, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice"
God was seen as blowing the TRUMPET (shofar) on Mount Sinai in Exodus (Shemot) 19:19. It is SUPERNATURAL to blow the shofar and for the sound to "wax louder and louder". It is NATURAL when you blow the shofar for the person blowing the shofar to loose their wind and the sound of the shofar to wane as this happens. However, on Mount Sinai, the TRUMPET "waxed louder and louder".
The LAST TRUMP is associated and blown on Rosh HaShanah. In his book, "Festivals of the Jewish Year" in the chapter on Rosh HaShanah, the Orthodox Jewish author (not a believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah) will tell you that an IDIOM for Rosh HaShanah is the LAST TRUMP.
Therefore because the LAST TRUMP is a Jewish idiom for ROSH HASHANAH, the Apostle Paul (Rav Sha'ul) when referring to the resurrection of the dead happening at the "last trump" was using a Jewish idiom for the feast of Rosh HaShanah and indicating by doing so that the resurrection of the dead will take place on Rosh HaShanah.
Genesis 22 is the primary Torah reading for Rosh HaShanah. This is the story of Abraham going to offer his son Yitzchak (Isaac) on the altar. As he was about to do so, the angel of the Lord intervened and Abraham saw a RAM (male lamb) caught in the thicket. The ancient rabbi's saw the thicket representing the sins of the people. The two horns of the ram caught in the thicket were given a name. The left horn was called the FIRST TRUMP and the right horn was called the LAST TRUMP.
Therefore, the shofar (ram's horn) was seen as playing a significant role in the redemption.
The third significant shofar in the redemptive plan of God is called the GREAT TRUMP. The GREAT TRUMP is associated with and is blown on YOM KIPPUR. In Matthew 24:29-31 it is written:
"Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION of those days ... and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven ... and he shall send his angels with a GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET (this is the GREAT TRUMP or the Shofar HaGadol) ..."
Therefore, the literal second coming of Messiah AFTER the tribulation is idiomatically shown to us by Yeshua/Jesus to be associated with YOM KIPPUR.
TWO KINDS OF TRUMPETS IN THE BIBLE
The shofar was blown at the temple during the days of the
temple to begin the sabbath each week. There are two types of
trumpets used in the Bible:
1) The silver trumpet 2) The shofar (ram's horn)
According to (Lev 23:24 and Numbers 29:1), Rosh HaShanah is the day of the blowing of the trumpets. According to the Mishnah (Oral Teachings of Judaism) in (Rosh HaShanah 16a, 3:3), the trumpet used for this purpose is the ram's horn not the silver trumpets mentioned in Numbers 10.
THE USE OF THE SHOFAR IN THE BIBLE
The shofar or ram's horn has always held a prominent role in the history of God's people in the Bible.
1) The Torah was given to Israel with the sound of the shofar
(Exodus 19:19)
2) Israel conquered in the battle of Jericho with the blast of the
shofar (Joshua 6:20)
3) Israel will be advised of the advent of the Messiah with the sound
of the shofar (Zech 9:14, 16)
4) The shofar will be blown to signal the assembly of the Israelites
during war (Judges 3:27, II Samuel 20:1)
5) The shofar will be blown at the time of the ingathering of the
exiles of Israel back to the land of Israel (Isaiah 27:13)
6) The watchman who stood upon Jerusalem's walls blew the shofar
(Ezekiel 33:3-6)
7) The shofar was blown at the start of the jubilee year (Lev 25:9)
8) The shofar is a reminder that God is sovereign (Psalm 47:5)
9) The ram's horn is a reminder of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac and
God's provision of a ram as a substitute (Genesis 22:13)
10) The shofar was blown to announce the beginning of festivals
(Numbers 10:10). The shofar was blown to celebrate the new
moon on Rosh HaShanah (Psalm 81:1-3)
11) The blowing of the shofar is a signal for the call of repentance
(Isaiah 58:1)
12) The blowing of the shofar ushers in the day of the Lord
(Joel 2:1)
13) The blowing of the shofar is sounded at the resurrection of the
dead (I Thess 4:16)
14) John was taken up to Heaven with the sound of a shofar (Rev 4:1)
15) Seven Shofarim are sounded when God judges the earth during the
tribulation period (Rev 8-9)
16) The shofar was used for the coronatino of kings
(I Kings 1:34, 39)
As all of us are studying and discovering our Hebraic/Jewish roots of our faith in Messiah, may all us know and understand the meaning of the sound of the shofar this holiday season.
For those of you who are interested in purchasing my book, "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah" (230 pages), you may do so by sending a check for ($12) made out to me (Eddie Chumney) and send to:
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l
PO Box 81
Strasburg, Ohio 44680
May God continue to bless you in your studies.
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