Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob. (Psalm 81:3-4)
As we shared in the previous devotion, Jewish tradition believes that the horns of the ram Abraham sacrificed in the stead of his son, Isaac, were preserved. According to the legend, Abraham kept one of the horns and God kept the other to serve as a trumpet. Admittedly, this notion is apocryphal but is, nevertheless, very interesting and perhaps bolstered by some intriguing passages of Scripture.
For instance, when the children of Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai, on the morning of the third day, they awoke to see the mountain ablaze with fire and smoke ascending as if from a furnace. The scripture also says that the people heard “the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder” (Exodus 19:19). No where does it say that anyone among the people were sounding the shofar, and so, who did?
Again, Judaism teaches that the shofar is emblematic of repentance and redemption — when sinful men repent, God redeems. The two concepts are entwined; we become entangled in the consequence of our sin but God, by His grace and mercy, redeems us. The sound of the shofar heard at Mount Sinai signified that God, and He alone, had redeemed His people from bondage and brought them out of Egypt “on eagles’ wings” (Exodus 19:4). But that is not the end of the shofar’s story as it relates to redemption.
In Jewish literature it is written that, “in the end they (God’s people) will be redeemed by the horns of a ram.” This idea is based on what we just mentioned in regard to Sinai and what the prophet Zechariah said of the time of redemption; it is written: Then the Lord will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet (shofar)” (Zechariah 9:14). I suggest this passage lines up with what Paul said: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The point is, when it comes time for us to be redeemed, the Lord Himself will redeem us; He will sound the shofar to announce His arrival and our deliverance. Therefore, the statute given to Israel to blow the trumpet at important times was not just some meaningless activity — it is a prophetic declaration. Each time we hear the sound of the ram’s horn, not only do we remember the call to repentance but we are reminded that our day of deliverance is assured. As Paul said, when God sounds the trumpet, “we shall always be with the Lord.”
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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