September | 2022 | Shalom Radio UK

The Feast of Trumpets: background and fullfilment

by Jews for Jesus |September 01 2000

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Tekiah! Shevarim! Teruah! Tekia Gedolah!

As far back as I can recall the blowing of the Shofar was part and parcel of my life as a Jew growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa. I was raised in a modern orthodox Jewish family.

We were alerted to the of the Fall Festivals with the blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn). The blasts heard every year in the synagogue in the month of Tishrei. The Tekiah! Shevarim! Teruah! Tekia Gedolah! of Tishrei, variously falling in September or October.

It is known in the Bible as the Feast of Trumpets and more widely today as Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah, meaning “the head of the year” in Hebrew, and in English it is called the Jewish New Year. It is a cluster of three holy festivals that the Lord commanded the Jewish people to observe in the month of Tishrei, which is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. (The reason it is known as the New Year even though it is the seventh month biblically is because there are several new years—religious, civil, and others.) The other two of the three festivals are called Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement (on Tishrei 10) and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles (beginning on Tishrei 15). Besides announcing the beginning of Tishrei, the Feast of Trumpets also begins a 10-day of Days of Awe period known as the Yamim Nora’im, these fall between the Feast of Trumpets (New Year) and the Day of Atonement. Those 10 days are designated as a time for Jewish people to reflect on their personal relationships, with God and their fellow human beings. This is meant to lead to repentance from sin in anticipation of the latter day/end of days.

The Biblical Perspective of the Feast of Trumpets

In Leviticus 23:23-25 we are told of how God had intended the commandments concerning this festival to the related to and applied to our lives.

Leviticus 23:23-25:

The Festival of Trumpets

²³‘The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. ²⁵Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

The day is to be a ‘commemoration/ memorial with “blast of trumpets.” A trumpet or shofar could be used to rouse people facing danger or war or to prepare for battle. This season in its modern context is speciffically understood as a call to repentance with the Day of Atonement as the culmination 10 days later.

In the declaration with the blowing of the shofar God presence with his people is being declared. The sound of a trumpet that causes the people to tremble. Rudolf Otto, in ‘The Idea of the Holy,’ speaks of a holy trembling and sense of awe in the ‘numinous’ presence of God.

In Exodus chapters 19 and 20 we are given an account of God’s appearance on Mount Sinai when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Exodus 19:4-6 and establishing God’s covenant with the nation of Israel. God manifested His presence in a fearful way with smoke, fire, and a cloud on Mount Sinai, along with the sound of a trumpets that causes the people to quake in awe and tembling.

Different kinds of trumpet blasts

When the trumpet sounded a long blast, they approach the mountain…. ‘On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.’ (Exodus 19:13, 16-19)

Mount Sinai is indelibly stamped on the memory of Israel. Therefore, at the Feast of Trumpets, when the shofar is sounded, the same words reminds Israel that they are a people under covenant are used from Exodus 20:18— the Jewish people are to recall their holy covenant, recalling their responsibilities to turn away from wrong doing, and repentance by making atonement.

What about the word commemorate spoken of in Leviticus serves both to remind Israel of the covenant with its need for repentance, but also to “remind” God of His covenant promises. These include his promise restore the people to himself when they repentant of their sins.

When Scripture speaks of God being “reminded” of his promises by “remembering,” that this will result in him taking decisive action. There is a two-fold implication involved:

1/ The Jewish people remembering their covenant relationship with God.

2/ God has promised to act and keep his covenant.

In addition, in Numbers 29:1. Numbers 29:1-6 “to blow the trumpets” specifies the numerous sacrifices that were to take place on that day. With sacrifices being a central aspect in Israelite worship, in the present time we understand that this was to be a day of worship. The purpose of the sacrifices was to enable the priests on behalf of the people “to make atonement,” together with various other kinds of offerings to reinforce the main focus of repentance.

In the New Testament The Feast of Trumpets

Though the Feast of Trumpets is not mentioned in the New Testament, notwithstanding, Yom Kippur, is found in Acts 27:9:

“Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them.” Here the day is called by its prominent observance, fasting, and the context is that by that late in the season, ocean travel could be perilous. We can assume that Jews in the first century observed the Feast of Trumpets, but we are lacking details.

The blast of a trumpet summons our attention:

The “trumpet” announces the gathering together of God’s people.

The importance of recognising that left to our own human devices, even with the best intentions in the world, we cannot save or deliver ourselves. It is only in and through the sacrifice that Yeshua/ Jesus made on calvary that anyone can be saved.

Hebrews 12:19 recalls the giving of the Torah Mount Sinai when “the sound of a trumpet” when the nation Israel recall the awesome presence of God on Mount Sinai. In conclusion, in Revelation trumpets are mentioned on several occasions. The way a voice sounded (1:10; 4:1) or blown by angels (chapters 8-9). Though none of these relate directly to the Feast of Trumpets, they indicate the significance of the blast of trumpets to gather the people and draw their attention to some special event. In the same way, the sound of the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets is meant to call the people of Israel, and all God’s covenant people to turn away from wrong doing at turn towards God in repentance and faith.