The Call of the Shofar
Summary
This is the eighth article written on Messianic Foundations for the Pneuma Review. I have hesitated at every turn to say, “… and the church should do this,” leaving those choices up to each individual according to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Yet at this point, concerning the shofar, it seems only logical that since we as the Body of Christ yearn to hear that last trumpet, we would want to incorporate so mighty a symbol of our faith into our congregational worship. I know churches all around the globe are using them to their great delight. They’ve been heard in popular recordings by Integrity Music’s Paul Wilber. I have witnessed hundreds of thousands of men at the Promise Keepers rally in Washington D.C. in 1997 make a joyful noise after hearing the shofars with a singular shout of praise that had to reach the heavens. No one considered it legalistic or “Jewish.” Rather, they recognized deep down inside the intrinsic call of the shofar, to repentance, to battle, to assembly, and to Jubilee.
PR
Bibliography
- God’s Appointed Times, Barney Kasdan, Lederer Messianic Publications, Baltimore, MD, 1993
- The Holidays of God: Fall Feasts, Kevin Williams, RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI, 2000
- Rosh Hashanah: It’s Significance, Laws, & Prayers, Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, NY, 1983
- The Fall Feasts of Israel, Mitch and Zhava Glaser, Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1987
Notes:
- [1] 1 Corinthians 15:52.
- [2] 2 Corinthians 6:16.
- [3] Genesis 22:8.
- [4] John 1:29.
- [5] p. 11 (To order a copy without cost or obligation, write RBC Ministries at PO Box 2222, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-2222 and ask for booklet #Q0408. Find them on the web at: www.rbc.org).
- [6] pp. 33, 34; brackets mine.
- [7] Isaiah 6:5.
- [8] If Satan wasn’t thrown into chaos when the shofar was sounded earlier, he certainly will be when the last trumpet is blown.
- [9] The Acceptable Year of the LORD is a euphemism for the Year of Jubilee.
To learn more about the redemptive pictures and messianic promises inherent in the biblical holidays of Leviticus 23, read these on-line study booklets by Kevin Williams (published by RBC Ministries):
Fall Feasts Rosh Hoshanah, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles
Spring Feasts Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost
Category: Biblical Studies, Winter 2001
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