Celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe
Leviticus 23:23-24 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation."
The Feast of Trumpets begins at sunset on September 16 because the biblical day goes from sunset to sunset. The Jewish name for this holy convocation is Rosh Hashanah which means "the beginning or head of the year." Rosh Hashanah is a time for new beginnings. According to Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of Adam and Eve and the fall into sin. It is a reminder of the covenant relationship between God and mankind. It is a time of new beginnings.
Rosh Hashanah is observed with the sounding of the trumpet. The traditional trumpet is the shofar, the ram’s horn, which also represents the trumpet blast of the coronation of the king. The sounding of the shofar is a call to repentance because Rosh Hashanah is also a reminder of man’s first sin and repentance for that sin. Rosh Hashanah begins the “Ten Days of Repentance” or "Days of Awe" which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The shofar also commemorates the sacrifice of Isaac which occurred on the day that God later established as Rosh Hashanah. The sounding of the shofar reminds us that a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to God. Abraham named the place, "Jehovah-Jirah", God is our provision. Abraham understood that in ages to come God would provide the means of our salvation, His Son, Jesus Christ.
How shall we celebrate? We can "google" Rosh Hashanah or Feast of Trumpets and learn of and, perhaps, even follow some of the traditional Jewish customs. We can also remember in personal ways and private ways.
Because Rosh Hashanah is the Feast of Trumpets, we should remember the importance of trumpets in our relationship with God. In Exodus 19, people were to wait for the sounding of trumpet before going near Mt. Sinai where God spoke to Moses. (Exodus 19:3b) "When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain." (Exodus 20:18) "Now all the people witnessed the thundering, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off." God was beginning a new season as He molded a band of ex-slaves into a mighty army.
It was with the shouting of the people and the sound of the trumpets that God brought down the walls of Jericho and gave the Israelites their first victory in the Promised Land. The defeat of Jericho was a new beginning for the people of God.
The Lord will again bring a new thing with the sound of the trumpet when Jesus returns. (Matthew 24:29-31) “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(1 Corinthians 15:52) "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
Remember the Feasts of Trumpets by sounding the trumpet, blowing a horn, ringing a bell. With joy in our hearts, we remember the trumpet soundings of the past and look forward to the sounding of the trumpet when Jesus returns.
Rosh Hashanah is a time for speaking blessings for the year to come. A simple blessing is "Shana Tovah", which is "Happy New Year" in Hebrew.
Rosh Hashanah is also a good time to sing the old hymn by James Black:
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
On that bright and Sabbath morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
If we believe that we are sinners, that Jesus paid the price for our sin so that we can be reconciled with God, that Jesus arose from the dead and that He is coming back for His own, we will be there when the trumpet sounds and the roll is called up yonder.
Shana Tovah! Shana Tovah! Because of Jesus, our new year is blessed.
