How to Simply Celebrate Rosh Hashanah as a Believer in Christ...

I am forever enthralled with the depth of meaning in the Hebrew language and in the Feasts of the Lord - especially how the appointed Feasts point to the Lord Jesus!

As Christians, we are not under the Law, of course. But the principles God reveals through the Law are important to understand and incorporate into our lives today.

I am (re)posting a highly edited older entry about the shofar blow during Rosh Hashaha - the Feast of Trumpets! There are so many ways to view the blowing of the Shofar - I want these words to reflect the desire for relationship that our Jesus has, and that relationship rests on the truth that He has provided all that is necessary for life and godliness - the foundation of salvation through Him...

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I am just captured by the depth and layers of symbolism in the Jewish Feasts of the Lord and how they apply to our Christian walk!  Read on to find out more about the shofar...

(image found on Google)

The Feast of Trumpets features 4 different blasts of the ram's horn trumpets; each actual blast and the spiritual meaning of the blast is described below.1

1. TEKIAH - Pronounced tuh-KEE-ah, the tekiah blast is one long note that acts as a kind of summons. Others have suggested that it is the sound of a king’s coronation. On Rosh Hashanah, we are traditionally called to reaffirm God’s sovereignty. A pure unbroken sound that calls man to search his heart, forsake his wrong ways, and seek forgiveness through repentance. The tekiah called the people to attention and to gather unto Moses. It is the calling note, calling your attention and holding you. It would be in general the summons to listen to God, to receive from Him the orders for the day.

2. SHEVARIM - Pronounced shih-vah-REEM, this word literally means “breaks” or “fractures.” The shevarim blast is three medium-length notes that have been compared to the sound of weeping. A wave-like sound of alarm calling upon man to stand by the banner of God. Teruah in Hebrew means not only a certain unique sound. It also connotes "to break", denoting breaking something and/or causing damage. It is the note for bustling, speedy activity, the signal for breaking up, for striking tents and breaking up camp.

3. TERUAH- Pronounced tih-ROO-ahh, the t’ruah blast is a series of very short, staccato sounds that have been compared to an urgent alarm, calling us to rouse from our spiritual slumber.  A broken, staccato, trembling sound. It typifies the sorrow that comes to man when he realizes his misconduct and desires to change his ways. It must be at least 8 notes, most make 9 blasts so as not to accidentally do too few.

4. TEKIAH GEDOLAH - The prolonged, longer version of the first Tekiah, unbroken sound typifying a final appeal to sincere repentance and atonement.

These four sounds form a set, called a Tekiyot of shofar blasts. In the sounding of the Shofar the Tekiah is 1 blast, the Shevarim is 3 wavering continuous blasts, and the Teruah is 9 staccato blasts, finishing with the longer final Tekiah.

See if you can pick out the different blasts in this video:

The meaning of the Shofar blowing is:

1. The Tekiah is sounded first to call man's heart to give attention and hear the following 'sound' of the Shofar message. 

2. It is then followed by the Shevarim which would then give His order to break off and away from every attachment that estranges us from God, and from our own purposes and present mode of life which is displeasing to God, and leave behind every worthless activity. The broken sound reminds us that we have a job of "breaking" to do as well - the breaking of our evil inclination.

3. The Teruah 'speaks' for the heart of man initiating the call to repentance and godly sorrow of heart.

4. The tekiah which then follows, calls one to a new standpoint, a new attitude, of faithfully following God's way of life. It is to rally us to come to a new place in Yahweh God.

The repetition of these sounds is for the purposed of penetrating deep into the recesses of man's being to bring a complete change of heart and complete reconciliation with our heavenly Father.

Here is a longer video of Shofar blowing that shows the variety and beauty that can be achieved using these 4 blasts:

My "quick notes" take away for the meaning of the Shofar blasts is as follows:

1. AWAKE:
The blast called "teru'ah," nine staccato blasts, is the "alarm" sound meant to wake us up! This idea was stated in the New Testament writing: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Messiah will shine on you" (Eph. 5:13-14). This theme of "awakening from sleep" is used elsewhere in the Scriptures (e.g., John 11:11, Rom. 13:11, 1 Thess. 5:6, Dan. 12:1-2, Psalm 78:65, etc.).

2. RETURN:
Because the shofar is curved in appearance, we are reminded that this is the preferred posture of God's people. We are not to arrogantly rely on our own wisdom or to think we can correct our spirit to align with our Father. Instead, we are to take the humble stance of the shofar; that is, to be curved or bowed in submission to what God would tell us.

3. SEEK:
Rosh HaShanah is a time to take an honest look into our hearts and spirits to make sure we are aligned with our Father's plan for us. The curve of the shofar tells us that the only way to find God's best is to bend our will to his will.

The sound of the shofar calls us to return to the LORD and seek His face. This blast of the shofar is "the joyful sound" spoken of in the Psalms ... and since finding God is our greatest joy, King David rightly wrote:

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! 

(Psalms 89:15 [16] NKJV)

1. based on information from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shofar-blasts/ and https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Hebrew_Roots/Holy_Days/Trumpets/The_Blowing_of_the_Shofar#The_Sounds_of_the_Shofar