The Feast of Trumpets

There’s nothing like hearing the sound of a shofar! It awakens something in me and stirs my heart’s longing for our mighty king and Messiah’s long-awaited return!

The Feast of Trumpets is a favorite at my house! My noisy kids have an excuse to be loud, they get to blow horns and the shofar, we “march” around the city of Jericho, and we have a lot of fun!

This year we really delved into all the different uses of the word “Teruah” (usually translated as trumpet or a great noise) in the scriptures. We found that the trumpets were blown as a battle cry, for a coronation of a king, in times of rejoicing, to gather the people, to celebrate a victory, to issue a warning, it was used in weddings when the groom would come for his bride, it was heard at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, it was used in remembrance and it will be heard at the return of Jesus Christ! Yom Teruah, what we call the Feast of Trumpets, is also known as “the day of the awakening blast” foreshadowing what will happen to the dead when he returns again.

So, how do we celebrate? Our day often holds several things. We read scripture, we sing, we march, and we blow the shofar (a lot!). One year we made noise makers out of paper plates and corn kernels- on one side of the plates it said “Happy Yom Teruah” and on the other side it said “Make a Joyful Noise to YHWH!” (You can find that template here). We’ve kept these and used them when we have our little “praise party!” The kids get out these and all sorts of other loud instruments and love to make noise! This is our time of rejoicing! We sing simple songs like “This is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made, we will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it!”

The Feast of Trumpets is often associated with the story of Joshua in the Bible when they fight the battle at Jericho. God gives them strange instructions- Joshua 6:3-5 says, “March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.” In obeying the instructions of YHWH, they are given a great victory over what seemed like an impenetrable city. God went before them and fought their battle for them! So the kids like to build “Jericho” out of big blocks and place it on our coffee table. Then they march around it while listening to the song “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho” (their favorite version is the one from <a href="http://<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wfPOHQOc3uI?si=CCzyNzHE7RSPcJuR" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen>Superbook and we play it through YouTube). They march around the table and then when the song says to blow their horns, they do (with fervor!) and then get to knock the tower/city down at the end. They love to do this over and over and over again! It has become a staple tradition during Yom Teruah at our house.

Last year we made paper mâché trumpets and so this year we painted them. Making them was messy and they turned out okay… they look like shofars…ish. It was just a fun way to use what we had previously made!

This year in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), which we have been a part of for years, we have been studying the book of Revelation. We had just studied the passage of scripture in the beginning of John’s vision in chapter 1 where he sees “one like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held 7 stars and out of his mouth came a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” So for our craft, we made a representation of this vision, coming on the clouds in glory. We used cotton balls for his hair, orange sequins for his eyes (blazing fire), bronze sequins on his feet, for the sword I cut the basic shape out of cardboard and wrapped it in tin foil, we used ribbon for the golden sash and the template I found already had him in a robe to his feet. The feast of trumpets is often associated with the return of Christ- one- because no one knows the day or the hour that this feast will begin (it can only begin upon two verified sightings of the first sliver of the new moon over Jerusalem) and also because Jesus himself said that at his return, “he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31) We also see in 1 Corinthians 15 that at the last trumpet we will all be changed the dead will be raised imperishable. We hung these up after we finished them.

Trumpets are also associated with a battle cry or a warning in scripture. We reiterate that we are indeed in a battle- a spiritual battle- and people’s souls are on the line. We know we have to armor up with the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6). So we colored a soldier, ready for battle. The trumpets also serve as a warning- we need to be sounding the trumpets of warning, calling people to repentance and return. The time is short, may we remember that!

Trumpets are also blown for the coronation of a king! We will soon see the return of our King- the King of Kings and Lord of Lords- and we look forward to casting our crowns before his throne (which we have also seen in our study of Revelation). We read Psalm 47 and then laid our own crowns at the feet of our king (Rev. 4:10).

Yom Teruah is also known as a day of remembrance. We remember when God gave Moses his law on Mount Sinai. We are told that on the third day, “there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud cover over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was cpvered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” (Exodus 19:16-19) And after Moses gives the people YHWH’s commandments, we read that ” when the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” We remember the HOLINESS of God and remind ourselves that while he is a friend (John 15:15), he also dwells in inapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom (Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10) and leads to life (Proverbs 19:23). Isaiah tells us that the fear of God is a treasure (Isaiah 33:6). His word tells us that those who fear him lack nothing (Psalm 34:9). And finally, Ecclesiastes 12:13 tells us, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”

And finally, as with any celebration at our house, we have “special drink” aka sparkling cider. This is what sets apart our celebrations. They get to drink out of special cups reserved for feast days and get to drink a drink set apart for special occasions.

I leave you with Joel 2:1, “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand.” We blow the trumpet in anticipation, in honor and in obedience. May YHWH be praised! Come, Lord Jesus!