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THE SHOFAR

By Mike Brooks

           Yeshua is coming back with the sound of the Shofar. Look up into the sky and get ready to be called up to meet him in the clouds. Wow!!! What a powerful sound that will be. I get excited just thinking about that glorious day.

          The purpose of this article is to take you back to your Jewish Roots and show you God’s purpose for the Shofar for His people. We will use the Word of God to explain the Shofar. So let’s get started and see what God tells us about this wonderful sounding instrument.

       The Shofar is mentioned in many modern day Bibles as a Trumpet, but in Hebrew it is called a Shofar. It is mentioned in the Word of God 72 times in the Old Testament. The Shofar is made from a horn of a Ram called a Ram’s Horn Shofar or from an African Kudu called a Yemenite Shofar. The Shofar can be made from any kosher animal except a cow.

Ram’s Horn Shofar


Rabstor blowing Ram's Horn Shofar

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                  Yemenite Shofar

Mike blowing Yemenite Shofar

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Now let’s see in the word of God different places in the Bible where the Shofar is used and talked about. First let’s go to;

Exo 19:13 No hand is to touch him; for he must be stoned or shot by arrows; neither animal nor human will be allowed to live.' When the shofar sounds, they may go up on the mountain."


Exo 19:16 On the morning of the third day, there was thunder, lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain. Then a shofar blast sounded so loudly that all the people in the camp trembled.

Here we see the shofar being used to announce a command from God and we also see it was so powerful of a sound they all trembled. How powerful of a sound it must’ve been to strike fear into the people.

Next we see the shofar being used in;

Lev 23:24 "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar.

Now the shofar is used by God to make us remember to rest. To this day the Jewish people blow the Shofar before the Shabbat starts to remind them to stop working and prepare for Shabbat. God sure has it all planned out for us, using the simplest of things such as a shofar.

Our next scripture comes from;

Jos 6:4 Seven cohanim are to carry seven shofars in front of the ark. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times, and the cohanim will blow the shofars.

Jos 6:5 Then they are to blow a long blast on the shofar. On hearing the sound of the shofar, all the people are to shout as loudly as they can; and the wall of the city will fall down flat. Then the people are to go up into the city, each one straight from where he stands."

Wow!!!! What power in the shofar that it gives orders to cause destruction. Very powerful indeed. God is surely an Awesome God..

Next we see the shofar in;

1Sa 13:3 Y'honatan assassinated the governor of the P'lishtim in Geva. The P'lishtim heard of it; so Sha'ul had the shofar sounded throughout the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!"

here the shofar was sounded to announce death of a governor. Are you starting to see what a great role the shofar played so far?

Now let’s go to;

1Ki 1:34 There Tzadok the cohen and Natan the prophet are to anoint him king over Isra'el. Sound the shofar and say, "Long live King Shlomo!"

here we see the shofar used to announce the crowning of a King.

How much more does this horn of an animal do? Let’s now go to;

Psa 150:3 Praise him with a blast on the shofar! Praise him with lute and lyre!

Praise and worship Adonai with what????? The Shofar!!! How awesome that when we hear the Shofar being blown, we can say we are blowing up praises to Adonai. This is one mighty tool God has given us.

Next let’s look at;

Isa 27:13 On that day a great shofar will sound. Those lost in the land of Ashur will come, also those scattered through the land of Egypt; and they will worship Adonai on the holy mountain in Yerushalayim.

Adonai calling us to worship him with the sound of the shofar. Can you just imagine the sound that Adonai used to get our attention? All I can say is Praise be to Adonai…Ah-main.

Eze 33:3 Now if, upon seeing the sword coming against that country, he blows the shofar and warns the people;

Now the shofar is used as a warning to Adonai’s people. Let’s keep going there lot’s more;

Mat 24:31 He will send out his angels with a great shofar; and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

How exciting is this verse…..Yeshua sending His angels to gather His chosen people. Are you ready? I know I am! Come Lord Jesus, Come.

1Co 15:52 It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed.

You have to be excited by now to know that the Shofar is a powerful tool used by Adonai.

Finally this last scripture;

Rev 10:7 on the contrary, in the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar, the hidden plan of God will be brought to completion, the Good News as he proclaimed it to his servants the prophets."

God’s final plan of completion will be brought in with the sound of the Shofar. It’s awesome to see the importance of the Shofar. I just touched on a few of them. You can do a search on the Shofar and find other places in the Bible, but these are a few that give you the importance of the Shofar in God’s plan of things for us. What a mighty tool God has given us through the horn of a Ram.

          In closing let’s go back and review the Shofar. We have seen that it was used for warnings, for announcing Kings, for different feast, for praising and worshiping Adonai, for calling us home and to execute God’s final plan. We serve a mighty God and nothing is impossible for Him. So from this day forward when you hear the sound of the Shofar, look up to the sky, cause you might be hearing the Angels’ sound their Shofars that catches us up to meet Yeshua in the clouds. See you all there with Yeshua. Ah-main.

         There also are two Hebrew Blessings to say before blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah. The first is one that I have heard several times before blowing the shofar at Shabbat Services;

1.) Hebrew Translation:

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'Olam, asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu lishmo'a kol shofar.

        English Translation:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has blessed us in his commandments and commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar.

2.) Hebrew Translation:

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'Olam, shehechiyanu v'kiyimanu v'higianu la'zman ha'zeh.

      English Translation:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.

There are 10 reasons that are given for blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah:

1.) The Shofar acknowledges God as King

2.) The Shofar stirs the conscience

3.) The Shofar reminds Jews of God's revelation at Sinai

4.) The Shofar reminds Jews of the Prophet's warnings

5.) The Shofar reminds Jews of the destruction of the Temple

6.) The Shofar reminds Jews of the ram Abraham sacrificed in place of his son Isaac

7.) The Shofar reminds Jews to feel humble before God

8.) The Shofar reminds Jews of the Day of Final Judgment

9.) The Shofar foreshadows the proclamation of freedom when the exiled will return to Israel

10.) The Shofar foreshadows the inauguration of God's reign of rightiousness throughout the world

Names and meaning of the shofar blasts:

There are four different sounds associated with the Feast of Trumpet's service, detailed by centuries of tradition.

Tekiah - The "blast," one long blast with a clear tone. An unbroken sound that is to call man to search his heart, abandon his inappropriate actions, and seek forgiveness through repentance.

Shevarim - A "broken," sighing sound of three short calls; a broken, staccato, trembling sound. It is to typify the sorrow that comes to a man when he realizes his wrong and desires to change his ways.

Teruah - The "alarm," a rapid series of nine or more very short notes. A wave-like sound of alarm calling upon man to stand by the banner of G_d.

Tekiah Gedolah - "The great Tekiah," a single unbroken blast, held as long as possible. The prolonged, unbroken sound is to typify a final invitation to sincere repentance and atonement.

            All scripture taken from the Complete Jewish Bible. 4-24-2008 

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