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In the Old Testament the Feast of Trumpets was observed on the first day of the seventh month, which after the Babylonian exile was called “the first of Tishri.” The original practice of identifying the months by their numerical order was eventually abandoned in favor of the Babylonian names of the month. Thus “the first day of the seventh month” became known as “the first day of Tishri.” Since Tishri was the first month in the Babylonian calendar, the Jews called the first day of Tishri Rosh Hashanah, literally meaning “Head of the Year.” The Jews still observe Rosh Hashanah as their New Year which marks the beginning of what is alternatively called the “Ten Days of Repentance,” or the “Days of Awe.” These are the ten days of introspection and preparation for the Day of Atonment (Yom Kippur), which falls on the tenth day of the seventh month.

The Feast of the Trumpets shares with the Day of Atonment two fundamental differences from the other festivals. First, both feasts were not connected with any special historical or national event. They were seen as universal and most personal celebrations. A time for the individual to stand before the judgment seat of God, seeking for forgiveness and cleansing. Second, both feasts were observed, not like the other festivals in a spirit of exalted joyfulness, but in a spirit of intense moral and spiritual introspection, as befits a plaintiff coming before the Supreme Judge and Ruler of the universe, appealing for his life.

The Name of the Feast. The Feast of Trumpets became the second

most solemn day of the Jewish religious calendar, being surpassed in importance only by the Day of Atonment (Yom Kippur). The solemnity of the feast is hardly evident to a casual reader of the pertinent Biblical texts where the feast is simply designated as “a remembrance blast” (Lev 23:24) and “a day of blowing” (Num 29:1).

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The first reference to the Feast of the Trumpets is found in Leviticus 23:24: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest [shabbaton], a memorial proclamation with a blast of trumpets (ziccaron teruah), a holy convocation.” The Hebrew phrase ziccaron

teruah, can be literally translated as “a remembrance blast.”

The second major reference is found in Numbers 29:1: “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets (yom teruah).” The Hebrew phrase yom teruah literally means “a day of blowing.” The crucial word in both references is teruah, a series of staccato sounds on a wind instrument.

These two passages offer little indications of the importance of the feast. The term shabbaton “a day of solemn rest” is mentioned in the Bible in conjunction with the Sabbath (Ex 16:23), the Day of Atonment (Lev 16:3), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:39). Thus the term is commonly used for other festivals as well. Similarly there was nothing unusual about the sacrifices prescribed for the first day of the seventh month, inasmuch similar rites were conducted on the other festivals as well.

The description of the feast as a “day of blowing” is not impressive because the shofar was blown at the beginning of each month (Num 10:10). Moreover the phrase “day of blowing” is not the actual title of the feast, but only a distinguishing characteristic of the day. While the other appointed feasts are given a name (the Sabbath, the Passover, the Day of Atonment) this feast has no title. It is simply “Yom Teruah–the Day of Blowing.” Since the blowing of the trumpets became the distinguishing characteristic of the day, it became known as the Feasts of the Trumpets: the feast that called people to prepare to stand before the judgment of God.

The texts give no specific reason for observing the Feast of the Trumpet. This is surprising because the Bible usually gives the reason for the observance of the feasts. Apparently the reason was self-evident. In his book

The Jewish Festivals, Rabbi S. M. Lehrman notes that “The Bible which

usually gives the reason for every observance, does not do so in the case of

Rosh Hashanah [New year or Feast of Trumpets], deeming the spiritual well-

being of each individual too obvious to require comment. To subsequent teachers we owe the picture of a Day of Judgment on which all mortals pass before the Heavenly Throne to give an account of their deeds and to receive the promise of mercy.”1

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The blowing of the trumpets was understood to be a call to repent and prepare oneself to stand trial before God who would execute His judgment ten days later on the Day of Atonment. The importance of the feast is indicated by the fact that the Jews anticipated its arrival on the first day of each month (new moon) through short blasts of the shophar (Num 10:10; Ps 81:3). These short blasts were an anticipation of the long alarm blasts to be sounded on the new moon of the seventh month.

New Year or Rosh Hashanah. Before looking further into the

theological meaning of the Feast of the Trumpets, it might be well to clarify how this feast became known as Rosh Hashanah, “the beginning of the year,” though it was observed on the first day of the seventh month.

The answer to this apparent contradiction is found in the fact that the Jews had both a religious and civil calendar. The religious calendar, which regulated the festivals, began in the spring, in accordance with God’s command at the time of the Exodus: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for your” (Ex 12:2; cf. Deut 16:1). The first month in the religious year was the month in which the Israelites left Egypt and celebrated Passover, the feast of their redemption. It was originally called Abib “the month of the ears,” but after the Babylonian exile was named Nisan. It began at our new moon of our March or April.

The civil and agricultural year, as well as the sabbatical and jubilee years, began in the autumn with the seventh month, which after the Babylonian exile became known as Tishri. If it seems strange that the Jews should begin their civil year on the seventh month, it may be well to remember that even in our society the fiscal year for many organizations begins in other months than January.

There are indications that prior to the Exodus the Israelites’ calendar began in the autumn. In the book of Exodus, for example, though the month of Abib (Nisan) is designated as the first month (Ex 12:3), the Feast of Ingathering or Tabernacles in the seventh month (Tishri) is said to come “at the year’s end” (Ex 34:22). We find a similar expression in Exodus 23:16: “You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.” Since the Feast of Ingathering celebrated the bounties of the agricultural year which had just closed, it was seen as marking the end of the year, although the feast actually began 15 days after the end of the year.

The seasonal cycle of nature came to an end with the fall harvest, which marked also the beginning of a new agricultural cycle with the return of the early rains that softened the ground for plowing which was done in

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October and November. This contributed to place the beginning of the civil and agricultural year on the month of Tishri, though it was the seven month with respect to Nisan. Thus the Jews had a double reckoning, the religious year beginning with the first month and the civil year beginning with the seven month. Josephus, the famous Jewish historian, says that the Egyptians began their year on the fall, but “Moses appointed that Nisan, which is the same with Xantichus [the corresponding macedonian month name], should be their first month for their festivals, because he brought them out of Egypt in that month: so this month began the year as to all the solemnities they observed to the honor of God, although he preserved the original order of the months as to selling and buying, and other ordinary affairs.”2 _{According to Josephus, then,}

when Moses introduced the spring (Nisan) beginning of the year for the religious calendar, he retained the Egyptian beginning of the new year in the fall for civil purposes. This information accords with the references mentioned earlier to the Feast of Ingathering coming “at the end of the year” (Ex23:16; 34:22).

Memorial of Adam’s Creation. The observance of the first day of

the seventh month as Rosh Hashanah, the New Year of the civil and agricultural calendar, may have inspired the rabbinical tradition that Adam also was created on that day. According to this tradition Adam sinned on the very first day of his creation and God forgave him on the same day. Adam was told by God on this day: “Just as you stood before me in judgment on this day and came out free, so your children, who will stand before me in judgment on this day, will be set free.”3

The rabbis thought it logical to assume that man should be judged on the anniversary of his creation. This view in turn influenced the belief that mankind also would be judged on the same day. The rabbis expressed confidence in God’s mercy. Just as God forgave Adam, so He would forgive those who repent during the Ten Days of Penitence.4

There is merit to the concept of a new year celebration that calls believers to take an annual spiritual inventory of their lives and repent of cherished sins, knowing that God will temper His judgment with mercy. We shall see that this is a fundamental theme of the Feast of the Trumpets, an annual trumpet-call to repentance during the ten awesome days of judgment, knowing, however, that God will remember favorably His people and vindicate them.

To understand more fully the theological meaning of the Feast of the Trumpets, we shall consider its characteristic feature, namely, the blowing of the shofar. The sounding of the shofar has a rich biblical and Jewish typology

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which points to the human need to prepare for the final judgment. This study will provide the basis for understanding the antitypical fulfilment of the Feast of the Trumpets in the New Testament as God’s final call to mankind to prepare for the final judgment that precedes Christ’s return.

The Blowing of the Shofar. The unique feature of the ritual of the

Feast of Trumpets was the blowing of an instrument. This is reflected in the Biblical name yom teruah, a “day of blowing” (Num 29:1). Historically the instrument blown on Rosh Hashanah has been the shofar, that is, a curved ram’s horn. In fact the feast came to be identified as “The Festival of the Shofar.” Surprisingly, however, the Biblical texts cited above do not name the instrument to be used. The feast is simply referred to as yom teruah, that is, “a day of blowing” (Num 29:1). A blowing (teruah) sound could be produced with a trumpet (Num 10:5), a horn (Lev 25:9), or cymbal (Ps 105:5). The texts do not give us a clue as to the identity of the instrument to be blown on the day of the feast.

One wonders why the Feast of Trumpets, later known as Rosh

Hashanah, came to be associated with the blowing of the shofar, ram’s horn.

After all to the average Jew the silver trumpets had far greater significance than the shofar, because trumpets were widely used in conjunction with many sacrificial rites.

The reasons for the preference given to the shofar for the Feast of the Trumpets, appear to be both practical and theological. Practically, as Abraham P. Block explains, “The shophar was a mass-produced instrument, relatively cheap, a common household article in the homes of farmers, shepherds, and many urbanites. It was used as a means of communication in everyday life. The shophar was a less sophisticated instrument than the trumpet, and its use required little skill. . . . When an occasion called for mass participation of wind instrumentalists, it was imperative to use the shophar. That was the reason for Joshua’s use of shopherot prior to the fall of Jerico (Josh 6:4). . . . The same was true of Gideon’s army, which used three hundred shoferot (Jud 7:12).”5

Block continues explaining that since “the obligation to blow an instrument on that day [Feast of Trumpets] devolved upon each individual Jew (Rosh

Hashanah 33a) . . . the instrument for practical reasons, had to be the shofar.”6

Another practical reason suggested by Naphtali Winter is that the “stirring notes [of the shofar] arouse a feeling of apprehension. . . . arouse people from their apathy, shake their equanimity, and set in motion the train of thought leading to a heightened spiritual awareness.”7

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Theologically, the rite of blowing the shofar came to be associated with the Feast of the Trumpets, apparently because, as Bloch explains, “The first historical occasion associated with the sounds of the shofar was the Sinaitic revelation (Ex 19:16). The opening of the jubilee year, a momentous event in the life of the people, was also announced by the sound of the shofar [Lev 25:9]. The Decalogue established a Judaic social and religious order. The jubilee year renewed one’s social order by proclaiming freedom from poverty and bondage. Rosh Hashanah offered an opportunity to set one’s religious life in order by liberating him from sin and transgression.”8

The historic association of the blowing of the shofar with Sinaitic revelation of God’s moral law and the jubilee liberation from bondage, could make the blowing shofar during the first 10 days of the seven month a fitting reminder of God’s justice and mercy. It is significant to note how the blowing of the shofar served, on the one hand, to remind the people of their need of repentance and, on the other hand, to “remind” God of the needs of His people.

The Shofar: A Call to Repentance. To appreciate the significance of

the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah we need to look at the progressive nuances of its symbolism that we find in the Old Testament. The prophets used the metaphor of the shofar to call the people to repentance and return to God. For example, the prophet Joel called for blasts of the shofar in Zion to impress the people with the needed repentance: “Blow the trumpet [shofar] in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly” (Joel 2:15). Joel may be referring figuratively, if not, literally, to the Feast of the Trumpet, since he mentions its three major characteristics, shofar, fast, and solemn assembly. During the religious reformation of King Asa, the Israelites “entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their hearts and all their souls” (2 Chron 15:12) and they sealed their oath “with trumpets, and with horns [shoferot]” (2 Chron 15:14). Isaiah explicitly associated the sound of the shofar with an admonition against sin. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet [shofar]; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins” (Is 58:1).

The literal and figurative usages of the shofar by the prophets to warn people of their sins and call them to repentance, was most likely derived from the Feast of the Trumpets, the annual trumpet-call to repentance and cleansing in view of the judgment conducted in the heavenly court during the ten days running from the Feast of Trumpets to the Day of Atonment. In his book What

Christians Should Know about the Jews and Judaism, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

explains that the shofar “is sounded on Rosh Hashanah to arouse us from our moral reverie, to call us to spiritual regeneration, and to alert us to the need

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to engage in teshuvah (repentance). The shofar is the clarion call to perform

teshuvah–to search our deeds and mend our ways before the awesome day of

judgment. It is a reminder of our need to confront our inner selves just as God confronted Adam with the existential question, ‘Where are you?’ (Gen 3:9)”9

On a similar vein, Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher, ex- plained that the blowing of the shofar on Ros Hashanah, is a wake up call for people to abandon their evil ways and return to God: “Awake, O you sleepers, awake from your sleep! Search your deeds and turn in repentance. O you who forget the truth in the vanities of time and go astray all the year after vanity and folly that neither profit nor save–remember your Creator! Look at your souls, and better your ways and actions. Let every one of you abandon his evil ways and his wicked thoughts and return to God so that He may have mercy upon you.”10

The shofar beckoned the people with a solemn message of warning to repent for the time of judgment had come. It called upon the people to examine their lives, mend their ways, and experience divine cleansing. “In the trial imagery,” writes Rabbi Irving Greenberg, “the shofar blast communi- cates: Oyez! Oyez! This court is in session! The Right Honorable Judge of the World is presiding!”11

The Shofar Announces the Beginning of the Trial. The blowing of

the shofar on Rosh Hashanah was understood by the Jews as the beginning of their trial before the heavenly court, a trial that lasted ten days until the Day of Atonment (Yom kippur). Greenberg explains that the central image underlying the Ten Days of Awe is that of the trial. “Jews envision a trial in which the individual stands before the One who knows all. One’s life is placed on the balance scales. A thorough assessment is made: Is my life contributing to the balance of life? Or does the net effect of my actions tilt the scale toward death? My life is being weighted; I am on trial for my life. Who shall live and who shall die? This image jolts each person into a heightened awareness of the fragility of life. This question poses the deeper issue: If life ended now, would it have been worthwhile?

“The trial image captures the sense of one’s life being in someone else’s hands. The shofar of Ros Hashanah proclaims that the Judge before whom there is no hiding is now sitting on the bench. Sharpened self- awareness, candid self-judgment, and guilt are activated by the possibility that a death sentence may be handed down. Like standing before a firing squad, a trial for life wonderfully concentrates the mind.”12

One of the clearest depiction of the sounding of trumpets to announce