Numbers 29:1: “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets.”

February 8th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The Feast of Trumpets, or Shofar, is literally Yom T’ruach, meaning the “day of blowing or sounding.” It is one of the 7 mandatory celebrations to be observed by God’s people; however, this celebration is given less explanation than the other 6. For example, in Leviticus 23, Passover is described as a memorial of the day in Egypt when the families under the blood of the lamb were passed over by the death angel. The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur is to be seen as a purification ceremony. And the Feast of Tabernacles is a memorial to God’s faithfulness during Israel’s 40-year wilderness experience. But when Leviticus 23 mentions the Feast of Trumpets there are only a few vague details listed. If we search other parts of the Scripture, there is still little obvious explanation or deeper meaning given. Numbers 29 is the only other direct reference, and it is indirectly referred to in Nehemiah 8:1–12.

Today most Jews know the Feast of Trumpets as Rosh Hashanah, meaning “the head of the year” or New Year’s Day, which takes place in September even though Scripture clearly states that the new year begins in the spring (the month of Nisan). This change from spring to late summer apparently happened sometime during the Babylonian exile.

The apostle Paul wrote to the early church at Colosse that the feasts “are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col 2:17). So regardless of how little information we have, we can be confident that the trumpet or shofar blasts were sounded to call the people of God to remembrance and repentance. And when we remember that Jesus, the Messiah, died on a cross in excruciating pain for us, it should drive us to our knees in repentance.

“LORD, please forgive our sins and remember them no more. Have Your way in us this day.”