Paul the Poke

Elul 1 marks the beginning of Teshuvah. In a Gregorian calendar in the year 2014, this would be August 27 or 28 depending on when the new moon is confirmed. Teshuvah is a 40 day period that runs through the holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is Jewish custom to blow a shofar (ram’s horn) one time every day during the season of Teshuvah. The trumpet is blown every day except Shabbat or the Sabbath (Saturday for us in western culture) and the last day of month of Elul. The trumpet is blown after the morning service. The shofar is blown frequently…

The blowing of the shofar started with Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The blowing of the shofar is associated with God descending to Mount Sinai and the gathering of nation Israel. This is where Moses is called to ascend the mountain to meet God (Exodus 19:13-19). This is when and where Israel received the law.

The blowing of a shofar signaled many things in Biblical times. The shofar blast was a call to war and the prospect of danger. Joel 2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; surely it is near…The shofar was a way to call soldiers. The trumpet preceded the Ark of the Covenant. 2 Samuel 6:15 So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

The trumpet blast signified the beginning of the month (Numbers 10:10). Psalm 81:3-4 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. Some form of a trumpet blast(s) is used at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). A trumpet blast also signals the beginning of Jubilee (Leviticus 25).

One of the customs of Elul is to visit a cemetery. This is quite interesting in light of the Jewish belief that the resurrection will occur during the period of Teshuvah. Specifically, the resurrection is to occur on the new moon holiday of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Christians refer to this as the Feast of Trumpets. Orthodox Jews do not believe in Christ let alone the New Testament. Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians would confirm their tradition. 1 Corinthians 15:52b at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com, http://www.jewfaq.org, http://www.chabad.org, http://www.myjewishlearning.com, New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Nave’s Topics.

This entry was posted on September 1, 2014 at 11:38 PM and is filed under Fall Feasts, Prophecy, Rapture, Resurrection, Teshuvah/Repent with tags 1 corinthians 15, 2 Samuel 6, 40 Days, Elul, Exodus 19, God, Israel, Joel 2, Moses, Mount Sinai, ram's horn, Resurrection, Rosh Hashanah, shofar, Teshuvah, trumpet blast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.