Use of the Shofar in Christianity

When the shofar is blown, its sound is incredible – commanding and even demanding. It calls for our attention deep in our souls. The sound is intended to awaken the listener to repentance and to lead him to make peace with his fellow man and with God.

In the past, the sound of the shofar was used for many reasons – it was the call to arms, an alert for an upcoming disaster, a signal to assemble for community business, a solemn announcement of an excommunication. The shofar was blown for 7 days around Jericho as the terror-stricken inhabitants saw their city walls crumble to dust in the echo of its blast. And such a sound also announced the time of the Great Day of the Lord.

The shofar is made only from horns of animals that are fit for sacrifice. Some are created from wild goats, some from rams. The shofar maker has to thoroughly clean the horns through a process of boiling, after which the horns become soft with the addition of oil, until it is possible to shape them into a straight or curved form.

The sound is intended to awaken the hearer to repentance and to lead him to make peace with his fellow man and with God.

Like mankind, the shofar is hollow and empty of meaning until filled by the presence of God. Like the shofar, we speak with no real voice until we are recreated from outside ourselves, born from above. Through God’s Spirit in us we become His voice. His Spirit, resident in us, calls us to consider what and who we are before Him.

The use of the shofar is not commanded in the New Testament as a component of Christian worship. However, there is a symbolic significance to its use that still applies today.

The sound of the shofar is also not mandated for Christians by God’s word, but hearing it moves us to listen to the Word which speaks s from within us.
While Jesus finished the work of our redemption, Christians are still called to repentance ( through the shofar) for those who continue to commit sins.

In addition, shofars made from the Yemenite antelope (kudu) horn are used by Pentecostal women, who carry them in special shofar bags, always ready to use them at any chance they get!

The Bible also speaks of the use of trumpets (which might be the shofar, as well) in conjunction with the events foretold in Revelation (Revelation 8:2).

In the writings of the Christian Churches of God, the necessity of a Christian to use the shofar is also mentioned:
“It is the responsibility of the Church to blow the trumpets and to give clear messages. It is our responsibility to show people when and where to gather and martial for worship and activity. It is our responsibility to listen and hear the sound and to follow its instruction s.”

We must be ever at the ready listening for the trumpet of 1Thessalonians 4:16-17.

“For the Lord, himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”

“Then we which are alive, and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” “

photo credit: slgckgc <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/14771153@N04/4974050857″>Blowing The Shofar on Rosh Hashanah</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(l