Shofar and Twin Silver Trumpets

We see in the following Old Testament Scriptures both twin silver trumpets and shofar blown to announce Yahweh’s sacred times and to call the assembly.  The questions we will ask are as follows: (1) Is there a need to blow twin silver trumpets or shofar to announce Yahweh’s sacred times and to call the assembly for believers today?  (2) And if we do need to blow either twin silver trumpets or shofar does it make a difference which instrument we use?

 

Numbers 10:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,   2 Make thee two trumpets (#2689) of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.

 

10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets (#2689) over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohim: I am Yahweh your Elohim.

 

2689 chatsots@rah {khats-o-tser-aw’}  •  by reduplication from 02690; TWOT – 726a; n f •  AV – trumpet 29; 29 •  1) trumpet, clarion 

 

Leviticus 25:8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.   9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet (#7782) of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet (#7782) sound throughout all your land.

 

7782 showphar {sho-far’} or rp’vo shophar {sho-far’}  •  from 08231 in the original sense of incising; TWOT – 2449c; n m •  AV – trumpet 68, cornet 4; 72 •  1) horn, ram’s horn

 

Psalm 81:3 Blow up the trumpet (#7782) in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

 

Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet (#7782) in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

 

To answer the first question, we know that Yahweh’s sacred (“solemn”) or appointed times found in Leviticus 23 should be kept by believers today (1).  And we know that each sacred or appointed time calls for a Holy Convocation, which is a gathering of the assembly for spiritual purposes.

 

• For more information on why we should keep Yahweh’s sacred or appointed times please read the following articles: “The Fourth Commandment”, “Passover and Easter”, “Chag Hamatzot” (including “FirstFruits” and “The Night to be Much Observed”), “Pentecost”, “Yom Teruah…Day of Shouting”, “Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement”, “Feast of Tabernacles”, and “The Last Great Day”.

 

There are no indications in the New Testament that blowing twin silver trumpets or shofar to announce Yahweh’s appointed times, including gather of the saints has stopped.  In fact we see in the Book of Matthew Messiah sending His angels with a great sound of a trumpet to gather His elect at His Second Coming.

 

Matthew 24:31 And he (Messiah) shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

Therefore it makes sense that for believers today we should announce Yahweh’s sacred or appointed times and the calling of the assembly by blowing twin silver trumpets or shofar.

 

And to answer the second question, we see in the above Old Testament passages both twin silver trumpets and the shofar sounded during Yahweh’s appointed times, including to call the assembly.  There is an intertwined relationship between twin silver trumpets and shofar when we compare Psalm 81:3 and Joel 2:15 with Numbers 10:1 and 10.

 

An interesting note is that like the shofar, twin silver trumpets are incapable of producing what we might refer to as musical tones, like our modern trumpets. They were only able to produce one primary tone. Plus twin silver trumpets and shofar are played in the same manner and have the same monotone sound.  In the context of the Scriptures, twin silver trumpets and shofar were never considered musical instruments like the translated word trumpet may imply to the reader in this time period.

 

It is also interesting to note that blowing of twin silver trumpets and the shofar is used by Yahweh for other purposes of announcement other than to call the assembly or mark Yahweh’s sacred or appointed times.

 

The blowing of twin silver trumpets is used for military purposes and warnings (Numbers 10:9, 31:6 and 2 Chronicles 13:12). Twin silver trumpets are also blown before the Ark of Yahweh (1 Chronicles 16:6), over burnt-offerings and peace-offerings (Numbers 10:10; 1 Chronicles 15:24, 15:28, 16:6, 16:14, and  2 Chronicles 5:12, 5:13, 7:6. 13:14, 29:28), and to rejoice before Yahweh (Ezra 3:10 and Psalm 98:6).

 

The blowing of the shofar was done in Old Testament times to announce several land mark events.  The shofar was blown with the of Sinai covenant found in Exodus 29:16-19 and the strong sound of the shofar shocked the Israelites. The shofar was also blown with the conquest of Jericho when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down (Joshua 6:1-20).

 

The shofar is used for military purposes and warning (1 Samuel 13:3, Job 39:25, Jeremiah 4:19, and Ezekiel 33:3-6), is blown before the Ark of Yahweh (Joshua 6:13 and 2 Samuel 6:15), and is blown to rejoice before Yahweh (Psalm 98:6 and Psalm 150:3).  Where we don’t see an overlap between the shofar and twin silver trumpets is with sacrifices.  It appears twin silver trumpets were used exclusively with sacrifices.

 

As you can see functions assigned to the shofar were similar to that of twin silver trumpets in the Old Testament, bolstering the intertwined relationship between the two instruments.

 

We also see in the New Testament the continued use of trumpets to announce supernatural events.  Remember Yahweh’s sacred or appointed times are part of His supernatural event. We have already mentioned the great sound of trumpets when Messiah gathers His saints at His Second Coming (Matthew 24:31). We also see trumpets used for warnings of plagues upon mankind at the end of the ages (Revelation 8, 9, and 10).  This word trumpet(s) comes from the Greek words #4536 salpigx and #4537 salpizo.  It is interesting to note that these Greek words do not distinguish whether or not the trumpet sound is from twin silver trumpets, shofar, or some other means to make a trumpet sound.

 

We conclude that since we continue to keep Yahweh’s sacred or appointed times there should be an announcement of those times including calling of the assembly by twin silver trumpets or shofar.  There is nothing in the New Testament that indicates this has stopped.  In fact we continue to see the use of trumpet sounds in the New Testament for supernatural events.

 

And because there is an intertwined relationship in their use it appears that either twin silver trumpets or the shofar is acceptable to use. Both are played in the same manner, sound somewhat the same, and have the same range.  We also see both used in Scriptures to announce Yahweh’s sacred times and to call the assembly.

 

HalleluYah

(11-15)