I’m not Jewish. But a while back I had a strange dream that led me to think about Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish holiday that begins on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (for 2010 this falls on September 9th).
“‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.” Lev. 23:24-25
One of the most important parts of Rosh Hashanah is hearing the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue. The shofar is a trumpet made from the horn of an animal. In biblical times, it served as a call to arms during war, the alarm for disaster, a signal to gather, and to proclaim the anointing of a king.
The day before Rosh Hashanah, there are no trumpet blasts. But then the day itself brings 100 trumpet blasts.
Can you imagine it? On the eve of Rosh Hashanah (called Erev Rosh Hashanah) everything is quiet, preparations are made, and the mood is “festive but serious.” And then the sacred day comes, and Jews attend special services together and hear multiple shofar blasts that must certainly stand in stark contrast to the silence from the day before. It is a time of repentance and spiritual awakening.
Now consider these verses:
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. Rev. 8:2
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our LORD and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Rev. 11:15
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. 1 Thess. 4:16
Christians, today is our Erev Rosh Hashanah. Everything is quiet, preparations are being made, and the mood is festive but serious. Jesus is near, right at the door. He is our sacrifice, our atonement, our “offering made to the Lord.”
Are you ready for tomorrow?
Anna L. Davis 
Hi Anna,
It was a little strange reading your post on Rosh Hashanah.
This is the first year I can remember, which I have daily looked at the date and said to myself, 6 days to go, 5 days to go, 4 days, and so on. Not something I normally do.
Not saying anything apart from that, just strange.
As to your title “schofar, so close” well done!
Blessings,
Tim
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Hi Tim — glad you like the title, it’s a little campy but it made me smile. 🙂
I also have never thought much about Rosh Hashanah until this year. Why? Not sure. May God give us wisdom and discernment!
Anna
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For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments, we have written extensively on the Shofar and have three websites
hearingshofar (dot) com
shofar221(dot) com
shofar-sounders(dot) com
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Hi Art — thank you for the good resources!
Maybe you can help me out with a question I have. When I was writing this post I found myself wondering about the significance of the shofar sounds. During Rosh Hashanah, is there a particular sound for the last “note” of the holiday, and if so, what is its significance?
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Anna,
You might find this short video amusing.
Reminds me of a scripture in Psalm 24. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
Tim
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thanks for the video Tim! Too funny. I guess Western Christianity isn’t the only religion trying to find its place in our commercialistic culture.
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Anna,
I read this when you first posted it and I waited to see what others posted. Okay, no one asked it, so I will. What about your dream which you mentioned at the beginning of your article?
“…But a while back I had a strange dream that led me to think about Rosh Hashanah…”
As always, I’m a person who likes to know the reasons why a revelation comes about.
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In the dream (which I had at the beginning of August) I woke up one morning, and was afraid I had missed an important day. I looked at a calendar and thankfully, the important day was “tomorrow” — a Thursday — so I circled it in red, Thursday Sept. 9. I also had the feeling that Obama would be in Celina on that day. Then I woke up from the dream.
In researching the dream I found out that Sept. 9 does fall on a Thursday, which means this year is significant somehow. Celina — while the name of a city — is also Greek for “moon”. A web search showed me that Rosh Hashanah begins on Sept. 9 this year, following the Hebrew lunar calendar.
Not sure what Obama has to do with it.
Craziness, right?
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Actually, most of my dreams are just like this one.
You have to understand that the Lord knows how to stimulate a person’s interest. So the dream has clues that seem to be way out there, on the edge of ridiculousness, but in fact, are given in just that way so that we will remember them. Also, the clues inspire us to seek out the mystery of the dream.
As for clues like Obama, I believe the mentioning of Obama made you remember Celina.
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Interesting, Larry! So you’re saying that God might use tags to jog our memory after we wake up?
One thing I have found about dreams, is that God-dreams are usually mysterious and require prayer and research to interpret. It’s almost like God trusts His Spirit in us, to guide us in figuring out the dream.
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Anna,
“It’s almost like God trusts His Spirit in us, to guide us in figuring out the dream.”
Actually, I believe God gives dreams to people who He knows will seek Him and do something with the dreams.
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