Living Shofars*

     In a few days, the Feast of Trumpets will occur. In Hebrew it is called Yom Teruah, "A Day of Blasts."

     This feast is one of the feasts of the LORD given to Israel in Leviticus 23: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD." (v. 23-25).

     This feast is also called "The Day of the Wake-Up Trumpet", reminding us of the parable which Jesus taught of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, and five who were foolish. All of the virgins slept, however, and had to be awoken by a shout. Only the five wise virgins had enough oil in their lamps to go out and meet the arriving Bridegroom. 

     The three themes of the shofar blasts are: 1) The crowning of a King (see also Ps. 24:7-10); 2) The Wedding of the Messiah; 3) The Resurrection of the Dead! One hundred blasts of the shofar are made, opening the doors/gates of heaven and calling all to repentance. 

     The trumpet has a voice and speaks: "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." (Rev. 1:10-12). John understood what the trumpet voice was saying to him. When John turned, he saw one like unto the Son of man, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, who then identified Himself: "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter..." (Rev. 1:13-20, excerpt). The Book of Revelation is not difficult to understand. It speaks of things that were, are now, and soon to be. It is an unveiling or revealing for our understanding.

     The blast of the shofar not only awakens those who are spiritually asleep, but also those who are in the sleep of death: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord...For the Lord himself shall descend 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. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you." (1 Thess. 4:13-18, and 5:1, see also 1 Cor. 15:50-52).

     The blast along with the voice and the shout awakens the dead in Christ and changes the form of the living! As the Bride of Christ, we should be using this time of the month of Elul, and the Feasts of the LORD to prepare our wedding gowns. We do not know the day nor the hour, but, as the church of Christ, we are expected to know the signs of His coming, and we should not be ignorant but taught about the Feasts of the LORD. We should be witnessing these things, as living shofars, to those who are perishing.

     Paul described the Bride of Christ prepared for marriage to the Messiah/Christ, Jesus: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:25-27). Once we are born again there is an ongoing cleansing process that we go through. We are approaching that day when Jesus will present His perfect Bride to Himself.

     The trumpet blast calls God's people to be reconciled to Him through repentance. The church also is to carry the sound of reconciliation: "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To with, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Cor. 5:18-19). When Jesus was on the cross, the thief asked Him to remember him in His kingdom. Jesus assured the thief that he would be with Him that day in Paradise. The word of reconciliation was present for the thief then and for all of us now. Now we, as living shofars, are to bring the sound of that ministry of reconciliation to others.

     That sound is not one of confusion producing an "uncertain sound." The sound must be clear and identifiable. As with musical instruments, whose sound is controlled by the musician, the sound of our ministry, when the correct sound is made, reverberates in the hearer. (see 1 Cor. 14:6-8).

     Paul spoke about the sound of his ministry before King Agrippa and Governor Festus. Jesus gave the reconciling ministry of the Gospel to Paul (Acts 26:18), and Paul told the king that what he preached was directly from Moses and the prophets who wrote that "The Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." Paul was not preaching a strange sound but was preaching the sound of scripture. Festus accused Paul of being mad, but Paul assured him that he spoke "the words of truth and soberness." Paul appealed to King Agrippa and his knowledge concerning the prophets' writing and the occurrence of these things, and the King said to Paul: "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." (v. 2-28). Isaiah prophesied of how the knowledge that they come by and consider regarding this suffering Servant of God, the Messiah/Christ, will affect kings that encounter it.

     Living shofars preach the Gospel of salvation and living shofars confess their faith: "...The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation...For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved...So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:8-21, excerpt).

     God has not excluded Israel from salvation. Rather: "...Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?...For is the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches...For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee...And they also, if they bide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again...blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Rom. 11:1-26, excerpt). Israel is not cast away, and the promise of scripture is that all Israel shall be saved. We have what they are still looking for.

     As living shofars, we have a responsibility. Blow the shofar to wake up the Bride of Christ. Blow the shofar to crown the King. Blow the shofar to prepare for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 9/29/24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.