Preacher: #Prophetess Avako Emmanuel Agnes
What is a shofar?
A shofar is an ancient musical horn from Israel, typically made of a ram’s horn. It is the voice of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
When its blown, the church is to make a great shout of praise to the Lord Almighty in acknowledgment of His presence. (Joshua 6:5)
Who can blow the shofar?
Being a holy instrument, the shofar can ONLY be blown by a priest/ spiritual leader as picked by God.
Numbers 10:8 – The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an [a]ordinance forever throughout your generations.
When is it blown?
In biblical times, the shofar sounded the Sabbath, announced the new moon, and proclaimed the anointing of a new king.
In the book of Judges, Ehud the son of Gera, blew the shofar after attaining victory over Eglon, the King of Moab, who had taken the children of Israel captive.
Judges 3:27– And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and [a]he led them.
In the church today, the shofar is blown during several events namely.
- At the start of a new season
- At the start of a new month
- During warfare against stubborn enemies (Numbers 10:9)
- In times of joy and celebration (Psalm 150:3)
- During holy festivals e.g., feast of the trumpets commonly known as Rosh Hashana (Leviticus 23:23-24)
Benefits of blowing the shofar
- Its sound confuses and scatters sorcerers and evil altars raised against the children of God (Numbers 10:9)
- It is a spiritual connection to the altar of God
- Symbolizes the entry of God into your situation (Zechariah 9:14)
- The sound of a shofar clears the heavens above our heads from any spiritual pollution and opens them up for us to receive a blessing (Joshua 6:20)
- Brings down the glory of God (Exodus 19:19)
- Destroys and overturns any plans of the enemy in form of delay, failure, death, sicknesses. (Judges 7:19)
- The sound of the shofar scatters enemies (Judges 7:22)