Why Should I Own a Shofar?

Whether you live alone, with family, or even a roommate, there are many reasons why a shofar—a trumpet of the Word—might be right for you.

Now, there are two main types of trumpets found in the Word. One type is a silver trumpet—a long trump, commonly made in pairs for Temple use, crafted wholly of hammered silver, and possessing no moving parts. The other trumpet is called a shofar—a ram’s horn, shaped/worked into a trumpet/shofar with no moving parts. Of these two main types, the second, the shofar, made from an animal horn, is the most commonly referenced in the Word.

Many of the warriors who walked around Jericho would have possessed shofars, and it was that sound—the continual sound of the shofars blown by the seven priests going before the ark of the Lord—that made the bulk of the battle cry! And when the people heard the shofars sound on the seventh day, the whole army of Joshua “raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat.”

Numbers 10:9 tells us of the importance of shofars in battle, and in our own lives shofars can hold a similar purpose…

“When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.”

They can be our call to battle, not merely for battles with physical weapons, but for those of prayer. A blast from a shofar is a spiritual battle cry, harkening our spirit unto God’s, and even sending forth angels.

This alone should be enough reason for us to desire a shofar within the walls of our homes, but there are many others…

Being Remembered Before the Lord:

Shofars in the Word are often used to bring us to the remembrance of God, not only when we go to war, but also when we blow them at God’s appointed feasts, the start of each new month in the biblical calendar, and even when we bring our offerings—money, time, etc.—before the Lord.

“Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”—Numbers 10:10

—Numbers 10:10

Now, you may ask, “does God have a bad memory?”

And the answer is, “God’s memory is perfect. He is perfect, and we cannot begin to understand Him.” Yet, there are many facets to God, and one is of a Judge…

The enemy is constantly bringing us to the remembrance of God as Judge… but always for our faults. The enemy says, “See there. They did not obey your law. They did not give their tithes. They did not love their neighbor as themselves.” Over and over, every tiny or big thing we—or past generations—have ever not exchanged for the Blood is told on us before the Righteous Judge.

The Lord is constantly remembering us, but the enemy is trying his hardest to give us a bad reputation; to slander our names before Him and cause us to forget we are “King’s kids.” Yet, by seeking the Lord in prayer, covering our sin in the Blood, going into the Courts of Heaven for the removal of generational iniquities, and yes, blowing shofars before the Lord… we are remembered by our Father. We are returned to the way God created us to be—in His image.

When we blow shofars, just as with prayer—though with unique blessings and assignments—we are giving God a portion of the breath He gave us. We are letting forth sounds of Heaven and life! We are being remembered before the Lord for good, not for evil.

We are Like the Shofar:

The shofar, first mentioned in Exodus, is one of the oldest instruments on earth. Yet, while the shofar is powerful in many ways, bringing us to the remembrance of God in multiple seasons, there is a special meaning behind the creation of the shofar, and it relates to each and every one of us today!

The story of the shofar begins where the horn comes from

For the shofar to be crafted, blood has to be spilt, and an innocent animal has to give its life—the Passover Lamb and Jesus perhaps spring to mind. Innocent blood, when shed for another, consistently relates to the cleansing of sin and restoration in the Word. It is a method of renewal that still applies today—for daily we all must return to the Blood of Jesus to find restoration.

Not only does the animal have to give its life, but it has to give up its dominion. Its ability to reproduce and multiply being locked in its horns. It has to leave behind whatever life and legacy it may have had through living, and take up the life and legacy of being a tool connecting Heaven and Earth.

So, the old nature is removed, and a new season begun.

Yet, after the animal shed its innocent blood a rabbi is left only with a bloodied horn in the natural, one that, as yet, has no purpose—can make no blast. There is no space where the breath God gave can pass through, and rarely is there a great deal of the curve which gives a shofar so much of not only its sound, but its beauty. This all has to come in time… when the new season is in fullness.

Click here to download the Believer's Guide to Shofars!

Laying the bloodied horn in a salt and water bath—a sanctification tank, or mikvah—the rabbi washes and cleanses the horn. Yet, it still has to lay in the water for a time; long enough to become soft. Soft

so that the rabbi—whose hands have been gifted by God—can pick the horn up and twist it, just the right amount, for THAT shofar—that horn. So THAT shofar will make the sound from Heaven it was meant to make.

Then, the horn, now soaked and twisted into shape, has to sit and wait again. It has to dry out. It has to become PERFECTLY dry—and this can take up to a year—before the rabbi will pick it up in preparation for the final crafting stage.

Taking the dried horn, forever twisted into the image out of Heaven, the rabbi does the most important thing—the final step before the horn can fulfill destiny. The rabbi has to drill a perfect hole, in the right place, or the potential of that shofar is lost forever! Yet, the rabbi knows. He knows just where to drill. He goes to the place of its strength. The place that was once used for force, and now says, it is “‘not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord…” (See Zechariah 4:6.)

Once the rabbi drills, he files it off and picks it up… blowing the horn for the first time. He looks for a perfect sound—the sound from Heaven—and when it arrives, he knows that the horn’s new purpose and season is in the sound of Heaven and not the strength of flesh!

The horn will never again fight in its own strength, but only through the sound it makes with the breath out of Heaven—the breath given by God.

Now, instead of what the horn once represented, the sound becomes a powerhouse.

Its sound becomes its:

Jesus, our Rabbi, takes each of us through this same process, no matter if we have known God since our youth, or found Him today. There is power and skill in His hands. And when we die to ourselves—to our own dominion and strength—His hands go to work.

He soaks us in a mikvah—cleansing and preparing us.

He twists us into shape—for He is the Potter, we are the clay.

He dries us so we can take the most important step—letting the last remnants of our flesh-man dry and die.

He drills us so we are shaped exactly as we are meant to be, the exact size, weight, shape, and able to produce after Heaven and not the fall!

Then He files down the last rough edges, blowing His life and sound in and through us, so that we might be a light in a darkening world. So we can prepare the way for the Lord like John the Baptist—a voice crying out in the wilderness!

Takeaway:

The journey that a shofar takes mirrors our own so sweetly yet reminds us—just as it acts as a reminder in Heaven—that our strength is in God. It is not in our own strength that we can take dominion, have purpose, or even gain glory… it is only through dying to ourselves and taking up the sound of Heaven that we become who we were born to be!

For you, a shofar may primarily act as a reminder of the shaping God is doing in you and your family. For others it may be a reminder that through putting your lips to the reborn purpose of the shofar, you are walking after Heaven and not the Garden fall. For others still, it may primarily act as a battle cry—one taken up when that family member strays from God, or your finances take a beating, or your health is lacking.

A shofar serves as all these and more if we but have eyes to see.

Therefore, in this season, let us remember that everything which has breath is meant to praise the Lord! (See Psalm 150:6) 

Let us remember that the Word says in Psalm 103:20 that the angels of the Lord hearken unto the voice of His Word—that voice is as the sound of a trumpet (see Revelation 4:1)—the trumpet of His Word. It is His Word for which they have come to perform—because they will stand accountable before the saints for activating, performing, and delivering His Word. That is good news, because everything that you need can be released in one blast!