A Sound that Should Shake the Soul
The end of August moving into September has a distinct feeling that was formed in childhood. In my family, we call it “the Sunday night feeling.” You probably understand it: the feeling you had Sunday night as a child… the anticipation of Monday coming and school beginning again for another long week. It wasn’t dread; it was more of a melancholy feeling that ached a little bit in your soul. It was that nagging and knowing feeling that the weekend – with all its fun – was now ending, and school – with its work and rigor – was waiting with the alarm clock of Monday morning.
This “Sunday night feeling” follows us into adulthood. Life, with its demands and responsibilities, is not negative. But it does cause us to reach for a deeper grace to accomplish what is in front of us.
On the Jewish calendar, the beginning of fall and the Hebrew month of Tishri signify a very holy season. The first of Tishri usually falls in September or early October and marks the start of the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. This holy season is a deeply personal time to each Jewish soul because it not only celebrates the head of the Jewish New Year, the creation of the world, and the forming of mankind, but it also speaks to the human ability to grow and change.
The month prior to Tishri, Elul is when the Jewish community intentionally takes spiritual inventory to see where they have “missed the mark.” Elul is a month of preparation for the High Holy Days. Unlike other holidays that require outward activities of cooking, cleaning, and clearing cupboards of all crumbs, these fall holidays are inward-focused. Hence, the “preparation” done during this time is invisible because it takes place within.
One rabbi and author writes, “They [the Jewish people] look back at the past year to decide which deeds felt right and which deeds did not. Even within because God is everywhere, even within each human being, self-examination is a way of searching for God.” [1]
Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets) is a holiday where the ram’s horn is blown. If you’ve ever heard the piercing sound of a ram’s horn, you know it stirs something deep within the soul – far more than an ordinary “Monday morning alarm clock.” It’s almost as if the sound shakes your soul awake. I believe this is why in the Old Testament the Lord commanded the children of Israel to begin the Feast of Trumpets with the blowing of a shofar. Sometimes we are so caught up in our routines and daily lives we forget the importance of our spiritual lives. This feast is an appointed time on God’s calendar when He calls us to meet with Him and take spiritual inventory.
Have you ever thought: How did I get here? or How did this habit become so prevalent in my life?
In Leviticus 23:24, this High Holy Day of Rosh Hashanah is called a “memorial.” The sound of the shofar would have jogged the memory of the Jewish people of receiving God’s covenant at Mount Sinai, where the shofar was blown loudly. This blast of the shofar was designed to shake the people out of spiritual lethargy and alert them to God’s presence. It served as an alarm and signified a time of repentance and reflection leading up to Yom Kippur.
As believers in Jesus, we see His fulfillment of the spring feasts – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits – through His death, burial, resurrection, and the pouring out of His Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
However, unlike the spring feasts, we are still waiting to see the fall holidays fulfilled. We, too, wait in expectation for the great blowing of the shofar that will come from heaven. First Corinthians 15:51–52 explains that there will be a final trumpet (shofar) blown at the second coming of Jesus. This promise involves the raising of those who have passed into death and a transformation that we all long to see. Those who are physically dead but spiritually alive in Christ will rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed (15:52).
1 Thessalonians 4:16 also describes this important moment: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an Archangel, and with a trumpet of God.”
This heavenly shofar blast will signal the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom. But at this current time, this call to remembrance with the great shofar will remind us of a covenant made in His very own blood. For those who have longed for this day, there will be great rejoicing.
So, rather than “the Sunday night feeling,” this time of year should evoke feelings of remembrance and holy convocation. The covenant the LORD made with us has redeemed us from our sin and secured our eternal future!
Perhaps this is why this time of year carries such a familiar feeling. It is a season that calls us to stop, to remember, and to take an honest look within. The shofar is not simply a sound from the past, but a call that reaches into our lives today. It is a call to wake up, to return, and to remember the covenant God has made with us. It is a call that should shake our souls.
“The Sunday night feeling” reminds us one season is ending and another is beginning. But the sound of the shofar reminds us that God is already present in whatever comes next – and that one day, the shofar will sound from heaven, not to signal an ending, but to announce that everything we have hoped for in Jesus is finally beginning.
Written by Kori, Life in Messiah Staff Member
Certain sounds, like smells or taste, can trigger an emotional response, from fear to sweet nostalgia. What “auditory cues” (e.g., songs, perhaps) does God use to draw your thoughts to Him?
Taking an intentional “annual self-inventory” can have real spiritual benefit. Believers are also instructed to “examine ourselves” before participating in the Lord’s Table (1 Corinthians 11:28). But daily we can ask the Spirit to “search my heart” (Psalm 139:23-24).
Rosh Hashanah (begins Friday evening on September 11 this year) is a great time to wish a Jewish friend a happy holiday. Add a gift of apples and honey for a sweet new year!
Endnotes:
[1] Malka Drucker, The Family Treasury of Jewish Holidays (New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1994,) 4.