The Feast of Trumpets - Part 2 - The Trumpet Blasts

"A Haridi man blowing a Shofar." 
by Lilach Daniel 

The Jewish name for the Feast of Trumpets is Yom Teruah which, when translated, means "Day of Blowing" and of course refers to the blowing of the trumpet. In Jewish understanding the trumpet that is blown is the shofar or ram's horn. (Tweet that!)

When observing the Feast of Trumpets or the Yom Teruah ceremony, the shofar is blown in a pattern of three different sounds with each sound given three times. Three sounds played three times equals nine trumpet blasts.

     3 x 3 = 9     

This is done eleven times. That makes 99 trumpet blasts. (Tweet that!)

     9 x 11 = 99     

Then there is a final, 100^th trumpet blast.

When the final trumpet blast is blown, it is a long or extended blast. This final blast of the trumpet is known as "the Last Trump." (Tweet that!)

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, ESV).

Did you catch that reference to "at the last trump?" (Tweet that!)

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16, ESV).

And, of course, the verse we just looked at on September 4 from Matthew 24:

And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matthew 24:31, ESV, emphasis added).

In part 3 of this Feast of Trumpets series, which will post on Saturday, September 13, we'll look at how the Jews observe the Feast of Trumpets as the heavenly court being in session to judge the deeds of the people of the earth. For the next post we will remember the anniversary of September 11, 2001.