Sound The Trumpets??? What Is A Shofar???

Upon first reading the Holy Bible as a youth; and in those days it was sporadic, and at the instructions of a preacher or in the parameters of Sunday School or Bible Study, a common instrument that was always mentioned was the trumpet.  Someone was always "sounding the trumpet".  

Most references in my mind from these scriptures of course is your first point of reference in the paradigm that was created for you from parents, family, school, and environment.  From those four sectors of your created You,  everybody was told a  trumpet is a gold looking open ended horn with buttons connected some how.  In Western Culture this is  what one gets introduced to as a trumpet.  

The only reference you have when reading the Scriptures, at best from movies one may reference a Greek or Roman trumpet, due to romanticism of Greek and Roman mythology embeded throught the world and pop culture. This just shows the ever lasting effect of Helenization of Greek culture, and the imperialism and colonialism of the Roman Empire.  Only thing is this is historically and culturally incorrect. 

If ones salvation is predicated on faith in the Word and you read and interpret it historically and culturally inaccurate, how can you recieve true inspiration and revelation.  

Three stages we all should be going through when we process data and knowledge.  

1. Observation

2. Interpretation

3. Application

It wasn't until much later in life when my Heavenly Father had my undivided attention and my eye was single on his Word that I noticed Joshua 6:8 and the words " rams' horn" stuck out. Joshua being one of my favorite books due to finally coming out of the Wilderness and getting to The Promised Land of milk and honey, I did some more research.  

At this time I had a KJV Study Bible and Strongs Strongest Concordance in my personal library.  Still have them both, but this was before Google and Wikipedia.  Through digging through the study bible and concordance I was able to get a vivid description of what a Shofar looked like, why, when, and how it was used.  This small unveiling opened my eyes to Hebrew custom, culture, ingenuity, use and reverence of nature, hunting ability and how everything we use or need originated in nature which is of our Holy Creator.  

Shofar

a ram's-horn trumpet used by ancient Jews in religious ceremonies and as a battle signal, now sounded at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Now I was determined to comb through Scripture with a fine tooth comb.  What else have I misinterpreted? What else have I glossed over?  What else wasn't I taught?  Woe unto me!!! How ignorant am I? 

I wish I could tell you why I obsessed over learning about a Shofar? I even imagined they were made and stored after wach sacrife was made unto the Lord.  Only made sense.  I don't know if it was the discovery of something most around me don't know.  That can't be it most people don't care.  I chalked it up as a small intellectual discovery that may come in use for social currency one day over dinner.  In any event I literally kept thinking about it to the point I found out a way I could order one, and promised myself I would at the right time. All I knew was I like what the Shofar symbolizes Spiritually and Culturally and lest it at that.

First I needed to know

1. Why do I want a Shofar? 

2. What am I going to use a Shofar for.

3. Where am I going to use a Shofar.  

I needed to learn more, so I kept it on my to do list and continued on past the Book of Joshua with a new understanding of what trumpets mean in the Old Testament.

Shabbat Shalom

Ranaan bar Iami  

bar Malka Adi Karen

Ari Kohan

Amen Iami