Someone recently asked me, “Lonnie, why do you sound the shofar at the New Moon and the Full moon?”
Well, while it is true that I sound the shofar at each New Moon phase, I only sound the shofar at the Full Moon when the Full Moon ushers in one of the three feasts. Those Feasts being Passover, Pentecost, and Rosh Hashanah. But why do I do that?
Well, quite simply, because God said to do it.
Let’s look at Numbers 10:10.
“Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed
Feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall
Blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over
The sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall
Be as a reminder of you before your God. I am
The LORD your God.”
There are three times listed in this one verse that we should blow the shofar or the trumpets.
- On our day of gladness.
- On our appointed Feasts (Full Moon: Passover, Pentecost, and Rosh Hashanah)
- On the first days of your months. (New Moon)
The verse states that we are to sound the trumpets over our burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of our peace offerings. Jesus was God’s offering and sacrifice on our behalf under the new covenant so we do not make the burnt offering or the peace offering anymore. Jesus was the sacrifice that offered Himself in our place that we are righteous and at peace before God.
But why did God instruct Moses to sound the trumpet on these three occasions? To remind people that they are God’s people and that He is the LORD God. Is not sounding the shofar at these times paying respect and gratitude for the sacrifice made on our behalf by Christ? From that obedience, blessings flow. King David knew this. He made mention of it in Psalm 81:3-4:
3.Blow the trumpet at the new moon, At the full moon, on our feast day,
4.For it is a statute for Israel, An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
So WHY do we sound the trumpets at the New Moon and at the Full Moon on the day of our Feasts? So that we are reminded, by our obedience, that God is the LORD God and to remind Him that we are His people. He blesses us in the Sacrifice that He gave on our behalf. It reminds us of God’s mercy, grace, and blessings of a Father. The sounding of the shofar is an offering of praise and worship to an Almighty God. He is just and right to bless His children who obey.