“God arises with the earsplitting shout of his people! God goes up with a trumpet blast!” (Psa 47:5, TPT)
I enjoy observing Rosh Hashanah, the New Year (counting from the beginning of the creation of humanity) along with my Jewish friends, especially the Yom Teruah, which translates, literally, Day of Blasting or Shouting. It also implies the blowing of trumpets. In the Jewish tradition, there is a certain observed protocol with the shofar (ram’s horn), but in the Torah, there is not a specific reason given for Yom Teruah (which is celebrated concurrently with Rosh Hashanah). It seems that God was giving permission to simply celebrate with lots of noise. If you have a shofar, blow loud and long. But anybody can participate if you have a mouth and lungs.
Teruah is a full-throated piercing noise, similar to the battle cry of American Indians or the Confederate “Rebel Yell” that stoked fear in the hearts of their adversaries. Israel as a nation responded to the command to shout and blow the shofar in unison, and saw the walls of Jericho fall down like the twin towers on 911. A famous story in 2 Chronicles 20 puts loud praisers in front of the army to win the battle without a fight. Gideon with only 300 men shouted, blew their horns, and saw hordes of enemy combatants flee in stark fear.
Most of us need permission or at least a good reason to participate in such revelry. I’m reminded of New Years Eve celebrations when crowds of people scream and revel without inhibition as a kind of reset. Even then, most people need a few drinks to overcome societal restraints.
On certain college campuses, at the beginning of exam week, students collectively and simultaneously engage in a time of screaming and revelry to release pent up frustration. Some report that this tradition also creates a bond of togetherness among the student body.
I was raised in a traditional evangelical church where, other than hymn singing, there was no place for loudness. In spite of the direct commands in scripture to worship with high praises to glorify God, loud ecstatic expressions would have been grounds for excommunication!
Stories of people shouting in the Bible are retold in Sunday School and the pulpit, yet most American Christian Sunday “services” are programmed spectator events for the sake of maintaining order. But the early New Testament church was often so expressive that Paul had to remind them to tone it down lest visitors and “uninformed” attenders would think them crazy! (see 1 Corinthians 14:23)
The Bible is a record of Creation, beginning with the creation of people made in God’s image until its conclusion–the Resurrection of the redeemed when the last enemy (death) is subdued under our feet. At each of these events, all of heaven shouts! ““Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth... as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7) “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” (1Th 4:16-17, NLT)
On Rosh Hashanah, the sound of the Shofar mimics the voice of God and clears the air, opening up a Portal between heaven and earth. For the next ten days, devout Jews observe a time of prayerful introspection. The next trumpet blast (the Last Trumpet) announces Yom Kippur which is the highest holy day when the nation repents for their sins and receives forgiveness for the next year.
Under the New Covenant, the veil between God and Mankind has been torn, obliterated! Heaven and Earth have been fully reconciled, legally, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! God has thrown open the door in heaven and all of restored humanity who believe in Jesus can go in and out! This is the Gospel (Good News!). That inspires me to blow my shofar when I need a reset on ANY calendar day. Also, when I fall short or feel inadequate or even condemned because of my personal failures, I recall God’s extravagant mercy toward His Creation, and it just comes naturally to SHOUT, “Hallelujah!” Then, suddenly, I see it again, the open door in heaven revealing a Father who sees no fault in me, Jesus interceding on my behalf, and the Church of the Firstborn who have gone ahead, the Cloud of Witnesses cheering me
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