Jubilee--The Calling Of The Shofar In 5777

Leviticus 25

We are walking in today: Jubilee--The Calling Of The Shofar In 5777

Witness lawgiver & voice throughout the Bible: H2710 chaqaq spelled chet, qof, qof, --to cut out, decree, inscribe, set, engrave, portray, govern, to cut in, to cut in or on, cut upon, engrave, inscribe, to trace, mark out, to engrave, inscribe (of a law), to inscribe, enact, decree, one who decrees, lawgiver, something decreed, the law (participle), to be inscribed
&
H6963 qowl spelled qof, vav, lamed--voice, sound, noise​, voice​, sound (of instrument)​, lightness, frivolity​, root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound, aloud, bleating, crackling, cry ou​t​, fame, lightness, lowing, noise, hold peace, (proclaim, proclamation, sing, sound, spark, thundering), voice, yell.

Psalm 119:149 Hear my voice according to Your steadfast love; O Lord, quicken me and give me life according to Your [righteous] decrees.

Torah: Genesis 49:10; Numbers 21:18; Deuteronomy 33:21
Prophets: 1 Samuel 1:13, 2:25, 4:6, 7:10, 12:15, 25:35; Ezra 1:1, 3:12-13, 10:7, Nehemiah 4:20, 8:15; Isaiah 6:4, 10:1, 13:2, 24:14, 28:23, 30:8, 49:16; Jeremiah 3:21, 4:16, 4:21, 6:17, 7:23; Ezekiel 4:1, 9:1, 21:22, 23:14, 23:42, 26:10, 26:15, Joel 2:5,  2:11; Amos 3:4; Jonah 2:9; Micah 6:1; Habakkuk 3:10; Zephaniah 3:2
Writings: Judges 5:9, 5:11, 5:4; Ruth 1:14

Ben Sira 45:5 He let him hear his voice, and led him into the cloud, Where he handed over the commandments, the law of life and understanding, That he might teach his precepts to Jacob, his judgments and decrees to Israel.



Leviticus 25:8-13
8 “‘You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; 10 and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines; 12 because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you. 13 In this year of yovel, every one of you is to return to the land he owns.
Both in the episode of giving the Torah on Mount Sinai, and at the walls of Jericho, we read about the (long) enduring sound (“mshoh yovel”). From Hebrew it can be translated as “the bleating of a sheep.” And, if at the foot of Sinai, at the conclusion of the covenant, the children of Israel heard the “bleating of a sheep” (Yovel) from heaven …, the walls of Jericho were destroyed by the same enduring bleating of a sheep “Yovel” emanating from the blowing shofars by the Kohanim. On the day of Atonement you shall make the shofar to sound throughout all your land; 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants/ It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family

The word jubilee is familiar to us, it comes from the Latin jubilaeus that is a modification of the ancient Hebrew “yobel,” or more correctly “yovel”. Here we must note that in Hebrew there are no vowels, but only consonants.
So, this word (jubilee) in Hebrew can be read in two ways: The 50th year is called the year “Yovel”, i.e. the year of a ram or the year of blowing the ram’s horn. The year got its name from the name of the shofar — Yovel that was to announce it. The sacrificial animal horn “Yovel” announced the great liberation, coming into peace, the return of everyone into his heritage.

Archaeologists discovered walls of 8 meters width. It’s heights was the same as it’s width. Some legends assert that Jericho city was surrounded by 7 rows of such walls. A strange thing was discovered by archaeologists, the walls collapsed not inside as it usually happen when they are attacked from outside, but on the contrary, they felt down outside. This proves that their destruction was a result of something else than undermining or an attack.
They were crushed down from the very foundation and on all sides simultaneously. This happened by the will of Yahweh. The shofar played a special role in this--it was a brilliant victory.  In the name “shofar – yovel” there is a tremendous power that no force, no army, no locks and no inaccessible walls can resist it.
However, in this episode of biblical history it is important to see something more than just the pulling down of a stronghold and a victorious military operation. This gives us the evidence of the uniqueness and importance of the event. All the three properties and actions of the horn were shown at the same time:
– “Keren” – the will and glory of God revealed – “the perfect calling.”
– “Shofar” – improvement, change – the “perfect correction.”
– “Yovel” – healing, restoration of rights – “perfect freedom.”
Those six days when the kohanim were blowing, and all Israel was listening in silence, were a time of special, mystical creation. That blowing and the whole camp listening attentively made something important on the earth, in the universe, in the heart of every listener. Those six days of creation were a time of putting into order, creating relationships between God and His people on a new level.
God brings Israel to His resting place, a special sacred territory, the Promised Land, that is a prototype of the church. He prepares them for the religious rite:
– He humbles and cleans them in the desert for forty years,
– He makes a covenant at Mount Sinai with the people, and as a seal of that He circumcises all those who were born during the campaign,
– like at the ritual cleansing of the priesthood, He immerses them in the waters of Jordan,
– and it was, “the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.

Josh.5:13-15
13 One day, when Y’hoshua was there by Yericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Y’hoshua went over to him and asked him, “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?” 14 “No,” he replied, “but I am the commander of Adonai’s army; I have come just now.” Y’hoshua fell down with his face to the ground and worshiped him, then asked, “What does my lord have to say to his servant?” This story shows that it was not a usual marching and not routine preparations to conquer Canaan but a very special event. It was unusual in this situation that the Ark of the Covenant was carried not by the Levites but by the kohanim. As it was an exclusive obligation of the Levites to carry the ark.
Only they were allowed to participate in the carrying of parts and accessories of Mishkan (Tabernacle). The responsibility of the Kohanim was to appear before the Most High making a religious rite before the ark of the Covenant. Thus, God’s command for the kohanim (priests) to carry the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders was a sign from God to emphasize the nature of actions accomplished by Israel – the rites and worship service.
An emphatic appeal to the number “7” in this whole situation (7 horns, 7 kohanim, 7 circles around the city on the 7th day) is an indication to the perfect action, the fullness of Yahweh, and the perfect relationship between Israel and the Creator.
It is very symbolic, that the seventh day which was a sacred symbol of the covenant between the Creator and Israel — the Shabbath day – became a day when the Jericho stronghold was destroyed.
On the Sabbath day (the seventh day) 1500 years after the Jericho walls fall and prophetic rites of Israelis in the “Living Temple” the Galilean Rabbi and teacher, Messiah Yeshua standing in the middle of the synagogue in Nazareth declared the greatest breaking of fetters, strongholds and all bondage, first proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor (Is.61 :1-3)
“And He began to say to them:  'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'"
That was the history of the shofar from the time of Abraham, our father, and up to the present day:
The lamb provided by the Eternal was shown to our father Abraham in the bush and became a substitute of Yitzhak (Isaac) on the altar. He made it a burnt offering – “ola”, and the horn (keren – announcing the calling) was lifted up from the earth together with it. (Gen.22: 13).

Israel, standing at Mount Sinai was the first to hear the sound of this horn (the shofar calling for correction) from the heaven (Ex.19: 16). The Lord Himself blowing it gave the knowledge of this voice to His people. From that time on, He commanded Israel to blow the shofar. (Lev. 25:9)
The calling of Abraham and his descendants is like the horn in the hands of the Creator, This horn bears the sound of the good news and the ray of light (Keren) brings the light of the word of God into this world.
Israel should blow the shofar and listen to its sounding, until the Lord blows the shofar “ Yovel “ once again (Zech. 9 :14). Thus He will proclaim the great liberty (jubilee) for all the nations, for everyone who will obey His voice.
“Blessed is the people that knows the joyful sound of the shofar (תרועה יהוה)! They walk in the light of thy countenance, O Lord.  Shema, Selah let us pause and consider this lesson that was heard in our hearing.