Yom Teruah (Day of Sounding)
Genesis (Bereishit) 21:1 – 34; Numbers (Bamidbar) 29:1-6; 1 Samuel 1:1-2:10

G 21:1-“And YHVH visited Sarah as He had said, and YHVH did unto Sarah as He had spoken.
2- For Sarah conceived and bore Avraham a son in his old age at the set time which Elohim had spoken to him.
3- And Avraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Yitzchak.
4- And Avraham circumcised his son Yitzchak being eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him.
5- And Avraham was an hundred years old, when his son Yitzchak was born unto him.
9- And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Avraham, mocking.
10- Wherefore she said unto Avraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Yitzchak.
28- And Avraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29- And Avimelech said unto Avraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou has set by themselves?
30- And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shall thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have dug this well.
31- Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheva; because there they swore both of them.
N 29:1- And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.
2- And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savor unto YHVH; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish:
1S 1:4- And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
5- But unto Channah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Channah: but YHVH had shut up her womb.
6- And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because YHVH had shut up her womb.
10- And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto YHVH, and wept sore.
11- And she vowed a vow, and said, O YHVH of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto YHVH all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
19- And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before YHVH, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Channah his wife; and YHVH remembered her.
20- Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Channah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Shmuel, saying, Because I have asked him of YHVH.
2:8- He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory…”

“…There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and
the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that says not, It is enough.”
(Proverbs 30:15,16)

“Sing, O barren, thou that did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that did not
travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,
says YHVH.”
(Isaiah 54:1)

“He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye YHVH.” (Psalms 113:9)

“Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one
day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Tzion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says YHVH: shall I cause to bring forth, and
shut the womb? says thy Elohim.”
(Isaiah 66:8,9)

“And Elohim said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shall call his name Yitzchak: and Iwill establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.”
(Genesis 17:19)

“Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease..”
(Proverbs 22:10)

“And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, Elohim has taken away my reproach.”
(Genesis 30:23)

“Will YHVH be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my
firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
(Micah 6:7)

“Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and
his throne as the sun before Me.”
(Psalms 89:35,36)

Yom Teruah Summary:
1. The voice of a ram’s horn, but the smell of a silver Trumpet:
The day known as Rosh HaShannah, “the head of the year,” is in truth called, the Day of Sounding as it echoes the command that we solemnly assemble, blasting into our ears that the Days of Awe have indeed arrived. For in just a while, the Day of Atonement will come and with it the hopes of redemption. But, why the ram’s horn? Moshe was instructed in Leviticus 23:24 to:
“Speak unto the children of Yisrael, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a shabbat, a memorial of blowing, an holy convocation.”
While the shofar has been the traditional instrument, we, by a careful examination, discover that Torah says:
“Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shall thou make them: that thou may use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.”
This verse in Numbers 10:2 is clarified as the instrument to be used. Numbers 10:10 and 29:1 confirm thus:
“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohim: I am YHVH Elohecha.”

“And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall
do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.”
Silver was the material of choice because it resounded redemption. This mystery of how the shofar has entered can be determined two ways. One, that it is an erroneous practice, or two that it has become a prophetic reminder of the faithfulness of YHVH’s plan of his redemption as recounted in the life of Avraham. At first glance the narration of the Akedah, the binding and near offering of Yitzchak, brings some resolve. When the child of promise questions the absence of the offering on their journey up to Moriah, Avraham reassures his son that, “Elohim will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”
What ensues is the ram caught by his horns in a thicket. Cased closed? Not yet. The clue that leads us to the connection of Yom Teruah’s shofar is found in the seven ewes given to Avimelech as a token of the covenant. This witness in connection to a dug well points to both Yitzchak and the message of redemption; for a predominant feature in the life of Yitzchak is that he was a digger of wells. And, it is this token of the seven sheep which reminds us of the future redemption found through King Messiah’s final victory, being foreshadowed by the Yehoshua’s first conquest at Yericho, as recorded in Joshua 6:6:
“And Yehoshua the son of Nun called the kohanim, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the
covenant, and let seven kohanim bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of YHVH.”
 

2. The Vision of the Son and the Seed of Promise:
The birth of Yitzchak is the birth of redemption. From barrenness to bounty, from castigation to conception, from languishing to laughter, the child of promise is born. For twenty-five years, the covenant’s harvest was without seed. Though assured, “I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth” and as the stars, “so shall thy seed be,” the barrenness of Sarah’s womb stood in the way. If aspirations of a son were to be realized, and the torch of mankind’s Messianic redemption was to remain lit, Sarah like Channah of a later generation, would need Divine intervention. The prophet’s blasts awaken Yisrael to travail for that son of David, the promised seed, as it is written in Isaiah 26:17 & 18:
“Like as a woman with child, that draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her
pangs; so have we been in Thy sight, O YHVH. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we
have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have
the inhabitants of the world fallen.”