Rosh Hashanah, known as the Feast of Trumpets, is more than a cultural holiday or a Jewish new year.
As New York Times best-selling author and prophetic voice Rabbi Jonathan Cahn explained in a recent sermon, it holds deep prophetic significance for believers today. “The Feast of Trumpets is not the beginning of the sacred year. It’s the closing of the sacred year,” Cahn said. That closing points not only to the end of a cycle but also to the closing of the age itself, marking the days ahead with urgency and meaning.
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The Trumpet as a Warning and a Promise
Throughout Scripture, the trumpet or shofar is used as a sound of awakening. Cahn reminded his audience, “The shofar is also the sound of the watchman, the alarm, the warning that if there’s someone coming, there’s an evil, there’s a danger coming. It’s warning you. Get ready, wake up because this is coming.”
For believers, the Feast of Trumpets connects past prophetic fulfillments with those yet to come. Just as Christ fulfilled Passover, First Fruits and Pentecost, so too will He fulfill the autumn feasts in His second coming. “The autumn holy days are about the second coming. They have not yet been fulfilled prophetically,” Cahn said.
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The Many Meanings of the Shofar
The shofar is not just an ancient instrument but a prophetic sign pointing to end-time realities. Its blast carries layers of meaning that remain vital for the church today:
- War – the trumpet warns of conflict and spiritual battles ahead
- Alarm – a watchman’s call to awaken from spiritual slumber
- God’s Power – a reminder of His victory at Sinai, Jericho and in deliverance
- Gathering – calling Israel and the church together for God’s purposes
- Judgment – signaling the Day of the Lord and the coming of His court
- Prophecy – a symbol of the prophetic voice rising in the last days
- The King – heralding the arrival of the Messiah as reigning Lord
A Call to Readiness
Cahn pressed that these signs must lead believers to action. “The trumpets say repent. Why is that important for the end times? Because we live in a time of great perversity, of sin growing darker, immorality.” He warned that compromise is a danger for Christians today, and repentance is not optional.
The trumpet also speaks of time running short. “Finish up your harvest. Whatever you’re going to reap, reap it. Whatever you’re going to do, do it,” Cahn urged. His words echo the urgency of Scripture, reminding us that the return of Christ will come suddenly and that every believer has a mission to complete before that day.
Living Awake in the Last Days
This feast, far from being an ancient relic, speaks to the modern church with powerful clarity. It calls us to remember the gospel, repent of sin and rise up in courage as heralds of the King. “Live as the prophets live. Live as the apostles live because you’ve got the privilege and the honor to stand for God at a time when it really counts,” Cahn said.
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As the world reflects on the feast of Rosh Hashanah, let us be mindful of the trumpet’s warning and promise. May we pray for Israel, repent of sin and prepare our hearts for the coming King. In these days of shaking, let the sound of the shofar remind us of God’s power, His judgment and His call to readiness.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
