Horns of Mercy; Bushes of Grace

Shivers ran down my spine as I heard the shofar blast for the first time on Rosh Hashanah (the Feasts of Trumpets found in Leviticus 23:23-25). The long held out blast: t’kiyah. Then the three consecutive blasts: shevarim. The third blast matched the rhythm of my wildly beating heart.

Instinctively, I knew it was a sound of alarm: t’ruah.

Abraham would never look at a ram’s horn with the same eyes ever again. Even years after the event, he shuddered a bit in his soul as he handled the symbol of mercy. Awe, gratitude and fear intermingled in one place in his heart. (This is my creative liberty of Abraham’s mindset during his great test from the LORD.)

Traditionally, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, Abraham’s willing sacrifice is read: “Abraham, take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2). 

The narrative is one of alarming nature and beautiful foreshadowing. The first verse makes the reader aware that this was a “test.” Abraham is called by God to take Isaac, the “son of promise,” to Mount Moriah . . . and to offer him as a burnt offering.

Abraham’s response is immediate and direct. Although I can imagine his hands trembling as he saddled his donkey.

In response to Isaac’s question of where the lamb for the burnt offering was, Abraham’s faith is astonishing: “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son’” (Genesis 22:13).

Abraham does not waver. He builds the altar, lays the branches, and binds the son of promise on top of the wood. His heart’s desire and God’s fulfillment of His promise lay on top of the mangled wood and thorny branches.

Abraham’s knife aligns with his heart and was about to act when the test was concluded: “You passed.” 

The Angel of the LORD explains the test and directs Abraham to the substitute for the sacrifice, a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Horns of mercy caught in bushes of grace. Abraham and Isaac then make the sacrifice together. 

Abraham names the place “The LORD will provide” (Hebrew: Yahweh-Yireh). 

Then the Angel of the LORD speaks again and reiterates the promise of blessing that would follow his offspring. One man’s obedience not only affected his family tree but every nation (verse 18).

That altar would serve as a shadow and picture of what a later generation would witness. The Son of Promise, the only begotten of the Father laid on top of wood and thorns to make atonement for sin. This time the Father would not spare His only Son but PROVIDE Him as a ransom for us all. 

God the Father would raise His Son from the grave and through His obedience would conquer sin and death, benefitting the whole world.

As Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays approach, the Jewish community picks up their ram’s horn to fulfill the commandment to blow the shofar.

Rosh Hashanah, the day of alarm, falls directly after the abundance of the summer harvest. New wine, full barns, and storehouses filled with fruit. Why should there be alarm?

Let us stop and consider Abraham. 

Before that fateful day at Yaweh-Yirah, Abraham had everything he wanted: a son, wealth and prestige.

God knows the human condition of forgetfulness and how damaging it is to the human soul. A test was needed.

Deuteronomy 8:11-18 reads:

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  

So . . . Why a ram’s horn to sound the day of alarm? 

Why a shofar to alert our souls? 

To Abraham, the ram’s horn symbolized mercy and grace. It shouted to him as it does to us:

“Don’t forget!”

“Always remember.”

“Stand in awe of the undeserved gifts of God, show gratitude and reverent fear of His unfolding plan.” 

“T’kiyah.”

“Shevarim.”

“T’ruah.”

Written by Kori, LIFE Staff