Daily Devotionals

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky.... He will send out his angels with a great shofar (Matthew 24:30-31).

In ancient Israel, the shofar (ram's horn) was sounded to announce the visit of a king, to call the people to prepare their town for his entry, and to escort him into their walls. Yom Teru'ah (the day of the shofar-blast; see Numbers 29:1), recalls the shofar-blast at Mount Sinai that announced the presence of the Lord and called Israel to welcome him.

Yom Teru'ah also looks forward to a shofar-blast to come. One of the prayers recited on this day says, "Our God and God of our fathers, sound the great Shofar for our freedom, lift up the banner to gather our exiles." What is the banner? Yeshua revealed that "the great Shofar" would sound at his return, and that a "banner" would accompany it—the sign of the Son of Man. This mysterious phrase may be simply another way of saying, "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 24:30) as visible as "lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the west horizon"(Matthew 24:27). The returning Messiah himself will be the banner, the sign that the promised kingdom will be established at last. Yeshua told his followers to "stay alert" and "be ready" (Matthew 24:42,44) to hear the shofar, to see the banner, and to welcome him at his coming.

...be alert to listen for the sound of the shofar announcing Messiah's return.

RR