In this compelling episode of The Red Alert Report, Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt returns to discuss a sobering reality: when antisemitism becomes acceptable, it is often a warning sign of deeper cultural and societal decline.

Drawing on history and current events, Rabbi Weinblatt explains why the Jewish people have long been described as the “canary in the coal mine.” He argues that growing hostility toward Jews is not merely a Jewish concern, but a threat to the freedoms, democratic values, and civil society that benefit us all.

During the conversation, Rabbi Weinblatt explores:

• The normalization of antisemitic rhetoric across the political spectrum
• Why anti-Jewish hatred often signals broader societal dangers
• The role media narratives play in shaping perceptions of Israel and the Jewish people
• The critical distinction between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism
• Why Christian allies are indispensable in confronting hatred and defending shared values

One of his most important messages is that Jews cannot fight this battle alone. With the Jewish population representing less than one percent of the world’s population, Rabbi Weinblatt emphasizes the need for principled Christian support and a united stand against intolerance, misinformation, and extremism.

As Election Day approaches, Rabbi Weinblatt also underscores the importance of civic engagement. The values that shape our communities and nation do not preserve themselves. Each citizen has both the opportunity and responsibility to participate in the democratic process, thoughtfully and prayerfully exercising the right to vote.

As he reminds us, the fight against antisemitism is ultimately a fight for the dignity, freedom, and security of all people.

Find Rabbi Weinblatt’s extraordinary article publications on his website: www.StuartWeinblatt.com

Watch or listen to this important conversation today and share it with others who care about preserving truth, freedom, and the values we hold dear.

Blessings,

Amy Zewe
Host, The Red Alert Report
Vice-President, The Jerusalem Connection

The post Red Alert: The Warning Sign We Can’t Ignore: Insights from Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Red Alert: The Warning Sign We Can’t Ignore: Insights from Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The books of Samuel are historical epics. They chronicle a monumental turning point in ancient Israel. The narrative captures the transition from the decentralized chaos of the Judges to a centralized dynastic monarchy under the house of David. In the final chapters of Judges, the narrator repeats a specific phrase. He says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” He geared the audience up for the next stage in Israel’s story: the selection of a king. As the books of Samuel unfold, one thing becomes very clear. Human kings do not solve all of Israel’s problems. Israel’s true sovereign can only be, and has always been, God.

Authorship and Date of Composition

Although the books bear Samuel’s name, the text is anonymous. It lacks a superscription directly attributing authorship to anyone. In fact, Samuel dies halfway through the narrative. According to Jewish tradition, Samuel wrote the first half of the book. He recorded the events he witnessed. When Samuel died, the prophets Nathan and Gad finished the record. This tradition appears in the Babylonian Talmud. It derives from a verse in 1 Chronicles. That verse identifies Samuel, Nathan, and Gad as the men who recorded King David’s life and reign (1 Chron. 29:29).

Many biblical scholars believe a long, careful process of historical recollection and literary compilation produced the books of Samuel. The twentieth-century German scholar Martin Noth proposed that Samuel is a core part of the Deuteronomistic History. The Deuteronomistic history theory holds that the same editor, or school of scribes, produced a unified historical narrative in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. They brought together diverse ancient sources. They evaluated Israel’s leaders through Deuteronomy’s theological lens. From the period of the conquest until the Babylonian exile, the editor judged every king by his loyalty to the covenant with God. The central theme insists that obedience to God’s covenant brings blessing. Conversely, national disobedience brings ruin.

The editor likely wove several ancient sources into the narrative. These include the Samuel cycle, the Saul cycle, the History of David’s Rise, the Succession Narrative, and possibly a separate record of the Ark of the Covenant. He integrated these original independent sources with oral traditions, royal poems, and court annals to form one composite book. The result is a single sophisticated literary work. The final editor wrote with a masterful flair for dialogue, plot building, and scene setting. He had a keen understanding of patriarchal narratives, covenant law, and the Levitical priesthood. In bringing the independent sources together, he added important transitional narratives. These additions enriched the book’s theological takeaways.

The author wrote the narrative with a retrospective viewpoint. Fourteen times across 1 and 2 Samuel, the narrator steps out of the story. He refers to certain things that persist “to this day.” In these instances, he explains to readers why a monument, place name, boundary, or ritual still exists in his own time. For example, he points out that the funerary pillar Absalom erected in the King’s Valley bears his name “to this day” (2 Sam. 18:18). He also notes that the great stone where the Ark once rested is still visible “to this day” (1 Sam. 6:18). He does not claim to be a contemporary eyewitness to the recorded events.

Conservative biblical scholars often date the book’s composition to the tenth century BCE. This means the author wrote it shortly after the actual events took place. The text preserves intimate knowledge of historical conditions unique to the early Iron Age. One example is the Philistines’ short-lived blacksmithing monopoly described in 1 Samuel 13. The Philistines soon lost this metallurgical advantage. By King David’s reign, the Israelites manufactured their own iron weapons and agricultural tools. That same passage mentions the exact price to sharpen a plowshare. The cost was one pim. A pim is a stone weight equal to two-thirds of a shekel. That specific unit of measurement fell out of use so completely that later Greek translators did not recognize the word. The narrative also accurately reflects geopolitical changes in the Negev.

Linguistically, the Hebrew in Samuel is preexilic, rather than the late Hebrew of the post-exilic era. It contains none of the Persian loanwords or heavy Aramaic grammar found in books like Ezra, Nehemiah, or Daniel. Embedded poems like Hannah’s Song and David’s Lament over Saul preserve some of the oldest Hebrew forms.

When we examine the work’s literary structure, we recognize that the original authors never meant 1 and 2 Samuel to be two books. In the original Hebrew canon, they formed a single, continuous scroll. Jewish scholars divided the text into two only when they translated the scriptures into Greek in the third century BCE—the translation known as the Septuagint. The story was too long to fit on a standard papyrus scroll. The translators split it into two parts. We do not have a problem with scroll length anymore, but our modern Bibles keep the two-part book convention.

The traditional Hebrew text handed down through centuries of Jewish scribes, known as the Masoretic Text, is notoriously difficult in Samuel. For reasons scholars still debate, the manuscript of Samuel suffered more from scribal wear and copying mistakes than almost any other book in the Hebrew Bible. Scribes accidentally skipped lines because of identical word endings, dropped letters, or inherited damaged scrolls. A famous example appears in 1 Samuel 13:1. The Hebrew text literally says Saul was one year old when he began to reign and that he reigned for two years over Israel. This is an obvious case where scribes lost numbers in transmission.

For centuries, scholars relied on the ancient Greek Septuagint translation to guess what the original Hebrew text said. Everything changed with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Cave 4, archaeologists unearthed ancient manuscript fragments of Samuel, known to scholars as 4QSam, dating back to the third through first centuries BCE. The Dead Sea Scrolls revealed that the Greek Septuagint was closer to the original manuscript than the Masoretic version. Throughout this series, I will give you examples of how the Dead Sea Scrolls clarified confusion.

Outline of the book

In the larger story of biblical Judah and Israel, Samuel is a transition book. It oversees Israel’s evolution from a poor federation of tribes with occasional judges to a wealthy monarchy with centralized religious worship.

The narrative opens with the fall of Eli’s priestly house. God raises Samuel, the last judge. Samuel is the first of three key figures in the book. All three overlap in succession. Samuel leads and guides the upstart nation with supernatural wisdom. The people ask Samuel for a king so they can be like all the other nations. He reluctantly grants this request when God pushes him to submit to their shallow desires. God assures Samuel it is not a rejection of him as judge but of their covenant with God. From there, the narrative shifts to the tragic reign of Saul, the people’s king. David is the central character, but the text does not introduce him until 1 Samuel 16. For sixteen chapters, Saul and David’s stories overlap.

During Saul’s political and mental decline, the most memorable events play out. Samuel secretly anoints David as a boy. David slays the giant Goliath and wins the love of the nation. An increasingly paranoid King Saul then hunts him down. Second Samuel narrates King David’s golden era. He unites all twelve tribes, defeats the Philistines, captures Jerusalem as his capital, brings the Ark of the Covenant into the city, and receives God’s eternal covenant promise.

Even during this high point, David makes choices that reinforce the dangers of human kingship. The narrator is brutally honest, especially by the standards of royal court writings elsewhere in antiquity. Ancient royal narratives usually operated as heavy-handed propaganda. They painted their pharaoh, king, or emperor as flawless. The book of Samuel does the opposite. It refuses to sanitize the records of either Saul or David. Side characters often show more wisdom and righteousness than David or anyone in the royal house. Nathan the prophet holds David to account for infidelity and murder. That makes sense because Nathan speaks for the Lord. Even Uriah the Hittite—a non-Israelite pagan—demonstrated more nobility, sacrifice, and courage than David could muster. Jonathan had a rightful claim to his father’s throne. Yet he was such a loyal friend that he supported David’s path to kingship.

2 Samuel 7 is the theological climax. God promises David an eternal dynasty and an enduring throne. Although God never takes back his covenantal promise to David, he lets him experience the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba. From that moment forward, the narrative becomes an agonizing study of domestic unraveling and palace intrigue.

Two poetic bookends frame the entire double-book and disclose its overarching message. The story opens with Hannah’s Song. This prayer of thanksgiving praises the God who shatters the bows of the mighty, lifts the needy from the ash heap, and promises to strengthen his anointed king. Near the end of the work, in 2 Samuel 22, David sings his own grand psalm of thanksgiving. He echoes Hannah’s exact themes. He says, “You deliver a humble people, but your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down” (2 Sam. 22:28). These twin poems form the theological archway through which readers must interpret the entire epic. God continually humbles those who exalt themselves, and he exalts those who walk in humility and trust.

For millennia, readers, artists, and thinkers have returned to these books. We see this in Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of David with his sling. We hear it in Leonard Cohen’s lyrics portraying David as the “baffled king” whose faith was strong, but who needed proof. The book of Samuel is a compilation of deeply human tales. It deals with mental illness, power, lust, murder, and witchcraft. God hovers over it all. He lets humans exercise their free will and then face its consequences. He hears their cries, like Hannah’s prayer and David’s sobs. Each episode and plot twist exposes that worldly power is fragile and corruptible. At the end of his life, David, Israel’s greatest leader, confesses that horses, walls, and crowns never saved anyone: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer” (2 Sam. 22:2).

I look forward to reading the book of Samuel with all of you. My goal is to bring the stories to life. I want you to feel like you are breathing the air of the hill country of Samaria. I want your nail beds and nostrils filled with Shiloh’s dirt. I hope you become so familiar with the characters—their strengths and flaws—that you walk away grateful to have known them all.

That is it for this week. Join me next week for 1 Samuel 1. You can find Bible Fiber wherever you listen to your podcasts (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube). Share the podcast with a friend so you can read Samuel together!

Shabbat Shalom

The post Introduction to the book of Samuel first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Introduction to the book of Samuel appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

Today’s guest on the Red Alert Report is award-winning author, scholar, and public speaker Dara Horn about her powerful new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living.

Drawing on her experiences since October 7 and her work addressing antisemitism in academic and public spaces, Dara offers insight into a troubling reality: many people know very little about the Jewish people beyond the Holocaust. As she explains, this limited understanding often leaves room for harmful stereotypes, misinformation, and hostility to flourish.

Our discussion explores several important questions:

• Who are the Jewish people, beyond common stereotypes and labels?
• Why is Jewish identity often misunderstood?
• What is Zionism, and why is it frequently misrepresented?
• How does ignorance fuel antisemitism today?
• What can Christians do to better understand and stand with the Jewish people?

Dara reminds us that Jewish civilization is one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures, rooted in a covenantal relationship with God, a shared history, and an enduring connection to the land of Israel. She also highlights how biblical values that Christians cherish, including the command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” have their origins in the Torah and Jewish tradition.

One of the most compelling themes of our conversation is that antisemitism is not simply prejudice. It is often a powerful lie used to manipulate people and advance destructive agendas. Confronting those lies requires education, discernment, and courage.

As Christians who love the God of Israel and seek to bless the Jewish people, we have a responsibility to understand these issues with both compassion and truth. This conversation will help equip you to do just that.

I encourage you to purchase and read The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living on Amazon or wherever you buy books. All Dara Horn’s books are available at all major booksellers.

Thank you for being part of The Jerusalem Connection community and for your commitment to learning, praying, and standing with Israel and the Jewish people.

Blessings,

Amy Zewe
Vice President, The Jerusalem Connection International
Host, The Red Alert Report

“I will bless those who bless you.”
Genesis 12:3

P.S. Please share this episode with your pastor, Bible study group, church leaders, and friends. Education is one of the most effective tools for combating ignorance and fostering understanding.

The post Dara Horn on Jewish Identity, Israel, and the Rise of Antisemitism first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Dara Horn on Jewish Identity, Israel, and the Rise of Antisemitism appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

I started Bible Fiber in 2020. My husband deployed to the Middle East for a year, and I wanted a productive way to count down the time and spend more time in the Bible. I started with the Twelve Minor Prophets, reading one prophet each month. At the time, I studied Biblical Hebrew as part of my master’s degree in biblical studies and archaeology at The Bible Seminary. That course opened my eyes to the prophets’ poetry in a new way, and I grew slightly addicted to all things related to the biblical prophets. I kept talking to Christians who had one of two experiences with the prophets. They either did not understand them and walked away from the books feeling biblically illiterate. Others cherry-picked verses that seemed applicable to their lives but failed to grasp the prophets’ broader message.

After I finished the Twelve Minor Prophets, I realized Bible Fiber wasn’t just a one-year hobby while my husband was gone. I started a new series on Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah feature many pivotal and memorable stories. However, they also include numerous chapters of lists and genealogical records that I normally skip in a devotional reading. Because I am committed to the chapter-by-chapter model, I made myself learn as much from the lists, genealogies, and inventories as from the exciting narratives. And big announcement: I will publish the second Bible Fiber book soon, covering Ezra and Nehemiah. I am doing one last round of edits now before handing the draft over for book formatting.

For the next Bible Fiber series, I took a vote to see which Old Testament book proved hardest for Christian readers. Almost everyone said, Ezekiel. If I am being honest, Ezekiel challenged me just as much. We spent well over a year on a chapter-by-chapter study of the prophet in exile. A real highlight of that study was visiting Masada. I stood in the makeshift synagogue atop the ruins where Israeli archaeologists in the 1960s discovered fragments of an Ezekiel scroll. It was incredible to stand there, looking out at a valley that certainly fit the setting for a valley of dry bones. I read Ezekiel 36, where God promises to regather his people from the nations. God was going to bring them back to their ancestors’ land. He said, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name” (Ezek. 36:22). Knowing God fulfilled that very promise in 1948 serves as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and his sovereign hand over history.

After Ezekiel, I thought I might retire the podcast. In addition to my position with The Jerusalem Connection, I took on a second role as the coordinator for American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI)—a project of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem—USA Branch. However, at the same time, I noticed a concerning rise of antisemitism in America coming from both the right and left. Once-fringe theories about Israel and the Jewish people suddenly became mainstream. Charlie Kirk was murdered, and police jailed the killer with overwhelming incriminating evidence. Yet voices on the right, like Candace Owens, started claiming that Israel killed Charlie. At that point, I realized antisemitic conspiracy theories would poison Christian hearts and minds against Israel and the Jewish people. I lack major worldly power, but I can study and teach the Bible. I decided to extend Bible Fiber one more year. I followed the Jewish reading calendar to go through the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, in one year. I hoped goodness and healing could come from Christians discussing the same Bible stories in their weekly Sunday lunch readings as Jewish people did at their Saturday Shabbat dinners. We needed a reminder that Jews and Christians share the same scriptures, the same call to holiness, and the same values that have bettered the world for millennia. During that time, Jewish friends tuned in to the podcast regularly and emailed me their thoughts and traditions around the text. That response energized me to pick up another study for a new Bible Fiber series.

As many of you know, I participate in excavations at Shiloh during the summer. This fulfills a requirement for my degree program at The Bible Seminary. However, excavating is also a bug that bites some people. They cannot stop, even though the work proves much harder and less glamorous than anyone imagines.

The Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) have dug at Shiloh since 2017. Dr. Scott Stripling directs the dig and serves as the provost of the school where I am currently a graduate student. My student role gave me the opportunity to join the dig over the last two seasons.

While previous expeditions focused extensively on the storage rooms along the southern and eastern slopes, the ABR team explicitly set their sights on the northern slope and the northwestern sector of the tel. They have three focused archaeological objectives: understand the sacrificial system at Shiloh, excavate the area suspected to house the Tabernacle, and locate the city gate.

Despite previous excavations led by other teams, no one had located the Tabernacle platform or the gate. I am happy to report that Stripling and his team likely found all three. Each season they feel more confident in the identification.

While at Shiloh last summer, I decided to teach a Bible series on 1 and 2 Samuel. The excavation team at Shiloh memorized almost every detail of the first four chapters of 1 Samuel. Those chapters explain what happened at Shiloh and detail how priests conducted worship and sacrifice. They tell the stories of major figures like Eli, Hannah, and Samuel, who changed the course of Jewish history. First Samuel also leaves out much that archaeology helps illuminate about Shiloh. I look forward to starting this study with a bang and sharing Dig Shiloh discoveries that give even more color to the biblical narrative.

I never intended for Bible Fiber to become a multiyear series. Yet each time I close out a book, I feel newly enthusiastic about sharing a new part of the Bible. Throughout much of Bible Fiber’s life, we studied the least-read books of the Bible, like the Minor Prophets and Ezekiel. That changed with the Torah series, and it remains different with 1 and 2 Samuel. These represent some of the most famous, loved, and bewildering stories in the whole Bible. When we studied the prophets, we pieced together their biographies. Most of them remained stingy with personal details. As God’s mouthpieces, they delivered only the oracles God gave them and provided little narrative. The books of Samuel do the opposite. These books feature larger-than-life characters and hold back no biographical details, good or bad.

Next week we officially start the study. Before I do, I want to share a little about my purpose and process. First, I refuse to teach a book that I lack the minimal qualifications to handle. I am a biblical studies and archaeology student focusing on the Old Testament. As president of The Jerusalem Connection, I see Old Testament studies as central to our mission. We are a Christian Zionist organization that advocates for the Jewish state and seeks to build connections between Jews and Christians today. The anti-Zionist cacophony of voices all promote the idea that the modern state of Israel shares no connection with the biblical Jewish nation. I reject that as a wrong and dangerous idea. The Jewish people possess one long, running story. We get to watch it unfold from the beginning, told through a theological lens meant to help people everywhere live lives more pleasing to our creator.

Many Christians tend to read only the New Testament. I get it. Jesus is amazing! Nothing he says ever offends or slides off the reader as irrelevant. The red words of our Bible form the climax and the epiphany. They hold up a mirror to our souls. Never stop reading the New Testament! My personal calling, however, is to help Christians connect those dots in their minds. The Hebrew scriptures serve as the long prelude. They build the messianic hope. They establish the ideal that God intended for his creation to flourish. They reflect God’s heartbreak when his people fail to live up to his ideals. They give us the language of sacrificial love, monotheistic convictions, and prophecies that should still cut us to our core. They show how far every society falls compared to God’s standards for justice, mercy, equality, and compassion.

As for my process—and this goes out to all the Bible nerds listening—I read at least five commentaries each week on the relevant chapter. I believe in the Tim Keller model. I aim to study ten hours for every ten minutes that I actually teach. I always read the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT). My kids joke that I read the same book for six years straight because the volumes all share the same cover. They’re my bread and butter. I met some of the authors of the prophetic NICOT series, and I felt the same way other people do when meeting Ariana Grande. These books pack dense information! I probably mention only five percent of what I learn from them because the deep scholarship does not translate easily to podcast teaching. I also read the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (TOTC) and the New American Commentary (NAC) for each chapter that we are studying.

Publisher editorial boards commission specific Old Testament scholars to write individual volumes for major series like the three I just mentioned. They select specialists who have dedicated their academic careers, and often their doctoral research, to the specific biblical book they are assigned.

Scholars often spend a decade or more completing a single volume. For example, the scholar commissioned to write the NICOT volumes on Samuel, David Toshio Tsumura, published The First Book of Samuel in 2007 and did not finish The Second Book of Samuel until 2019—twelve years later.

I also read commentaries that challenge my own thoughts and education. Walter Brueggemann published his famous commentary on Samuel in the Interpretation series. He approaches the biblical text through a socio-political and poetic lens, which differs significantly from my own framework. However, I appreciate his thought-provoking perspectives and his writing, even though I sometimes disagree with his conclusions.

I read the passage in several translations, and I encourage you to do the same. Try to read it on the Bible app in the NIV and the NRSVUE. I know listeners use several different translations when following along with the podcast. I always use the NRSVUE. It remains my favorite, especially for the prophets. I could record an entire podcast series explaining why I prefer it. I hold no judgment at all if you prefer the NIV, ESV, or even The Message. When I give Bibles to people who are new to God’s word and need their hearts to hear it first, I usually give The Message. I am no translation snob. I simply want people to read the Bible, let it penetrate their lives, think for themselves, and always seek out more.

That wraps up this week. Please join me next week for our first peek into the books of Samuel. I am also trying something new this season by adding video to Bible Fiber. I avoided this step for a long time. For six years, I recorded inside my closet. The sound works better in there, and I never wanted to worry about my hair. I bought a better microphone and upgraded my software. I hope the audio still sounds decent. Now, my parents can at least see my face as I talk Bible. If for no one else, it’s at least for them.

The post Behind the scenes first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Behind the scenes appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

This week on the Red Alert Report, I sit down with Kristin Fasso, founder of the Jewishness of Jesus Conference, to discuss her remarkable journey of faith and why rediscovering the Jewish context of Scripture is transforming believers around the world.

Raised in a Catholic home, Kristin spent years searching for deeper answers. Following a difficult season in her life, she cried out to God:

“Please help me with my unbelief. I want to know You like You know me.”

That sincere prayer launched a journey that led her to explore the Jewish foundations of the Christian faith and ultimately to a richer understanding of Scripture, Jesus, and God’s redemptive plan.

Kristin describes the experience this way:

“It was like going from black and white to living in full color.”

As she began studying the Bible through its original Hebrew context, familiar passages took on new meaning. What once seemed disconnected suddenly fit together in a way that revealed the depth and beauty of God’s Word.

Today, through the Jewishness of Jesus Conference, Kristin is helping believers across the country discover these treasures for themselves. Her passion is to equip Christians to move beyond a surface-level faith and engage with the historical, cultural, and biblical context that shaped the life and ministry of Jesus.

“It’s time to dig wells. It’s time for the water to gather and go deeper.”

Find the Jewishness of Jesus Conference videos on their YouTube Channel: @JewishnessofJesusConference & look for them on Instagram.

Email Kristin at: kristinleefasso80@gmail.com

At The Jerusalem Connection, we believe that understanding the Jewish roots of our faith strengthens our walk with the Lord and deepens our love for Israel, the Bible, and the Messiah.

Don’t miss this inspiring conversation as Kristin shares how studying the Jewishness of Jesus transformed her faith, her family, and her mission.

Watch the full Red Alert Report episode today and be encouraged to discover the richness of God’s Word for yourself.

Blessings,

Amy Zewe
Vice President, The Jerusalem Connection

The post Red Alert: Discovering the Jewishness of Jesus with Kristin Fasso first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Red Alert: Discovering the Jewishness of Jesus with Kristin Fasso appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

In synagogues, as soon as the final words of Deuteronomy are read, a second scroll is opened to read the opening verses of Genesis. The point is that Torah study is infinite and never-ending. During the service, the congregation takes turns holding the scrolls and dancing around the podium. The holiday is called Simcha Torah, which means “Joy of the Torah.” In Israel, dancing with the Torah spills out into the streets all over the country. I remember sitting at the bus station in Beer Sheva one time when a conga line of Orthodox youth danced with the scroll through every store, including McDonald’s. So, I hope my Bible Fiber listeners can celebrate this milestone in their own way today. You completed the Bible Reading challenge and kept pace with the Jewish community.

The Cloud Rider

Our last Deuteronomy reading opens with a poetic theophany (33:2–5). The poem presents God marching from the southern wilderness to claim his people as King. It says: “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran. With him were myriads of holy ones, at his right, a host of his own” (33:2).

The Creator of the universe has revealed himself to one people, whom he calls “favorite among peoples” (33:3). Over the last forty years, their many highs and lows have all taken place in the wilderness. Moses declares that the law given to him at Mount Sinai is “a possession for the assembly of Jacob” (33:4). That means the law, the Torah, is the inheritance of all Jacob’s descendants. Indeed, 3,500 years later, the Jewish people are still known for their great contribution to the world through the books of Moses.

At the end of the chapter, Moses returns to the theophany, praising God, calling him the one “who rides through the heavens to your help, majestic through the clouds” (Deut. 33:26). Calling God, the one who rides across the heavens and glides upon the clouds sounds like poetic praise. To anyone listening in the ancient Near East, those words had a subversive edge. In the surrounding Canaanite culture, and particularly in the ancient religious library uncovered at Ugarit, the title “Rider on the Clouds” was the sacred title of Baal. Baal was the storm god of the Canaanite pantheon. Worshippers saw him as the divine warrior who drove rain clouds across the sky and secured agricultural fertility.

When Moses describes Yahweh as the cloud rider, he deliberately takes down Canaanite religion. Forty years earlier, the plagues specifically proved God’s power over the Egyptian gods. Now the people are about to enter a new land, with cults and mythologies that will prove tempting. Canaan will be a land saturated with Baal worship, but they must not be deceived. Baal does not ride the storm clouds; Baal does not control the sky; Baal is an illusion. Moses’ parting words remind them that Yahweh is the true Rider of the Clouds.

More than that, in pagan myth, Baal’s rides across the sky are displays of raw ego and cosmic power struggles. Yahweh rides the skies for a different reason. He is there to rescue his people and hold them fast. He marshals the cosmos out of covenant love to deliver his chosen people.

The Tribal Blessings of Moses

Before he dies on Mount Nebo, Moses blesses each of the twelve tribes. Centuries earlier, the patriarch Jacob gathered his twelve sons around his deathbed in Egypt and pronounced prophetic words over each son. Moses enacts the very same ritual. Yet when we place Jacob’s blessings alongside Moses’s blessings, the similarities and the stark divergences reveal a lot.

Jacob speaks as a father addressing individual sons, and his tone is often raw, critical, and burdened by memories of their moral failures. Moses, by contrast, speaks not as a disappointed parent, but as a covenant mediator. His words over the tribes are gracious.

Consider the fate of Reuben. In Genesis 49, Jacob confronted Reuben with bitter disappointment, reminding him that because he was as unstable as water and had defiled his father’s bed, he would no longer hold the preeminence of the firstborn. By Moses’s Day, the tribe of Reuben had declined into insignificance. Yet Moses does not rebuke them. Instead, he utters a brief, compassionate prayer: may Reuben live and not die, and may his people not be few.

In Genesis 49, Jacob grouped Simeon and Levi together in a blistering curse because of their violent slaughter of the men of Shechem. Jacob declared that their anger was fierce, their wrath cruel, and he prophesied that they would be scattered in Israel.

In Deuteronomy 33, that shared curse diverges into two entirely different destinies. Simeon is not mentioned at all. Over the forty years in the wilderness, the tribe of Simeon suffered catastrophic population losses. Levi, however, experiences a spiritual reversal. The curse of being scattered across the land is not removed; it is redeemed. The Levites stood faithfully with Moses at the incident of the Golden Calf. They chose covenant allegiance to God above personal and familial comfort, their landlessness became their greatest glory. He commends them as custodians of the Urim and Thummim, teachers of God’s law, and ministers of the altar. They were scattered throughout the tribes, but not in disgrace. This ensured every corner of Israel had Torah teachers and intercessors before the Lord.

When it comes to Judah, Jacob proclaimed that the scepter would not depart from Judah until the rightful ruler came, whom the nations would obey. Moses’s asks the Lord to hear Judah’s voice, bring him safely home to his people, strengthen his hands for battle, and help him against his adversaries.

Jacob spoke of Joseph as a fruitful vine by a spring, blessed with the bounty of the skies above and the deep below. Moses echoes this imagery, painting a lush picture of dew from heaven, rich harvest from the sun, the ancient majesty of the everlasting hills, and the favor of the One who dwelt in the burning bush.

The Unrivaled Stature of Moses

Following these tribal benedictions, Deuteronomy 34 brings us to the heartbreaking conclusion of Moses’s life. In the final verses of the book, the biblical narrator pens an epitaph that crowns Moses above all others. No other prophet has ever arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled in all the signs and wonders God sent him to perform, and unrivaled in the mighty power and terrifying deeds he displayed before all Israel.

Within the Old Testament, no one was greater than Moses. Abraham was the father of the nation, David was the beloved king, and Elijah was the fiery prophet, but Moses stood in a category of his own. He was the architect of the nation, the deliverer from Egypt, the recipient of the law, and the intimate friend of God.

Yet what makes Moses’s greatness so compelling is that it came with humility. The book of Numbers tells us that Moses was humbler than any person on the face of the earth. When God first called him at the burning bush, Moses did not leap at the chance for power; he pleaded his inadequacy. He begged God to send someone else. Alongside his humility, Moses always remained human. The Bible never mythologizes him into a flawless superhero. We see him in his human exhaustion, breaking down in the wilderness and telling God that the burden of this people is too heavy for him to carry alone.

God brings Moses up to Mount Nebo, gives him the panoramic vision of the land, and then Moses dies according to the word of the Lord. God himself buries his servant in an unmarked valley in Moab, and no one knows the location of his grave to this day. In a world where ancient kings built towering pyramids and opulent tombs to invite worship after death, God buried Moses in secret. By concealing his grave, God ensured that Moses’s memory would never be corrupted into an idolatrous shrine or a center for ancestor worship.

The New Moses

In Deuteronomy 18:15–18, Moses himself made an astonishing promise to the people. He told them that the Lord their God would eventually raise up for them a prophet like him from among their brothers, and that God would put his words into that prophet’s mouth.

Generation after generation went by, and while great prophets like Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah spoke the word of the Lord, none of them were a prophet like Moses. They all operated under the authority of Moses’s law.

The New Testament presents Jesus as the long-awaited prophet whose life consciously echoes and surpasses Moses’s ministry. Like Moses, Jesus was spared as an infant from the decree of a murderous king. Like Moses, Jesus came up out of Egypt, spent a period of testing in the wilderness, and mediated a covenant between God and man.

When Jesus confronted the religious authorities of his day, who claimed allegiance to the law while rejecting him, he revealed the true purpose of Moses’s entire ministry. In John 5:45–47, Jesus delivered this stunning indictment:

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Moses was never intended to be the final word. In every statute, blessing, and shadow, Moses served as a prophetic guidepost—directing Israel’s gaze beyond Mount Nebo and forward to the Messiah.

That is it for this week and for the entire Torah! In case you are wondering, I already know what books we are going to do next! 1 and 2 Samuel have been calling my name. I can’t wait to bring the stories of these historical books into perspective with the archaeological insights the dig team is uncovering at Shiloh. This study has been a long time in coming and I am excited to do it with all of you! No rest for the weary!

Questions

1. Polemical Theology & Cultural Context

Moses intentionally uses the title “Rider on the Clouds”—a title the surrounding Canaanites assigned to Baal—to describe Yahweh in Deuteronomy 33. How does Scripture redefine this title, and what modern idols does the church need to similarly subvert today?

2. Redemption of Past Failures

In Genesis 49, Jacob grouped Simeon and Levi under a curse because of their violence at Shechem. Yet in Deuteronomy 33, while Simeon quietly fades, Levi’s scattering becomes a sacred, nationwide teaching ministry because of their loyalty to Moses and Yahweh in the golden calf episode. What does the Levite story teach us about how repentance and faithfulness can redeem a painful legacy?

3. The Prophet Greater than Moses

Deuteronomy concludes with the epitaph that no prophet in Israel had ever arisen like Moses, yet Deuteronomy 18 promises that God would eventually raise up a prophet like him again. In what ways does the New Testament show Jesus both embodying the life of Moses and ultimately surpassing him as the builder of the house rather than a servant within it (Hebrews 3:1–6)?

The post Vezot HaBerachah (Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12) first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Vezot HaBerachah (Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12) appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

Tom shares how an unexpected invitation to serve temporarily in Jerusalem became a clear calling for him and his wife. He reflects on CMJ’s 200-year legacy of providing education, healthcare, and spiritual support to vulnerable Jewish communities, and how that mission continues today through relationship-building, advocacy, and practical care.

He also describes life in Jerusalem following the events of October 7—an atmosphere marked by trauma, resilience, and deep community support. Tom’s perspective highlights the complexity of living in a city where joy and sorrow often coexist, and where faith plays a central role in navigating uncertainty.

In this conversation, Reverend Tom Burden shares his experiences and insights from living in Israel and the challenges of living in a war zone, and the resilience of the Israeli people. Reverend Tom also reflects on the complexities of being a Christian in Israel, the importance of community, and the joy of celebrating Sukkot amidst ongoing conflict. He emphasizes the need for prayer and alignment with God’s will in their mission.

If you’d like to hear more about Rev. Tom’s journey, CMJ’s historic ministry, and the realities facing Jerusalem’s communities today, we invite you to watch the full episode. Learn more about CMJ at CMJ-Israel.org.

The post Red Alert: Insights from Jerusalem – Witness and Blessing first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Red Alert: Insights from Jerusalem – Witness and Blessing appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The portions are getting shorter each week because we are also in the middle of the High Holidays on the Jewish calendar. In addition to reading through Deuteronomy in sequence, Jews are reading various holiday texts as part of their liturgical services for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.

Rosh Hashanah has passed; Yom Kippur begins Sunday evening. After that, we are heading towards Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot begins September 25 and ends October 2.

Song of Moses

Deuteronomy 32 breaks in style and format with the rest of the covenant book. The chapter is a seventy-line poem that tradition holds Moses sang to the people on his last day. The song begins as a reminder to the Israelites of this generation to pass their story on to the next generation. They must tell their children and grandchildren about the miracles they witnessed in their deliverance from Egypt and their wanderings in the desert. Moses sings:

Remember the days of old; consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you. (32:7)

Moses reminds them of their chosenness and the responsibility that accompanies that gift:

When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods; the Lord’s own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share. (32:8–9)

Moses goes on to assure them of their victory in battle as they ready their armies to conquer the land. When they settle the land, they must continue to follow God’s ways and stay faithful to him and not go after other gods. Moses warns them that after the wanderings and battles, they will settle in the land and enjoy the comforts that land possession affords: milk, meat, wine, cheese, oil, and wheat (32:13–14). The poem is a cautionary tale about how a full stomach can dull the desire for a relationship with their protector, God (32:15). Living in relative abundance of food, work, and shelter puts all of us at risk of forgetting God.

Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, is a sacred assembly built around the idea that the Jewish people are to strip themselves of material comforts each year so we may rely only on God. On Sukkot, the people are commanded each generation to take seven days and dwell in booths, the same temporary structures the Israelites called home during their forty years of wandering.

When Jews celebrate Sukkot, they build sukkahs in lots of different ways. The sukkah walls can be made from canvas, tarp, or any material that will not blow away. For the roof, they lay branches and sticks across the top. Families often like to decorate their sukkah. During the seven days of Sukkot, Jews eat all their meals and spend most of their time inside the sukkahs. Some families even sleep in them.

Sukkot is one of the most important Jewish holidays during the year, meant to be a celebration, not a fast or a time of mourning like some Biblical holidays. When I lived in Israel, I used to love taking night walks in my neighborhood and seeing all the sukkot built on the tops of buildings, squeezed onto apartment terraces, and taking over every inch of common green space.

I imagine it was like when Jesus went to Jerusalem during Sukkot to visit the Temple and taught in the Temple courts (John 7:2, 14). The Bible says, in the book of Zechariah, that when the Messiah reigns, the whole world will go to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot (Zech 14:16). As many of you know, more Christians from all over the world are going to the Feast of Tabernacles celebrations in Jerusalem.

Death of Moses and His Successor

After Moses recites the song, God instructs him to go up on the mountain so he can look out on all the land (Deut 32:48–52; Num 27:12–14). Then the Bible states, in a few words, that Moses was gathered to his people. He was 120 (Deut 31:2; Deut 34:5–7). This moment is the most desperate in the entire Torah. It makes the reader who has followed Moses from the burning bush to the rebellion of Korah scream out and beg God to reconsider. However, Moses, as a prophet, knew that it was time for a transition of authority.

The people needed a different leader for the next chapter in their long story. Moses had a particular vision for what kind of prophet they required. He asked the Lord:

Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd. (Num 27:16–17)

God was unequivocal. Joshua, son of Nun, was a man who had the spirit of God (Num 27:18). Moses was commanded to lay hands upon him in a public ceremony and transfer his authority so that the people would see him as their commissioned commander (Num 27:19–23; Deut 34:9).

The Israelite community was designed to have both priests and prophets. The priestly role was dynastic, passed from father to son. The prophetic role was spontaneous, driven by divine selection. The priestly line provided continuity. The prophetic line was discontinuous and ad hoc. The system of checks and balances among the priests, prophets, and judges was the key. We see that principle again after Joshua is appointed leader, when he is instructed to stand before the priests before making decisions (Num 27:21).

Moses and his wife Tziporrah had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer (Exod 18:3–4; 1 Chr 23:14–17). Given their father’s fame, we know little about the sons other than that they were not chosen as his successor.

However, we have many points on Joshua’s resume. Joshua was Moses’ faithful security chief from his youth (Num 11:28). According to Exodus 32:17, when Moses was on Mt. Sinai, Joshua waited at the foot of the mountain like a bodyguard. As Moses descended, Joshua reported to him about the golden calf. In Numbers 11:28, when God allowed the prophetic spirit to disseminate among the seventy elders, Joshua asked Moses to restrain them. He wanted to protect his authority. When the twelve spies were sent into the land, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who did not cower (Num 13:1–14:9). They believed the land was exceedingly good and worth the fight.

As the book of Joshua attests, Joshua was the Bible’s first General-Prophet. While Moses was tasked with delivering God’s people, Joshua was appointed to conquer God’s land. Deliverance and conquest are distinct tasks that require different leadership styles. This was exemplified at Rephidim when the Amalekites launched a surprise attack (Exod 17:8–13). Aaron and Moses stood on a hilltop with their arms raised to Heaven. Joshua battled it out with a sword alongside his rough-shod army and led them to an unlikely victory. Through the power of God, Moses performed signs and wonders that defied the laws of nature. The miracles God performed through Joshua were not going to be as obviously supernatural, but considering the long odds of the many military campaigns in the book of Joshua, they were no less miraculous.

Extra Sukkot Readings

In Jewish tradition, each High Holiday has a set of readings that fit its spirit and theme. Rosh Hashanah leans into stories of divine remembrance and unexpected births, like Sarah and Hannah. Because it is the Jewish New Year, all the readings are about a fresh start. Yom Kippur draws on the high priest’s sanctuary rituals in Leviticus and Jonah’s reluctant repentance. For Sukkot, the core liturgy starts with Leviticus 22 and 23, which spell out the practical ground rules for the feast: leave your home, move into a temporary leafy hut for seven days to remember the trek through the Sinai wilderness, and rejoice before God with the four species. Alongside that, Numbers 29 covers the massive roster of daily temple sacrifices. My personal favorite is that they read the entire book of Ecclesiastes—the book that takes a hard look at genuine joy and determines it is not about stacking up material security, but about receiving everyday life as a gift from God.

The prophetic Haftarah portions push that perspective even further. On the first day, the community reads Zechariah 14, a sweeping vision of the end of days in which every nation travels to Jerusalem year after year to keep the Feast of Tabernacles and pray for the winter rains. The following day turns back to history with 1 Kings 8, detailing Solomon’s dedication of the First Temple during this exact autumn festival. So, if you are feeling extra studious, feel free to add all of those readings to your weekly devotionals and get the full Sukkot effect!

Study Questions

The Song as a Witness: In Deuteronomy 31:19–21, God commands Moses to teach this poem to Israel because a spoken song endures in cultural memory longer than written prose. Why is a musical or poetic form particularly suited to function as a legal witness against future spiritual amnesia?

The Recurring Call to Joy: Despite its sharp assessment of life’s injustices, Ecclesiastes repeatedly pauses to urge the reader to eat, drink, and take pleasure in their daily labor (Eccl 2:24, 3:12–13, 5:18–20, 9:7–10). How does Ecclesiastes define true, godly joy in a world where lasting security is unattainable?

Redemption: How does the Feast of Sukkot trace the arc of God’s redemptive plan—moving from a memorial of Israel’s dependence in temporary wilderness shelters (Leviticus 23:42–43), to the dwelling of God’s presence in the Jerusalem Temple (1 Kings 8), to an eschatological gathering of all nations under divine sovereignty (Zechariah 14:16–19)? In what ways does the festival foreshadow the ultimate fulfillment of God “tabernacling” permanently among humanity?

The post Bible Fiber: Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32) first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Bible Fiber: Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32) appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

In the past, I have done an entire series introducing and walking through the biblical feasts, and for those of you who want a foundational primer, I’ll link my previous episode, “Rosh Hashanah for the Goyim,” in the show notes.

But this year, I wanted to take advantage of this natural pause in our reading cycle to do something a little different and talk about the instruments and symbols associated with the Jewish High Holidays. Naturally, I thought we would start with the most unmistakable symbol of them all: the shofar.

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What is a shofar?

When you hear a shofar, you are hearing an instrument unlike any other. It is not made of hammered metal, crafted by human hands and refined through metallurgy, like the silver trumpets described in Numbers 10. Instead, the shofar is organic, taken directly from the natural world—almost always from the curved horn of a kosher ram. The shofar is intentionally unadorned. When air is forced through it, it does not produce a conventional melody; it produces an elemental cry. It’s a sound that is supposed to bypass human intellect and speak directly to the soul.

Mount Sinai

In Exodus 19, the children of Israel arrive in the desert and stand before the trembling mountain. On the morning of the third day, they heard thunder and saw flashes of lightning as a dense cloud enveloped the peak. At the same time, they heard the blast of a shofar so loud that every single person in the camp shook with fear. As Moses spoke and God answered, the sound of the horn did not fade away. Instead, the scripture says the sound grew louder and louder.

This was the acoustic presence of the Living God. It shattered Israel’s complacency, establishing a boundary between the profane and the holy, and announcing that heaven was delivering its eternal moral law into the hands of mortals. Centuries later, the author of Hebrews described the sound of the shofar as something that made the hearers beg that “no further word be spoken to them” (Heb 12:19).

Yet the shofar’s spiritual heartbeat is anchored even earlier in sacred history, in the drama of Genesis 22—the Binding of Isaac.

Abraham and Isaac

When Abraham climbed Mount Moriah out of obedience, and put his son upon the altar, at the final moment, the Angel of the Lord halted his hand. When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. The horns were the feature that entangled the animal, anchoring it in place until Abraham lifted his eyes.

The ram took the place of Isaac upon the altar. The horn therefore represents God’s unexpected grace—the divine principle that God Himself provides the ransom (Adonai Yireh) so that the human life is spared.

The rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud saw this moment as the foundation of the shofar as a ram’s horn. Technically, a shofar can be made from the horn of any kosher animal, but a ram’s horn is by far the most common. Because a ram’s horn points back to the near sacrifice of Isaac and God’s mercy in sparing Abraham from committing the act.

In the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Abbahu explained that the horn is blown on the New Year specifically to evoke this moment:

“The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: ‘Sound a ram’s horn before Me so that I may remember on your behalf the binding of Isaac, the son of Abraham, and I will account it to you as if you bound yourselves before Me.’”

Jericho

In the Bible, the ram’s horn was not just a symbol of God’s mercy, but also his judgment. For forty years, Israel had lived as nomadic wanderers under Moses. After Moses died on Mount Nebo, Joshua assumed command. When he led the camp past the Jordan River and into the promised land, Jericho was their first target. Jericho was an ancient walled oasis fed by a perennial freshwater spring. Anyone crossing the southern Jordan ford had to deal with Jericho; leaving a fortified hostile city at their rear would have cut off their supply lines and retreat route.

God gave an attack plan that defied military wisdom. According to God’s instructions, seven priests, carrying seven shofars, were to march before the Ark of the Covenant around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they marched seven times. And when the priests blew a long, piercing blast and all the people released a mighty shout, the stone walls would collapse flat. Jericho fell not because of battering rams or military prowess, but because the sound of the shofar declared God’s sovereign judgment and rightful ownership over the land.

Jubilee

In Leviticus 25, God laid out the stipulations for the Jubilee year. The Jubilee enacted three sweeping reforms designed to prevent the emergence of a permanently poor or enslaved class. If an Israelite fell into desperate poverty and was forced to sell their family land to survive, that sale was never permanent. In the 50th year, all agricultural land automatically reverted to its original family or tribal clan at no cost. In the Jubilee year, the enslaved were granted unconditional freedom to return home. Like the ordinary Sabbatical year, the soil was given complete rest. The people were forbidden to sow fields, prune vineyards, or harvest crops for commercial storage. They were to eat only what grew naturally of its own accord

The inauguration of the Jubilee Year was set in motion by a specific blast on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 25:9 says:

Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

In the biblical period, the central High Court in Jerusalem sounded the shofar first. As soon as the shofar was sounded from the court, every individual throughout the towns, villages, and countryside who possessed a horn was commanded to sound it as well. Watchmen on hilltops caught the blast and passed it from valley to valley. Within moments, the entire land of Israel resounded with the overlapping, continuous blasts of rams’ horns.

When the blast reached every community, Hebrew laborers who had bound themselves into service because of poverty were instantly emancipated and returned to their families (Lev 25:10). All agricultural tracts sold over the previous 49 years reverted to their original clan allotments. Contracts were dissolved, deeds reset, and the original families regained their ancestral heritage.

Rosh Hashanah

This brings us to the holiday with which the shofar is most synonymous: Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah means in Hebrew, “Head of the Year.” It is observed on the first and second days of the autumn month of Tishrei, which usually falls in September. The name Rosh Hashanah never appears in the Old Testament. Instead, it is described as “The Day of the Horn Blast” (Num 29:1) and “A Memorial Proclaimed with Blasts” (Lev 23:24). Jewish tradition marks it as the anniversary of the creation of the world—specifically the creation of humanity on the sixth day—and the day on which God is re-enthroned as the Sovereign and Judge of all creation.

In the original biblical economy, the central communal holidays were the three agricultural pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim): Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. However, during the Second Temple and early rabbinic eras, the first ten days of the seventh month took on their own significance. Rosh Hashanah came to be understood not as an isolated event, but as the opening gate of the Ten Days of Repentance or Days ofAwe. This solemn season reaches its climax ten days later on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The sages taught that on Rosh Hashanah, the Heavenly Court convenes and opens three symbolic books before God: one for the wholly righteous, one for the wicked, and one for the intermediate majority whose fates hang in the balance. These individuals are granted the ten-day corridor between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to examine their lives through repentance, prayer, and acts of restorative justice or charity.

Still, despite its richer meaning developed over the centuries, Rosh Hashanah is, at its biblical essence, the day of the horn blast. The biblical text commands a horn blast but does not define the sound. The Talmudic rabbis introduced that tradition. They developed shofar liturgy. On Rosh Hashanah, the first blast is a single, long, steady blast representing clarity, wholeness, and royalty. The second time the shofar is blown it should be three broken, sighing blasts that sound like quiet groaning. The third shofar blow should include nine rapid, staccato notes, like frantic weeping or an urgent siren. The last blast goes for as long as the shofar blower has breath to give. Each pattern is sounded three times, creating the foundational thirty blasts required by Jewish law. Throughout the extended service, these sets are repeated until a total of one hundred blasts echo through the sanctuary.

The Shofar in the New Testament

In Matthew 24, when Jesus was describing the end of the age, he said, “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Jesus was calling back to Isaiah 27:13, which prophesied that on that day, a Great Shofar would sound to gather the scattered exiles back to the holy mountain.

The Apostle Paul takes this even further in his letters to the early churches. In his letter to the Corinthians about the end of the age, he said: “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor 15:51–52).

And in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul paints the definitive portrait of the Second Coming: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess 4:16).

When the New Testament speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus, the trumpet is not just a musical fanfare. It is an ontological command. Just as God spoke and creation sprang into being, and just as the shofar at Sinai caused the earth to quake, the “Trumpet of God” sounds as the cosmic instrument of resurrection. It pierces the grave, calling those who sleep in the dust to awaken into imperishable life.

In Revelation, seven trumpets herald the unfolding judgments of God. With the seventh trumpet blast, loud voices in heaven declare: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

As we conclude, the message of the shofar rings clear across thousands of years. It began as an animal horn tangled in a briar patch on Mount Moriah, pointing to God’s mercy. It sounded over a smoking mountain at Sinai, establishing his covenant. It brought down walls at Jericho, reminding us that salvation belongs to the Lord. It sounds each year at Rosh Hashanah to awaken souls from spiritual slumber. And according to the New Testament, it awaits that final, glorious blast—when the trumpet of God shall sound, the dead shall rise, and the King shall reign supreme.

That’s it for this week. Join me next week as we return to Deuteronomy for the shortest reading cycle for the year. Its all about Deuteronomy 32, what is also known as the Song of Moses.

Shabbat Shalom

The post Bible Fiber: Are shofars in the Bible? first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Bible Fiber: Are shofars in the Bible? appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

Paul explains how misinformation shapes global perceptions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the difficulty of verifying casualty figures from Gaza, and the spiritual dimensions behind growing hostility toward Jews and Christians. Paul also shares his plans to speak in UK churches about living through rocket attacks in the Holy Land and the importance of grounding conversations about Israel in factual, biblical truth.

This episode offers a sobering yet hopeful look at faith, conflict, and the need for clarity in a world flooded with distorted narratives. To hear Paul’s full perspective—and to stay informed about the realities facing believers in Bethlehem and beyond—watch the latest episode of The Red Alert Report.

Find Paul’s publications: 

Bethlehem Voice podcast (Find it on YouTube) 

Paul Calvert’s articles published on AllIsraelNews.com

Paul’s Children’s Books on Amazon. The Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree  (the first of three in a series)

Warmly, 

Amy Zewe 
Vice President, The Jerusalem Connection International

The post Red Alert: Paul Calvert on What’s Really Happening first appeared on The Jerusalem Connection Report.

The post Red Alert: Paul Calvert on What’s Really Happening appeared first on The Jerusalem Connection Report.