THE RESURRECTION RAM
by Jeremy Chance Springfield
10/1/2024
On the Biblical festival of Rosh Hashanah, the shofar takes center stage.
That’s right: at the beginning of the seventh month, a simple ram’s horn is the main object of focus on the day the Torah calls Yom Teruah – the “Day of Trumpets.”
That’s right: at the beginning of the seventh month, a simple ram’s horn is the main object of focus on the day the Torah calls Yom Teruah – the “Day of Trumpets.”
The holy time would not be nearly as engaging and impactful if the gnarled and rustic shofar was not utilized to blast a sounding call for all the faithful to be transformed by the work of the Holy One’s Spirit in their lives.
Leviticus 23:24-25 provides only this information concerning the important time.
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24 Speak to the sons of Yisra’el, to say: “In the seventh month, on the first of the month shall be for you a special sabbath—a memorial of sounding [a ram's horn], a consecrated assembly.
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25 All servile work you shall not perform, and you make an offering of fire to YHWH.
It is important that we listen for the sound of the shofar, as its blast awakens us to the reality of our Creator’s care for the condition of His people. But why was such an instrument singled out by the Creator as the sole way in which the festival is to be instigated?
The answer to this is explained in the Talmud Bavli, Rosh Hashanah 16a.
The answer to this is explained in the Talmud Bavli, Rosh Hashanah 16a.
In this ancient explanation, we see that foundation of the festival—the sounding of the shofar—ultimately derived from the binding of Isaac by his father Abraham. This simple clarification assumes the reader is familiar with the details concerning that astounding account. The event is chronicled in Genesis 22, and since it is central to the background of the festival, its key elements are presented here for the sake of brevity.
The Holy One told Abraham to take Isaac to a specific place and make an offering there, as recorded in Genesis 22:2.
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And He said, “You must take—I entreat—your son, your only one, whom you love: Yitzchak, and go yourself unto [the] land of Moriyah, and elevate him there for an elevation upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you.”
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Father and son embark on their grim journey, and in due time discover the site, as revealed in Genesis 22:4.
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On the third day, then Avraham raised his eyes, and saw the place from a distance.
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As they ascend to the top of Moriah in Genesis 22:8, Isaac utters his confusion over the lack of an animal for their planned sacrifice.
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And Avraham said, “The Deity shall see for Himself the lamb for the elevation, my son.” And they walked the two of them united.
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The moment of truth arrives in Genesis 22:12, as Abraham binds his submissive son and reveals he is the intended sacrifice. At the last second, however, Abraham is prevented from performing the macabre act of worship by Divine intervention.
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And He said, “Do not stretch forth your hand upon the youth, and neither make upon him a blemish, for now I know that you fear [the] Deity, and you did not hold back your son—your only one—from Me!”
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Isaac, although bound on the altar and obediently awaiting elevation, is relinquished from his assumed role as the sacrifice, and in a show of heavenly provision detailed in Genesis 22:13, an animal is miraculously discovered and is able to be offered up instead.
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And Avraham raised his eyes, and looked, and see! a ram behind [them], seized in a bramble by its horns! And Avraham went and took the ram and elevated it for an elevation in place of his son.
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The ram caught by its horns was Isaac’s ersatz—a thorn-enshackled surrogate to fulfill the intent to worship the Holy One atop Moriah. Understanding this allows us to appreciate why the Talmud stated what it did about the shofar being used on Yom Teruah to cause the Holy One to view the faithful believer as if they were Isaac in his submission to his father’s act of worship. The blowing of the ram’s horn offers a spiritual elevation for the believer to be viewed by Heaven as obedient to the point of death.
Intriguingly, this unique mercy is said to have been provided for from the beginning of creation, for so we read of the ram substituted for Isaac in the text of Pirkei Avot 5:6.
Among the list of specially created things is surprisingly included the ram which the Holy One providentially placed on Mount Moriah so that Isaac would not be sacrificed! This means the ram was not only purposefully created but also divinely preserved for that very moment in time! Its two horns were bound up in a thorn bush so that it could not flee from the presence of Abraham.
This tradition of the ram being specially made at the beginning of the world to be used in place of Isaac is important, for the very first time that Scripture mentions the word SHOFAR is similar in context: the descendants of Abraham and Isaac are gathered at another special mountain: Sinai. The term SINAI comes from the word SINEH, meaning “thorn bush / thorny.”
This tradition of the ram being specially made at the beginning of the world to be used in place of Isaac is important, for the very first time that Scripture mentions the word SHOFAR is similar in context: the descendants of Abraham and Isaac are gathered at another special mountain: Sinai. The term SINAI comes from the word SINEH, meaning “thorn bush / thorny.”
It is at Mount Sinai (essentially “Thorn Mountain”) that the ram’s horn is first encountered in its instrument form of a shofar. This is found in Exodus 19:16.
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And it came to be on the third day, when it was the dawn, then were voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mountain. And the sound of a shofar was very strong, and all the people trembled who were in the encampment.
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The coming of the Holy One to meet the people was preceded by incredibly miraculous moments—the sounding of an unseen shofar being a prominent one among them, as we see explained further in Exodus 19:19-20.
19 And when [the] sound of the shofar went on and was very strong, Mosheh spoke, and the Deity replied with a voice.
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20 And YHWH descended upon Mount Sinai, unto [the] summit of the mountain. And YHWH called to Mosheh on [the] summit of the mountain, and Mosheh ascended.
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So would begin the giving of the Torah at Sinai—with a supernatural blowing of the ram’s horn! The shofar thus heralded the covenant of the Torah between the Holy One and His people. This was a moment of true elevation—of binding to the Creator of the universe—just like with Isaac at the top of Mount Moriah centuries prior. Just as a ram seemingly appeared out of nowhere with its horns tangled in briars to spare Isaac, so too was a ram’s horn blown without any human involvement to signal to the people that they, too, would be spiritually elevated.
In fact, the ram that was said to have been prepared at the creation of the world and preserved for Isaac is understood to be the same source for the unseen shofar that was blown at Sinai, as we find written in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 31:13.
The ram’s left horn was taken and fashioned into a shofar and sounded at the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, as understood by its quote from Joshua 6:5. While this may seem like a huge leap in reasoning to connect the concept of the ram made before the Sabbath to the source for the shofar blown at Sinai, it is worth considering: from where did the shofar come that was sounded at Sinai? The text is clear that it was a ram’s horn that was sounded. Where did the Holy One obtain an earthly ram’s horn for His heavenly purpose? The only Scriptural incident recorded whereupon He could have received a shofar is that which was recorded in Genesis 22 when the ram was “elevated” to Him as an elevation offering. Simply put, the ram becomes His property when it is sacrificed, so that He can do what He so desires with the remnants of its unburnable aspects.
Notice also in the above quote from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer that the right horn was similarly fashioned like its counterpart as a shofar and is being safeguarded in the heavens for its grand sounding on the day of resurrection. This future use at the resurrection is implied by quoting from Isaiah 27:13 (as well as Zechariah 14:9), the former of which is worth examining further for clarity.
Notice also in the above quote from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer that the right horn was similarly fashioned like its counterpart as a shofar and is being safeguarded in the heavens for its grand sounding on the day of resurrection. This future use at the resurrection is implied by quoting from Isaiah 27:13 (as well as Zechariah 14:9), the former of which is worth examining further for clarity.
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And it shall be on that day that a sound shall be with a great shofar, and they shall come who were perishing in the land of Ashshur, and the exiles in the land of Mitzrayim, and they shall worship YHWH on the holy mountain in Yerushala’im.
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The text states that at the sound of a great shofar will come those “who were perishing” in Assyria—that is to say, those who were dying / dead in a foreign land. This mention of the shofar having an affect upon the dead to make them live again so as to go to Jerusalem for worship can only mean the resurrection.
It is this very passage to which Yeshua referred when He is recorded speaking of the unique way the holy people are gathered in the end in Matthew 24:31.
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And he shall send forth his angels with a great shifura, and they shall assemble the selected—his own—from the four winds, and from [one] extremity of the heavens and unto [another] extremity.
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Yeshua’s obvious allusion to Isaiah 27:13 can be verified when we look at the complete Aramaic phrase He used here in the Peshitta’s text: SHIFURA RABA “great ram’s horn.”
This phrase is identical to a phrase as it was translated from the Hebrew into the ancient Aramaic Targum Yonatan for Isaiah 27:13.
In fact, this specific passage is the only time in the Targums that the Aramaic phrase is ever used, showing us that Yeshua’s identical usage as preserved in the Peshitta’s text was certainly emphasizing that precise notion of resurrection! Furthermore, since the Targums are ancient Jewish records of how the Hebrew text was translated and interpreted into Aramaic when the Scriptures were read publicly at synagogues, it is likely that Yeshua heard this very phrase during His weekly attendances as He was growing up.
The concept of the ram’s horns being linked to resurrection is encountered distinctly in the writings of Paul. In 1st Corinthians 15:52, he writes of a change precipitated by the sounding of a ram’s horn.
The concept of the ram’s horns being linked to resurrection is encountered distinctly in the writings of Paul. In 1st Corinthians 15:52, he writes of a change precipitated by the sounding of a ram’s horn.
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…instantly, as the wink of the eye—at the final horn, when it calls out—then shall rise the dead without corruption, and we shall be transformed.
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In 1st Thessalonians 4:16, in another passage he wrote concerning the resurrection, Paul once again connects the shofar to the resurrection.
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On account that our master himself—with the commandment, and with the voice of the head of the angels, and with the horn of the Deity—shall descend from the heavens, and the dead who are in the Messiah shall rise first.
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In both of these passages Paul used the same term to refer to the “horn” in Aramaic—the word KARNA.
While this term can be used in a broader sense of meaning to encompass a natural as well as a made-made trumpet, its original usage all throughout the Torah is found in its Hebrew form of KEREN, where it is only used therein to refer to the horns of an animal, or the horn-like protrusions commanded to adorn the four corners of the altar.
It is worth noting in all of its appearances that its first usage in Scripture is found in none other than Genesis 22:13 about the ram provided for Isaac with its horns caught in the bramble!
This factor, along with the context surrounding the ram’s horn being preserved for eventual use at the resurrection, means Paul’s choice of term for the same conceptual events of that day clearly intended a ram’s horn and not one forged by man, as is so often depicted in Christian art about the resurrection.
This factor, along with the context surrounding the ram’s horn being preserved for eventual use at the resurrection, means Paul’s choice of term for the same conceptual events of that day clearly intended a ram’s horn and not one forged by man, as is so often depicted in Christian art about the resurrection.
In addition to these aspects from the New Testament texts linking the sounding of the shofar to the resurrection of the dead at the coming of the Messiah, it is important to point out a further reality that bears upon the matter. Although the words of Yeshua and Paul clearly found the link to the resurrection of the dead from the aforementioned passages of the Hebrew Scriptures, any reference to the Messiah himself arriving with the sound of the shofar is admittedly absent from those inspired texts which informed the statements made in the New Testament.
The question, then, is where did the idea arise of the Messiah coming with the sound of the shofar if it is not in the Hebrew Scriptures? Are we to assume that Yeshua and Paul were asserting some new piece of information?
The answer is no. This concept is one that has long been part of Jewish ideas about the resurrection of the dead and the coming of the Messiah, as we see in the text of Kli Yakar, which expands upon a clarification first made in the Talmud Bavli, Rosh HaShanah 16b about how Satan reacts to the sound of the shofar.
The question, then, is where did the idea arise of the Messiah coming with the sound of the shofar if it is not in the Hebrew Scriptures? Are we to assume that Yeshua and Paul were asserting some new piece of information?
The answer is no. This concept is one that has long been part of Jewish ideas about the resurrection of the dead and the coming of the Messiah, as we see in the text of Kli Yakar, which expands upon a clarification first made in the Talmud Bavli, Rosh HaShanah 16b about how Satan reacts to the sound of the shofar.
The ancient notion from Judaism is that Messiah is to come with a shofar signaling his arrival, and the knowledge of this impending appearance causes the Enemy to be anxious when man faithfully blows the ram's horn each year.
Even so, we must still answer how the ancient sages connected the sounding of the shofar to the coming of the Messiah. The explanation is found in the unique wording of the Aramaic Targum Yonatan to Isaiah 28:5.
Even so, we must still answer how the ancient sages connected the sounding of the shofar to the coming of the Messiah. The explanation is found in the unique wording of the Aramaic Targum Yonatan to Isaiah 28:5.
The phrase "the Messiah of" is the clarification which the Targum provides that is not in the Hebrew text of passage, showing that "at that time" would be present the long-awaited Messiah. The meaning of "at that time" is in the immediate context of the Biblical phrase "on that day" which is used just six verses prior in Isaiah 27:13, where it speaks of the shofar being blown.
It is therefore confirmed that this authoritative Aramaic translation used in synagogues throughout Israel was promoting the concept of the Messiah coming to Israel's aid at the sounding of the shofar. The words of Yeshua and Paul thus validate the interpretation of the sages and promote it as an event signaling our final redemption.
All of these details combine in harmony to present the ram as the special source of the shofar to herald the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the giving of eternal life at the resurrection with the coming of the Messiah.
It is therefore confirmed that this authoritative Aramaic translation used in synagogues throughout Israel was promoting the concept of the Messiah coming to Israel's aid at the sounding of the shofar. The words of Yeshua and Paul thus validate the interpretation of the sages and promote it as an event signaling our final redemption.
All of these details combine in harmony to present the ram as the special source of the shofar to herald the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the giving of eternal life at the resurrection with the coming of the Messiah.
In fact, several further links span the context already shared here that are worth considering in light of the ram’s central usage.
In the account of Abraham and Isaac journeying to Mount Moriah, in Genesis 22:4 that was quoted earlier in the study, it tells us that the two of them spotted the location “on the third day,” meaning that the ram made ready from the foundation of creation was finally revealed to them on that same day with its horns caught amongst thorns.
Similarly, when the people stood at the bottom of Mount Sinai and awaited the instruction of Moses, we saw earlier in Exodus 19:16 that it was “on the third day” that the shofar was sounded from heaven and the Torah given to Israel.
Finally, we find that the resurrection is prophesied to occur based on a specific timeframe, as recorded in the text of Hosea 6:2.
In the account of Abraham and Isaac journeying to Mount Moriah, in Genesis 22:4 that was quoted earlier in the study, it tells us that the two of them spotted the location “on the third day,” meaning that the ram made ready from the foundation of creation was finally revealed to them on that same day with its horns caught amongst thorns.
Similarly, when the people stood at the bottom of Mount Sinai and awaited the instruction of Moses, we saw earlier in Exodus 19:16 that it was “on the third day” that the shofar was sounded from heaven and the Torah given to Israel.
Finally, we find that the resurrection is prophesied to occur based on a specific timeframe, as recorded in the text of Hosea 6:2.
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He shall vivify us from two days; on the third day He shall raise us, and we shall live before Him.
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This is resurrection language, and the ancient Jewish perspective of revival from the dead is more clearly stated in the Aramaic Targum Yonatan of this passage.
In all three instances is the concept of “the third day.” Isaac was “resurrected” on the third day in a symbolic sense, as his life was providentially spared in the moments before the knife performed the work of sacrifice. Similarly, the people of Israel were “resurrected” from a lifestyle of death in the dregs of Egyptian slave-society when they were at last prepared to receive the Torah on “the third day” at Sinai. In a literal sense, on “the third day” at a future point in time shall the dead literally be resurrected to life everlasting.
All this inevitably culminates in its connection to the Messiah—the first person in history to truly be resurrected to an eternal body—who experienced that supernal transformation on “the third day”—a phrase used to speak of the timing of His resurrection in Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:64; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 13:32, 18:33, 24:7, 24:46; Acts 10:40; and 1st Corinthians 15:4.
Additionally, the ram’s link to the resurrection and the Messiah is evidenced also in the response of Abraham in Genesis 22:8 when Isaac asked in the previous verse about the absence of a lamb for their planned sacrifice. His answer was clear: “The Deity shall see for Himself the lamb for the elevation, my son.” However, when Abraham’s dedication to worshiping in the most sacrificial way was seen and he was halted from offering Isaac, Genesis 22:13 states it was not a lamb that he saw, but a ram! Why the difference?
All this inevitably culminates in its connection to the Messiah—the first person in history to truly be resurrected to an eternal body—who experienced that supernal transformation on “the third day”—a phrase used to speak of the timing of His resurrection in Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:64; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 13:32, 18:33, 24:7, 24:46; Acts 10:40; and 1st Corinthians 15:4.
Additionally, the ram’s link to the resurrection and the Messiah is evidenced also in the response of Abraham in Genesis 22:8 when Isaac asked in the previous verse about the absence of a lamb for their planned sacrifice. His answer was clear: “The Deity shall see for Himself the lamb for the elevation, my son.” However, when Abraham’s dedication to worshiping in the most sacrificial way was seen and he was halted from offering Isaac, Genesis 22:13 states it was not a lamb that he saw, but a ram! Why the difference?
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Incredibly, in the Talmud Bavli, Bava Kamma 65b, the answer is found in a discussion of restoring the value of stolen property. One ruling the rabbis assert in no uncertain terms is a reality that bears upon the detail from the Torah.
The passage uses the Semitic idiom “son of a day” to mean “a day old” lamb. Put simply, a lamb is itself a ram from the beginning of its life. Biological roles cannot be undermined: a male sheep can only inevitably become a ram, and so it is always legally understood as such, no matter its age. Therefore, Abraham was not wrong in stating that the Holy One would provide the lamb and it ended up being a ram. One can always ascend in value for a sacrifice, but never descend if a set value has been defined. In this case, a mature ram is an increase in the value of the sacrifice over a lowly lamb, and therefore Abraham was entirely justified in offering a ram despite having said the Holy One would provide a lamb.
This clarification bears upon the imagery recorded in the Aramaic text of the Crawford Codex of Revelation 13:8. In that passage, the Messiah is referred to in an intriguing manner.
This clarification bears upon the imagery recorded in the Aramaic text of the Crawford Codex of Revelation 13:8. In that passage, the Messiah is referred to in an intriguing manner.
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“…of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
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Yeshua is called here in the Aramaic tongue EMRA “the Lamb”—a moniker first given to Him by His cousin, John the Baptizer, in John 1:29 & 36, where he specifically stated Yeshua was EMREH DALAHA “the Lamb of the Deity.”
Intriguingly, there is only one time in all of the Torah where the Hebrew text mentions the words “the Deity” and a “lamb” in the exact same passage. It is amazingly in Genesis 22:8—when Abraham explained that the Creator Himself must be trusted to see to the provision of the lamb for the sacrifice—which ended up being a mature ram. It is logical that it was this solitary reference in the Torah to which John the Baptizer was alluding.
It thus may not be so surprising to learn that the Aramaic term for “the lamb”—being the word EMRA—can also have as its meaning “the ram.”
It thus may not be so surprising to learn that the Aramaic term for “the lamb”—being the word EMRA—can also have as its meaning “the ram.”
Knowing these details, we can see the seamless harmony from Scripture to Jewish traditional views concerning the lamb / ram that was offered up in place of Isaac: it is viewed as having been created and preserved from the creation of the world, just as the Messiah is referred to in Revelation 13:8 as the lamb / ram who was slain from “the foundation of the world.” The synchronized nature of these incredible factors shows us the shofar’s central placement in Yom Teruah is all about the hope of restoration and elevation of His people.
The ram from whence comes the all-important shofar is thus a loud reminder to the Holy One that His people are to be viewed not in the despondency of their own lacking merit, but in the acceptable exalted merit of the one who obediently went to the site of sacrifice, and who was offered up in our place for man to be eventually elevated back to his Maker on the day of resurrection.
All study contents Copyright Jeremy Chance Springfield, except for graphics and images, which are Copyright their respective creators.