What is TORAH?
Exo 18:16 “When they have a matter, they come to me, and I rightly rule between one and another, and make known the laws of Elohim and His Laws.”
The word laws in Hebrew is TORAH H8451 – tôrâ. Torah however doesn’t just mean law. It means law, direction and/or instruction. This same word appears for the first time with Abraham in Gen 26:5 “because Abraham listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my statutes, and my instructions.”
Today in the christian world, when you hear Laws, there are the 10 commandments, and the rest of the laws that the Israelites kept as well. Which is assumed was given with the Levite Priests and the tabernacle to make offerings. However, we can clearly see that it is not just laws.. but instructions for living, that was given even to Adam, Noah and Abraham. And many times YHVH says, because they keep (protect) my statutes and instructions, they are considered righteous.
The Shofar
Exo 19:16 “And the sound of the ram’s horn was very loud, and all the people who were in the camp trembled.”
The rams’ horn is mentioned here for the first time in Scripture – the Hebrew name is SHOFAR H7782 – šôp̄ār.
We don’t know who blew those shofars.. but just imagine the picture.. it got just louder and louder (v.19) and there was smoke, and thunder and lightning and fire (v.16-18).. can you imagine standing there? And the people trembled, even the mountain trembled exceedingly! But Moses seemed calm and not phased at all.. even in Exodus 20:20 Moses tells the people “Do not fear”.. but it seems like when YHVH spoke, the words cut right through them – and they preferred to have Moses as the middle man. They would rather listen to a man speak, and even at times fight back with him – than have YHVH speak to them.
Here are some interesting little facts about the Shofar:
- It’s unique sound symbolizes a “wake-up call”
- The bended shape reminds you of bending your human heart before YHVH
- The ram is significant as it reminds us of the ram that was used as a sacrifice to replace Isaac for Abraham
