Hebrew Rosh HaShanah, "head of the year." The Jewish civil new year, celebrated on the 1st of Tishri (September-October). Biblically called "a memorial of blowing trumpets" (Leviticus 23:24), "a day for you to blow the trumpets" (Numbers 29:1). The central element is the sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) — a hundred blasts during the liturgy. Rosh Hashanah begins the Ten Days of Awe culminating in Yom Kippur, a period of self-examination, repentance, and anticipation of the divine verdict on the year to come.
The Feast of Trumpets has eschatological resonance in the NT. Three observations. (1) Trumpet summons. Throughout Scripture, trumpets call God's people to assembly, to war, to new moons, to the Jubilee, and to the final judgment. "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" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). "The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable" (1 Corinthians 15:52). Messianic coming and resurrection are both trumpet-announced. (2) Remembrance. Leviticus 23:24 calls Rosh Hashanah a "memorial" of trumpets — God remembers His covenant with His people, and the trumpet calls His people to remember Him. (3) Sovereignty and judgment. Jewish liturgy emphasizes God's kingship on Rosh Hashanah — "Today the world is born. Today all creatures stand in judgment." The biblical theology is consistent: Rosh Hashanah is a rehearsal for the ultimate kingly verdict, culminating ten days later on Yom Kippur. Christians have no commanded observance of Rosh Hashanah, but attention to its themes — trumpet, remembrance, kingship, judgment, new year — reminds us that we are called to live under the eschatological trumpet-verdict of our King. Every Sunday is a mini-Rosh Hashanah: our King is crowned, we are remembered, judgment and mercy converge at the cross.