Hearing I

God said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told God what the people had said. (Exodus 19:9)

“Then the man and his wife heard the voice of God, the Lord, as it was walking in the garden in the spirit of the day, and they hid from God, the Lord, among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:8).” Adam and Eve had sinned against God, and yet, they were still able to hear His Voice ‘walking in the garden.’ Rather than run toward it to embrace it as a child who has done something wrong running to a parent for reassurance that the relationship is secure, they hid. They heard and ran. They heard, but did not appreciate that they were still able to hear God’s voice even after they sinned. Adam and Eve’s running from what they heard, attempting to hide from God, is the “dense cloud” of Sinai. Israel, in their imperfect state, will have an opportunity to hear God’s voice, but it will be God’s Voice, not them, that is hiding.

The Shofar is that Voice that walked in the garden; the voice that can be heard even when we are in an imperfect state.

The Shofar is God’s Voice speaking to us from within the dense cloud; a Voice that speaks without overwhelming us.

The Shofar is God’s Voice to which we choose, just as did Adam and Eve, how to hear. Do we run and hide in fear because we are imperfect? Or, do we run towards the Voice that calls out to us that the relationship is sound?