The Rapture trumpet

versus last trumpet

Question 5: Since The Church Is Raptured At The Last Trumpet Does This

Mean A Post-Tribulational Rapture?

There is another popular objection to the Pre-trib rapture that we must

deal with—the blowing of the trumpet at the Second Coming of Jesus

Christ. The issue can be simply stated as follows.

The Trumpet Blows After The Great Tribulation

First, Matthew 24:31 clearly speaks of Christ coming to earth after the Great

Tribulation, and it speaks of a trumpet blowing when the “elect” are

gathered:

He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather

his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other

(Matthew 24:31 CSB).

Paul stated that when the Lord Jesus descends from heaven, a trumpet will

blow and then He will immediately gather the living as well as the dead

believers “in Christ:”

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the

archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ

will rise first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught

up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so

we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 CSB).

In another place, Paul actually calls this the “last trumpet:”

Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we

will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last

trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:51 CSB)

The Seventh Trumpet In Revelation

Some also equate it with the seventh trumpet in the Book of Revelation.

In fact, when this trumpet sounds, we have the following declaration:

The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in

heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of

our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever

(Revelation 11:15 CSB).

It is contended that when we put these passages together it proves beyond

any doubt that the rapture will take place at the time of the return of Christ

to the earth—the Second Coming.

The sequence is as follows: The Lord descends from heaven with a trumpet

blast—the seventh trumpet of the Book of Revelation. He raises the dead

believers at this time and then immediately the living believers are caught

up to meet Him in the air on His way back to the earth. We are specifically

told that the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of the Lord.

Therefore, at His Second Coming, the rapture of the church and the

resurrection of the dead each take place.

Therefore, it is claimed that the Pre-Trib rapture position is clearly refuted

by comparing these passages about the last trumpet.

The Pre-Trib Response

Those who hold to the pre-trib perspective equate the trumpets in 1

Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians, they both refer to the rapture of the

church. However, they do not equate them with either the trumpet

immediately before the return of Christ or the seventh trumpet in the Book

of Revelation. There are a number of reasons as to why this is so.

Revelation Was Written After Paul Had Died

To begin with, Paul could not have been referring to the seventh trumpet

in the Book of Revelation because it had not been written at the time that

he wrote the letter to the Corinthians! In fact, Revelation was written after

Paul had died.

Consequently, his audience in Corinth would not have equated the last

trumpet with the seventh trumpet in Revelation since Revelation would not

be written for another thirty years.

Furthermore, each of the trumpets in Revelation issue judgments that are

going to come upon the earth. For example, a great earthquake follows the

seventh trumpet:

Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his

covenant appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning,

rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail

(Revelation 11:19 CSB).

In contrast to this, the trumpet at the rapture is one of blessing. In fact,

there is nothing about judgment in the two clear rapture passages, 1

Thessalonians 4:13-18 and First Corinthians 15:51-58.

The Chronology Of Revelation Is Against This

There are good arguments that can be made for a chronological view of

the various judgments recorded in the Book of Revelation; first the seals,

then trumpets, and finally the bowl judgments. If so, then the trumpet

judgments are not the last series of judgments to take place upon the earth.

That would be the “bowl” judgments.

Consequently, the trumpet judgments would not be signaling the

immediate coming of Christ to the earth neither would they occur at the

very end of this last seven-year period.

Therefore, the trumpet that blows immediately before Christ’s return, as

recorded in Matthew 24:31, follows the trumpet judgments in the Book of

Revelation.

There Is No Resurrection Of The Dead In These Trumpet Calls

In addition, the trumpet calls recorded in Matthew 24:31 and Revelation

11:15 do not include any explicit description of the resurrection of the dead

or the transformation of the bodies of the living.

Why Did Paul Call It Last?

However, it is called the “last” trumpet.” Does that not indicate that there

are no trumpets that will blow after this one?

For those who hold the pre-trib point of view there are several possible

explanations as to why Paul said it was the “last trump” in 1 Corinthians

15:52. They can be summed up as follows:

It May Be Last In A Sequence

One possible explanation is that the “last trumpet” in 1 Corinthians 15:52

may refer to the last trumpet in a sequence but not the last trumpet in time.

In fact, Paul may be using word “last” in contrast to “first.” He did this a

few verses earlier when he contrasted the “first” man, Adam, and the “last”

man or “second man,” Christ:

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”;

the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual did

not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man is

from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven (1

Corinthians 15:45-47 NET)

The first trumpet blast that is recorded in the Bible was used to assemble

the nation of Israel when they met with the Lord on Mount Sinai. It was at

that time the nation received the Law of Moses, which, the Bible says,

among other things, began the ministry of death (see Exodus 19:10-20, 2

Corinthians 3:7-9 and Hebrews 12:18-21).

Therefore, the last trumpet, that we find in 1 Corinthians, will call the

church to assemble together to meet the Lord in the air. This will include

two major events; first, the resurrection of the dead in Christ and then the

catching up of believers; the rapture of the church. These two events will

signal the end of death for those who have trusted the Lord.

If this is how the reference is to be understood, then this last trumpet for

the church would be in contrast to the first trumpet at Mt. Sinai. In other

words, the ministry of death in now contrasted to Christ’s victory over

death.

Trumpets Were Used As A Call To War

Trumpets were also used as a call to war. We read the following the Old

Testament:

If you go to war in your land against an adversary who opposes you,

then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be

remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from

your enemies (Numbers 10:9 NET).

In this instance, it was a call to war. Paul wrote something similar to the

Corinthians:

If, for example, the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will get

ready for battle? (1 Corinthians 14:8 NET).

A trumpet was also used to call the army to a halt the battle:

Then Joab blew the trumpet and the army turned back from chasing

Israel, for Joab had called for the army to halt. . . . . Then the woman

went to all the people with her wise advice and they cut off Shebaʼs

head and threw it out to Joab. Joab blew the trumpet, and his men

dispersed from the city, each going to his own home. Joab returned to

the king in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 18:16; 20:22 NET).

In sum, the first trumpet gathered the troops for battle while the last

trumpet called the troops home from the battle.

The Spiritual Battle Will Be Over

If this view of the “last trumpet” is what Paul had in mind, then the trumpet

for the rapture would indicate that the spiritual battle that the believers in

Christ have been fighting will now be over. In other words, they are

returning home from the battle.

Hence, as their earthly work is complete, this last trumpet will call them to

their heavenly home: Paul wrote to the Philippians:

But our citizenship is in heaven - and we also await a savior from there,

the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours

into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which

he is able to subject all things to himself (Philippians 3:20 NET).

The Use Of Trumpets In The First Century

The Roman army also used trumpets to signal the beginning as well as the

ending of a guard’s watch. If this is the illustration that Paul had in mind,

then the “last trumpet” will signal the end of the church’s watch on the

world.

Conclusion: Multiple Trumpets Can

Mean Different Events At Different Times

After examining these examples of the uses of the trumpet blast from

Scripture, as well as from first century Roman practice, there seems to be

an obvious conclusion—multiple trumpet blasts at the time of the end does

not necessarily mean the same event is always in view.

Therefore, it must be proven, not merely assumed, that when Jesus and Paul

are speaking of the blowing of the shofar, the trumpet, they are referring

to same trumpet blast. An examination of the totality of the evidence reveals

that they are not.

The Differences Between The Events

We should also recall some facts that we have previously noted. Nowhere,

in these two passages which mention the blowing of the trumpet, Matthew

24:31 or Revelation 11:15, do not find any mention of the resurrection of

the bodies of the dead believers at the Second Coming of Christ, or the

living believers being caught up to meet the Lord in the air and receiving

their new bodies—the rapture of the church.

In sum, the fact that we find a trumpet blowing in each passage does not

mean that they are describing the same event. Indeed, we find that the

seven different trumpet blasts that are recorded in the Book of Revelation,

including the last one, are only announcing punishment upon the

unbelievers living in this world! There is no message of hope, or

encouragement in any of them.

Which Believers Are Gathered?

While it is certainly true that trumpets are used in Matthew 24:31, as well

as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, when speaking about the future gathering of

believers, the question must be answered is this: which believers are

gathered?

Context, Context, Context

When the context is examined, we will discover that two different groups

of believers are in view.

In First Thessalonians 4:13-18, it is the “dead in Christ.” This is a technical

term which refers to the New Testament believers; those who have placed

their faith in Christ from the time of the birth of the church, at the Day of

Pentecost, until the coming of the Lord for His church, the rapture.

In Matthew 24;31, the context is completely different. Jesus is discussing

believers who have survived the Great Tribulation.

There are two things that we must emphasized from these passages.

First, the fact that each group is gathered at a trumpet blast does not make

them the same group.

Second, the trumpet blasts do not prove that the two events, the rapture

of the church and the Second Coming of Christ, happen at the same time.

Indeed, we have already noted a number of differences between the two

events that make it possible, if not likely, that we are looking at things that

do not happen at the same time.

The Pre-Trib Rapture Defended

An Excerpt from Don Stewart’s pdf