The Last Trumpet

1Corinthians 15:51-52 is often cited as evidence for a Pre-Tribulation Rapture.

But is it?

The Lynchpin of Our Faith

Before we dive into the details, I think it’s helpful to look at the big picture. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 begins with a recap of the gospel, by which we are saved, if we hold fast the word which was preached to us. Paul recounts how Jesus was seen alive after His resurrection by a number of His disciples–last of all, by Paul himself.

In verse 12, Paul gets to his main reason for this chapter—to confront a heresy about the resurrection of the dead. He begins: “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (verses 12-14). He repeats these concepts a  second time to emphasize how integral the resurrection is to our faith. 1 Corinthians 15:19 says: “If in this life only we have hope in Jesus Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

I consider verses 20-23 to be the most important in the chapter. He writes: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” Jesus, the promised Seed of the woman (Gen 3:15), took on human flesh and offered Himself as an ultimate blood sacrifice to cover our sins. Just as Jesus was resurrected, so also will His dead be raised. At the moment of our resurrection, the curse of death will be destroyed for us.

So, you can see that the truth of the resurrection–first of Jesus, and second, of His saints, is the primary focus of 1 Corinthians 15.

Behold, I Tell You a Mystery

Now, let’s read the passage:

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 (NKJV)
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

What is the mystery?  We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed—made incorruptible.

In Romans 7, Paul famously recounts the constant struggle of contending against his flesh—his sin nature. In Romans 7:24-25, he wrote: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul’s hope—and ours, if we remain in Him to the end—will be fulfilled on that day, when we are given incorruptible bodies. Our sin nature will be no more, and we will henceforth live forever with the Lord.

You may have noticed a number of repeated words: incorruption or incorruptible are used four times; corruption/corruptible, three times; immortality, two times; and the phrase, “we shall be changed,” two times. The focus is certainly about the incorruptible bodies we will receive.

At the Last Trumpet

Many Christians cite these words from memory: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” They often stop there, mid-sentence, right before a key point: “at the last trumpet.” Without a timing anchor, the oft-quoted portion lends to the idea of imminence—that this marvelous scene could transpire at any moment. But that’s not the whole picture. “At the last trumpet” cannot be imminent until there’s only one trumpet remaining.

There are seven trumpets in the book of Revelation.  The last one, the seventh, is when Jesus has begun to reign on the earth. It’s found in Revelation chapter 11:

Revelation 11:15-19 (NKJV)
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

The part of verse 18 goes along well with 1 Corinthians 15. It’s the time for the dead to be judged and the servants of God rewarded.

How could “the last trumpet” occur before the seven trumpets in Revelation? When I ask this question, many are quick to tell me that 1 Corinthians was written long before Revelation, so Paul wouldn’t have known about the seven trumpets of Revelation. My answer to that is that the Holy Spirit is the source of prophecy, not a man’s own understanding, as it says in 2 Peter 1:20-21. The Old Testament prophets wrote of things they sometimes did not understand—but God had them write it for later generations—even us. An imminent last trumpet before the seven trumpets of Revelation breaks the rules of language and logic.

A Defined Sequence

Verse 52 continues: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” So, there are three occurrences, and an order: the last trumpet sounds, then the dead are raised, and the living are changed.

As mentioned before, the focus of 1 Corinthians 15 is about the reality of the resurrection—first for Christ, and then for His people. Verses 22-23 say, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” The resurrection of those who are Christ’s is at His coming. That means even though verses 51-54 do not mention His coming explicitly, that is the context of these verses.

In Revelation, the resurrection at Christ’s coming is the first resurrection—those who are part of it will not be hurt by the second death. Christ’s coming has a sequence, too, that begins in Revelation 19:11 with His appearance and ends with the first resurrection in Revelation 20:4-6.

The natural context of the last part of verse 52 is that the dead in Christ rise first before the living are changed. (This truth is very clearly expressed in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.) Since the resurrection is at His coming, and His coming is after the entire Tribulation, so then the living are changed after the entire Tribulation.

Answering a New Argument

The concept of a Pre-Wrath gathering, where we go through part of the Tribulation but God collects His people before He pours out His wrath, is a fairly new idea. There are a handful of men who actively promote this teaching (for example, Marvin Rosenthal, Alan Kurschner). Typically, they place Matthew 24:29-31 alongside the description of the sixth seal in Revelation 6 and conclude Jesus gathers or raptures the Church at the sixth seal.

Matthew 24:29-31 (NKJV)
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Revelation 6:12-14 (NKJV)
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

One problem with this idea is that 1 Corinthians 15:52 says we will be changed at the last trumpet, and the sixth seal is before any of the seven trumpets of Revelation. How do we know? According to Revelation 8:1-2, the seven trumpets are associated with the seventh seal:

Revelation 8:1-2 (NKJV)
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

If you’re interested in looking at some of the other problems with Pre-Wrath, I would point you to the parable of the wheat and tares and the parable of the dragnet in Matthew 13. My two-part testimony explains how I was first convinced that our gathering is actually Post-Wrath (part one: Luke 17:37: The Carcasses, the Eagles, and the Taken; part two: The Timing of Our Gathering). I also have three articles in my Answers section to respond to arguments commonly employed by those who identify as Pre-Wrath. The quickest way to find them is to type “Pre-Wrath” in the search bar.

God-Breathed

As we mine God’s Word for understanding, surely it produces treasures for us by the work of the Holy Spirit. Who would imagine that four words often left off in recitation—“at the last trumpet”—should bring so much clarity to when we get our incorruptible bodies.

Please drop a note in the comments section or send me an e-mail if the Lord used this blog to make Bible prophecy clearer for you! God bless you!