What’s The So Called Last Trump?

Q. What can you tell me about the last trumpet, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1Cor. 15:52 I don’t believe this is the same Last trumpet as in Rev. but how do you prove that to some one who is post trib?

A. There are several opinions concerning this so-called last trump.

Some believe it’s the 7th trumpet of Revelation 11:15 and following. If so this would put the rapture just at the door of the Great Tribulation, which begins with Satan being cast out of Heaven to torment believers (Rev. 12) and the anti Christ ascending to power on Earth (Rev. 13). Both these events have a 3 1/2 year duration.

I’ve never been able to understand how some post-tribbers believe that the 7th trumpet is at end of the Great Tribulation. But aside from all that, the 7th trumpet is never called the Last Trump in Revelation or anywhere else in the Bible.

But there is an event called the Last Trump, and that brings me to the 2nd opinion. It closes the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) leading some to believe that the Rapture fulfills that Jewish Feast.

The third opinion, one that I share, is that the Last Trump is the one time the church will hear a trumpet call while on Earth. It’s mentioned in 1 Thes. 4:16 and is called the Trumpet call of God.

The Trumpet of God only appears twice in the Bible. The first one is in Exodus 19 at Mt. Sinai and the last one is in 1 Thes. 4. Both are accompanied by the audible voice of God and both create a Kingdom. At Mt. Sinai the Israelites were redeemed from slavery, at the Rapture we’re redeemed from sin. They were consecrated, we’re perfected. They washed their clothes, we’re given clean clothes. God came to the Mt. top, Jesus comes to the air. At Mt. Sinai Moses and Aaron went up, at the rapture we go up. At Mt. Sinai Israel was wed to God. At the Rapture the Church is wed to Jesus. At Mt. Sinai God dwelt with Israel and at the rapture the Church dwells with Jesus.

Since many Biblical models are necessarily incomplete, there are also some obvious differences. Only Moses and Aaron could ascend the mountain. Anyone else going up passed from life to death. At the rapture we all go up and everyone passes from death to life. God promised to dwell with Israel if they obeyed. We will dwell with Jesus because He obeyed. They changed themselves temporarily, He changes us permanently. Theirs was an event accompanied by great fear, ours is an event anticipated with great joy. After all Mt. Sinai was the presentation of God’s Law, and the Rapture is the manifestation of His grace.