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.” 1 Corinthians 15:52 I don’t believe this is the same Last trumpet as in Revelation 11 but how do you prove that to some one who is post trib?
There are several opinions concerning this so-called last trump.
Most post- trib believers equate the Last Trump with the trumpet call Jesus will issue to the angels to gather his elect at the time of the 2nd Coming (Matthew 24:31). But that trumpet dispatches His angels in Heaven to gather the elect for their return to Earth. It’s not a signal for the Church that it’s time to leave Earth. Therefore it cannot be the trumpet call that will be heard by the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52.
It’s Mid trib believers who say the last trump is the 7th trumpet of Revelation 11:15 and following. They believe it puts the rapture just at the threshold of the Great Tribulation. But this trumpet is never called the last Trump in the Bible, and again it’s blown in heaven not on Earth.
The pre-trib position is that the Last Trump is the one time the Church will hear a trumpet call while on Earth. It’s mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and is called the Trumpet call of God.
The Trumpet of God will only be heard twice on Earth. The first time was at Mt. Sinai when the Law was given (Exodus 19:16) and the last time will be at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16). (Hence the name “Last Trump.”) Both are accompanied by the audible voice of God and both create a Kingdom.
From comparing the giving of the Law to Israel with the rapture of the church we can see several other similarities as well. At Mt. Sinai the Israelites were redeemed from slavery, at the Rapture the Church will be redeemed from sin. They were consecrated, we’ll be perfected. They washed their clothes, we’ll be given clean clothes. God came to the Mt. top, Jesus will come to the air.
At Mt. Sinai Moses and Aaron went up, at the rapture we will go up. At Mt. Sinai Israel was wed to God. At the Rapture the Church will be wed to Jesus. At Mt. Sinai God dwelt with Israel and at the rapture the Church will dwell 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 will all go up and everyone will pass 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 will change 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.