THE LAST TRUMPTOP

 1 Thess 4:13-17 - But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  14)  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  15)  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  16)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMP OF GOD: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Cor 15:51-52 - Behold, I shew 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 TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Have you ever wondered exactly what is meant by “The Last Trump”?  Well, if you have, you’re not the only one!  Many Saints of God have sought the Truth of that title.  There has been considerable speculation about the meaning of the above scriptures and their reference to “The Last Trump”.  Having wondered about it myself, I too have searched for the Biblical Truth.  I have come to the conclusion that if we gentiles understood what most Hebrews knew back when it was written, we would probably have no problems identifying what this term refers to today.

In his book, “Footsteps of the Messiah”, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Jewish believer in Jesus, writes:

“It is evident from the fact that Paul used the definite article 'the last trump' that he expected the Corinthians to know what he was talking about. The only knowledge they would have of trumpets are those spoken of in the Old Testament, especially those of the Feast of Trumpets. The last trump refers to the Feast of Trumpets and the Jewish practice of blowing trumpets at this feast each year. During the ceremony there are a series of short trumpet sounds concluding with one long trumpet blast which is called the Tekiah Gedolah, the great trumpet blast. This is what Paul means by the last trump. As such, it says nothing concerning the timing of the rapture; only that the rapture, whenever it occurs, will fulfill the feast of trumpets.”

In another document Fructenbaum wrote:

"The seven holy seasons of Lev 23 are fulfilled in the order in which they fall. What follows the feast of trumpets is the Day of Atonement, which was a day of Israel's national atonement coupled with the affliction of the soul. The Day of Atonement is to be fulfilled by the seven years of Tribulation, during which Israel will suffer afflictions leading up to her national repentance and restoration. And just as The Feast of Trumpets precedes the Day of Atonement, the rapture will also precede the seven years of tribulation."

It is scripturally evident that The Feast of Trumpets, one of the seven important annual celebrations, is definitely associated with the rapture of the Church.  When we take a serious look at the Seven Feasts of the Lord (Lev. 23) we see a beautiful picture of the overall blueprint that God has ordained for mankind and planet Earth.   

GOD’S PLAN FOR MANKIND AND EARTH:

From these Seven Feasts of the Lord we see that the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was crucified on the Feast of Passover; He was then buried at the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and resurrected three days later on the Feast of First Fruits.  Fifty days later He empowered His Church when He filled the disciples with His Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost;   Note: Each of these first four Feasts have now been fulfilled.  The next Feast to be fulfilled will be the Feast of Trumpets when Christ will descend from Heaven to redeem His Bride, the Church.  Seven years later, on the  Feast of Atonement, He will return to Earth with His wife.  At that time He will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Second Advent) to fight the Battle of Armageddon.  Then on the seventh and last Feast of the Lord, the Feast of Tabernacles, Christ will establish His Earthly Kingdom.

 THE HEBREWS UNDERSTOOD:

 We must keep in mind that the only scriptures the Apostle Paul and his Hebrew contemporaries had that contained the instructions from God about the blowing of trumpets, was the Old Testament.  During Paul’s day there was no New Testament.  So when Paul wrote his epistles to the Thessalonians and the Corinthians, he wrote to them about a subject they were familiar with and of something they already fully understood.  He was writing to them about a particular event when the blowing of the “shofar” during the Feast of Trumpets is going to be spiritually fulfilled.  The word, “shofar” is the Hebrew word for a trumpet made from the horn of a ram.  The recipients of these epistles fully understood that subject and of what Paul wrote because they had been celebrating and rehearsing all seven of the Feasts of the Lord for hundreds of years.

Rom 16:25-26 - Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began, 26)  But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

THE MYSTERY REVEALED:

More than once the word “mystery” or “mysteries” is mentioned in the New Testament.  According to this scripture, a mystery is something that has been hidden for a long time, but is finally revealed and made known.  The “mystery” that Paul speaks about in 1 Cor. 15:51-52 concerns the sudden bodily change of the numerous saints who will be alive at the time of the rapture.  He wrote, “. . . . . we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, . . . “  Even though the “alive in Christ” will not experience physical death at that time (die translated as “sleep” in the KJV), their bodies will be quickly transformed.  The changing will happen so fast that Paul described it as happening  “in the twinkling of an eye”.  This change will transform the physical bodies of the living saints into spiritual bodies, suitable for the Spirit World (flesh and bone, but no blood).  For many, many years this truth had never been revealed to mankind.  But when this epistle (1 Corinthians) was received by the saints at Corinth, God revealing it through Paul.

JACOB’S TROUBLE:

We believers must have sufficient scriptural knowledge to be able to distinguish between the plan of God for the Church (its escape) and His plan for Israel (its judgment).  The Tribulation Period will be the time of “Jacob’s Trouble” (judgment), not the time of trouble for the Church!  The works accomplished by Believers after being saved will be judged, but the Believers themselves have already been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and judged “innocent” by and through their acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord (1 Cor. 3:12-15).  Listen closely to the words of Jesus as He refers to the time of Jacob’s Trouble:

THE GREAT ESCAPE:

Luke 21:35-36 - For (the time of Jacob’s trouble - the Seven Years of Tribulation - judgment) as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.  36)  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to ESCAPE ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Rev 3:10 - Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try (test) them that dwell upon the earth.

You see, God has provided a way for His people to escape His judgmental wrath (1 Thess. 5:9).  Jesus even told us to pray that we might be counted worthy to partake of the escape (Luke 21:36).  My friends, that escape He is referring to is what is known today as the “Rapture” - - “the catching away of the Church”.   When that time finally arrives, only the Church (those who are in Christ) will escape.  If anyone wants to be found worthy to escape the worst time this Earth has ever known - - or will ever know - - then he/she must make sure they are a part of His Body (the Body of Christ – the Church).  How can that be done?  By accepting the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, as Savior and Lord. Then one must turn his/her entire being over to Him and trust Him to do what He promised He would do for everyone who sincerely accepts Him and loves Him, not for what He can do, but for who He is.  Who do you say Jesus of Nazareth is?

A FORESHADOW OF THE RAPTURE:

For a picture of the upcoming rapture of the Church, there are several types and shadows throughout the Word of God.  One such type and shadow that we can look at is an amazing event that took place back during the days of Moses after the Hebrews left Egypt and made their way into the wilderness.  It is a picture of what is to occur at the “Last Trump” - - at the time of the Rapture.  Moses took the Hebrews to meet God near Mount Sinai.  One of the reasons he took them there was for the purpose of their agreeing to keep the commandments of God.  The Bible also says the Lord commanded the Hebrews to be prepared to meet God (Exod. 19:10-11).  We too must be prepared to meet Him!

Exodus 19:13, 16-21  

13)There shall not an hand touch it (the mount) but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: WHEN THE TRUMPET SOUNDETH LONG, THEY (the people of God)  SHALL COME UP to the mount.  16) And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount. (Remember, Jesus will meet the Church in the clouds, not on the surface of Earth).  There was THE VOICE OF THE TRUMPET which was exceeding loud ; so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.  17) And Moses brought forth the people OUT OF THE CAMP TO MEET WITH GOD (a picture of the Church leaving Earth to meet Jesus);  and they stood at the nether part of the mount.  18) And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because THE LORD DESCENDED (a picture of Jesus descending out of Heaven in order to meet the Church in the air) upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19) And when the VOICE OF THE TRUMPET sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a VOICE.  20) And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD CALLED MOSES UP to the top of the mount; and MOSES WENT UP (a picture again of the Lord descending downward from Heaven and the Church ascending upward).  21) And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.

Notice that the voice (or sound) of the trumpet was exceeding loud. It was a sustained blast that sounded long, and increased little by little in volume.  Trumpets are important because God instructed the Israelites to make them and blow them on His Feast Days (Num. 10:2, 10).  Of course this included  The Feasts of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24-25).  The Hebrews were  also to blow trumpets at the beginning of each new Month (Numbers 10:10).

THE LAST TRUMP:

During the Feast of Trumpets, listed on most of our modern day calendars as “Rosh Hashanah” (head of the year), the trumpet is to be blown in the Temple by the priest.  Since Jesus Christ is our high priest, what better candidate could we have to blow the “Trump of God” at the time of the rapture?  Tradition says the priest is to blow three distinct series of blasts from the Trumpet during this Feast.  The LAST TRUMP (or last trumpet blast) is to be one long sustained sound that increases in volume. 

As I said, this is the tradition.  But I cannot find any scriptures that confirm this particular practice of blowing the trumpet during the Feast of Trumpets.  I try to avoid  the traditions of men that I cannot confirm with Scripture because of what Jesus said in Mark 7:13.  However, should this be a Godly tradition, then I stand to be corrected.   Pure logic does tell us one thing.  When Paul wrote this epistle to the Church at Corinth I believe he knew those disciples in Corinth would know what he meant if he used the term “the last trump”.  And, of course, anything they already knew had to be learned from the Old Testament scriptures, or from tradition, because there was no New Testament in about 59 A.D. when Paul wrote that epistle.  In fact, what he wrote to the Church at Corinth became a part of the New Testament. So just what did those disciples already know about and understand concerning “the last trump”?   

From Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Page 1172, the word “trump”, as used in 1 Cor. 15:52, is the Greek word, “salpinx” which means, “trumpet”.  According to this word study book, one of the uses of salpinx is that “of the act of the Lord in raising from the dead the saints who have fallen asleep and changing the bodies of those who are living, at the Rapture of all to meet Him (Christ) in the air, where “the last trump” is a military allusion, familiar to Greek readers, and has no connection with the series in Rev. 8:6 to 11:15; there is a possible allusion to Num. 10:2-6, with reference to the same event, 1 Thess. 4:16, “the trump of God” (the absence of the article suggests the meaning of a trumpet such as is used in the service of God.  

There is, however, another possible Old Testament event with which any educated Old Testament disciple who lived back during the time of Paul would be very familiar.  This event used trumpets made from the horns of rams during a military assault.  I am referring to “The Battle of Jericho” (Josh. Chapter 6)  when shofar trumpets (Josh. 6:4) were blown by the priests as they marched around Jericho.  The LAST blast from those shofar trumpets (ie.,The Last Trump) was a long blast, accompanied by shouts.  At that time the wall of Jericho “fell down flat” (not over, but down flat into the ground) and the children of Israel WENT UP (Josh. 6:20).  I believe this could very well be the military allusion to “The Last Trump” Paul wrote about in his epistle to the Corinthians.

Having said that though, I will now explain why I believe the expression “the last trump” was birthed by Paul:  It was in Lev. 23:24-25 that God ordained the “Feast of Trumpets” to be “a memorial of blowing of trumpets.” These instructions of God were written in about 1450 B.C.

When the apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Church at Corinth and coined the term, “the last trump”, it was about 59 A.D.  I feel certain, that since God very clearly instructed the Israelites to blow trumpets on certain occasions, including during the Feast of Trumpets, that they indeed did establish a memorial of blowing trumpets during that Feast.  Previous to the battle of Jericho God set out detailed instructions as to when and how the Israelites were to blow their shofars. 

However, I have not been able to find any scriptures that set forth specific instructions as to how the trumpets are to be blown during the Feast of Trumpets.  So I believe that sometime between those two dates (a span of about 1500 years), the Israelites began a practice (or tradition) of blowing their trumpets to produce certain distinct sounds based upon various Old Testament events, such as the Jericho event, where trumpets were to produce specific sounds.

In other words, over many years a practice evolved which produced three particular groups of trumpet sounds, rather than mere random blasts that would differ from one time to the next.  It seems they established the following:   The first blast consists of  three distinct, one second long sounds.  The second blast consists of three groups of three short sounds each, totaling nine.  Then THE LAST TRUMP (or last blast) consists of one long blast that increases in volume little by little and is to be sustained as long as possible.  By the time Paul wrote his epistle to the Church at Corinth, the Israelites had long since established this pattern of trumpet sounds during the Feast of Trumpets.

The word, “trump” in 1 Cor. 15:52 probably does not so much refer to “the last trumpet” - - to the instrument that produces the sound - - as it does to the sound itself - - to “the last blast” of that series of blasts that had became a tradition during those many years.  At any rate, the Church at Corinth would have certainly understood the term, “the last trump” because they would have been practicing that tradition for hundreds of years.  It certainly would have not been something new or foreign to them.        

WHEN WILL THE RAPTURE OCCUR?:

As far as I can see, there is no way to determine exactly what year the Rapture of the Church will occur.  But simply knowing that it is to take place during some annual FEAST OF TRUMPETS (normally in our late September or early October, depending upon the year) narrows it down a good bit and provides us with hope.  At least it reveals to us the season of the year when it will happen.  Perhaps this may be the year!

A COMMON MISAPPLIED VERSE:

A common verse that causes difficulty for many of the saints in distinguishing the Rapture from the Second Advent is Matthew 24:36 which says, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  Almost without fail, when the subject of the rapture is introduced, someone will quote this verse.  And usually their attitude will imply that since no one knows the day nor the hour when the rapture is going to occur, we are simply wasting our time even discussing it. 

The problem is many believers erroneously misapply this verse and  associate it with the Rapture.  However, the rapture is not the subject of Matthew Chapter 24.  The basic subject of the entire 24th Chapter of Matthew is the Tribulation Period and the Second Advent, both of which are going to occur after the rapture of the Church.  When Jesus said that no man knows the day nor the hour of the Second Advent, He was including Himself.  It is sometimes easy to overlook the fact that when He made that statement, He was here on Earth as 100% man.  Because He had temporarily laid His Godly abilities aside, that included His omniscience.  So at the time He made that statement, only the Father knew when the Second Advent would take place.

Also, when Jesus told that to His disciples, He had not yet been sacrificed.  His disciples knew nothing about the Church at that time, much less anything about its future escape.  As a matter of fact, at that point and time they didn’t even understand His going away!  So they would have had no knowledge of the Church or of its future Rapture.  Therefore Jesus would have not been discussing  that subject with them.  Since Matthew 24:36 has no connection whatsoever with the rapture of the Church,   then a possibility does exist for those of us who are “in Christ” to at least know the season in which the rapture will take place.

Believers who fail to consider the Feast of Trumpets as being the proper season for a future rapture of the Body of Christ are missing out on a considerable amount of Truth and hope.  Their belief has to affect their spiritual outlook and understanding of Biblical prophesy as well.   Sadly, many of them simply base their belief upon that one verse of scripture in Matthew 24:36 which apparently has no connection with the rapture!   As disciples, we must rightly divide the Word of Truth.  I personally believe that it is the Will of God for those who love Him to know even more about our spiritual future than we realize!  But regardless, whether or not that is His will, we must always be prepared.  The following scriptures tend to confirm that it is His Will for us to know: 

Deut 29:29 - The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 Luke 8:10 - And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

TWO SEPARATE EVENTS:                                                             

Always remember that the rapture of the Church and the Second Advent are two distinct events which will occur seven years apart. In closing, I have created a two column chart that I hope will show some of the basic differences between the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ.  It should help us see them better as being two separate and distinct events: