At The Last Trumpet

“One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glories will shine”

The popular Christian song Glorious Day by Casting Crowns tells of “one day” when we will see Him coming with all the saints. Clearly this song is a reference to what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.(I Cor 15:51-52)

The mystery that Paul is unfolding here is the famous “rapture” of living saints and the “rising” of the dead saints. It was a mystery because never before had a Jewish (or Gentile) audience ever heard of a meeting of both living and dead saints. ‘When’ this will change will happen is not so much a concern to Paul at the time he penned this letter. But, safe to say, it is a real big deal in our present day — as I believe it should be.

Friends, what could be more significant than the day that believers of all time — from Adam through Abraham, David, Daniel and Paul himself — will be united together, once and for all, to live with Jesus forever and never be separated from Him again?

Paul was given supernatural revelation to know that “at the last trumpet” the end would come for this age! John, the apostle, was given the same revelation at the end of his life, about 40 years later on the island of Patmos.

In the book of Revelation, which is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:1), we find the details of that mystery! We find a series of 21 numbered judgments that God will pour out on the earth, like He did in Egypt with the 10 plagues. By the way, did God first remove the children of Israel out of Egypt before He sent the 10 plagues or did He “protect” the children of Israel in the midst of the plagues?

The 7th Trumpet — the last trumpet?

Unfortunately, there is so little basic familiarity with the book of Revelation that many (most) believers do not even know that there is a series of 7 trumpet blasts listed there. These judgments – 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls of wrath – will unfold right at the time when Jesus takes the sealed scroll from the right hand of His Father and opens the scroll. (Rev 5)

The scroll, which is said by many to represent the “Title Deed of Earth”, is sealed shut with 7 seals. As each seal is ripped off by Jesus Christ the world experiences a judgment. The first four of these seals are the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Antichrist, war, famine, pestilence and death (Rev 6).

After the 7th seal is ripped open, the scroll unfurls and reveals inside – so to speak – the seven angles that will play the 7 trumpets! (Rev 8 -11). This is followed finally by the 7 bowls of God’s wrath (Rev 15-16), in which “the wrath of God is finished” and the beginning of the 1000 year reign of Jesus will commence. (Rev 20)

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” Rev 16: 17

Are you with me so far??

Well, back to the last trumpet. Here is what the Bible says of that 7th trumpet:

Then the seventh angel sounded; 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.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying,
“We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” (Rev 11:15-18)

As one preacher has put it: “This is the OUR GOD REIGNS moment!”

I find it extremely fascinating that at the 7th trumpet there is no mention of a hail and blood being thrown at the earth or blood filling the seas destroying fish and ships, or darkness falling on the earth, which we find in the previous 6 trumpets, but at the last trumpet blast we suddenly find Jesus coming to reign on this earth! This fact alone must be taken into serious consideration by Pre-Tribulation adherents, who put the timing of the Rapture much earlier. (Rev 4)

At the last trumpet we find:

1. The kingdom being given to the Lord.
2. He reigns forever and ever.
3. Nations are enraged.
4. God’s wrath is poured out on the nations.
5. The dead to be judged.
6. Saints and prophets rewarded.
7. Those who destroy the earth will be destroyed.

Truly this is an incredible, indescribable moment. Oh! That the church would take off Her blinders and see what is really written in the Word of God! There is nothing to compare with this scene of the 7th trumpet in the entire Bible.

Then the mystery of God is finished

We started with Paul acknowledging the mystery of God. We will end now with John declaring that at the 7th trumpet “the mystery of God is finished”. (Rev 10:7) The entire subject of the first half of Rev. 10 is to set up the playing of the 7th Trumpet. There we see a strong angel, “clothed with a cloud and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire” (10:1) descending to the earth, where He swears by heaven and earth and the sea that at the 7th trumpet “that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. (Rev 10:6-7)

Really, I ask you? Can anything be clearer than this? This angel tells John that God has even preached this already to “His servants the prophets”!

The Glorious Return

Just two or three days before His death on the cross, Jesus spoke about His return to earth to His disciples on the Mt. of Olives. This is recorded for us in Matthew 24 where Jesus lays out the unfolding of the Last Days of this age. He speaks of the “beginning of birth pangs” that would happen on earth: wars, famine, pestilence, brother giving up brother, many false prophets, and the love of most [believers] growing cold. Yet He says clearly “but that is not yet the end.”

Then He moves to the very end of the Last Days and describes that scene. Interestingly enough we read of a Great Trumpet that sounds just as the believers are being gathered from the four corners of the earth!

“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Mtt 24:30-31)

“Oh, Glorious Day! Jesus is Mine!”

In Him,

Jeff Gilbertson