The Trumpet Shall Sound!

The views expressed here are solely of the author who shall be held accountable. Therefore I tremble, yet I am confident to move forward to proclaim the whole counsel of God.

Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1Cor. 15:51-58)

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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. 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. 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1Thess. 4:13-18)

I have good news for all my brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible says right here, “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.”

And it says, “For the Lord [He] 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: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air…”

The Earnest Contender employs normal interpretation (here is one example and another and yet another), and he deems that the text must have a purpose for the ones it was originally written to (i.e. the Corinthian and the Thessalonian readers/listeners), and that Paul had a reason, or intent for writing it. Therefore, it seems apparent to this blogger that perhaps a trumpet sounding means something, but what?

Here are some other questions I wish to ask:

What is the trumpet sound?

What does it signify?

Is Paul referring to the trumpets of John the Apostle who wrote the Revelation?

When did John write the Revelation, was it before Paul wrote to the Churches or after?

If after, could Paul have been speaking of another idea of trumpet, what could he mean if it was not about the trumpet judgments of Revelation?

I will express more about this later, but what are your views?

John