The Last Trumpet

The Bible tells us what will happen when Jesus returns.

When the last trumpet sounds, Jesus will return to the world, dead believers will be resurrected, and living believers will be transformed to receive glorified bodies.

“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52).

There are seven trumpets in Revelation. During trumpets 1-6 many terrible events will happen on the earth. This will be the Great Tribulation, during which many people will be killed. Trumpet 7, the last trumpet, will mark the end of the Great Tribulation and the end of the age. Jesus will return to the earth at the last trumpet.

These same events are described in another passage.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17)

According to these verses, a trumpet will sound when the dead are raised. This is the last trumpet, according to 1 Cor. 15:52. At this time the living saints will be “caught up.”

This means that God’s people will be alive on the earth during the Great Tribulation. How will they survive?

God is able to protect his people in the midst of great trouble. When a great flood came on the world, Noah and his family were safe in the ark while everyone else was destroyed.

When great plagues came on the land of Egypt, the Israelites were kept safe while the Egyptians were all judged. This is because God’s people were under the blood of lambs. If we are under the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, we can be supernaturally preserved from evil. But even if God doesn’t keep us physically safe, we know that we will be kept spiritually safe. If we die we will go be with God.

Jesus prayed, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15) Jesus didn’t pray that we would be removed from the earth, but that we would be kept safe from the devil. Jesus can keep us safe from Satan, even in the midst of Great Tribulation. In fact, God has a powerful plan for his people on the earth during the end times, and he wants them to be ready to fulfill that plan.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 speaks of believers who are alive on the earth being caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

What does this mean?

First of all, to be “caught up” doesn’t necessarily mean to be caught of physically. It can also mean to be caught up spiritually. When John saw the visions of Revelation, he was quickened spiritually and went up higher. And after this, John said he became “in the Spirit” (Rev. 4:1-2). When someone is in the Spirit, they are quickened spiritually.

Paul was once caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2). This is a spiritual place where he heard awesome things from God.

At the last trumpet, the living saints will be transformed and get their glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:52). This will be a powerful “catching up” which will happen spiritually.

At the last trumpet, the saints will be caught up “in the clouds.” Clouds can symbolize dead saints in the New Testament. We are surrounded by all the saints who have gone before us, called a “cloud” of witnesses (Heb. 12:1). When the Bible says that the living saints are “caught up” in the “clouds,” it is saying that the living saints will be transformed to receive their glorified bodies at the same time that the dead saints are resurrected to receive their glorified bodies. 

The living saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “Air” can symbolize a spiritual place. Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). This doesn’t mean that Satan is the prince of the air we breathe, but that he is the prince of the spiritual realm that surrounds the world. When Christians are caught up in the air, it can refer to being quickened spiritually and coming to a higher spiritual plane.

When the living saints are “caught up” in the “clouds” to meet the Lord in the “air,” this is just a symbolic way of describing the transformation that will happen when living believers get their gloriified bodies at the return of Christ.

In summary, we can easily understand some important facts about the second coming of Jesus by comparing two important Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. These two Scriptures describe the same events in slightly different ways.

These two Scriptures describe the return of Christ, the last trumpet, the resurrection of the dead, and the living believers being changed to get their glorified bodies.
All of this will happen at the seventh trumpet of Revelation, which will mark the end of the age.

By fitting these Scriptures together, it becomes easier to understand the prophetic timeline of the end of the age.