"The Last Trump"

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

What is the "Last trumpet". We've talked about trumpets before with Rosh Hashanah. You can go back and look it up. The feast of Trumpets is a two day feast at the new moon usually in September. It's "announced" with shofar (ram's horn) blasts. The 100th blast is called the "last trump".

I'm not sure if Isaiah 18 :3 is talking about this one, but it says all the people of the world will hear the trumpet.

Matthew 24:29-31 says "Immediately after the distress of those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 'At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

1 Thess 4:15-18  "According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."

So even for (silly) people who don't believe that Rosh Hashanah is the "date" of the rapture, there will be all kinds of signs... and possibly 99 other loud trumpet blasts before we are "caught up".

The fun thing in these verses to me is seeing that it is at that time that we are made "immortal". The reason I like that is because a month later we're coming back down, following Jesus on horse back for the battle of Armageddon. (Rev. 19:14 "The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.") 

He will loose NO ONE in battle. We will be imperishable! The armies of the beast do not stand a chance. 

Can you imagine an army of saints that have been perfected? How cool is that?