Last Trumpet

THE FALSE PROPHET MUHAMMAD | home

and all these things are come upon thee,

(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God)

He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee,

But we are all going to be raptured out before the real bad times come,

right? Let’s make a little agreement between you, the Lord, and me.

Let’s take all our commentaries and set them aside for a minute. Then

let’s take the Bible, and only the Bible, and see what it has to tell us

Please be patient with me for making this a kind of nit-picking

chapter. The I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed because if the

Scripture verses quoted below really mean what they say, then ALL of

our current end-time ideas will need rethinking. Let’s begin with a quote

that is familiar to almost every Christian:

1Th 4:16-17 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.

All agree that those verses refer to the so-called “rapture” of the

Church.1 In fact, 1 Th 4:16-17 is one of the central passages in Scripture

that supports the physical return of the Lord Jesus to this Earth. Note the

WE. Paul was speaking to the Church of which he was part and we have

every scriptural reason to believe that we also includes us. You and I and

the rest of the church are the WE of 1 Th 4:16-17. That’s relatively

Also note that Jesus is returning with the “trumpet of God.” Now the

Bible is full of trumpets, including seven in Revelation, so the next

logical question is this: Which biblical trumpet is this one? Of all the

trumpets in the Bible, at which one is the Church taken to be with the

1Co 15:51-52 Behold, I shew 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.2

Ah, and there it is, the last trumpet! We are taken to be with the

Lord at the last trumpet. That trumpet is singular, so no other trumpets

are blown with it. Also, there are no modifiers such as, “except the

trumpets of judgment,” or “except the trumpets in Revelation.” That

There are NO exceptions! Not one Bible trumpet is left out!

1 “Rapture” is in quotes because the author does not find the return of the Lord for the

saints so characterized anywhere in Scripture. It is believed to have come from the Latin

Vulgate’s “raptao” in reference to this event. By definition, the word “rapture” seems

more suitable for the mystery religions than it does for sober Christians looking forward

to the most awesome event in all history, the return of Jesus. The whole “Rapture” concept

may have been brought into the church by the publicists of Margaret Macdonald’s vision.

See Dave MacPherson, The Rapture Plot, (Simpsonville, SC, Millennium III)

2 Compare this 1Co quote with the 1Th quote above it. In both, the dead in Christ are

raised, and in both, trumpets are blown. Notice also that there are three more we’s. Here

is the point: If the we Paul was speaking of in 1Th 4:17 includes us, then so do the we’s

in 1Co 15:51-52. Believe it or not, there are those who claim that 1Th 4:16-17 is for the

Church, while 1Co 15:52 is for the great tribulation saints. Nonsense! There are we’s in

both passages! Either both verses are for us, or neither are. We can’t go arbitrarily picking

through the we’s in the Bible on the basis of some doctrine we wish to defend.

Recognizing that the church will be taken to be with the Lord at the

one and only last trumpet of all time simplifies a doctrinal point the

Church has been arguing about for over 100 years.

Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since

Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days ... the

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a

trumpet [a great trumpet, NASB], and they shall gather together his

elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So isn’t it obvious that the last trumpet comes after the tribulation?1

Sure, and since the church is taken up at the last trumpet, the only way

to defend the pre-trib rapture is to rewrite Scripture and put verse 31

No matter what our doctrines may have been in the past, the Bible

states that our trumpet is the last, and the last trumpet does not blow

until Rev 11:15, after the six other trumpets in Revelation have blown.3

So the last trumpet is solid scriptural evidence that the Church will be on

earth through the trumpets of Revelation. Now Brethren, that isn’t just

another irrational end-time theory. If we have ears to hear it, that is what

The last Bible trumpet blows in Rev 11:15, but the conditions

surrounding that trumpet blast are described in chapter ten:

Rev 10:6-7 ... that there should be time no longer: But in the days

of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the

mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his

What tremendous verses. If there is a central Scripture about the

chronology of the Lord’s return, Rev 10:6-7 is it. As is true of every

other creation of this present age, when the seventh trumpet sounds, it

also appears that time itself will come to an end.4 That’s important,

1 Some believe the Church is “raptured” at the end of Rev 3 because “church” (the Greek

word Ýêêëçóßá, usually rendered church), does not appear after Rev 3. Some logic. That’s

like saying Esther didn’t believe in God because the word “God,” does not appear in the

book of Esther. But the main problems with their view are still the seven trumpets of

2 Dave MacPherson writes, “Over the years I’ve privately contacted hundreds of the bestknown

evangelical scholars in regards to their prophetic views. The vast majority . . .

harmonizes 1 Thessalonians 4's coming with Matthew 24's coming, but the general public

doesn’t know this. If just a minority . . . were to publicly reveal their positions, pretrib

dispensationalism would receive a death blow.” The Rapture Plot (Simpsonville, SC,

3 There are some denominational theologians who declare that this last trumpet does not

include the seven trumpets in Revelation. Unbelievable as it may sound, they theorize that

Revelation’s seven trumpets are “special” trumpets of judgment excluded from the firm

mandate of 1Co 15:52. There is absolutely no Scripture for their view, and it is counter

to the plain testimony of the Bible: the declaration that we are taken to be with the Lord

4 The correct definition of the Gr. ÷ñüíïl (chronos) is “time,” and it is so translated in the

KJV. The modern translation of chronos as “delay” is probably invalid. Greek has several

words for delay, including ÷ñïíßæù (chronizo) from the same root. If the Lord had

intended delay, then He chose the wrong Greek word to express it. Though chronos

appears 53 times in the NT, only in Rev 10:6 have modern translators taken the liberty of

rendering chronos as delay. Strong defines ÷ñüíïl G5550, as a space of time, season,

space, time, while. Chronos represents “delay” only by implication.

because understanding that time will come to an end affects our end time

The “mystery of God” is the Church in Christ Jesus.2 So the Church

as a betrothed body of believers on Earth will be concluded at this

“As He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” Which prophets

is the Lord speaking of? We don’t see any excluded, so these prophets

are all the prophets in the Bible, both Old Testament and New. All

prophecy will be fulfilled at this trumpet. Of course, this does not

include those few verses which refer to the eternal Kingdom of God.

That timeless state continues into infinity.

Let’s look at the verse where that trumpet blast sounds. The 7th

trumpet is blown right in the middle of Revelation, after the Seven

Churches, after the Seven Seals, after six other trumpets, and after the

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great

voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become

the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for

The 7th angel sounds, and the Lord reigns forever. Right then,

forever! After that trumpet blows, there won’t be time for a tribu-lation,

or for a 1000-year millennium. We will be going straight into the eternal

Kingdom of God when that last trumpet sounds. Despite differing

doctrines, that is the chronological picture as declared in the Bible.

1 If there is no more time after the 7th trumpet, there isn’t any more time for another

trumpet to blow. So our trumpet couldn’t come after this 7th trumpet. Second, our trumpet

can’t come before this 7th trumpet either, or our trumpet would not be the last. So the 7th

trumpet of Revelation is our last trumpet. It is the very trumpet at which we, the Church,

are taken to be with the Lord! Neither is the last trumpet going to sound over

several years. The phrase “when he shall begin to sound” tells us so. At the very first peep

out of that trumpet, there will be no more time! Time as a natural phenomenon will cease

to exist, and we will be in the eternal Kingdom of God. This puts to rest the idea that the

seventh trumpet could be blowing throughout a seven-year tribulation.

2 Rom 16:25, Eph 1:9, 3:4, 3:9, 5:32, Col:1:27, 2:2.

So when is the great tribulation? Matthew 24:21 tells us there was

going to be one. Well, the Greek word for tribulation is thlipsis, also

translated affliction and trouble. Thlipsis, used 37 times in the New

Testament, almost always refers to the suffering of the saints. Here are

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might

have peace. In the world ye shall have [thlipsis] tribulation: but be

of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Rom 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in [thlipsis] tribulation;

2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God

for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and [thlipsis]

Generally speaking, the unsaved don’t go through thlipsis; they are

destined for orgy or thumos, God’s wrath.1 Orgy and thumos are the two

Greek words for wrath. So we saints will suffer tribulation during the

Christian Era, but we are not destined unto a final wrath, but unto eternal

1 Rom 9:22, Eph 5:6, 1Th 1:10, Rev 16:19.

salvation.1 The wicked are destined unto final wrath, the judgment of the

Great White Throne, and the second death. So when is “the great

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in

tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in

the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the

The tribulation of the saints began during John’s time. May God

forgive us for forgetting the terrible suffering the saints of the past have

endured. Between two and twenty million Christians were killed by the

Roman Empire in tortures unimaginable. The Catholic church killed up

to twelve million more during the middle ages. In our own generation

alone, the Nazis murdered six million Jews, and several million

Christians. The Moslems have killed millions as well. We don’t read The

Pilgrim Church, Fox’s Book of Martyrs, or Martyrs Mirror anymore, so

we have lost our sense of history. We have lost all memory of sufferings

Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall

have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away

The Lord has permitted the enemy to blind our eyes and we have

lost sight of God’s big spiritual picture. The Great Tribulation of the

Church began with the stoning of Stephen, and continued until the time

of the Gentiles ended. From the Scriptures we have been looking at, it

is obvious that all defined biblical times have been fulfilled in new

Israel. As a result, the Great Tribulation is probably an epochal time that

has been running throughout the Christian Era. In fact, since the true

saints have suffered terribly ever since the cross, the “Great Tribulation”

that Jesus spoke of may be His name for the Christian Era.

Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio, 11/12/2001, 1.09pm

1 The “but unto salvation” of 1Th 5:9 is much beloved by pre-trib rapturists as proof of

their position. However, that phrase is not about a tribulation period at all, but about the

eternal salvation of the saints. The verse must be read carefully if we are to grasp what it

Aaron Ussishkin, 50, the security officer of Moshav Kfar Hess, was

shot dead by an Arab terrorist last night. He was alerted to the

presence of a suspicious man at the entrance to the community,

within pre-1967 Israel, about six kilometers northwest of PAcontrolled

Kalkilye and six kilometers northeast of Raanana. He

ran to the site, and managed only to ask the Arab what he was

doing there before the man shot him. Two other Israelis were wounded in the attack, and the murderer escaped.