1 Thessalonians 4:16 — The Trumpet of God

16 …will be descending from heaven…with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall be rising first.

The Lord’s descent will be accompanied not only by a command and the voice of the archangel but also by the trumpet of God. In Scripture, the trumpet has a special function. When Israel journeyed through the wilderness, silver trumpets had to be made to summon the people and signal that it was time to set out (Num. 10:1–7). A trumpet blast announced that it was time to gather or to move.

A trumpet also sounds at the parousia. Paul connects this signal with the resurrection of the dead in Christ. They will rise first. Elsewhere he speaks of the ‘last trump,’ at which those who will not fall asleep are changed in an indivisible instant (1 Cor. 15:51–52). The designation ‘last’ presupposes earlier trumpet blasts. Could the trumpet at the resurrection of the dead be the first, and the one at the transformation of the living the last?

Thus we distinguish two successive trumpet blasts within one great event. First, the dead in Christ rise incorruptible, and then the living who remain are changed. In this way, the entire Ecclesia is made ready to meet the Lord. No one is left behind. God Himself gives the signal, and all will share in the victory over death!

Share: