XI. Blast of the trumpet (shofar) (Matthew 24:31)
Matthew 24:31
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Mark 13:27
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And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
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a. Exodus 19:16–20 – And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the People that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the People out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai , on top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
§ The voice of the trumpet is associated with the descent of God upon Mount Sinai
§ The last trump can be tied to the descent of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 15
§ In addition to the thunders and lightnings the Lord also called Moses up at this time, not all of the children of Israel
o Note that the thunders and lightnings correspond to the plagues of the 7th Vial of Revelation 16:17
§ We can also see that this occurson the third day in the morning,we know from Peter that a day with the Lord is as 1000 years. But this says the morning of the third day so this passage could mean that early on in the 3rd millennium (3rd day after Christ’s initial descent) we are going to witness these events.
b. 1 Thessalonians 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.
§ Psalm 47:5 -God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
§ The Lord descends and the resurrection occurs “with the trump of God”, which leaves the reader to wonder what is the trump of God.
c. 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 – Now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
§ We can see that this passage parallels 1 Thessalonians in that the dead are raised but reveals a little more information by telling the reader that these things occur “at the last trump”
§ So we can determine from this passage that there is more than one trump and the last trump seems to correspond to the trump of God from 1 Thessalonians
§ This passage does not reveal anything about the return of the Lord, but gives more insight into the resurrection of the dead and the living changed to immortal.
§ What we cannot determine from this passage is which trump is the last trump, because we don’t know how many trumps there are.
§ In this passage of 1 Corinthians 15, there is no distinction of which dead shall be raised, but there is a distinction in other passages:
o 1 Thessalonians 4:16 -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:
- Here we see those who are dead in Christ will rise first
- What does it mean to be dead in Christ?
o Revelation 20:4-6 -And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection. Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
- This passage in Revelation seems to indicate that only qualified individuals are given the privilege of having part in the first resurrection.
- Those qualifications to take part in the first resurrection are:
1. Martyred for Jesus
2. Not worshipped the beast
3. Does not have the image of the beast
4. Did not receive the mark of the beast
- The rest of the dead are raised after the millennium
- Those who were part of the first resurrection appear to have exclusive access to Christ for 1000 to be trained as priests.
§ If the dead shall be raised incorruptible where are the dead now? Sleeping? With the Father?
o Luke 16:19-31 -There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyesi, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.ii Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.iii
1. Here we see evidence from the mouth of Jesus that we do not sleep after death, but our souls are either:
a. carried away by angels to Abraham’s bosom to be comforted, or
b. taken to hell to be tormented
2. There is an impassable gulf between where Abraham is and hell
3. The message of Moses and the Prophets is consistent with one (Jesus) who has risen from among the dead.
v It seems (with regard to those who are dead in Christ) that those who died in Christ would be among those with Abraham
o 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 -For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.i For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:ii (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.iii
1. Continuing with this theme from 1 Corinthians 15, we shall be clothed in immortality
2. While in this corruptible and mortal body we cannot be present with the Lord
3. What this passage states is that we cannot be present with the Lord, unless we are absent from the body (which is the corruptible and mortal body). Is it possible to be present with the Lord while in this flesh body? Paul of all people should answer this question in the affirmative for it was he who was struck down by the very presence of Jesus Christ on his journey to Damascus
The other thing that may not be so evident is that just because one may be absent from the body does not necessarily mean that he is present with the Lord, for neither the rich man nor Lazarus in the parable Jesus spoke appear to be in the Lord’s presence.
o Ecclesiastes 12:3-7 -In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and fears [shall be] in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 is another verse that is often quoted independently of the context. Notice that it says Then… before the rest of the verse describes where the spirit goes. But with the lead in Then, should cause the reader to say When?
- When? Is answered in verses 3-6, In the day…, well, what day? I think we can see that the day being described is a day of wrath and judgment. So does the spirit return to God immediately upon death? That may be the case, but this text does not seem to provide any certainty that that is the case, but rather after the day of wrath.
d. Revelation 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 ever and ever.”
§ What is the seventh angel sounding? The seventh trump!
§ Revelation 8:6 -And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
§ We can tie the seventh trump to the return of Christ and the resurrection, are there any other trumps that align with what Jesus said in the gospels?
§ The trumps are sounded in order as follows:
o Revelation 8:7 -The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
o Revelation 8:8 -And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
o Revelation 8:10 -And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
o Revelation 8:12 -And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
o Revelation 9:1 -And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
o Revelation 9:13-16 -And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
- 4 Angels prepared for 4 things:
- Seems to aligns with the 6thseal:
1. Revelation 7:1-4 -And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel
- Are the angels in chapter 7 the same angels of chapter 9 performing the same task, but viewed from a different perspective?
1. Similarities between Revelation 9:13-16 and Revelation 7:1-4 include:
a. 4 angels
b. Angels are sent to destroy
2. Differences between Revelation 9:13-16 and Revelation 7:1-4 include:
a. The 4 angels in Chapter 9 were bound in the Euphrates , no mention of the angels in chapter 7 being bound
b. The 4 angels in chapter 9 were prepared to slay a third part of men, the 4 angels in chapter 7 were given 3 things to “hurt” the earth, the trees and the sea (which could be allegorical for trees and sea have referred to men and government in other places in scripture)
c. Angels in chapter 7 are withholding the wind, there is no mention of the angels in chapter 9 withholding the wind.
d. Chapter 7 indicates that there are 144,000 servants of God who were sealed in their foreheads.Chapter 9 indicates 200,000,000 “horsemen” which appear to represent the locusts out of the bottomless pit.
- Jude 1:6 – And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
§ We see there is a big gap between the 6th and 7th trump in terms of written material.
§ So from the Book of Revelation we know the number of trumps are 7 and that the last trump would be the 7th trump
o From this passage combined with the 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians passages we can determine the timing of the return of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead and the changing of the living with respect to other events.
o What we don’t know is if these trumps are literal trumps or events that represent a trumpet blast
§ Leviticus 23:23-24 – And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing trumpets, an holy convocation.
o Holy convocation – Dress rehearsel
- Holy - קדשqodesh, apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
- Convocation - מקראmiqra', convocation, convoking, reading, a calling together
- The only Feast Day that begins on the 1st day of the month; therefore, no one knows the day or the hour, why? Because the first day of the month falls on a new moon and in order to determine the first day you must Watch for the new moon or the first sliver of moon in the sky.
- The return of Messiah is the actual event for which the Feast of Trumpets is a dress rehearsel.
o Mark 2:28 – Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
o Leviticus 19:30 – Ye shall keep MY Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
o Leviticus 23:2 – Speak unto the children of Israel
- A command to the children of Israel
- These are not man’s feasts, or the Israelites’ feasts or the Jews’feasts, but the Lord’s Feasts
o Hebrews 4:9 – There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
o Revelation 8:1 - And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
- Sabbaths are considered a seal of God
- The Sabbath = rest = silence?
§ Three “woes” are proclaimed in Revelation 8:13 correspond to the 5th, 6th and 7th trumps.
e. 1 John 3:2- Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
§ Now that we know what happens at the 7th trump and that we are changed from corruptible to incorruptible this verse provides tremendous value in that we can avoid deception through false messiahs who claim to be Christ and do miraculous wonders that deceive many.
§ We know that we shall not see Christ until He returns at the 7th and final trump and we are changed to be “like Him” meaning we will no longer be clothed in the corruption of these flesh bodies but will be clothed in incorruption.
f. Joel 2:1-2 –Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.
g. Zechariah 9:14 - And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
h. Daniel 12:13 – But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
§ Daniel would rest in death until the resurrection
i. Joshua 6 and the taking of the city of Jericho provides a typology of end time events with the seven priests (who represent the seven angels) and the seven trumpets blasting and the walls of Jericho fell down flat, foreshadowing the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdom of our Lord.
