1 Corinthians 15:52

This transformation will not be a gradual process but instantaneous. The Greek word translated "moment" or "flash" (atomos) refers to an indivisible fragment of time. The blinking of an eye takes only a fraction of a second.

This trumpet blast will summon Christians home to heaven (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16). It is the last trumpet that connects with our destiny, the one that signals the end of our present existence and the beginning of our future existence. [Note: See Barnabas Lindars, "The Sound of the Trumpet: Paul and Eschatology," Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 67:2 (Spring 1985):766-82.]

"We need not suppose that St Paul believed that an actual trumpet would awaken and summon the dead. The language is symbolical in accordance with the apocalyptic ideas of the time. The point is that the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of the living will be simultaneous, as of two companies obeying the same signal." [Note: Robertson and Plummer, p. 377.]

Some posttribulationists equate this trumpet with the seventh or last trumpet of Revelation 11:15-18. [Note: E.g., Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ, p. 73.] This does not seem to me to be valid. Other trumpets will sound announcing various other events in the future (cf. Matthew 24:31; Revelation 8:2; Revelation 8:6; Revelation 8:13; Revelation 9:14; et al.). However, Christians, believers living in the church age, will not be on the earth then, and those trumpets will not affect us. This last trumpet is not the very last one that the Bible speaks of. [Note: Renald E. Showers, Maranatha: Our Lord, Come! A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church, pp. 259-69.] The fact that Paul included himself in the group living at the time of the Rapture shows that he expected that event to take place imminently (i.e., at any moment; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). If he had believed the Tribulation precedes the Rapture, it would have been natural for him to mention that here. [Note: For more evidence that the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation, see J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, pp. 193-218; John F. Walvoord, The Rapture Question; idem, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation; and Ryrie, Basic Theology, pp. 482-87.]

"Christ’s return is always imminent; we must never cease to watch for it. The first Christians thought it so near that they faced the possibility of Jesus’ return in their lifetime. Paul thinks he too may perhaps be alive when it happens." [Note: Gaston Deluz, A Companion to I Corinthians, p. 248. See also Gerald B. Stanton, Kept from the Hour, ch. 6: "The Imminency of the Coming of Christ for the Church," pp. 108-37.]

"The simple fact is that Paul did not know when Christ would return. He was in the exact position in which we are. All that he knew, and all that we know, is that Christ may come at any time." [Note: Lenski, p. 737.]

Paul did not answer the interesting questions of who will blow or who will hear this trumpet probably because the trumpet appears to be a metaphor for God’s summons. Throughout Israel’s history God announced His working for the nation and He summoned His people to Himself with the blowing of literal trumpets (Exodus 19:16; Exodus 19:19; Exodus 20:18; Leviticus 25:9; Numbers 10:2; Numbers 10:8-10; et al.). So He may use a literal trumpet for this purpose at the Rapture as well.