Years ago someone said to me that “the last trump”, of 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, the rapture trumpet, is the last in a series of Old Testament trumpets, and has nothing to do with the trumpet judgments of the book of Revelation. It certainly looks that way, but recently I came to realize that a great many professing Christians still think that the “last trump”  comes at the end of the Tribulation period, and these people will not be convinced by my just saying so. They need to see the series of trumpets, so I decided to do a study on these OT trumpets, and I will NOT use anyone else’s study guide.

If what we believe is true we should be able to find it with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and no one else;

 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  52 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.

If it is true that the Isaiah 27:13 trumpet is the “Last Trumpet” we should be able to prove this through a simple reading of the bible, in context; specifically the trumpet passages which must come before the beginning of the Tribulation period.

I prayed about this and below is the answer I received from the Lord, and no I did not hear an audible voice, I just read His word and relied on the Holy Spirit to do the interpretation for me;

One thing you need to understand is that the bible is a progressive revelation of God.  Moses did not understand the revelations that God would give to David, when he wrote his books.  Neither did David understand the revelations God would give Isaiah, Daniel, and Paul, when he wrote his Psalms.

Each author understood some of what God gave them, but even then they did not necessarily understand all the implications of what God was saying.  They simply wrote what God gave them, and it is up to the reader to listen to the Author to understand what He intended for us to learn.

So, with this in mind, we must understand that the book of Revelation was written some 30-40 years AFTER Paul’s death.  The unique prophecies of Revelation were not on Paul’s mind at all, and he had no knowledge of the trumpet judgments of Revelation.  Rather, Paul was thinking of Old Testament trumpets, because Paul was an Old Testament scholar.

There is no evidence that Paul ever read Matthew’s gospel, with its reference to “a great trumpet” in Matthew 24:31.  Paul never quoted any gospel except Luke, and Luke does not mention this trumpet in his parallel passage of Luke 17.  So if Paul never encountered any reference to the trumpet of Matthew 24:31 then he would not be referring to it, nor have any reason do think that this might be a contradiction.

Many Dispensationalists contradict their theory when they say that “nothing needs to happen before the rapture of the Church” but then never tell us where the other trumpets are, which must come before the Last Trump! If the “Last Trumpet” occurs at the end of the Church-Age then there must have been other trumpets already blown! It is a logical inconsistency to say the “Last Trumpet is the first one”!

There are all kinds of trumpets in the Old Testament. Most of them are in the law and related to feasts and celebrations, but the first mention of one which is related to the End Times is actually the one I consider to be the Last Trumpet, found in Isaiah 27;

12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.  13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Keep in mind that God exists outside of time, and frequently issues prophecies that move back and forward in time. Many prophecies have elements that are separated by thousands of years, and yet appear in one sentence, or within one verse.

I have made the case already, in many articles, why the Isaiah 27:13 trumpet is the Last Trumpet, so I won’t go into that here, but it is fairly easy to prove that the job of the city watchman on the wall was to blow a trumpet when danger appeared. This is the kind of trumpet God is talking about here;

  1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.  2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.  3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.  4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.  5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?  6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?  7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Isaiah 58:1-7

These trumpets are a warning of coming judgment! The sins of Israel require judgment, not to mention the sins of our own nations, and the greatest sin of all is the rejection of God’s Messiah! So the “last trump” is the last warning Israel will receive before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble falls upon them! The warning actually causes them to return to the land en-mass!

 4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.  6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. Jeremiah 4:4-6

Is this trumpet a warning about the Gog and Magog war? It could be for the principal antagonist in that conflict is from the north of Israel, and is most likely Russia. It more likely is a warning about the attack of the Assyrians, or Babylonians, who both lived north of Israel. This would place some of the first trumpets 2,700 years before the Last Trumpet. Surely in 2,700 years Israel would get it right? Unfortunately for them it is not so, and the sins of their fathers are still being repeated today!

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.  20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled,and my curtains in a moment.  21 How long shall I see the standard,and hear the sound of the trumpet?  22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. Jeremiah 4:19-21

Here it is again in the same chapter of Jeremiah. Repeated for emphasis!

In Jeremiah 6 we can see the trumpet as warning again;

16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.  17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. 18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.  19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. Jeremiah 6:16-19

So Israel fled the trumpets of war, but war followed them wherever they fled;

13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God,  14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:  15 And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;  16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

Here is another trumpet of warning, but this warning is not for Israel, but for Babylon. For this reason I believe this trumpet is not a part of the series leading to the Last Trumpet, but is actually a part of a series in the early part of the Tribulation aimed at the city of Babylon itself;

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. Jeremiah 51:27

Another ancient trumpet aimed at the sinners of Israel;

They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. Ezekiel 7:14

Again, Ezekiel tells us that there will be trumpets of warning coming against Israel, and those who heed the warnings will be saved;

 2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:  3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;  4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.  5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. Ezekiel 33:2-5

This is the type of trumpet Paul is speaking of in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, and not the trumpet judgments found in Revelation.

Another trumpet warning in Hosea 5:8

8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth–aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

The Lord’s leaving Israel in verse 15 occurred 40 days after the cross, and is a trumpet sign for Israel!

 15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.  6:1 Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.  2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Israel has missed the trumpets God has sent them, and they will continue to do so until the last trumpet, the rapture of the Church-Age saints!

Joel speaks of some of the same trumpets;

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; Joel 2:1

And Amos…

14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.  15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,  16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. Zephaniah 1:14-16

Yes indeed, the “last trump” is the last warning of coming judgment! This is the context that Paul is speaking of! This passage is also a precursor to the rapture passage found in Zephaniah 2:3.

The Trumpet of Zechariah 9 is not in the same series of trumpets at all, this is another one that comes later, after the rapture, at the time when Jesus Christ shall return and save the remnant of His people!

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.  15 The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.  16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.  17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

So you can see that there are a great many trumpets in Scripture, some before and some after the “last trump”, but the “last trump” itself is the last of a series of warning trumpets which the Lord has sent, and is sending, to wake-up His people!

The “last trump” in this series will indeed call the living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and it is this trumpet warning that will wake-up Israel. They will see the believers in their midst disappear, and they will know that it is the Lord who has done this!

They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Deuteronomy 32:21

But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. Romans 10:19

Yes indeed, the rapture of the saints is the last trumpet warning that provokes Israel to jealousy, and causes them to pick-up the cause of Christ, and to be His missionary nation to the world for the Tribulation period!