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What Is the Last Trump?
The Clarion Call
By Gary Stearman
On the Arch of Titus, built in Rome at
the end of the first century to celebrate the
Roman destruction of Jerusalem, there are
depictions of the loot brought from the
Holy City, following the A.D. 70 sacking
of Israel’s Holy Temple. This fifty-foot-
high triumphal arch is the only arch of its
type still standing as an ancient memorial.
Pictured in sculpted reliefs on the arch are
what the Romans must have considered
to be the most valuable of all their prizes,
the Temple Menorah, and Table of Show-
bread and two ceremonial trumpets. It is
truly remarkable that on this arch, we see
the only realistic renderings ever made of
the actual instruments of Temple worship,
presumably executed by a Roman sculptor
who patterned them after the real articles.
The Romans rightly valued the booty
from the sacked Temple of Herod as the
greatest prize ever to fall into their hands.
The leaders of the conquering Flavian Dy-
nasty, Vespasian, and his two sons, Titus
and Domitian, believed the existence of Above: The Arch of Titus celebrates the
a Jewish state to be the chief barrier to Roman conquest of Judea. Pictured are
peaceful control of the Middle East. They Jewish prisoners being paraded down
did everything they could to make sure the streets of Rome carrying the Temple
that they stamped out Israel so completely Menorah (lampstand), Showbread table
that it would never rise again. Their victo- and two trumpets. Left: The Judea Capta
ry cry, IUDEA CAPTA — Judea Captured Roman coin that was struck after the
— rang out across the world in triumph. destruction of Jerusalem.
It was repeatedly struck upon coins of the of God’s sovereign power, and a testament
realm for all to see. to His affirmation that He would never for-
Forty years after Christ’s crucifixion, get His promise to a redeemed people.
Vespasian and Titus overran Jerusalem,
Israel and especially the Temple Mount, The Trumpet of Grace
taking gold, silver and valuables, along Within the body of Christ, there is a
with thousands of Jews to be sold in the group (the percentage is impossible to cal-
slave markets of the world. From A.D. 66 tion emerges. Why are the two trumpets culate) that actively holds to the doctrine
through A.D. 73, the Romans systemati- pictured on the arch, being given as much of imminency. Faithfully following the
cally destroyed all Israel. symbolic significance as the Menorah and Apostolic example, they await the clarion
But as the Arch of Titus shows, it was Showbread table from the Holy Place? call of the trumpet, in the belief that no in-
the golden Menorah along with the Table Why did the Romans consider these in- tervening event must come to pass before
of Showbread that the Romans regarded as struments to be so important that they, too, it is sounded.
the highest symbols of their victory. These would occupy so important a position on It is the trumpet of grace, that signals
two articles — the light and bread of God’s the triumphal arch? the transition to a glorified body and their
people — were displayed as a token that As it turns out, the blowing of trumpets full realization of God’s Kingdom. There
not just the Jewish people, but the God of is one of the Bible’s major themes. The is even a special reward for those who ac-
Israel, Himself, had been vanquished. It Romans could not have known this, but tively live in this hope, stated by Paul in
was their way of saying, “God is dead.” in fact, the carving on the Arch of Titus his second letter to Timothy:
Interestingly, two trumpets are also validates the Lord’s view of an important “Henceforth there is laid up for me a
carved into the picture. An important ques- fact. The trumpet is an important symbol crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
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righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and hath given us everlasting consolation views. Some say that the rapture will come
and not to me only, but unto all them also and good hope through grace, “Comfort at some point during the Tribulation Peri-
that love his appearing” (II Tim. 4:8). your hearts, and stablish you in every good od, whether earlier or later. Others deny it
Some would take the position that Paul word and work” (II Th. 2:16, 17). entirely, saying that it is a mere metaphor.
is here referring to Christ’s Second Com- It must be remembered that when he Given the clarity of Paul’s words, how can
ing during the great battle at the end of the wrote these words, the Temple was still such misunderstanding exist?
Tribulation. And indeed, there will Tribu- in daily operation. Paul’s words about Were it not for a single point of lan-
lation saints, those faithful who await His the man of sin standing there and declar- guage, this scenario would be readily
coming at the end of that horrific chain of ing himself to be God could have come to accepted by most of the church. But the
events. But in the ordinary sense of the pass at any moment. But his readers never wording used to describe the clarion call
word, as it is perceived now, during the age thought that they would see this event. It from on high, has come to be used as a
of the church, he is talking about Christ’s was, in fact, quite the opposite. basis for rival interpretations, clashes of
glorious epiphany at the rapture. Both then and now, Paul’s words are opinion, and a variety of post-Apostolic
Nevertheless, we are often faced with intended to bring solace to a people with theologies. Historically and intellectually,
those whose theology has led them to a many questions about the judgment of the there are many reasons for this. But one of
false conclusion: namely, that the trumpet sinful world system — the Roman world of the major differences has revolved around
that calls the church home is thought to be their day and the complex world of ours. an incomplete understanding of the trum-
the same as the seventh trumpet of judg- Thinking about life in first-century pets of Scripture, and their application to
ment in the book of Revelation. Thessalonica, the Roman capital of Mace- biblical prophecy.
In numerous books, pamphlets and let- donia, it was completely immersed in a
ters to this ministry, we are more or less pagan culture. The worship of Caesar and
The “Trump”
constantly challenged by those who want a panoply of gods and goddesses would These false conclusions are often built
to warn us that we are wrong to teach that dominate your daily existence. As a new around the novel interpretation … or
rapture will come before the judgments of Christian, taught by the Lord’s own Apos- outright misinterpretation … of a certain
the “Day of the Lord.” This being true, we tles that judgment was coming, you would heavenly trumpet, mentioned twice in
must therefore prepare ourselves for the readily believe it. connection with the rapture. It is first men-
horrors of the Tribulation just ahead. Would you be a little concerned that you tioned in what is commonly regarded as
might find yourself in the midst of that judg- the earliest of Paul’s extant epistles:
Listening for the Trumpet ment? Of course you would. For this rea- “For if we believe that Jesus died and
But to the redeemed, the very thought son, and for the benefit of the entire Church rose again, even so them also which sleep
of this event ranges from pleasant peace Age, Paul was inspired to write these words in Jesus will God bring with him.
to thrilling anticipation. The trumpet is our of comfort. The evil world system would be “For this we say unto you by the word
signal to go home. It has nothing at all to judged, but before that, the Lord would ap- of the Lord, that we which are alive and
do with judgment, wrath or divine retribu- pear to call the dead in Christ and the living remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
tion. And perhaps that is its major feature. church into the heavens. They ascend into not prevent them which are asleep.
Of course, Paul goes to great lengths to the heavens before that Day of the Lord. “For the Lord himself shall descend
describe this glorious event … its timing, They were told to await the shout and the from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
characteristics and meaning. Most of all, he sound of the trumpet. Paul addressed them the archangel, and with the trump of God:
goes out of his way to emphasize the simple as the generation that would experience this and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
fact that those alive at the time of the rapture glorious event. No intervening experience “Then we which are alive and remain
will be taken to heaven prior to a unique and would alert them to its proximity. They shall be caught up together with them in
cataclysmic period of judgment. were simply to wait in faith, believing in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
His first and second epistles to the Thes- His imminent return. so shall we ever be with the Lord.
salonians are centered upon the idea of Generations of the faithful have since “Wherefore comfort one another with
comforting a group of people who have gone to their spiritual reward. Along the these words” (I Th. 4:14-18).
many questions about their ultimate des- way, some have weakened, reverting to Here is the “trump of God,” sounded as
tiny in Christ. Several times, he uses the alternate forms of expectation, that the Jesus and a host of angels descend into the
word “comfort” to ease any concerns they rapture and Second Coming are the same lower atmosphere. Who has not dreamed
may have about the future. Of course, event, or that it comes in the midst of the of being alive at the moment this finally
Christians remember these letters as the Tribulation. happens? The whirlwind of activities as-
ones that outline and detail the nature and But Paul’s bold words proclaim that the sociated with this moment defy the wildest
timing of the rapture. catching-away into heaven come before imagination, as perhaps the greatest logis-
After describing the catching-away of the general judgment prophesied as the tical feat in history is flawlessly executed.
the church, he writes, “Wherefore comfort Old Testament “Day of the Lord” and the Graves are opened as the dead in Christ
one another with these words” (I Th. 4:18). New Testament “great tribulation.” Jesus, rise to receive their glorified bodies. Then
A little later, he adds, “Wherefore comfort Himself, used this graphic term: “For then the living saints somehow fly upward.
yourselves together, and edify one another, shall be great tribulation, such as was not They, too, receive His glory, as it is trans-
even as also ye do” (I Th. 5:11). since the beginning of the world to this lated into their own bodies. And the whole,
In Second Thessalonians, after describing time, no, nor ever shall be” (Mt. 24:21). global operation apparently springs into
the Antichrist’s rise to power as a sign that Yet the Apostle’s words of comfort to the motion as God blows His trumpet.
the Day of the Lord is present, he writes, believer are so consistently misinterpreted What is this “trump?” Certainly, it is no
“Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and that today, the majority of the world’s earthly instrument, though in the Greek,
God, even our Father, which hath loved us, Christian denominations profess alternate the word salpinx, referring to a natural
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musical instrument, is used. There must is identical to “the last trump” of I Cor. unto the people, and sanctified the people;
be a trumpet in heaven … the real thing. 15:52. But in Revelation the seventh trum- and they washed their clothes.
But what kind of trumpet will it be? What pet is the ultimate expression of God’s “And he said unto the people, Be ready
could it be made of? We try to imagine wrath, in divine retribution. The last trum- against the third day: come not at your
what it might sound like, knowing at the pet, it unleashes the judgments of the sev- wives.
outset that there is no way to conceive en bowls of wrath. Nothing in the descrip- “And it came to pass on the third day
the sound that a heavenly trumpet might tion of this trumpet connects it in any way in the morning, that there were thunders
make. with the resurrection of the faithful. What and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the
In Paul’s discourse on resurrection, the it does is clearly described: mount, and the voice of the trumpet ex-
same event is described, using the same, “And the seventh angel sounded; and ceeding loud; so that all the people that
identical word. This time, however, it is there were great voices in heaven, saying, was in the camp trembled.
modified by an adjective: The kingdoms of this world are become the “And Moses brought forth the people
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; out of the camp to meet with God; and they
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, and he shall reign for ever and ever. stood at the nether part of the mount.
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an “And the four and twenty elders, which “And mount Sinai was altogether on a
eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sat before God on their seats, fell upon smoke, because the LORD descended upon
sound, and the dead shall be raised incor- their faces, and worshipped God” (Rev. it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended
ruptible, and we shall be changed. 11:15,16). as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole
“For this corruptible must put on incor- This seventh trumpet is definitely not mount quaked greatly.
ruption, and this mortal must put on im- the “trump of God.” In the original New “And when the voice of the trumpet
mortality. Testament Greek, this verse plainly says, sounded long, and waxed louder and loud-
“So when this corruptible shall have put “And the seventh angel trumpeted …” er, Moses spake, and God answered him
on incorruption, and this mortal shall have This is an angelic trumpet, not “the trump by a voice.
put on immortality, then shall be brought of God,” which Scripture elsewhere as- “And the LORD came down upon mount
to pass the saying that is written, Death is serts to be His voice that sounds like a Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD
swallowed up in victory. trumpet. called Moses up to the top of the mount; and
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, Furthermore, it specifically announces Moses went up” (Ex. 19:11-20).
where is thy victory? (I Cor. 15:51-55). an event recognized, hailed and affirmed Three times in the passage above, the
This time, the rapture is mentioned in the by a great chorus of heavenly observ- trumpet of God is described for the first
context of the general resurrection. This ers … observers already in heaven. They time in all Scripture. Here, it is identified
time, the Greek word for trumpet — sal- are not the church in the process of being as the ram’s horn or shofar. But the con-
pinx — is used twice. But here, it is called raptured, as indicated by the fact that the text completely rules out its identification
the “last trump,” raising the question about twenty-four elders, who were there at the as an ordinary ram’s horn. To the people
what precedes it. The context demands that very beginning of the judgment process, gathered below, its sound was deafening,
it must be the last of a series. are still present, now seated with God, as and so frightening that their fear increased
Some suggest that since it is the last in He enacts the long-awaited judgment. to the breaking point. In the chapter that
a series of trumpets, it must be defined by But to truly understand “the last trump,” follows, the Israelites are described as so
the series, itself. One such series is found we should go all the way back to the be- stricken that they moved back to a great
in Joshua, where on the seventh day, sev- ginning, and the sounding of the “first distance from Mount Horeb:
en priests walked around Jericho’s walls, trump,” which is not only the first trumpet “And all the people saw the thunder-
blowing their ram’s horn trumpets. Jericho in the Bible, but God’s own voice … not a ings, and the lightnings, and the noise of
was judged; the walls came down. musical instrument. the trumpet, and the mountain smoking:
Following this pattern, another similar and when the people saw it, they removed,
series in the Bible is found in Revelation, The First Trumpet and stood afar off” (Ex. 20:18).
where seven trumpets are sounded, appar- Let’s begin at the beginning. It is at Flavius Josephus describes the event
ently in rapid succession. They progres- Mount Sinai that we find the first example this way: “Now, as to these matters, ev-
sively unleash an astounding series of of a heavenly trumpet: ery one of my readers may think as he
judgments at the end of the Tribulation. “And be ready against the third day: for pleases; but I am under a necessity of re-
Let’s look again at the seven trumpets the third day the LORD will come down lating this history as it is described in the
in Revelation. Taken in order, the first one in the sight of all the people upon mount sacred books. This sight, and the amazing
releases hail, fire and blood; the second Sinai. sound that came to their ears, disturbed the
brings a fiery mountain which falls into “And thou shalt set bounds unto the Hebrews to a prodigious degree, for they
the sea; the third brings down a toxic fall- people round about, saying, Take heed were not such as they were accustomed to
ing star, falling into a poisoned sea; the to yourselves, that ye go not up into the … [Moses] brought the people with their
fourth, a diminished sun; the fifth opens mount, or touch the border of it: whoso- wives and children, so near the mountain,
the abyss; the sixth releases demonic pow- ever toucheth the mount shall be surely put that they might hear God himself speak-
ers; the seventh heralds the culmination of to death: ing to them about the precepts which they
wrath, the spilling out of the seven vials, “There shall not an hand touch it, but were to practice; that the energy of what
or bowls of wrath. he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; should be spoken might not be hurt by its
whether it be beast or man, it shall not utterance by that tongue of man, which
The Seventh Angel’s Trumpet live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they could but imperfectly deliver it to their
To those who believe in a mid or late- shall come up to the mount. understanding. And they all heard a voice
Tribulation rapture, this seventh trumpet “And Moses went down from the mount that came to all of them from above, inso-
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much that no one of these words escaped camps that lie on the east parts shall go
them, which Moses wrote on two tables.” forward. First-Century Trumpets
[Antiquities, III, 5, 2; 4] “When ye blow an alarm the second When we come to the New Testament
The book of Hebrews relates that they time, then the camps that lie on the south era, the two silver trumpets ordained in the
begged for the fearsome sounds to cease. side shall take their journey: they shall days of Moses once again become used on
“For ye are not come unto the mount blow an alarm for their journeys. a daily basis.
that might be touched, and that burned “But when the congregation is to be In Alfred Edersheim’s book, The Tem-
with fire, nor unto blackness, and dark- gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye ple, we gain considerable insight into the
ness, and tempest, shall not sound an alarm. use of the famous trumpets seen on the
“And the sound of a trumpet, and the “And the sons of Aaron, the priests, Arch of Titus. Edersheim goes to consid-
voice of words; which voice they that heard shall blow with the trumpets; and they erable length to detail their use:
intreated that the word should not be spo- shall be to you for an ordinance for ever “The blasts of the trumpets, blown by
ken to them any more” (Heb. 12:18,19). throughout your generations. priests only, formed — at least in the sec-
The point is clear and unmistakable. “And if ye go to war in your land ond Temple — no part of the instrumental
In the plainest possible language, we are against the enemy that oppresseth you, music of the service, but were intended for
informed that the first trumpet heard in then ye shall blow an alarm with the trum- quite different purposes. Even the posture
Scripture was God’s own heavenly ram’s pets; and ye shall be remembered before of the performers showed this, for while
horn. Or at least, on a gigantic scale, it the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved the Levites stood at their desks facing
sounded something like a ram’s horn. It from your enemies. toward the sanctuary, or westwards, the
was not an earthly trumpet. “Also in the day of your gladness, and priests, with their silver trumpets, stood
Anyone who has ever heard the tekiah, in your solemn days, and in the beginnings exactly in the opposite direction, on the
teruah, shevarim blasts of the trumpet on of your months, ye shall blow with the west side of the rise of the altar, by the
Rosh HaShanah knows that even an earth- trumpets over your burnt offerings, and “table of the fat,” and looking eastwards
ly trumpet will strike fear into the human over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; or down the courts. On ordinary days the
heart. that they may be to you for a memorial be- priests blew seven times, each time three
A heavenly trumpet is something else, fore your God: I am the LORD your God” blasts – a short sound, an alarm, and again
entirely. It sounded on Pentecost, and (Num. 10:1-10). a sharp, short sound (Thekiah, Theruah,
marked the giving of the Law. The “last The trumpets are hatsotserah [vr,,v], and Thekiah), or, as the Rabbis express it,
trump” will mark the end of the church made of beaten metal, with a smooth, “An alarm in the midst and a plain note
age, which also began on Pentecost. Could continuously tapered bore. By skillful before and after it.” According to tradition,
the final trumpet blast for the church also overblowing they, like all trumpets, can they were intended symbolically to pro-
be sounded on a future Pentecost? be made to sound several different clear claim the kingdom of God, Divine Provi-
A trumpet need not be a condemnation. notes, much in the same manner as the dence, and the final judgment. The first
There are other trumpets in Scripture that modern keyless cavalry trumpet, which three blasts were blown when the great
sound the rallying call to move out to a new can sound several complex calls when the gates of the Temple — especially that of
location, or to take some significant action. trumpeter simply varies lip tension and air Nicanor — were opened. Then, when the
pressure.
Two Silver Trumpets To this day, all the armed camps of the
drink-offering was poured out, the Levites
sang the psalm of the day in three sections.
Typical of this are the two metal trum- world are trained to understand and obey After each section, there was a pause,
pets, hand-crafted from single sheets of trumpet calls. Perhaps this tradition dates when the priests blew three blasts, and the
silver by Israelite craftsmen. And here, for back to the initial use of the two silver people worshiped. This was the practice
the first time, we get some hint as to the trumpets. Psalm 98, a psalm of Moses at the evening, as at the morning sacrifice.
significance of those two trumpets on the mentions both the metal trumpet and the On the eve of the Sabbath a threefold blast
Arch of Titus. ram’s horn shofar, here called a cornet: of the priest’s trumpets summoned the
As can be seen in the tenth chapter of “Sing unto the LORD with the harp; people, afar as the sound was carried over
Numbers, their specific function was to with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. the city, to prepare for the holy day, while
call and coordinate movements of the “With trumpets and sound of cornet another threefold blast announced its ac-
twelve tribes: make a joyful noise before the LORD, the tual commencement. On Sabbaths, when,
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, King” (Ps. 98:5,6). besides the ordinary, an additional sacri-
“Make thee two trumpets of silver; of By the time of David, Solomon and the fice was brought, and the “Song of Moses”
a whole piece shalt thou make them: that First Temple, trumpets were used by the sung — not the whole every Sabbath, but
thou mayest use them for the calling of the priests to announce the months and to cel- divided in six parts, one for every Sabbath
assembly, and for the journeying of the ebrate the arrival of the various feasts, as — the priests sounded their trumpets addi-
camps. seen in Psalm 81:3, where we read, “Blow tional three times in the pauses of the Sab-
“And when they shall blow with them, up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time bath psalm.” [Temple, pp. 59,60]
all the assembly shall assemble themselves appointed, on our solemn feast day.” Edersheim’s evocative description of
to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the Here, the shofar is mentioned as the Temple service in the days of Jesus and
congregation. herald trumpet of important events in the His disciples stirs the imagination, as it
“And if they blow but with one trumpet, House of David. Whether or not the origi- must have the Romans, who patrolled the
then the princes, which are heads of the nal silver trumpets survived to the age of city day and night. Jerusalem had declined
thousands of Israel, shall gather them- the First Temple is unknown, but Jewish to the point that it was a Roman mili-
selves unto thee. history tells us that trumpeting was an in- tary procurate. The Jews were uneasy, as
“When ye blow an alarm, then the tegral part of Temple worship. groups among them campaigned for a gen-
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eral uprising … a civil revolt. ance” (Acts 2:1-4). tion, sounding as the Bowls of Wrath are
The Romans knew this, bringing them Again, just as divine fire descended poured upon the earth. It precedes the Har-
in the days of Titus to put Jerusalem under upon Mount Sinai, tongues of fire encir- vest Judgment of Revelation 14, perfectly
siege, ultimately destroying it completely. cled the heads of Israel’s faithful. But this corresponding with the gathering of the
But in the years preceding this catastro- time, the message was grace, not Law. And elect described by Jesus as He spoke to the
phe, Romans had heard the priestly blasts this time, there was no frightening trumpet disciples on the Mount of Olives.
of the two silver trumpets on a daily basis. blast, only the declaration of Good News, “And I looked, and behold a white cloud,
Imagine the awe and suspicion that must and the joy of those receiving it in their and upon the cloud one sat like unto the
have filled them as they witnessed mys- own languages. Son of man, having on his head a golden
terious rites and rituals. Priestly activities What a contrast! The Gospel has never crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
were accompanied by the flow of blood in been delivered with a fearful threat laid “And another angel came out of the
streams of water and the smell of burning before those who would flaunt the Law. temple, crying with a loud voice to him
offerings. Rather, it came through love and self-sac- that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle,
And over it all, ringing throughout Je- rifice. And in the centuries that followed, and reap: for the time is come for thee to
rusalem, were the mysterious blasts of the that fact has never changed. reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
silver trumpets, assuring the twelve tribes It has been said that the church — the “And he that sat on the cloud thrust in
that God was present, and that their nation body of Christ — is finite in nature. It be- his sickle on the earth; and the earth was
was blessed. Roman soldiers and politi- gan on a specific day, the day of Pentecost, reaped” (Rev. 14:14-16).
cians, listening to the daily resonating and it will also end on a specific day, the Early in His public ministry, Jesus had
call, must have inwardly shuddered at the day of the rapture. mentioned this event as He expounded
thought that Jehovah was listening. Since it was initiated in grace, why upon the sower, the soils and the weeds
Then, under Titus and Vespasian, Jeru- would it end in a holocaust of solar and that grow up among them. He said, “The
salem was laid waste. Right at the top of meteorological chaos, complicated by dis- enemy that sowed them is the devil; the
their pile of loot were those wretched and ease and famine? Why would it end with harvest is the end of the world; and the
annoying trumpets that had plagued them the fearful blast of the seventh trumpet, reapers are the angels” (Mt. 13:39).
on a daily basis. They were taken and pa- which is intended to call forth destruction He times the harvest as coming at the
raded through Rome, glistening symbols upon those who have lived in iniquity and same future moment as the collapse of the
that Rome had conquered the very God of will die in judgment? world system. This makes the final harvest
Israel. His voice lay still. This is not the trumpet that calls the an act of mercy and salvation to those alive
A priesthood that had fallen to corrup- faithful home. at a time of great distress, not the calling-
tion was no longer privileged to minister Jesus, speaking in the Olivet Discourse home of a church in its ordinary state of
the call of God’s righteousness. Their calls about the “abomination of desolation” at daily living.
were only the faint echoes of His magnifi- the middle of the Tribulation, addresses The trumpet voice to the church will not
cent call at Mount Sinai. those who live in Judea in those days. He be a call of wrath, but the gentle assertion
says that immediately following this occur- of great power, as to John, when Christ
The Real Last Trump rence, which we know to be a mid-Tribu- called to him:
Almost fifteen hundred years elapsed be- lation event, there will come a period char- “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,
tween that first trump of God at Pentecost acterized by the ultimate evil, when Satan and heard behind me a great voice, as of a
and the arrival of Pentecost in the house and his followers rage across the earth. He trumpet” (Rev. 1:10).
where the disciples gathered to await a mov- then described the years immediately fol- Nor is the trumpet a mere instrument.
ing of His Spirit. This time, in the voices of lowing the unveiling of the Antichrist: We await the very voice of God. Its char-
a faithful few men, another announcement “Immediately after the tribulation of acteristics are unknown to us at present,
came to the world. Through Christ, God those days shall the sun be darkened, and but we’ll know it when we hear it. And it
had extended His grace to all men. the moon shall not give her light, and the will sound much like a trumpet. It has hap-
Then and now, the custom of the Jews is stars shall fall from heaven, and the pow- pened before, and it will happen again:
to remain awake all night, before the day ers of the heavens shall be shaken: “After this I looked, and, behold, a door
of Pentecost … or Shavout, the Feast of “And then shall appear the sign of the was opened in heaven: and the first voice
Weeks. They read special Scriptural pas- Son of man in heaven: and then shall all which I heard was as it were of a trum-
sages in an observance now known as tik- the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall pet talking with me; which said, Come up
kun leil Shavuot, readings for the night of see the Son of man coming in the clouds of hither, and I will shew thee things which
Pentecost. Then the next day dawns: heaven with power and great glory. must be hereafter” (Rev. 4:10).
“And when the day of Pentecost was “And he shall send his angels with a The first trump laid down the Law. The
fully come, they were all with one accord great sound of a trumpet, and they shall last trump will be a loving invitation, wel-
in one place. gather together his elect from the four coming the redeemed to their new home,
“And suddenly there came a sound from winds, from one end of heaven to the oth- and making way for the trumpets of judg-
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it er” (Mt. 24:29-31). ment on earth.
filled all the house where they were sitting. Here, the “elect” are the saints of the Titus, a corrupt despot and enemy of
“And there appeared unto them cloven Tribulation who have persevered to the God, was inflated with pride as he ordered
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each very end of the awesome “Day of the his triumphal arch emblazoned with a
of them. Lord.” They have received the Gospel by panel to display Israel’s destruction. But
“And they were all filled with the Holy faith in the midst of fiery trial. to those who know, its trumpets carry the
Ghost, and began to speak with other And the trumpet mentioned above subtle message that the Lord isn’t quite
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter- must be the seventh trumpet of Revela- finished yet. u
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