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1 Thessalonians 4:16
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16 For [hoti] the Lord [kurios] himself [autos] shall descend [katabaino] from [apo] heaven [ouranos] with [en] a shout, [keleuma] with [en] the voice [phone] of the archangel, [archaggelos] and [kai] with [en] the trump [salpigx] of God: [theos] and [kai] the dead [nekros] in [en] Christ [Christos] shall rise [anistemi] first: [proton] KJV-Interlinear
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. NASB
Before speculating about the archangel or the trumpet, we need to recognize that there are three great events occurring in very rapid succession, in this verse.
But before we get to the three activities, we should look briefly at the date of the Rapture.
First, the Rapture is always imminent. It could occur at any time, and could have occurred at any time in history, since the Feast of Pentecost. But of course thus far, it has not yet occurred.
The general consensus is, that the Rapture will occur in the Autumn of the year. And that is based entirely on the schedule of the Levitical Feasts that had been held throughout the year since the time of Moses and the Exodus.
There were several feasts held throughout the year, under the Levitical Law. The most prominent is of course the Feast of the Passover, held in the Spring of the year (March-April), and depicts the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. That event (the crucifixion), occurred exactly on schedule, even to the minute, in accordance with the requirements of the Passover Feast.
The next feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, depicts the burial of the sacrificial lamb. That too was fulfilled by the burial of Christ.
The feast following the Passover, and Unleavened Bread, was the Feast of the First Fruits. Three days following the crucifixion, Christ arose, exactly on schedule as required by the mandates of that feast.
The next feast, the Feast of Pentecost, occured fifty days following the Passover. It celebrates the giving of the spirit. That occurred in chronological succession exactly as it was supposed to, following the real sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
The next feast does not occur for several months, until the Autumn of the year. It poses a long gap between the events of the feasts of the Spring, and the feasts of the fall. And, just as the feasts of the Spring came in rapid succession, so too will the feasts of the Autumn occur in rapid succession, of sorts.
The long gap represents the historical time lapse between the Spring group of feasts and the Fall group of feasts.
The fifth feast is the Feast of Trumpets. Now just because our verse mentions trumpets, don’t get excited. However, we always note that God does not ever do anything haphazardly or spontaneously. His plan for humanity and history is well thought out and the dates of all of these events has already been put on the calendar of heaven.
No one knows these dates except the Father.
Anyway, the Feast of Trumpets is an announcement, a calling together, and has always been viewed, in the Old Testament, for the Coming of Christ, or the Second Advent. But, since our dispensation began, that view has changed to represent the Rapture, or the calling out of believers from our dispensation. Why? Because the next feast is the Feast of the Day of Atonement, the sixth feast of the year. Today it is called Yom Kippur, and is celebrated at the end of September or the beginning of October, of each year.
The Day of Atonement is the celebration of the Judgment Seat of Christ, when all of the saved are evaluated and rewarded according to their spiritual deeds, etc.
The Judgment Seat of Christ, will occur for Church Age believers immediately after the Rapture. It will occur in heaven while the first half of the Tribulation is occurring back on earth.
The next feast is that of Tabernacles, celebrating the regathering of Israel for the entry into the Kingdom of God, the Millennium. This event is fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation after the Second Advent of Christ. Which curiously occurs nearly seven years after the Rapture.
Just quick point here. Even with that almost certain ability to predict the Second Advent, once the date of the Rapture has occurred, people will still be unable to predict the date of the Second Advent. Why, you ask?
Because, when the Rapture occurs, everyone left behind will be unbelievers, and may not recognize the event for a while, and the record of the date might get mixed up as the world will try to play down the event. Second, after the Rapture, the world will begin to deteriorate rapidly, into terrible catastrophes, occurring one after another, during the next seven years. Third, the population of the world will be reduced by half as most of the population will die in these catastrophes. Chaos will reign. Fourth, for those who head for the hills, so to speak, the calendar and time of day will become obscured as they hide out, just trying to survive until the Second Advent. People will lose track of time. And fifth, Satan will be the only one who has kept tract of the timeline, and he will be furiously pursuing the extermination of the human race. Thus that seven year period will be shortened by Christ, for His return. Just how much shorter, we do not know.
The last celebration of the year if the Sacred Assembly, which depicts the end of human history with the end of the Millennium, and the beginning of eternity, wherein all believers will be assembled for that destruction of this old universe and the creation of the next universe. We will all get to see just how creation occurred in the past, as we witness the creation of the future.
Ok. The Levitical feasts serve as markers of key points of history. Thus far God has followed them to the letter.
Does that mean that the Rapture will occur in the Fall? No.
Trumpets is an Old Testament celebration depicting the Second Advent of Christ. But then Pentecost was too, but it initiated the beginning of the Church Age.
And even if it were to occur in the Fall, we still do not know the year or even the day, because out calendar is not exactly the same as the calendar of 2000 years ago. Our calendar has been corrected a couple of times in past centuries, but even then, we do not know the exact year or day of the Crucifixion, not even the birth of Jesus, for that matter. December 25 was an arbitrary date selected centuries ago, to counter the pagan celebrations that recognized the winter solstice. But don’t let that interfere with your Christmas celebration.
One more quick note. In Mark we are told that the days of the Tribulation will be shortened, but we are also told (or those folks in that time are told), to pray that the final days of the Tribulation do not occur in the winter, the more difficult time of the year, and especially because the world will be in such turmoil. Cold and freezing weather will make life extremely difficult for those who are hiding out in the mountains, and so forth.
Mark 13:18
18 "But pray that it may not happen in the winter. NASB
Mark 13:20
20 "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; NASB
Since the Lord tells us to pray for something, it means that the final events of the Tribulation will not occur in the winter, whether they actually remember to pray that exact prayer or not. That leaves the spring, summer and fall.
And even if you can count back from the Second Advent by six years and six or eight or ten months prior, toward the date of the Rapture, there is still lots of room for guesswork.
In short, we cannot predict the Rapture, nor even the Second Advent, no matter what kind of algorithm or assumptions you can come up with.
The Spring Feasts were dates certain. The Fall Feasts are dates uncertain. Even with the certainty of dates and the many miracle proofs of Jesus, the Jewish peoples still did not recognize His first advent. And yet with future dates uncertain, many folks will recognize Christ as Lord.
The certainty of dates is not required in order to advance in ones spiritual life.
Anyway, we finally get back to our verse.
At some appointed year, day, and moment, all of heaven will light up. Three things will occur in rapid succession.
First, there will occur a shout, a commanding call as a general calls his troops into the charge of battle. That kind of shout. Jesus Christ will call the entirety of heaven to order.
Second, then the voice of the archangel (not identified), calling all of the heavenly angels together. The only archangel mentioned in the Bible is Michael, Jude 9. The word here, ‘archaggelos,’ means chief or ruler of the angels. This may be Michael or it may very well be another angel who has never been identified to us.
Third, then there will be the trumpet of God, the call to all the dead in Christ, believers who have already died during our Church Age. Since these believers are already in heaven, then they are assembled and accompany Christ back to earth for the second resurrection of history. Jesus Christ was the first.
Matt. 24:31
31 "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. NASB
1 Cor. 15:52
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. NASB
Jude 9
9 But Michael the archangel, NASB
Now, we on this earth have our celebrations, and we have our calls to assemble from time to time, as in the case of war, or for various holidays. But in heaven there is always the activity of comings and goings of angels, of people leaving this earth and going off to heaven, of unbelievers leaving this earth and going off to Torments, and so forth. But nothing will compare to the events of the Rapture.
One day, and perhaps sooner than later, people who read of these things, might somehow get the idea that these things are very real, and that they might want to begin pursuing their spiritual life with a ferocity of genuine desire, such that they will not get left out of, or miss out on, the biggest events in all of history, and their life.
This is the year 2009, and as such we have more opportunities to advance in our spiritual lives, than anyone who has lived before us.
The question is, who will recognize the importance of these things, and who will actually begin to crack down on their studies? And when?
