This is going to be a short message, but one that I think needs to be said due to some "trumpet" confusion regarding Paul's statement, and the seven Trumpet judgements in Revelation.
Paul stated in 1 Corinthians:
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.
Many ministries teaching about end times quickly point out the seven Trumpet judgements in Revelation and without hesitation assign Paul's last trumpet to the seventh trumpet. Oftentimes the motivation is to clamp once and for all the timing of the rapture. Some ministries teach (as we do here) that the seal, trumpet and vial judgements are sequential and since the seventh trumpet is blown at the middle of the tribulation, shows that this is when the rapture will occur. Other ministries have the seven trumpets within the last seal, and the seven vials within the last trumpet much like a wooden Russian nesting doll. Since Christ's Kingdom is announced at the seventh trumpet, this proves to them that the rapture happens at the end of the tribulation. By the way, that proclamation is that the Kingdoms of this word now belong to Christ, that he will judge the wicked, and that the reward given to the saints, i.e. the answer to the earlier prayer "How long O Lord? to avenge our blood?" and they wanted retribution for their martyrdom. As a matter of fact, Revelation 11:18 that clearly states:
... thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
That's the reward, to destroy them that destroy the earth. This judgement is started in the middle of the Tribulation when the last half intensifies completely. Note that the vial judgements are for the most part a more severe form of the same punishments as the trumpet judgements in which those judgements usually killed 1/3 of the men, but the vial judgements will affect all men. But I digress and this is a subject of itself for another time.
First of all, I want to point out that it is pure assumption to equate Paul's trumpets with that of Revelation. There is nothing scriptural that mandates they are the same ones. I have an excellent example. Suppose that you were to meet a man coming into your city from his home town (wherever that may be). He has bus service and he luckily caught the last bus. He communicates with you that he caught the last bus going out. However, your city runs bus service 5 hours later but this is only a two hour trip to your city. Tell, me, is he necessarily on your last bus? I hope you don't assume that, or you may have the poor guy waiting a few hours in a bus terminal. His last bus is not necessarily your last bus coming in because we are talking about two different bus services here. However, the way some of these ministries teach they would have the poor guy waiting all that time, and maybe even chastise you for going to pick him up earlier just in case!
Secondly and more importantly, Paul knew what he was talking about. He was the Albert Einstein of the theological world, and he did not just rattle things off like this without knowing what he was talking about. Most of us here agree that his advice regarding the last trump applied to the Corinthians as much as it does today, no? For heaven's sake he was writing to the Corinthians so it most certainly did apply to them. Then tell me, since Revelation was revealed only to John and written years later, how could Paul refer to something that was not revealed yet? Indeed, what about the Corinthians? Did they have the book of Revelation yet? So how could they reference something that is not there yet in John's Revelation? That would make Paul talking in a vacuum, would it not? OK, kiddies. Can you say anachronism?
OK, Liaf, as usual your infallible logic convinced us that Paul's trumpets are not necessarily the same as those in Revelation. But if that's the case, what trumpets is he talking about? He's talking about none other than the trumpets blown at the feast of Trumpets. Before the new moon was sighted, as series of short trumpet blasts every so often heralded the upcoming month in which people were to "watch" (as Jesus stated). The last trumpet, the one with the long blast, signified that the month has commenced. This is also a reference to Jesus saying "no man knows the day or the hour".
However, there is one other thing that Paul pointed out --- this is a mystery. It was not yet revealed to the church. While Jesus said no man knows the day or hour (also a hidden reference to the feast of Trumpets), he was not referencing any rapture, but only a state of readiness lest the day of the Lord overtakes one as a thief. We've been saying for a long time now that there was no church yet in Jesus' time, and was talking to Israel. So gathering the elect was a reference to Isaiah's passage regarding a trumpet being blown and the Israelites were regathered to their land. When Jesus said "ye" he was referring to the "little flock" those converted from Israel who in the end times would preach the gospel of the Kingdom. Many converts would be martyred as the 5th seal shows. Remember we did those message on the two witnesses and the 144,000? I stand with what Bullinger said that the gospels and Revelation are ages (dispensations) within themselves and the "saints" that Jesus talks about are not necessarily the same ones as the church. In a similar manner Paul's trumpets are not Revelation's trumpets.
This is what Paul then meant by
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
In other words, they knew what the feast days represented, something which someone who is asleep and ignorant does not know,
and indeed the beast will one day "change the times" so as to confuse people so they can't be watchful regarding the Lord's
return. To them is comes "as a thief".
So there you have it. The core message here is that Paul was referencing the feast of Trumpets, so that the church of God
knows the times and can watch. One can get a general idea of the times with the "calendar" we have on this site. However,
these are expected lunar sightings and as such may be a little off, but is close enough for you to "watch for the day and
hour". God's true calendar is not calculated by man ahead of time.