Is the “Last Trumpet” Described by 1 Corinthians 15:52, the Seventh Trumpet of Revelation 11:15, or the Rapture Trumpets that are sounded during the Feast of Trumpets?

“It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Why Is This Important?

Our understanding of which Trumpet Paul is describing will affect our accuracy for when the Rapture will take place:  Pre, Mid, Post Tribulation

Pundits of the “last trumpet” described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:52 define Paul’s statement of the last trumpet, as the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15):

This means, (in their view) that the resurrection and rapture of believers would occur after or during the Tribulation, demanding a post-tribulational or mid-tribulational Rapture of the church. This means believers would endure God’s judgments described in Revelation 6–18.

If the “last trumpet” is understood as the trumpet of God described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, associated with the Feast of Trumpets, then the rapture happens before the Tribulation, the wrath of God (the Day of the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 5:9). This would prove a pre-tribulational view, where Christ calls His Church out before the Tribulation judgments fall.

How Many Trumpets Were Sounded During The Feast of Trumpets?

The Biblical command to sound trumpets:

• Leviticus 23:23–25 – “a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation” (KJV).
• Numbers 29:1 – “It shall be a day of blowing the trumpets for you.”

Trumpets During The Second Temple Period (Time of Jesus)

At the Temple, two silver trumpets (ḥaṣoṣerot) were blown by priests, often together with shofars. Josephus (Antiquities 3.291) records that silver trumpets were used in festivals to summon the assembly and mark offerings. Several blasts throughout the day, especially at the morning sacrifice, the afternoon sacrifice, and during the offering of additional festival sacrifices.

The Rabbinic and Liturgical Tradition (Mishnah/Talmud)

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, the rabbis codified synagogue practices:

In the Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah 4:9 – The required minimum was nine blasts (three sets: tekiah–teruah–tekiah). In practice, this was expanded to 30 blasts: considered the baseline fulfillment.

100 blasts of the Trumpet were sounded during the Feast of Trumpets, became the common custom in post-Talmudic Judaism, still practiced today.

In Ancient Israel, Tekiah Gedolah, (the long, final blast) came to be known as the “last trumpet” or final shofar blast of the day.

This historical record of Israel Impeaches the idea that the Seventh Trumpet of Revelation 11:15, is not the “Last Trumpet” Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 15:52.

The Jewish Mishnah establishes 9 as the minimum (three tekiah–teruah–tekiah sets). Later traditions expanded this to 30, then 100.

“The order of the blasts is three sets of three: three times a tekiah, three times a teruah, and three times a tekiah. Thus, the minimum number of blasts is nine. However, the length of the tekiah is like three teruot, and the length of the teruah is like three moans. If one blew a tekiah and prolonged it into two, it counts only as one.” — Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 4:9 (Danby translation, 1933)

This means that during the time that Paul penned the text of 1 Corinthians (First Century), Jews would have understood trumpet-sounding at the Feast of Trumpets not as a single blast, but as a series culminating in a final, climactic trumpet — which gives natural meaning to his phrase, “the last trumpet” (1 Cor 15:52).

Understanding which Trumpet the “Last Trumpet” is Affects How We Link Old and New Testament Prophecy

The Jewish background of the shofar blasts at the Feast of Trumpets gives Paul’s phrase a distinctly covenantal and festal context. This feast foreshadows resurrection, gathering, and coronation of the King (Messiah). If Paul’s trumpet is rooted here, then he is intentionally tying the Church’s hope to Israel’s prophetic calendar.

If instead Paul means the Revelation trumpets, that would make his statement dependent on a vision written 40 years later, which his Corinthian audience could not yet know.

 Getting This right Affects The Nature of God’s Trumpet vs. Angelic Trumpets

1. Paul calls it “the trumpet of God” (1 Thess 4:16).
2. This is unique—directly sounded by God, not an angel.
3. Its purpose: resurrection, gathering, transformation.
4. Revelation’s trumpets are angelic, announcing judgments on the earth.
5. Their purpose: wrath and woe, not blessing or resurrection.
6. Distinguishing them protects us from confusing judgment with redemption.

Having The Correct Interpretation of “The Last Trumpet,” Guards Against Misinterpretation of Hope

Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 is meant as comfort and hope: “Encourage each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

If we insert Paul’s “last trumpet” from 1 Corinthians 15:52 into Revelation’s trumpet judgments, the message becomes one of fear and survival, not of imminent hope and resurrection.

For these reasons, identifying the right trumpet preserves Paul’s pastoral intent.

Correctly Understanding 1 Corinthians 15:52 Clarifies the Church’s Role in Prophecy

Jesus and Paul promised His Church deliverance from “the wrath to come”

Jesus in Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

• If Paul’s “last trumpet” is God’s call at the Rapture, the Church is distinguished from Israel and spared the Tribulation.
• If the trumpet Paul describes is the seventh trumpet of Revelation, then the Church is merged into Israel’s Tribulation program—obscuring the biblical distinction between the church and Israel.

Determining which trumpet Paul means is crucial because it:

1. Establishes whether the Church faces the Tribulation or is taken out of the earth before the Tribulation begins.
2. Connects Paul’s teaching to Jewish feast prophecy (pre-trib) or Revelation judgments (post-trib).
3. Preserves the distinction between God’s trumpet of blessing and angelic trumpets of wrath.
4. Maintains Paul’s pastoral aim: that the resurrection and rapture are a source of hope, not terror.

Correctly Understanding The Scriptures:

The Rapture Trumpet (In The Feast of Trumpets Context)

Expositional teachers of the Bible (especially pre-tribulational and mid-tribulational scholars) see this “last trumpet” as the trumpet of God that calls the Church to resurrection and transformation at the Rapture (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

This interpretation is strengthened by the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, Rosh Hashanah). The feast is literally called “the Day of Blowing” (shofars), and Jewish tradition calls the final trumpet blast of that feast “the last trumpet.”

Paul, was a trained Pharisee. He would have been intensely familiar with the Jewish imagery, making it certain that his Jewish audience understood the “last trumpet” in Jewish terms, the final trumpet during the Feast of Trumpets.

The Trumpet Paul Describes in 1 Corinthians 15:52 Is Not The Seventh Trumpet of Revelation 11:15

Those who define the “last trumpet” with the seventh trumpet judgment of Revelation 11:15, see the angel blowing the trumpet as he proclaims Christ’s kingdom.

There are several problems with this interpretation:

• In Revelation 8-11, it is an angel who blows the trumpet.
• In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, it is God who blows the trumpet.
• The Seventh Trumpet of Revelation comes in judgment.
• The Last Trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15 comes as a result of the resurrection.
• Revelation was written ~40 years after 1 Corinthians, meaning that Paul’s Corinthian audience could not have connected his phrase to Revelation that was not written yet.

The Theological Emphasis — “Last” as Finality

The correct interpretation of “last” sees “last” not as a chronological tie to Revelation, but as emphasizing the finality of God’s call for His Church. In other words, this is the last trumpet for believers—the final summons that ushers them into resurrection life.

Parallel Scriptures

• 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 – “the trumpet call of God” raises the dead in Christ and gathers the living saints.
• Numbers 10:1–4 – Trumpets summoned Israel for assembly and for moving camp; Paul may be echoing this imagery of God summoning His people.
• Matthew 24:31 – At the coming of the Son of Man, angels gather the elect with “a loud trumpet call.”
• Leviticus 23:23–25 – Feast of Trumpets: a day of blowing trumpets, often connected in prophetic interpretation to the Rapture.

The “Last Trumpet” in 1 Corinthians 15:52 refers to the last trumpet of God that will sound at the Rapture, during the Feast of Trumpets when Christ gathers His Church.

It is not the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15, but rather corresponds to the shofar blasts of the Feast of Trumpets, known in Jewish tradition as “the last trumpet.” Paul uses this language to assure believers that resurrection and transformation will occur at that climactic moment.

See Also:

• Why The Rapture Is Called: “No Man Knows The Day or the Hour”
• This Is Our Final Opportunity To Tell The World About The Return Of Jesus Before The Feast Of Trumpets
• The Approaching Rapture: What Is It? Who Will Be Taken? What Will Happen After?
• Revelation 11:7 “When They Finish Their Testimony” Charlie Kirk, A Voice For Jesus In The Last Of The Last Days
• The Time Of Charlie KIrk’s Death Is Described By Jesus
• Is The Term: “No Man Knows The Day Or The Hour” A Hint By Jesus For The Time When He Will Return For His Church?

See The Verse by Verse Revelation Commentary by Robert Clifton Robinson

See Rob’s Verse by Verse Commentary

Sources and Citations

New Testament Text 

Primary text. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised… and we shall be changed.” (1 Cor 15:52). Closest parallel in Paul: “the trumpet of God” at the Lord’s descent and the resurrection/translation of the saints (1 Thess 4:16–17).

Trumpets and eschatological ingathering in Jesus’ teaching: the loud trumpet call gathering the elect (Matt 24:31). (NT primary text; include your preferred translation.)

Jewish History: Shofar Blasts on Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah) Torah basis for a day of trumpet/shofar sounding: “a memorial of blowing” (Lev 23:23–25; Num 29:1). (Hebrew Bible primary text.)

Mishnah: the order and number of blasts (three sets; nine core sounds; expanded in practice). See Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 4:9 (order: tekiah–teruah–tekiah; repeated).

Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 16a) explains the doubled shofar blowing (before and during the Amidah) as a practice that “confuses the Satan,” illuminating liturgical emphasis on multiple, culminating blasts.

From 30 to 100 blasts: halakhic/liturgical development summarized (Shulchan Aruch O.C. 590; common customs of 30, 100+ blasts, etc.).

The long final blast (tekiah gedolah)—the elongated concluding call in synagogue practice—attested in mainstream Jewish explanations of the blasts. While the classical sources describe orders and counts, popular and rabbinic summaries highlight the climactic nature of the tekiah gedolah as the final shofar note of the day.

Historical facts of Trumpets as public acknowledgment of the Lord’s kingship (useful background from Edersheim’s classic synthesis).

Early Christian Witnesses to Trumpet–Resurrection

• Didache 16 (late 1st/early 2nd cent.): lists three end-time “signs,” including “the sound of the trumpet” followed by “the resurrection of the dead.” (Greek & English).
• Irenaeus (Against Heresies V): defends the bodily resurrection, citing 1 Cor 15 language and explicitly mentioning resurrection “at the last trumpet.”
• John Chrysostom (Homily 42 on 1 Cor 15): expounds “at the last trump… the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised”—emphasizing the instantaneous transformation.
• Tertullian (On the Resurrection of the Flesh): repeatedly invokes the trumpet/resurrection connection to argue for the literal, bodily rising of believers.

Why Paul’s “Last Trumpet” does not equal Revelation’s Seventh Trumpet

A Different agent: In Revelation the trumpets are angel-blown (Rev 8:2; 8:6; 11:15), whereas Paul speaks of “the trumpet of God” (1 Thess 4:16)—distinguishing the phenomenon and function.

Different emphasis: Revelation’s trumpet series announces escalating judgments; Paul’s trumpet announces resurrection/translation for the saints (1 Cor 15; 1 Thess 4). (NT primary texts; see links above.)

Different Dates: 1 Corinthians was written c. AD 54–55 (during Paul’s Ephesian ministry), long before Revelation (commonly AD 95–96 under Domitian). Therefore, Paul’s Corinthian audience could not have “looked ahead” to John’s trumpet series.

Paul’s “last trumpet” (1 Cor 15:52) aligns with the “trumpet of God” calling the saints to resurrection/translation (1 Thess 4:16–17), not with Revelation’s seventh angelic trumpet. The Jewish liturgical context of Rosh Hashanah—culminating shofar blasts and the climactic tekiah gedolah—offers natural background imagery for an ultimate, final summons. The earliest Christian writers (Didache, Irenaeus, Chrysostom, Tertullian) consistently connect the eschatological trumpet with the resurrection, reinforcing this reading.

Annotated Sources

Scriptures: 1 Thess 4:16–17; Rev 8–11 trumpet texts.

Mishnah/Talmud/Halakhah on shofar: M. Rosh Hashanah 4:9; b. Rosh Hashanah 16a; summaries of blast counts & forms (Shulchan Aruch O.C. 590; tekiah gedolah). 

Early Church: Didache 16; Irenaeus Against Heresies (V); Chrysostom Hom. 42 on 1 Cor 15; Tertullian De Res. Carn.

Dates: 1 Corinthians mid-50s (Ephesus); Revelation c. 95–96 (Domitian).

Citations:

1. Corinthians 15:52 (New Living Translation).
2. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (NLT).
3. Matthew 24:31 (NLT).
4. Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 4:9, in The Mishnah, trans. Herbert Danby (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933), 188–189.
5. Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16a, in The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition, trans. Israel Steinsaltz (New York: Random House, 1989).
6. Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 590:1–4, in Shulchan Aruch HaRav, ed. and trans. Eliyahu Touger (Brooklyn: Moznaim, 2002).
7. Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Vol. 6 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1909), 279–281 (discussion of the tekiah gedolah as climactic trumpet).
8. Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ (London: Religious Tract Society, 1874), 277–278.
9. Didache 16.6–7, in The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. 1, trans. Bart D. Ehrman, Loeb Classical Library 24 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003), 463–465.
10. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.35.2, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885), 565.
11. John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 42, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 12, ed. Philip Schaff (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 253–254.
12. Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh 25, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885), 562.
13. Revelation 8:2, 8:6, 11:15 (NLT).
14. F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 307–309, on the mid-50s dating of 1 Corinthians.
15. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.18, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 1, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 148–149, for the late Domitianic dating of Revelation.

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

• The Bible. New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015.
• Danby, Herbert, trans. The Mishnah. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933.
• Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ. London: Religious Tract Society, 1874.
• Ehrman, Bart D., trans. The Apostolic Fathers, Volume I: I Clement, II Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Didache. Loeb Classical Library 24. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.
• Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.
• Irenaeus. Against Heresies. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.
• John Chrysostom. Homilies on First Corinthians. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 12. Edited by Philip Schaff. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.
• Tertullian. On the Resurrection of the Flesh. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.
• The Babylonian Talmud: Rosh Hashanah. Trans. Israel Steinsaltz. New York: Random House, 1989.
• Touger, Eliyahu, ed. and trans. Shulchan Aruch HaRav: Orach Chayim. Brooklyn: Moznaim, 2002.

Secondary Sources:

• Bruce, F. F. Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977.
• Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. Vol. 6. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1909.

Categories: Robert Clifton Robinson