When will Jesus come again? A question that the prophets and even the apostles asked. Jesus’ reply was, “No one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32) So, the apostles watched believing Jesus could come any minute for Paul wrote, “…when we will be changed”, including himself in the group who will still be alive when Jesus comes. Over 2,000 years have passed. Are you still watching?
Many false prophets since the early 1800s, in grave error, have predicted either Jesus’ second coming or the sound of the trumpet at the rapture -many in my lifetime. Sadly, the followers of those false prophets remain in the cults that formed around their false prophecies.
Apostle Paul repeats what Jesus taught. The saints’ change to an imperishable body will occur instantly, “in a flash”, at his coming. Jesus told a Pharisee who asked about the coming of the Kingdom of God, “For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.” (Luke 17:24).
Apostle Paul also refers to Jesus and the prophets’ references to “the last trumpet”. (Leviticus 23:24, 25:9; Isaiah 18:3; Jeremiah 4:5, 31:27; Ezekiel 7:14; Joel 2:1, 15; Zechariah 9:14) Jesus said, “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:31). Paul had already wrote this to the congregation in Thessalonica). (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18)
Several years after Paul’s letters, Jesus revealed to the Apostle John that he would send seven angels with seven trumpets, “the last trumpet” blown is our transformation, when he comes again. (Revelation 11:15-19)
Do not be confused or misled. The book of Revelation is presented from a Semitic view, not a Western, consecutive, sequential view. On the day that Jesus comes, whenever that will be, “the last trumpet” will sound, “the dead in Christ will rise imperishable”, those who are alive “will be changed,” we will all meet Jesus in the sky as he descends to earth to establish his kingdom. (Revelation 8:1-5, 11:15-19, 16:17-21, 18:1-19:21 are all referring to the same time, the end). Therefore, keep aleart, keep watch, always be ready for we do not know the day or the hour.
