The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 10)

The return of Jesus Christ is in stages that symmetrically correspond to the stages of His ascension. Because of this pattern (as with many other types and patterns in the Word), it helps us to gain deeper insights, and piece together scriptures, that provide a bigger picture of the redemption plan of God throughout the ages. Connecting the dots on past events is easy due to hindsight, but the types and patterns in the Word really do assist in building a more insightful understanding of future events, as what we are discussing in this series of posts.

In part 8, we put focus on the position of Christ as he returns for the church, which is His Body, before the 7-year Tribulation. Our focus was on a 'silent' rapture based on underlying points of study we expounded on in that post. In this post we will continue to the next stage of Christ's return, being the stage when he appears in the clouds at the end of the Tribulation. Unlike the previous stage, which was quite uneventful, barring the disappearance of millions from earth, this stage, that we are about to discuss, is full of events, both in heaven and on earth. We will look at each event of this stage in detail as we continue in this series.

What is the trumpet?

Before we get to the 'twinkling of an eye' and the 'voice of the archangel', let's deal with the trumpet, which is mentioned in both of our two key verses,

1 Thess.4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Cor.15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 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.

There has been a lot of confusion and disagreement about what this trumpet is! Instead of looking at what everyone else is saying, and analyzing what, and why there is so much disagreement, I'm simply going to focus on what I am convicted of, based on weighing up various theories and scriptural proof and coming to my own conclusion of it. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, but this is my personal conviction in this regard.

The trumpet in our key verses correspond to the last of the trumpet judgements in Revelation. It fits with the picture that scripture paints when one starts to bring together all the facts. It not only fits with other scripture confirmations, but it also simply makes sense, without trying to force scripture. 

Let's have a look at how this all fits. 

Rev.11:15 And the seventh angel sounded [the last trumpet]; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. (Also Rev.19)

Now, just stop here! Right here between verse 17 and 18 there is a LOT of events that must take place. What events? Well, verse 18 and 19 below are speaking about the judgements on the nations and of Armageddon. So, before these things can happen, there must be the 2nd Coming of the Lord in Clouds, then a rapture of the Tribulation saints must happen, and only then can the 7 vial judgements and Armageddon happen. (see Rev.14 and 16, and also our study in part 9, of elapsed time between verses.)

18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that 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. 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

The proof that this scripture above is in reference to Armageddon is due to the language used in the verses. Have a look at the last bolded statement above. It speaks of lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. Now have a look at Revelation 16 and compare the language,

Rev.16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent [±120 pounds]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Can you see the language? Can you see the events that occur? They are similar, except that in this 16th chapter, it directly refers to Armageddon in verse 16. So, chapter 11 is speaking of the seventh angel sounding his trumpet, and we see how the heavenly hosts rejoice by saying, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Then we read of the judgements of the nations and Armageddon, confirmed by chapter 16. Between heaven rejoicing and Armageddon, and by confirmation of other scriptures, we can fill the gap with the understanding that Jesus returns in the clouds, raptures his Tribulation saints, and pours out the vials of God's wrath upon the earth, ending with Armageddon.

By the way, have you ever considered why it's necessary for the Lord to rapture His saints off the earth at His second coming? Well, I've thought about it and conclude that it is for survival! The vials are so destructive. The oceans turn to blood. All sea creatures die. The rivers and fresh water sources turn to blood. The earth is scorched. Humans can only live for a few days without water, so unless they have water reserves, who can last the 30 odd days while the wrath of God's vials are poured out? Besides the heat and lack of water, the earth will be violently shaken by a worldwide earthquake of such magnitude that its off the measuring scales. After Armageddon, this planet will be desolate of life. It's only after these events that the earth can be refreshed and the raptured saints can be placed back on earth to finally enter the Millennial Kingdom.

Now, let's ask again. How did all of this activity start? What initiated all these events? The answer is simple and easy, — Rev.11:15 And the seventh angel sounded [the last trumpet];...

I hope this makes sense. Below I add two diagrams that show the order of the judgement events, and the order of activity recorded in the Book of Revelation. If you look at these charts with the understanding of events laid out in this post, they should all start to fall into place and become less cryptic.

The 7th trumpet announces Christ's 2nd Coming
and the Rapture of the Tribulation Saints 

The seventh trumpet is an announcement, a declaration of the beginning of the reign of Christ, the beginning of the kingdoms of the world under His rule. The seventh trumpet is the arrival of Jesus Christ in visible form, taking vengeance on His enemies from the clouds. His appearance and the rapture occur just prior to the vials of God's wrath which ends in the battle of Armageddon and the winepress of His wrath.

The order of events in the Book of Revelation

Revelation provides a clear order of events as the chapters progress. We have the 6 seals that are activated during the first half of the Tribulation (the beginning of sorrows). Then in chapters 8 and 9 we have the first six trumpet judgements of the 'Great Tribulation' that are initiated by the seventh seal, and which take out a 3rd of vegetation, oceans, ships, and fresh water, and continue escalating to the first 2 woes. In chapter 11 we have reference to the seventh trumpet marking Christ's return. Immediately after Christ reaps the harvest, rapturing the Tribulation saints, we have the 3rd woe, the seven vials being poured out, culminating in Armageddon, the great winepress, the global earthquake and the 120lbs hail stones. Chapter 19 provides more visuals on this battle as Christ rides on His white horse to conquer.

The seventh trumpet is "the last trumpet" on this present earth for unbelieving humanity. The subsequent events of this trumpet blast are catastrophic of those who reject Christ. But for those who have trusted in Him and placed their lives in His hands, the seventh trumpet will be one of victory and joy for 1000 years.

In our next post, I will continue to clarify the meaning of 'the twinkling of an eye' and 'the voice of the archangel'. As this series draws to a close, I hope that it is keeping you intrigued and that you are learning something from the Word. My intentions are to trigger your interest in these matters and to inspire you to your own studies on these events that are soon to come to pass.

God bless.