In the Twinkling of a Eye

1 Co 15:52 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 surrounding this simple statement from Scripture. Pre-tribers and even some others use it to make the Church disappear without any notice or trace. I’d like to point out a few things.

First of all, the subject of the entire 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is resurrection; the resurrection of Jesus and the eventual resurrection of believers. The fact that it occurs at the last trump does not mean we disappear in the Rapture. It does not mean that the Rapture will occur in the twinkling of an eye either. Verse 51 tells us what is going on here.

51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. This is the change from corruptible to incorruptible. It is the change from mortal to immortal. We must be changed to endure the flight to heaven when Jesus sends His angels down to collect us. The Bible says that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. In the twinkling of an eye our bodies will be CHANGED into spiritual bodies just like the one that Jesus will posses at His APPEARING. A body that will never die again, and one that will be able to enter into heaven itself. And one that is visible to the natural eye. This change will give us the new bodies which we will inhabit the earth in as we rule with Christ in the future. We will not be invisible. When we change we change; we do not disappear. We will change in a split second, and then we will be carried up into the clouds in our new bodies to be with the Lord in His resurrected body. The whole world will be able to see us going into the clouds just as they are able to see the Jesus coming in the clouds. The Resurrection occurs at the same last trump that signals the appearing of Jesus for the Rapture.

Nothing in the Scriptures suggests that the Rapture will occur in a flash. It will not! The lights up in the sky will go dark in obeisance to the Lord of all creation who is approaching earth to remove His people before the punishment of sinners begins. Every eye will see Him coming in the clouds because the clouds will be lit by His glory like the sun rising in the east and shining to the west. After we experience our split second change from mortal to immortal, He will send His angels down, they will collect the just, and then they will carry us all up together, both those who were dead and those who were alive, and we will be caught up into the clouds with Him in full view of all the world. Christian singers have grasped this simple concept in the songs that they write, but the rest of the Church wants to split hairs and find deep hidden meaning in everything they read. Granted, it was given to us as a mystery, but we have turned it into a tower of Babel­everyone rejecting the simple things of the Word of God and speaking their own prophetic language, which confines the Church to a world of confusion when it comes to prophecy.

The Resurrection will occur in a nanosecond, but the Rapture will last just as long as God wants it to. It is, after all, a display of the sovereignty of His Son. The one that the world has rejected is hovering over head and rescuing His people, and now it is time for the wicked to be punished. Punishment one­the lights go out in the sky. Punishment two­they come face to face with the Lord of righteousness whom they hate. After that, the rest of the Wrath of God will fall. In Revelation 6:12-17, when the sixth seal is opened, the sky turns black and the sinners of the earth have time to attempt to hide as they cry out to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” They not only see Him when He comes in the clouds, but they have time to react. The Resurrection will occur in the twinkling of an eye, and may be the cause of the great earthquake in Verse 4, but the Rapture is at God’s leisure.

We will be changed into an incorruptible spiritual body, but it is still, in many ways, a physical body. Paul makes that clear both in 1 Corinthians 15:49 (And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man) and also in Philippines 3:20 (For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself) that we will be resurrected/changed to be just like Jesus was resurrected. All of the descriptions of him post resurrection emphasize his physicalness (eating with the apostles, having them touch and feel him). And when he rose into heaven, the apostles were told THIS SAME JESUS WILL RETURN IN LIKE MANNER.