Some assume that, because Michael is referred to as the “chief
messenger” in Jude 9, he must be the same “chief messenger” referred to by Paul
in 1 Thess. 4:16. However, I believe there are good reasons to believe that
Paul did not have Michael in view here. First, let’s consider a few passages
from Daniel in which certain superhuman, angelic “chiefs” are referred to. In
Daniel 10:12-14, we read the following words spoken to Daniel by a celestial
messenger (probably Gabriel; see Daniel 8:16; 9:21):
“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your
heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words
have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The
chief of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days,
but Michael, one
of the first chiefs, came to help me, for I was left there with the
chief of the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is
to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for
days yet to come.”
And in verses 20-21, we read:
“Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will
return to fight against the chief of
the kingdom of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the
chief of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is
inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against
these except Michael, your
chief.”
Finally, in Daniel 12:1 we read: “In
that era Michael shall stand up, the great chief who is standing over
the sons of your people. Then an era of distress will come to pass,
such as has not occurred since there was a nation on the earth, until that
era.”
What we discover from the above verses is that there are several
“chiefs” among the celestial messengers. Some (e.g., Gabriel) are on the side
of God and the saints, while others (e.g., the “chief of the kingdom of
Persia”) are, evidently, antagonistic toward them. Among the angelic “chiefs”
who are clearly on the side of God and his saints is Michael, who is referred
to as “your [Daniel’s] chief” and as “the great chief who is standing over the
sons of your [Daniel’s] people.” Among the celestial messengers, then, Michael
is to be understood as the chief
messenger of
Israel (just as there is a chief messenger of Persia, a chief
messenger of Greece, etc.).
Thus, Michael’s dispute with the Adversary over the “body of
Moses” (Jude 9) makes perfect sense when we realize that Michael is the chief
messenger of Israel. But do we have any good reason to believe that Michael is
the chief messenger in view in 1 Thessalonians 4:16? No. We know that Paul did
not have Daniel’s people, Israel, in view when he prophesied concerning the
“dead in Christ rising first” and the snatching away of the living and the
(formerly) dead in Christ to meet the Lord in the air. The saints whom Paul had
in view as being snatched away to meet Christ in the air are those who, at that
time, constituted the “body of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15-19; 10:16-17; 12:12-27;
Rom. 12:4-5). As noted earlier, this company of saints simply cannot be
identified with either national Israel or the
chosen remnant among Daniel’s people. Since Paul – in contrast with, for
example, Peter, James and John – wasn’t addressing a group of believers
consisting primarily of those among the twelve tribes of Israel (or even gentile
proselytes to Israel) in his first letter to the Thessalonians, it follows that
the “Chief Messenger” of this particular body of saints couldn’t have been
Michael (who, again, is the chief messenger of Daniel’s people, Israel).
There is further evidence that the “Chief Messenger” referred to
by Paul is someone other than Michael. In contrast with Christ’s words in
Matthew 24:30-31 and John’s prophecy in Revelation 19:11-14 (for example), Paul
doesn’t say anything in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 about Christ coming with any (let
alone “all”) of the “holy messengers.” Rather, we read of “the Lord
Himself descending from heaven.” And immediately after this, we read
that Christ will be descending “with a shout of command.” In other words,
Christ’s voice will be heard as he’s descending (as a “shout of
command”). Thus, when Paul went on to add “with the voice of the Chief
Messenger,” he can be understood as referring back to (and expanding upon) what
he’d just said concerning the “shout of command.” This means that the “Chief
Messenger” whom Paul had in view is none other than the Lord himself.
Like the nation of Israel, the body of Christ (which is a
multinational/multiethnic body of people) has its own “Chief
Messenger.” But our Chief Messenger isn’t Michael; rather, our Chief
Messenger is Christ Jesus himself, the Head of “the ecclesia which is his
body.” It should be noted that an “angel” or “messenger” is simply one whose role or office involves delivering a message, carrying out a decree or executing the purpose of another, and does not necessarily refer to a particular class or category of celestial beings (although it can, in certain contexts; see, for example, Heb. 1-2, where the “messengers” in view throughout these two chapters are exclusively celestial, non-human beings). Significantly, both John the Baptist and Christ are prophetically referred to as “messengers” in Malachi 3:1 (for more examples where the term is used in reference to human beings, see Matthew 11:10; Luke 7:24; 9:52; Acts 12:15; 2 Cor. 12:7; James 2:25).
It is the voice of Christ alone that will be heard as a “shout of command” as Christ descends from heaven to the atmospheric region where the meeting in the air will take place. However, in contrast with what we read in John 5:25-29 (cf. John 11:43), it is not the voice of Christ that directly results in the resurrection referred to by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. Rather, it is the sounding of a trumpet, as revealed by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:51-52:
It is the voice of Christ alone that will be heard as a “shout of command” as Christ descends from heaven to the atmospheric region where the meeting in the air will take place. However, in contrast with what we read in John 5:25-29 (cf. John 11:43), it is not the voice of Christ that directly results in the resurrection referred to by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. Rather, it is the sounding of a trumpet, as revealed by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:51-52:
“Lo! a secret to you am I telling! We all, indeed, shall not be put
to repose, yet we all shall be changed, in an instant, in the twinkle
of an eye, at the last trump. For He will be trumpeting, and the dead will be
roused incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Notice that it is both those saints who will still be alive and those
who will be dead who will be “changed.” For those still alive, the “change”
will involve “putting on immortality,” and for those who are dead it will
involve being “roused incorruptible.” Thus, we see from verse 52 that both the
change of the living and of
the dead is connected with the sounding of the trumpet, for both are
said to occur “at the last trump,” when “he will be trumpeting.” The fact that
the sounding of this trumpet will result in people being vivified is highly
significant, for this can be understood as revealing the identity of the one
who will be trumpeting.
“At the last trump”
In 1 Thess. 4:15-17 there is no sequence of trumpets referred to or implied. Rather, Paul referred to only a single trumpet (the “trumpet of God”) as being sounded at this future time. But how, then, are we to understand Paul's words in 1 Cor. 15:52 (where we read of “the last trumpet” or “the last trump”)? There are several interpretations of the expression “at the last
trumpet” (en tēi eschatēi salpiggi) that have been
suggested by students of Scripture. I think the simplest and most likely view
is that, when Paul used the term translated “trumpet,” he was using the figure
of speech known as “association” (or “metonymy”). According to this figure of
speech, something associated with a thing is put for it; in the case of 1 Cor.
15:52, the word “trumpet” can be understood as referring to the sound made by a
trumpet – i.e., a trump or trumpet-call. The close association between a
trumpet and the sound that it makes is clear from the English word “trump,”
which can refer to either the instrument itself or the sound produced by it.[1] It’s also worth noting
that, although the Greek noun salpigx has the primary meaning
of “trumpet” (or ”war-trumpet”), both Strong’s
and the Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon have provided secondary definitions
for salpigx: “the sound of a trumpet” (Strong’s) and “a trumpet-call” (Liddell-Scott). The only reason
I haven’t appealed to these “secondary definitions” of salpigx is
because I see them as implying (and
being derived from) the use of the figure of speech association/metonymy.
That Paul was employing the figure of speech metonymy is the
view affirmed by Frederick William Danker in his Concise Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament (2009). Danker notes that the word translated
“trumpet” in 1 Cor. 15:52 (salpigx) means, “by metonymy, the sound
made by a trumpet.” Thus, when Paul is understood as having used the
figure of speech “association” or “metonymy” in 1 Cor. 15:52, we can understand
the expression “at the last trumpet” as simply meaning “at the last
trumpet-call,” or “at the last trump.” And this would mean that Paul didn’t
have in mind more than one trumpet in 1 Cor. 15:52; rather, he simply had in
mind more than one trumpet-call, or trumpet blast. That is, there is going to
be a sequence of trumpet-blasts, and the “change” to which he referred in 1
Cor. 15:52 is going to occur at the last
of these trumpet-blasts.
This interpretation is, I believe, to be preferred to any view
which involves multiple trumpets being sounded (either in unison or in
sequence). As already noted, there is no sequence
of trumpets referred to or implied in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. Rather, Paul referred to only a single
trumpet (the “trumpet of God”) as being sounded at this future time.
In light of this fact, 1 Cor. 15:52 can be understood as communicating the idea
that, just before the dead and living saints in the body of Christ undergo
their vivifying change, the “trumpet of God” will be sounded by Christ at
least twice, and it is at the last blast or trumpet-call
of this single trumpet that the nearly instantaneous event
which Paul had in view will occur.
It should be further noted that the question of whether the term
translated “trumpet” in v. 52 can even refer to the literal instrument (rather
than the sound it makes) depends on the meaning of the Greek word translated
“at” in the expression “at the last trumpet.” The preposition en (which
appears three times in v. 52, and is translated “in” twice and “at” once)
denotes “(fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication)
instrumentality (medially or constructively)” (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/en.html). Although
the interpretation I’ve advanced above is consistent with either meaning of the
word en in 1 Cor. 15:52, only the “instrumental” meaning
of en (“by means of”) is consistent with the view that Paul
was referring to the actual instrument itself in the expression “last trumpet”
(rather than the sound made by the instrument). For, although it would make
sense to say something will occur either (1) at the time of a trumpet-call or
(2) by means of a trumpet-call, it wouldn’t make sense to
say that something is to occur “at the time of a trumpet.”
Since it is at the sounding of what Paul called the “trumpet of
God” that both the living and dead members of the body of Christ are introduced
into a state of immortality and incorruption, we can conclude that whoever is
sounding this trumpet is the authorized agent by whom the dead and living
saints that Paul had in view are to be vivified. Given this fact, I believe it
is Christ himself who will be the one trumpeting at this
future time, for only Christ has been given the authority to vivify the dead. Some
students of Scripture, however, believe that Paul had in mind the sequence of
trumpet-soundings referred to by John in Revelation 8-11, and that the identity
of the implied trumpeter in 1 Cor. 15:52 is the seventh of the seven unnamed
angels referred to in Revelation 8:2. For example, one proponent of this
“post-trib” interpretation of Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 15:52 stated the following
in defense of it:
”If Paul said they would be raised at the last trumpet, it means
that there are other trumpets blown before it. There is no denying the fact
that before the Second Coming of Christ trumpets are going to be blown. In
Revelation 8-11 there will be at least 7 trumpets blown before Jesus comes. In
I Corinthians 15 Paul said the dead would be raised at “the LAST TRUMPET.” If
there are 7 trumpets blown before He comes, to which trumpet is Paul referring?
That’s easy: it’s number 7 in Revelation 11:15…”
However, Paul doesn’t say that he had this particular sequence
of trumpet-soundings in view in 1 Cor. 15:52, and it’s unlikely that either he
or the original recipients of 1 Corinthians were even aware of such a sequence.
There is no evidence that Paul had received
revelation concerning these seven messengers and the specific calamities
resulting from the sounding of their trumpets during the day of the Lord;
rather, it was to the apostle John – while he was on the island of Patmos –
that this particular prophetic information was revealed (and it was, of course,
John who was chosen by God to make it known). And given the fact that there is
compelling internal and external evidence pointing to John’s having written
this work near the end of the first century (i.e., during the reign of Caesar
Domitian, circa 95-96 AD), it’s unlikely that the saints in Corinth to whom
Paul wrote would have even been familiar with such a sequence of trumpet
soundings. [2]
In any event, there is nothing said by Paul or John that demands
this interpretation. The key to scriptural interpretation is not merely the
comparison of like words (such as “trumpet”), but rather the context of
various passages of Scripture. And when we compare the context in which the
“last trumpet”/”trumpet of God” is referred to by Paul and the context in which
the trumpeting of the seventh angel is found, the differences – both in what is
said and what is not said – are great enough to warrant the belief that the two
events are not the same. The context of Revelation 10-17 and that of 1
Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 are completely different. The
sounding of the “trumpet of God” is associated with the descent of Christ from
heaven to rescue those not appointed to indignation from the “coming
indignation” by removing them from the earth (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:15-17; 5:9-11),
while the trumpeting of the seventh angel is associated with further calamity
and indignation coming upon the inhabitants of the earth (Rev. 11:18-19). In
fact, the trumpeting of the seventh messenger is said to bring about the third
“woe” in a sequence of three “woes” (Rev. 8:13; 9:12; 11:14). And these three
“woes” will have been preceded by four earlier trumpet-related calamities (Rev.
8:6-12) which – like the tumultuous events that will be brought about by the
breaking of the seven-sealed scroll – can all be understood as expressions of
God’s indignation or “wrath.”
However, nowhere does Paul say or hint that the sounding of the
“trumpet of God” at Christ’s descent from heaven will result in calamity or
“woe” for anyone (nor is the trumpeting of the seventh angel said to be
accompanied by, or to result in, the descent of the Lord himself from heaven,
the voice [singular] of the “Chief Messenger,” the rousing and rising of the
dead in Christ, the change of the living, or the snatching away of any saints
to meet the Lord in the air). Thus, while the sounding of the “trumpet of God”
is associated with a time before God’s indignation begins (for
it is that which will sound when the time comes for those not appointed for
indignation to be removed from the earth), the trumpeting of the seventh
messenger will occur during (and near the end of) a period of time that
will already be characterized by God’s indignation.
[2]
Even the earlier dating that some propose for
the writing of Revelation – i.e., circa 65-66 AD (during the reign of Caesar
Nero) – would be too late for the original recipients of Paul’s first letter to
the Corinthians to have knowledge of the sequence of trumpet-soundings revealed
to John and recorded in Revelation 8-11.
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