1 Corinthians 15:51

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.

We shall not all sleep ... There is nothing in this passage to support the notion that Paul believed the end to be in his own lifetime. Some of the Thessalonians got that impression from Paul's teaching; but he at once wrote them another letter to dispel such a foolish notion and to point out that great epochs of time were to unfold before the final day. By this word, Paul merely meant those living at the time of the Second Advent would undergo an instantaneous change.

We shall all be changed ... Johnson and many others find grounds here for what they call "a partial rapture of the church";[37] but the meaning of "all" appears to be far too comprehensive to support such a view.

In a moment ... Bruce approved the rendition "moment" in this place, calling it "perfectly correct."[38] He further said:

The Greek word [@atomos] (whence our word "atom") means "incapable of being cut"; and Paul used it here to indicate a division of time so brief that it cannot be subdivided farther, a "split second" if you like.[39]

The trumpet shall sound ... No man may say exactly what this is; but it is clear enough that God would have no need of any literal trumpet. Zechariah said, "The Lord God shall blow the trumpet" (Zechariah 9:14); and the symbolism would appear to be the same as when one might say, "Well, the boss blew the whistle on that practice," meaning, of course, that he stopped it. Something like that is meant here. Jesus mentioned the final day in these words: "And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the elect, etc." (Matthew 24:31). Note that it was not a trumpet, but "the great sound of a trumpet." See also 1 Thessalonians 4:16. There will come the time when God will blow the trumpet on this world of ours and summon all people to the judgment of the great day.

I tell you a mystery ... This term in the New Testament ordinarily refers to some secret hitherto unknown, but now revealed through the word of God. For a discussion of New Testament mysteries, see my Commentary on Matthew, p. 189, also an entire book on "The Mystery of Redemption."[40]

[37] S. L. Johnson, Jr., op. cit., p. 645.

[38] F. F. Bruce, Answers a Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 100.

[39] Ibid.

[40] See CMY in list of abbreviations.