because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call [with a loud command, NIV],b with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.

7. About which particular dead was Paul there speaking, and how does Revelation 14:12, 13 indicate a special time for them to be resurrected?

⁷ Here the apostle Paul is speaking, not of the dead of mankind in general, but of “those who have fallen asleep in death” through Christ, “those who are dead in union with Christ.”

because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.”​—1 Thess. 4:15, 16.

11. Who hear the “commanding call” of the Lord Jesus Christ on his descent from heaven and obey?

¹¹ Who hears the “commanding call” with which the Lord Jesus Christ comes down from his heavenly position at God’s right hand? Evidently the spirit-begotten Christians who, till then, have died “in union with the Lord.” We know that no living humans on earth have directly heard his voice since his spiritual descent, that is, since his invisible “presence,” or parousia, began in early autumn of 1914. But the “dead in Christ” (Authorized Version) heard him and obeyed him.

12. (a) When does the “last day” of which Jesus spoke in John 6:53, 54 begin, and how do those disciples enter into “everlasting life”? (b) From what other so-called “last day” does this differ?

¹² Those thus resurrected by Jesus Christ belong to the disciples concerning whom he said: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life [from the time of being raised from the dead], and I shall resurrect him at the last day.” (John 6:53, 54) On that “last day” there is power in his “commanding call” to raise from the sleep of death his disciples who have shared in this special privilege with respect to his flesh and blood. For such privileged disciples the “last day” begins when they enter into the “everlasting life” in heaven by being resurrected in a “spiritual body” like that of Christ. Since this “last day” applies to the resurrection of the faithful spirit-begotten Christians with a heavenly hope, it differs from the “last day” that Martha of Bethany had in mind, for she then had no idea at all of a spiritual resurrection to heaven.

13. (a) Whose voice is it that the “dead in Christ” hear, and who is the “archangel”? (b) What Scriptural proof do we have for this?

¹³ The glorified Lord Jesus Christ descends also “with an archangel’s voice.” This is his own voice. He is the “archangel.” In his parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus referred to himself in this archangelic capacity by saying: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him.” (Matt. 25:31, 32) In his prehuman state in heaven his name was Michael. There is no question of doubt that he is the one meant in the pre-Christian prophecy of Daniel 12:1, 2: “During that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of your [Daniel’s] people. And there will certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, every one who is found written down in the book. And there will be many of those asleep in the ground of dust who will wake up, these to indefinitely lasting life and those to reproaches and to indefinitely lasting abhorrence.”

14. Revelation 12:7 gives the archangel’s name as being what, and how does Jude 9 refer to a previous contest of this one?

¹⁴ Also, Revelation 12:7 shows angels to be subordinate to Michael, saying: “War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels [not resurrected spirit-begotten Christians] battled.” Furthermore, Jude 9 speaks of him as an archangel, saying: “Michael the archangel had a difference with the Devil and was disputing about Moses’ body.” The Devil did not get the body.

15. How did Satan the Devil fare in the war with the archangel Michael, and can he prevent the resurrection of Christ’s disciples and their ascent in heaven to be with Jesus Christ?

¹⁵ All along in the age-old contest Satan the Devil has lost. In the war in heaven he was defeated and he and his demon angels were hurled down to the neighborhood of our earth, whereas the archangel Michael, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his angels remained victorious in the heavens. Since the victorious Jesus Christ uses the “archangel’s voice” when he commands those who died in union with the Christ to come forth, his “commanding call” has more authority and stronger effect. Furthermore, the defeated Satan the Devil will not have power enough to prevent the spiritual resurrection of those dead in union with Christ and will not be able to prevent their entrance into the spirit realm nor their ascent in heaven to be with the victorious Jesus Christ.

16. For what purpose does “God’s trumpet” sound at the time of the Lord’s descent from heaven, and who will be first to respond to it?

¹⁶ Another thing that accompanies Christ’s descent from heaven is the sound of “God’s trumpet.” (1 Thess. 4:16) The trumpet in this case is not a war signal for assembling troops that they might fight and put the enemy to death. Rather, the blast of “God’s trumpet” is a peaceful one for assembling Jehovah’s people, as when the two silver trumpets were blown in Moses’ day to assemble the 12 tribes of Israel. (Num. 10:1-10) Elsewhere, in 1 Corinthians 15:52, the apostle Paul connects such a rousing assembly “trumpet” with the resurrection of the Christian dead, when he says: “During the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Who are the first to respond to that “last trumpet,” when it, as “God’s trumpet,” sounds forth for the gathering of the dead back to life? In answer, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says: “And those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.”

17. Why is the resurrection of those “dead in union with Christ” not visible to human eyes?

¹⁷ However, the resurrection of those “dead in union with Christ” is not visible to humans on earth. Why not? Because they are blessed with a spiritual resurrection, each one being “raised up a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:44) Because human eyes are not strong enough to see spirit bodies, the resurrection of the “dead in Christ” is unseen to humans. That is why, since the start of Christ’s “presence,” or parousia, from 1914 onward, mankind has not seen him nor been aware of the resurrection of his disciples.

8. Why would “from that time onward” mean during the presence of the Lord in spirit, and does their dying then terminate their deeds?

⁸ In the light of what the apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, it must be during the “presence,” or parousia, of Jesus Christ, not before it begins, but after. Even during his being invisibly present in spirit there will be spirit-begotten Christians on earth who will “die in union with the Lord.”

Living Now in That “Last Day” of Resurrection

1. For decades beforehand, it was thought that the glorification of the remnant of surviving Christians would occur at what time, but was what was foretold at 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 fulfilled from then on?

SINCE the “dead in Christ” are raised up in spiritual bodies invisible to human eyes on that “last day,” we humans must walk by faith, not by sight, as to its actually taking place now. We recall that for some decades quite a few thought that the glorification of all surviving members of the Christian congregation would occur at the end of the Gentile Times around October 1, 1914. (Luke 21:24) However, nothing like what is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 took place at that date. Rather, war broke out in heaven, and the losers, Satan and his demons, experienced a rapid descent earthward. (Rev. 12:7-13) Interestingly, quite a number of spirit-begotten Christians who were alive and active on earth in 1914 are still with us in the flesh. Apparently something was wrong about the timing of the “last day” for the glorification of the spirit-begotten congregation.

2, 3. The glorification is due to occur during what period, and so what question arises concerning the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 15:50-57?

² Nonetheless, the invisible “presence,” or parousia, of the glorified Jesus Christ began at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. So from then on it is the time period when what is foretold at 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 should take place respecting the surviving spirit-begotten Christians, to correspond with the “last day.”​—John 6:54.