The bible is very clear on this, and does not, and cannot change.......This event does not happen at Pentecost, or any of the other Spring Jewish Festivals, but in the Fall..."Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show 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.
This leads me to believe that there is no gap whatsoever between the dead in Christ rising, and those of us alive rising..... It all happens concurrently in my opinion based on what the bible says..
And there is only ONE last trump.....
The LAST TRUMP is associated and blown on Rosh HaShanah. In his book, "Festivals of the Jewish Year" in the chapter on Rosh HaShanah, the Orthodox Jewish author (not a believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah) will tell you that an IDIOM for Rosh HaShanah is the LAST TRUMP.
Therefore because the LAST TRUMP is a Jewish idiom for ROSH HASHANAH, the Apostle Paul (Rav Sha'ul) when referring to the resurrection of the dead happening at the "last trump" was using a Jewish idiom for the feast of Rosh HaShanah and indicating by doing so that the resurrection of the dead will take place on Rosh HaShanah.
Genesis 22 is the primary Torah reading for Rosh HaShanah. This is the story of Abraham going to offer his son Yitzchak (Isaac) on the altar. As he was about to do so, the angel of the Lord intervened and Abraham saw a RAM (male lamb) caught in the thicket.
The ancient rabbis saw the thicket representing the sins of the people. The two horns of the ram caught in the thicket were given a name. The left horn was called the FIRST TRUMP and the right horn was called the LAST TRUMP.
Therefore, the shofar (ram's horn) was seen as playing a significant role in the redemption.
The third significant shofar in the redemptive plan of God is called the GREAT TRUMP. The GREAT TRUMP is associated with and is blown on YOM KIPPUR. In Matthew 24:29-31 it is written:
"Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION of those days ... and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven ... and he shall send his angels with a GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET (this is the GREAT TRUMP or the Shofar HaGadol) ..."
Therefore, the literal second coming of Messiah AFTER the tribulation is idiomatically shown to us by Yeshua/Jesus to be associated with YOM KIPPUR.So many people get side tracked, thinking that because the rapture did not occur at Rosh Hashanah 2000, they start looking at other possible jewish festivals, but the bible remains the same... There IS only ONE LAST TRUMP, and that is in the fall, at Yom Terrah..... Gods word in the bible does not change.... The Last Trump does not change....
Hope this helps, and keep up the great letters...
Mark