1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God ["Himself" shows that the Lord will not come by messenger, or by representative, but in person. Paul does not describe any of the convulsions of nature which accompany the advent (2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 20:11); but he mentions three sounds which will accompany it, for these have to do with the resurrection which he now has under discussion. The shout of Christ the King is the signal that the awful moment has arrived. Immediately after it the voice of the archangel is heard summoning the other angels to the performance of their duty; viz.: the gathering of the saints (Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27), which are just being roused from the slumber of death by the trumpet of God. The word "archangel" is also used at Judges 1:9; where we are told that the archangel's name is Michael. It is used nowhere else in Scripture, and there is no hint that there is an order or class of archangels. Michael is the chief or ruler of all the angels (Revelation 12:7). The trumpet is called "trump of God," because it heralds the approach of God, and summons the people to meet him (Exodus 19:16-19). There is no hint as to who blows this trumpet, though it is mentioned several times-- 1 Corinthians 15:52]: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;