Shincheonji lesson 48: figurative trumpet

Lesson 48 · Introductory

Based on the full Closer Look lesson study

Main verses used

Links open the NET Bible.

What SCJ teaches

This section comes from class notes that an attendee wrote down during SCJ’s 9-month Bible study seminar, posted with the full Closer Look study. They are not SCJ’s printed curriculum, so the wording is the note-taker’s.

The meanings on the board

The board gives three figures: “Trumpeter: Angel in the Spiritual World, spirit | Trumpet = Person | Is 58:1,” and “Trumpet Sound = The Word that declares.” The hope is “To find the 7th trumpet through the word and gather on the Mountain.”

Review: sealed and spoken through

From Hebrews 8:10, the new covenant is written on minds and hearts, and the notes say “That’s what it means to be sealed.” Sealing happens on a mountain: “Of course, it is Mount Zion, where sealing takes place.” From Matthew 10:20, spirits work through people, so “The person becomes the mouthpiece of God, and that’s how it should be.”

The main reference

In Matthew 24:29-31, after the sun, moon and stars darken and fall, Jesus sends his angels “with a loud trumpet call” to gather the elect. The teacher calls Matthew 24 “a mini-revelation” and argues the signs cannot be literal: “If the sun went dark, would there be any survivors? No.” He links this gathering to the wheat gathered into the barn in Matthew 13: “Yeah, the same event.”

What a trumpet is

Trumpets are loud, announce an action and gather people. God used a trumpet at Sinai (Exodus 19) and at Jericho (Joshua 6). In Isaiah 58:1, the prophet is told to raise his voice like a trumpet, so “Isaiah became God’s trumpet,” declaring the people’s sin and rebellion. Paul says a trumpet must give a clear call (1 Corinthians 14:8), and the teacher applies this to himself: “it is my duty to ensure I am sharp so that I can effectively sharpen you.” A trumpet is blown from a high place (Isaiah 18:3), and Joel 2 says from Zion, “Because the people need to be gathered together.” The notes add, “The time for us to be separate must come to an end. We must all gather in the same place.”

The trumpet at each coming

At the first coming, “God is the trumpeter, and Jesus is the trumpet itself.” Jesus spoke the Father’s words, beginning with “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” The twelve who gathered around him formed Mount Zion; the notes say “Jesus was called Zion in Isaiah 60:14.”

At the second coming, the sun, moon and stars falling is “Something like a betrayal,” and the trumpet both announces the betrayal and gathers the elect. Students are told to read Revelation through two questions: “words and people.” The seven trumpets in Revelation 8 “figuratively represent seven people.” The first six announce judgment. In Revelation 8:8, a burning mountain thrown into the sea is a church being judged, and “we need to know which specific church this refers to.”

The seventh trumpet

When the seventh trumpet sounds, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah” (Revelation 11:15). The notes say the world has been Satan’s kingdom for “6,000 years, since the fall of Adam.” Paul’s “last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52) is read as “representing the fulfilment of prophecy.” Revelation 10:7 ties the seventh trumpet to the mystery of God, and the next verses explain who sounds it: “John becomes the seventh trumpet.” He must announce betrayal, destruction “and where to go to be part of salvation,” telling people to flee “specifically Mount Zion.” The lesson adds: “But if we’re hearing the open word now, what does that mean? It’s already taking place.”

Satan also has trumpeters, in Babylon (Revelation 18:22), whose sound is lies. The teaser on the board says “The seventh Trumpet is already sounding.”

In SCJ’s own books

Each passage was checked against the scanned page image; page numbers are as printed.

The Explanation of Parables (Shincheonji), page 76, gives the true meaning of the trumpet as “A person” and says “the trumpeters are the angels in the spiritual realm, and the trumpet sound is the testimony — the word that is proclaimed.” Page 77 lists “God’s trumpet (true shepherd) → Trumpet sound: Heaven” and “Satan’s trumpet (false shepherd) → Trumpet sound: Hell,” and says:

“At the Second Coming, God’s trumpet is the messenger whom the Lord sent (Rv 22:16) — the one who overcomes.”

Its conclusion says the kingdom of the world is becoming God’s kingdom “by the revealed word (trumpet sound) of the New Testament prophecies’ fulfillment testified by the one who overcomes who is the seventh trumpet,” and that “One who hears this testimony and comes out to Mt. Zion receives resurrection and eternal life.”

How the lesson notes compare with the books

  • Trumpeter = angel; trumpet = person; sound = the word declared. Same teaching (notes; Parables p. 76).
  • The seventh trumpet. Same direction. The notes say “John becomes the seventh trumpet.” The book says “the one who overcomes who is the seventh trumpet” (Parables p. 77).
  • Satan’s trumpet. Same direction. The notes point to Babylon’s trumpeters, whose sound is lies. The book says “false shepherd” and their “commentaries” (Parables p. 77).
  • The first six trumpets. Only the notes say the seven trumpets are seven people and the first six announce judgment. These pages of the book do not discuss the first six.

What the Bible says

  • Jesus said all the tribes of the earth will see him coming on the clouds. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30, NET)
  • He compared his coming to lightning seen from east to west. For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. (Matthew 24:27, NET)
  • Paul links the trumpet of God to the Lord himself coming down and the dead rising. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16, NET)
  • At the last trumpet, the dead are raised imperishable. in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52, NET)
  • The seven trumpets are given to angels who stand before God. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. (Revelation 8:2, NET)
  • In Revelation 10, John and the angel are two separate figures. So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” (Revelation 10:9, NET)
  • Hebrews says God’s final word came through his Son. After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. (Hebrews 1:1-2, NET)

Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible

This lesson defines the trumpeter as an angel, the trumpet as “a person,” and the trumpet sound with “Trumpet Sound = The Word that declares.” It says Revelation’s seven trumpets “figuratively represent seven people,” that “John becomes the seventh trumpet,” and that he tells people to flee “specifically Mount Zion.” It reads Paul’s “last trumpet” as “representing the fulfilment of prophecy,” and concludes: “But if we’re hearing the open word now, what does that mean? It’s already taking place.” The board says, “The seventh Trumpet is already sounding.” SCJ’s The Explanation of Parables (p. 77) says “God’s trumpet is the messenger whom the Lord sent (Rv 22:16) — the one who overcomes,” and that “One who hears this testimony and comes out to Mt. Zion receives resurrection and eternal life.” Scripture says who blows the trumpets, and what happens when the last one sounds.

  1. 1. Matthew 24:29-31: Visible to all, gathered by angels

    The lesson calls Matthew 24 “a mini-revelation,” says the darkened sun and falling stars can’t be literal, and links the trumpet gathering to the harvest of Matthew 13: “Yeah, the same event.”

    • The sun, moon and stars imagery echoes Old Testament language for God’s judgment (Isaiah 13:10). Whatever one makes of it, Jesus says what follows is public: “all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (24:30).
    • “he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (24:31). Angels do the gathering, from everywhere.
    • The lesson says this is the same event as the harvest in Matthew 13. Jesus says the reapers there are angels too, at the end of the age (13:39). By the lesson’s own link, the gathering isn’t done by human recruiters or to one place on earth. (See Lesson 1 and Lesson 15.)

  2. 2. The seven trumpets are blown by angels

    The lesson says the seven trumpets “figuratively represent seven people.”

    • “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them” (Revelation 8:2). “Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them” (8:6).
    • Each trumpet is blown by an angel: “The first angel blew his trumpet” (8:7), and so on through the seventh (11:15).
    • The trumpets announce judgments on the earth, sea, rivers, sun and ungodly people (8:7-9:21). Revelation doesn’t say they’re people. (On Revelation 8:8, see Lesson 44; its new section isn’t live yet, so the link goes to the lesson page.)

  3. 3. “John becomes the seventh trumpet”

    The notes say “John becomes the seventh trumpet,” and SCJ’s book says “the one who overcomes who is the seventh trumpet.”

    • “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever’” (11:15).
    • Revelation 10:7 says the mystery of God is completed “in the days when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet.” It’s the seventh angel.
    • In Revelation 10, John and the angel are separate: “So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll” (10:9). John doesn’t become the trumpet.
    • Revelation 22:16, which SCJ’s book cites, says: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.” An angel, not a human messenger.

  4. 4. What happens at the seventh trumpet
    • At the seventh trumpet, heaven announces that Christ “will reign for ever and ever” (11:15). The elders say “the time has come for the dead to be judged, and the time has come to give to your servants, the prophets, their reward” (11:18).
    • That’s the final judgment and the full arrival of God’s kingdom. It isn’t something that can be “already sounding” while the world goes on unchanged.

  5. 5. Paul’s last trumpet: The dead are raised

    The notes quote 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 and then say: “When the figurative last trumpet sounds, representing the fulfilment of prophecy, we will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye.”

    Read what Paul says happens:

    “in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (15:52)

    • “this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality … then the saying that is written will happen, ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” (15:53-54).

    And to the Thessalonians:

    “the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

    If the last trumpet were sounding now through a man’s testimony, the dead in Christ would be rising and living believers would be instantly made immortal. That hasn’t happened. People in every church, including SCJ, still grow old and die. (See Lesson 19.)

  6. 6. “It’s already taking place”

    The lesson asks, “But if we’re hearing the open word now, what does that mean? It’s already taking place.”

    • This is circular: hearing the course is offered as proof that the course’s claims are being fulfilled. (See Lesson 34; its new section isn’t live yet, so the link goes to the lesson page.)
    • Jesus says his coming will be unmistakable to all: “just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be” (Matthew 24:27).

  7. 7. Isaiah 58:1 and 1 Corinthians 14:8
    • Isaiah is told, “Yell as loudly as a trumpet!” (58:1). It’s a simile: speak loudly and clearly. It doesn’t make prophets into trumpets in a code. And the chapter calls Israel to a true fast of justice and mercy, including not turning away from family (58:6-7). (See Lesson 20.)
    • Paul’s “if, for example, the trumpet makes an unclear sound” (1 Corinthians 14:8) is about speaking in tongues in church without interpretation. His point is that worship should be understandable so the church is built up (14:9, 12).

  8. 8. Joel 2: Gathered to repent, and the Spirit poured out

    The lesson uses Joel 2’s trumpet in Zion to say, “The time for us to be separate must come to an end. We must all gather in the same place.”

    • Joel’s trumpet calls Israel to an assembly of repentance: “return to me with all your heart … Tear your hearts, not just your garments” (2:12-13).
    • Then God promises: “I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people” (2:28). Peter says this was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21).
    • Joel’s conclusion is that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered” (Joel 2:32), which Peter and Paul quote as “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). Not everyone who gathers at a particular place.

  9. 9. “Jesus was called Zion in Isaiah 60:14”
    • Isaiah 60:14 says those who despised you will call you “Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” The “you” is the city of Zion, God’s restored people, not Jesus.
    • In Revelation 3:9, Jesus applies this promise to the faithful church in Philadelphia. (See Lesson 44; its new section isn’t live yet, so the link goes to the lesson page.)

  10. 10. Babylon’s trumpeters

    The lesson uses Revelation 18:22 to say Satan has trumpeters whose sound is lies.

    • The verse says of fallen Babylon: “the sound of the harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again.” It describes a once-busy city falling silent, with no more music, craftsmen or millstones (18:22-23).
    • It’s a picture of desolation, not a description of false teachers.

  11. 11. Coming out to Mt. Zion for resurrection and eternal life

    SCJ’s book says, “One who hears this testimony and comes out to Mt. Zion receives resurrection and eternal life.”

    • Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies” (John 11:25).
    • “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life” (1 John 5:11-12).
    • “in these last days he has spoken to us in a son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). God’s final word came through Jesus.

What the lesson is really for

This lesson makes a man the final trumpet and SCJ the place to gather:

  • Trumpets are people; the seven trumpets are seven people.
  • John, or the one who overcomes, is the seventh trumpet.
  • Paul’s last trumpet is fulfilled prophecy, and it’s already sounding.
  • Everyone must gather in one place, Mount Zion.
  • SCJ’s book says coming out to Mount Zion brings resurrection and eternal life.

The biblical answer: Angels blow Revelation’s trumpets (8:2, 6; 11:15). At the last trumpet, the Lord himself comes down, the dead are raised imperishable, and death is swallowed up (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:52-54). His coming will be seen by all, and his angels will gather the elect from the four winds (Matthew 24:27-31). And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13).

What’s happening behind the lesson

These notes are our reading of the lesson text, using Steven Hassan’s BITE model (behavior, information, thought and emotional control). They describe what the text does, not the teacher’s intent. Hassan notes that not every group uses every item. Source: Steven Hassan, BITE Model, Freedom of Mind.

  • Behavior: can press people to gather in one place. “The time for us to be separate must come to an end. We must all gather in the same place,” and the seventh trumpet tells people “where to go.”
  • Thought: can treat hearing the teaching as proof it is true. “But if we’re hearing the open word now, what does that mean? It’s already taking place.” The lesson is presented as the fulfillment it describes.
  • Information: can cast other teaching as lies (our reading). Babylon’s trumpeters stand for spirits working through people, and “it signifies that falsehoods are being uttered.” In our reading, the warning points at teaching heard in other churches.

Go deeper

Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. Bible Vaccine Center and Closer Look Initiative are run by the same team.