1 Corinthians 15:52

In a moment. Gr. en atomo, “in an indivisible point of time,” “in an instant.”

Atomos occurs only here in the NT. It is the word from which “atom” is derived. Along with the expression, “twinkling [or “wink”] of an eye,” this phrase points to the extreme rapidity with which the change in the bodies of the living saints will take place.

At the last trump. The time when this glorious transformation will take place is next indicated. It will be at the second coming of Christ, for it is then that the “trump of God” will sound, and faithful believers who have died will be raised in bodies that are entirely free from all effects of sin (Col. 3:4; see on 1 Thess. 4:16). Then Christians who are alive and looking eagerly for the coming of their Lord will undergo a marvelous change, whereby all traces of corruption and imperfection will be removed from their bodies, which will be made like unto Christ’s glorious body (see Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:2). They will have the wondrous experience of being taken from earth to heaven without dying, like Elijah, who was a type of all true believers who will be living when Christ comes again (see 2 Kings 2:11; PK 227).