For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."-- 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
[462]Some have misconstrued this Scripture to mean that the Lord would appear the second time and give a great shout and wake up the dead.

The word here translated shout means a message of encouragement.

It implies a public message designed for the ears not of a few, but for a great number.

The "shout", the "voice of the archangel" and the "trump of God" are all symbols.

Literally, it means that the appearing of the Lord will be at the time of or during the shout of encouragement; and this is in full harmony with the evidences heretofore examined that the presence of the Lord has been at a time when the people have been encouraged concerning their own rights.