In the passage above, Paul spells out the chronological sequence of the Rapture in seven stages.
First, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven.” At some point in the future, the Messiah will come down from Heaven and into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Second, “with a shout.” The Greek word used here refers to the shout of command like the one issued by a military leader. In other words, the Messiah will give a shout of command for the resurrection and the translation of believers to occur.
Third, “with the voice of the archangel.” This is Michael the Archangel. The content of what he says is not stated, but if the military theme is applied again, then this is simply the repetition by the sub-commander of the order by the chief commander. So, Jesus gives the shout of command for the program of the Rapture to begin, and it is Michael’s task to set it into motion by repeating the command.
Fourth, “with the trumpet of God.” The sound of the trumpet was used as a summons either to battle or to worship. With Michael’s repetition of the command, the trumpet sounds, and this triggers the Rapture itself.
Fifth, “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” This is the resurrection of dead saints who will actually enjoy the benefits of the Rapture first. The expression “in Christ” limits the resurrection at the time of the Rapture to those who were baptised by the Holy Spirit into the Body of the Messiah, the Church. This resurrection of dead saints is to be limited to Church saints only. Old Testament saints will be resurrected at a later point in God’s prophetic program.
Sixth, “then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.” The resurrection of dead saints is followed by the translation of living saints. Without exception, every believer at that point will be removed from the Earth to finally be united with the Messiah.
And the seventh stage is “to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” The final step in the Rapture event is that both the resurrected dead believers and the translated living believers will meet the Lord in the air. With that comes the guarantee that once believers have been united with Him in the air, they will permanently remain with Him and return with Him into Heaven, thereby fulfilling His promise in John 14:1-3.
Paul ends with an encouragement: “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”