In 1 Corinthians 15, Apostle Paul gave this about the change of those on earth at the "last trump"...
1 Cor 15:51-54
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
(KJV)
For that "Death is swallowed up in victory", Paul was pulling from the Isaiah 25 Scripture. Isaiah 25 includes all peoples and nations alive on earth being included in that...
Isa 25:7-8
7 And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
(KJV)
Only with that latter statement of "...and the rebuke of His people shall He take away..." is about God's people specifically. This is why Paul said in those 1 Cor.15 verses that "we shall all be changed" at that event. That includes those of the nations too.
Where else in the Old Testament prophets was Paul pulling this from, with it happening "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye"?
Isa 24:1-23
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
This word "empty" is Hebrew baqaq and it means to 'pour out', like you'd turn a bottle upside down to empty its contents and it makes a bagloop, bagloop type of sound. That's the kind of expression our Heavenly Father used here for the destruction on the last day of this world.
In the 3rd verse, the idea "utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled" is Hebrew baqaq again along with the idea of spoiled or plundered ('baqaq-baqaq-bazaz-bazaa' = poured out, poured out, spoiled, spoiled'). That event is emphazied.
Isa.24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
(KJV)
Because man has broken God's everlasting covenant the earth has become in a desolate state for the end, and the final answer is God's consuming fire as per these events which Apostle Peter also hinted at in 2 Peter 3:10 with man's works to be burned off it on the "day of the Lord".
Isa.24:18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.
(KJV)
Just so one knows the timing of this is for the very end of this world, those Scriptures above point directly to it, and then Christ's future reign with His elect from Jerusalem.
Here is another OT reference to that coming event...
Isa 29:5-8
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
(KJV)
Per Zephaniah 3, God said it was His determination to gather the nations so as to pour out His indignation upon them. That is about His cup of wrath poured out upon the earth on the last day of this world. So this event is linked with the time of God's cup of wrath being poured out upon the earth.
Zeph 3:8
8 Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.
(KJV)
This event of God's shaking the earth, figuratively turning it upside down, burning its surface with fire, at an instant suddenly on the last day of this world, is also what the destruction of the Gog-Magog armies out of the northern quarters is about...
Ezek 38:18-20
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that My fury shall come up in My face.
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
(KJV)
There are several other Bible references to this singular event of God's ending of this present world time by a great shaking of this earth and His burning fire upon it from His wrath to consume man's works off it. This event of burning is not a simple figure of speech. It will be a literal event.
Per these type references in the Old Testament prophets, this is where Apostle Paul got the idea of the coming change "at the twinkling of an eye" with this event happenning at an instant suddenly upon this earth on the last day.
Various events (like that Gog-Magog event of Ezek.38) are linked to that day per the Old Testament prophets. We were expected to have understood this by the time we get to the many New Testament pointers that directly refer to these events in the Old Testament Books of God's prophets. This is why Apostle Peter admonished us to be 'mindful' of what the OT prophets wrote (2 Pet.3:2).
Many brethren today are trying to understand only what the NT writers covered about these things. That has led many to create a set of doctrines that leave the foundation details of these latter day events first given in the OT prophets. That is the fallacy which NT only study will cause. So how does a believer on Christ Jesus correct this gap in their Bible understanding?
It's simple; go back and do OT study, line upon line, to catch these events of prophecy our Lord Jesus and His Apostles were quoting from and teaching us about. At mininum, one can use a study Bible that shows whenever the NT is quoting an OT passage; a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance will also help in that, or The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge reference, etc.
1 Cor 15:51-54
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
(KJV)
For that "Death is swallowed up in victory", Paul was pulling from the Isaiah 25 Scripture. Isaiah 25 includes all peoples and nations alive on earth being included in that...
Isa 25:7-8
7 And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
(KJV)
Only with that latter statement of "...and the rebuke of His people shall He take away..." is about God's people specifically. This is why Paul said in those 1 Cor.15 verses that "we shall all be changed" at that event. That includes those of the nations too.
Where else in the Old Testament prophets was Paul pulling this from, with it happening "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye"?
Isa 24:1-23
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
This word "empty" is Hebrew baqaq and it means to 'pour out', like you'd turn a bottle upside down to empty its contents and it makes a bagloop, bagloop type of sound. That's the kind of expression our Heavenly Father used here for the destruction on the last day of this world.
In the 3rd verse, the idea "utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled" is Hebrew baqaq again along with the idea of spoiled or plundered ('baqaq-baqaq-bazaz-bazaa' = poured out, poured out, spoiled, spoiled'). That event is emphazied.
Isa.24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
(KJV)
Because man has broken God's everlasting covenant the earth has become in a desolate state for the end, and the final answer is God's consuming fire as per these events which Apostle Peter also hinted at in 2 Peter 3:10 with man's works to be burned off it on the "day of the Lord".
Isa.24:18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.
(KJV)
Just so one knows the timing of this is for the very end of this world, those Scriptures above point directly to it, and then Christ's future reign with His elect from Jerusalem.
Here is another OT reference to that coming event...
Isa 29:5-8
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
(KJV)
Per Zephaniah 3, God said it was His determination to gather the nations so as to pour out His indignation upon them. That is about His cup of wrath poured out upon the earth on the last day of this world. So this event is linked with the time of God's cup of wrath being poured out upon the earth.
Zeph 3:8
8 Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.
(KJV)
This event of God's shaking the earth, figuratively turning it upside down, burning its surface with fire, at an instant suddenly on the last day of this world, is also what the destruction of the Gog-Magog armies out of the northern quarters is about...
Ezek 38:18-20
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that My fury shall come up in My face.
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
(KJV)
There are several other Bible references to this singular event of God's ending of this present world time by a great shaking of this earth and His burning fire upon it from His wrath to consume man's works off it. This event of burning is not a simple figure of speech. It will be a literal event.
Per these type references in the Old Testament prophets, this is where Apostle Paul got the idea of the coming change "at the twinkling of an eye" with this event happenning at an instant suddenly upon this earth on the last day.
Various events (like that Gog-Magog event of Ezek.38) are linked to that day per the Old Testament prophets. We were expected to have understood this by the time we get to the many New Testament pointers that directly refer to these events in the Old Testament Books of God's prophets. This is why Apostle Peter admonished us to be 'mindful' of what the OT prophets wrote (2 Pet.3:2).
Many brethren today are trying to understand only what the NT writers covered about these things. That has led many to create a set of doctrines that leave the foundation details of these latter day events first given in the OT prophets. That is the fallacy which NT only study will cause. So how does a believer on Christ Jesus correct this gap in their Bible understanding?
It's simple; go back and do OT study, line upon line, to catch these events of prophecy our Lord Jesus and His Apostles were quoting from and teaching us about. At mininum, one can use a study Bible that shows whenever the NT is quoting an OT passage; a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance will also help in that, or The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge reference, etc.