Notes on THE DAY OF THE LORD

Many of the Old Testament prophets make reference to this

momentous period of time. Some use the terms “the day" or "the
great day” or “that day”, but all by this expression strongly relate
t o God's rule of the earth and therefore to His sovereign
purpose for world history and specific events within that
history.

The Day of the Lord refers to God's special interventions into

the course of world events to judge His enemies, accomplish
His purpose for history, and thereby demonstrate that He is
the sovereign God of the universe. Diligent perusal of the pages
of the Promises of God reveal that references to the Day of the
Lord occur seventy-five times in the Old Testament. This phrase
became such an understandable subject of the Old Testament that
by the time of Zechariah, one of the last of the prophets, he could
use the term "in that day" and it was understood that he meant the
Day of the Lord.

This phrase had definite connotations and was the great theme
of the writings of the Old Testament prophets, who related it to
the future kingdom promised in the Old Testament, and
connected it with the coming of Christ as it relates to the
setting up of this kingdom. The expression "the day of the
Lord" clearly has an end-time (eschatological) meaning.

All honest Bible scholars who seek to become genuine students of

prophecy must obtain a sound grasp of the concepts presented in
the doctrine about the day of the Lord, as this is fundamental to
proper and right division of the scriptures which deal with the
pertinent and practical promises of the end time. We must “get
it out of the realm of the nebulous and tenuous, and avoid thinking
of it as a vague theory and a spurious theology, as is done today
even in many seminaries, for the subject of the Day of the Lord
was, and still is a very important part of the program of God.

McDonald defines the day of the Lord as “any time when God
judges men and their evil ways, and gets the victory and great
glory to His name. In the future, it will be the time of great trouble
after the rapture of the church, which will be followed by one
thousand 1000 years when Christ will rule on earth”. (1) “It is the
day when the Lord will judge and interfere once more directly
in the course of this world’s politics.” (2)

"The day of the Lord" is a technical phrase that refers to a

long period of time which begins when the day of Christ ends
with the rapture of the church, incorporates the Great
Tribulation, the judgment at the end of the tribulation, the
thousand year reign of Christ, (see Acts 2:20; 2 Peter. 3:10;
Revelation 6:17 and the final judgment— the Great White
Throne Judgment, and ends with the creation of the new
heavens and earth.

When Peter says in 2 Peter 3: 10 that "the day of the Lord will
come like a thief" he is referring to the rapture of the church.
Then with the next phrase he describes the destruction of the
heavens and earth. Thus in one verse Peter talks about the
beginning of the day of the Lord and its ending.

It is important for us to understand the sequence of events involved

in the day of the Lord, so we will give this general summary. Jesus
will first come at the rapture invisibly and unknown to men in
general (the PAROUSIA), raise the righteous dead, and take them
along with the saints who are yet alive from the earth for a 7-year
period. During this time there will be great suffering called the
"tribulation" for the wicked people who were left on earth. At the
end of these 7 years, the forces of evil will gather to fight against
Jesus, who will visibly return (EPIPHANEIA) to defeat them at the
battle of Armageddon. Jesus will then establish an earthly, civil
kingdom over which He will reign as King from Jerusalem for
1000 years. At the end of 1000 years, the wicked dead will be
raised, then all men will be judged and receive their eternal
rewards.

The following are some important features about "the day of the
Lord" that must be appreciated. These are that:

1. It includes a time of great judgment and wrath on all the

nations and on Israel (Isaiah. 2:12-21; 13:9-16; 34:1-8; Joel.
1:15-2:11, 28-32; 3:9-12; Amos 5:18-20; Obadiah 15-17;
Zephaniah. 1:7-18).

2. It is associated with the overthrow of God’s enemies (Isaiah.

2:12).

3. It is God’s instrument of wrath to purge out the rebels from

Israel and results in Israel’s return to the Lord (Ezekiel 20:33-
39).

4. While it begins with judgment to defeat the enemies of God, it

ushers in a time of great blessing called the millennium in which
Christ will reign with the church, the body of Christ (Zephanah1:7-
18; 3:14-17). “The significant truth revealed here is that the day of
the Lord which first inflicts terrible judgments ends with an
extended period of blessing on Israel, which will be fulfilled in the
millennial kingdom. Based on Old Testament revelation, the day
of the Lord is a time of judgment, culminating in the second
coming of Christ, and followed by a time of special divine
blessing to be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom.
5. The day of the Lord is also known by the terms “the time of
Jacob’s distress” (Jeremiah 30:7) and “Daniel’s seventieth
week” (Daniel. 9:24-29). Many other students of prophecy
refer to this time as the Tribulation (see Matthew 24:9, 21, 29;
Mark 13:19, 24; Revelation 7:14). The chief passage on the
many characteristics and events of this time is Revelation 6-19.

What is clear, is that in the many passages that refer to the day of
the Lord that they all agree that in the time when men are
proclaiming peace, but preparing for war; in a time when they are
holding to a form of godliness but denying the powers thereof; in a
time when they are declaring that the problems of life are being
solved, then when actually they are in greater danger than they
have ever been before, then the day of the Lord will come.

There are people who wrongly associate the expression "the Lord’s
day" with Sunday or even with the Sabbath. Nowhere in the Bible
is Sunday described as "the day of the Lord," but always as "the
first day of the week." (cf. Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1;
John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). “We must
recognize there is a great deal of difference between the day of
the Lord and the Lord's day. Sunday is the Lord's day, for it
was the day when our Lord arose from the dead. But the day of
the Lord is the day of the manifestation of God's hand directly
in human affairs. At the present hour even though God is working
through the events of history bringing about overthrows, uprisings,
and calamities as well as periods of prosperity and blessing,
nevertheless His hand is hidden in the glove of history. But all the
writers of Scripture agree that a day is coming when God will
intervene directly in the affairs of men again.”

We must not confuse the day of the Lord with the phrase “the
last days” either. The phrase “the last days” is used in the
Scriptures to refer to the time of the Messiah. The New
Testament indicates that believers in Christ are living in the last
days. For example we read in Hebrews 1:2,"But in these last days
he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, and through whom he made the universe". Acts 2:17 states
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see
visions, your old men will dream dreams". Also in 2 Peter 3:3, the
scripture teaches "First of all, you must understand that in the last
days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil
desires". Whereas “the last days” began with the first coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ and continue on to the present time, and
ends at the second coming of the Lord, the day of the Lord
begins at the rapture and continues into eternity.

We know that we are correct in our view because of the current

evidence which coincides with Paul’s predictions in 2 Timothy
3:1-7 about the last days. The characteristics which Paul describes
in this passage began to rear its ugly head in Paul's day and have
continued to increase since then, such that evil is currently stronger
and more accepted in every society universally, because of the
moral collapse of mankind. Just as Paul promised we find that
contemporary citizens are characterized as persons who love
themselves, are boastful, proud, abusive, ungrateful, conceited,
without self-control, and lovers of money. In regard to family they
are disobedient to parents, without love, and unforgiving. With
respect to their neighbors they are brutal, treacherous, rash, and
they despise good. Concerning God they are ungrateful, unholy,
love pleasure rather than God, and though having a form of
godliness they deny His power.

Unfortunately, these characteristics are also being observed in the

church, where there are men of immoral character and conduct.
Though outwardly religious, they are selfish, and morally,
religiously and intellectually perverse.
Let us here recall why there is a need for a future day of the Lord
occur? After God created man, He gave him dominion over
everything on the earth (Gen. 1:26,28; Psalm 8:3-9), intending that
man should serve as his representative to administer God's rule
over the earthly province of His universal domain. In other words,
God designed the government of the earth to be a theocracy, a
form of government in which God is the sovereign ruler of the
earth, but His rule is administered through Adam, a human
representative. However, when God's enemy, Satan, convinced the
first Adam to rebel against God and His rule, God's theocratic
kingdom rule over the world system was lost (Genesis 3). Through
Adam's rebellion, Satan usurped the rule of the world system away
from God (Luke. 4:5-6; John. 14:30; 1 John. 5:19). Since that time,
Satan and rebellious man have been dominating the world system
according to their own thoughts and ways (Isaiah. 55:7-9). In other
words, Satan and man have been having their day in the world.
During their day, they try to establish and assert their own
sovereignty and deity.

But God's purpose for world history is to glorify Himself by

demonstrating that He alone is the sovereign God. In order to
accomplish this purpose, God has determined to have His day in
the world in the end times of world history (Isaiah. 2:10-22).
Several times in the past, God broke into the day of Satan and
rebellious man with the interventions, or Days of the Lord, that
were noted earlier. He did this for several reasons: to accomplish
an immediate divine purpose (namely, the disruption, frustration,
or destruction of some plan, purpose, or accomplishment of Satan
and man), to graphically remind Satan and man that God is still the
ultimate sovereign over the earth and universe, and to give Satan
and man a foretaste or forewarning of the ultimate Day of the Lord
that will come at the end of world history.

Proper perusal of the Scriptures indicate that there were several

past Days of the Lord in which God exercised and demonstrated
His sovereign judgment on the nations. For example, He raised up
Assyria to judge the northern kingdom of Israel during the 7 th
century B.C. (Amos 5:18,20), Babylon to judge the southern
kingdom of Judah during the 6th a n d 5th century B.C.
(Lamentations 1:12; 2:1,21-22; Ezekiel. 7:19; 13:5; Zechariah 1:7-
13; 2:2-3), Babylon to judge Egypt and its allies during the 5 th
century B.C. (Jeremiah. 46:10; Ezekiel. 30:3), and Medo-Persia to
judge Babylon during the 5th century B.C. (Isaiah. 13:6,9). It can
thus be seen that in the past Days of the Lord, God used His direct,
miraculous works as well as human instruments and human
activity through war to execute His purpose against His enemies.

The Scriptures indicate that the concept of the Day of the Lord
is also applicable to the future and that the future Day of the
Lord will be far more significant than those of the past. God
will in that time intervene to restore and exercise His
theocratic kingdom rule over the world through the last Adam,
Jesus Christ as taught in Zechariah. 14:1-9; 1Corinthians
15:45,47; Revelation 20:1-6. For example, Isaiah 2:10-22
describes a Day of the Lord that will involve the sixth seal
which occurs during the future 70th week of Daniel 9, as
described by the Apostle John in Revelation 6:12-17.

Both Isaiah 34:1-8 and Obadiah 15 describe a future Day of

the Lord when God will judge all the nations, or Gentiles, of
the world. Since none of the past Days of the Lord referred to
earlier have so far involved divine judgment of all the nations,
it is clear that Isaiah 34 and Obadiah refer to the future. Joel
3:1-16 and Zechariah 14:1-3, 12-15 also refer to a future Day of
the Lord that will involve God's judgment of the armies of all
the nations of the world, when those armies are gathered in
Israel to wage war against that nation and the city of
Jerusalem and when the Messiah will come to war against
them. According to Revelation 16.12-16, those armies will
gather when the sixth vial or bowl is poured out during the
70th week of Daniel 9. In addition, Revelation 19:11-21 teaches
that at this time Christ will wage war against them when he
comes from Heaven in His glorious Second Coming.

In I Thessalonians 5:2 the Apostle Paul taught that there would be

in the future a Day of the Lord that bring sudden, inescapable
destruction on the unsaved of the world. This has clearly not yet
come to pass.

Just as in the days of the Lord that are past, God intervened into
the course of world events to judge His enemies, accomplish His
purpose for world history, and thereby demonstrate that He is - the
sovereign Cod of the universe, in the future Day of the Lord, He
will do the same- but with one exception. This will be the final day
of the Lord.

In the present day, Satan and rebellious man exert a rule over the
world system that is characterized by darkness only, (Ephesians.
6:12; Col. 1:13). In the future Day of the Lord, God will
establish control over His rule over the entire world system
during the Millennium in visible form. He will thereby fully
demonstrate who He is - the sovereign God of the universe
(Exodus 15:11). It is noteworthy that the day of the Lord will
have a period of darkness in which sin will be judged and a
period of light only, in keeping with God’s characteristic of
light and in whom there is no darkness at all (1 John. 1:5).

The day of the Lord is a day of salvation and judgment, or a

day of salvation through judgment. It involves two distinct
aspects: judgment followed by blessing. Zephaniah 3 **clearly
records these two distinct aspects of this awesome day, by
revealing that after Israel repents and returns to the Lord,
they will be restored under the righteous rule of Messiah. It is
imperative to understand this concept of the dual nature of the
future Day of the Lord, for a perfect interpretation of the
related Scriptures about this doctrine.
To illustrate, just as from the time of creation a day consisted of
two phases - a time of darkness ("evening") followed by a time of
light ("day," Gen. 1:4-5) - so the future Day of the Lord will
consist of two phases - a period of darkness with judgment
followed by a period of light with the ultimate fulfillment of God’s
promises of his sovereign rule and blessing.

The first phase will be a period of unprecedented, concentrated

judgment involving the 70th week of Daniel 9 and the Second
Coming of Christ. In this phase, God, who throughout most of
history has permitted Satan and rebellious man to have their
day, will suddenly intervene to destroy the rule of Satan and
man over the world system, to evict them from the earth, and
thereby to end their day in the world (Isaiah. 42:13-14; Rev. 6-
19). This phase will be characterized by darkness and an
intense outpouring of God's wrath.

The second phase will be a period of divine dominion over the

world system. In this phase, God will intervene to restore and
exercise His theocratic kingdom rule over the world through the
last Adam, Jesus Christ (Zechariah 14:1-9; 1Corinthians 15:45,47;
Revelation 20:1-6). This phase will be characterized by light and
an outpouring of God's blessing.

The phase of judgment will be highlighted by darkness and a

tremendous outpouring of divine wrath on the world during the
70th week of Daniel 9. (Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-2a; Zechariah.
1:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Rev 6-19). Amos 5:18-20
emphasizes that this will be the total nature of the Day of the Lord
for God's enemies. That day will bring no divine light or blessing
to them.

In contrast, the phase of blessing will also be characterized by

light, an outpouring of divine blessing, and the administration of
God's rule. Joel, after talking about the darkening of the sun, moon,
and stars and God's future Day of the Lord judgment of the armies
of the nations that have gathered in Israel (3:9-16), then foretold
great divine blessing "in that day" (vv.17-21). Zechariah concurs
by teaching that the future Day of the Lord would be one when all
nations will wage war against Jerusalem and the Messiah will
come to earth to fight against the nations (14:1-5). Zechariah also
indicated that, although the earlier part of "that day" will be
characterized by darkness, the latter part will be characterized by
light (vv.6-7), great blessing (v.8), and God's rule over all the earth
(v.9). This time of light, divine blessing, and God's rule will be the
norm in the Day.

The several warnings about the judgments of the Lord on that day
have been recorded so that people should not lightly brush them
aside and disregard them. The global extent of the destruction and
the reason for these judgments, namely, an excessively wicked
generation of people like that in the days of Noah and Lot, is
certainly repeated time and again for emphasis. A word to the wise
is enough! Knowledge about God’s end-time program, as well as
the future expectation of the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom,
is given as a strong incentive towards holy living and an
unwavering commitment to Christ. Peter says: "Therefore, since all
these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you
to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the
coming of the day of God" (2 Pet. 3:11-12).