I am continually astounded by our willingness to take the words of hollow men as truth, without looking into what they said – to determine if they are true or not. We have place our spiritual lives into the hands of those who do not understand the Bible, and do not want to.
This needs to end.
So, it’s time to examine the slogans thrown at us, and see if they are true. And, if we find that they are not, then we should throw them out. This is good hermeneutics, and it’s even better eschatology.
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The Day Of The Lord
Spend enough time talking about Last Days Prophecies, and you will always get at least one person saying that the ‘Day of the Lord’ is always the Second Coming. It’s a universal statement with a tiny little problem.
Only three of the twenty three ‘Day of the Lord’ verses are about the Second Coming.
Worse, some of the verses are against God’s own people. The Day of the Lord came against them, in judgment for their wickedness. And to make things even more complicated, there is one Day of the Lord that is not about the Second Coming, but refers to Gog and Magog and the Redemption of Israel.
This sounds more confusing than it really is, so let’s do a search for the phrase ‘Day of the Lord’ and see what those verses say in the context of the chapter that they reside:
“Day of the Lord”
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=%22Day+of+the+Lord%22&version=KJV
NOTE: You’ll notice that my search was in the KJV. Since many searches using other translations will pick up ‘headers’, the KJV results will be more consistent.
That search result came up with 23 verses. That’s not a lot, but each one of them packs a powerful punch. So, let’s look at each verse – and its context – and try to understand what the Day of the Lord really is.
Contents
Isaiah 2:12 – Gog and Magog
Isaiah 13:6 – Future Destruction of Babylon
Isaiah 13:9 – Future Destruction of Babylon
Jeremiah 46:10 – Babylonian destruction of Egypt, Ethiopia and Lydia (and Jerusalem)
Ezekiel 13:5 – Babylonian destruction of Israel
Ezekiel 30:3 – Babylonian destruction of Egypt, Ethiopia and Lydia
Joel 1:15 – plague of locusts
Joel 2:1 – plague of locusts
Joel 2:11 – plague of locusts
Joel 2:31 – Israel cast out
Joel 3:14 – The destruction of Gog and Magog
Amos 5:18 – The destruction of Israel by Assyria and Babylon
Amos 5:20 – The destruction of Israel by Assyria and Babylon
Obadiah 1:15 – The destruction of Edom
Zephaniah 1:7 – Destruction of Judah by Babylon
Zephaniah 1:14 – Destruction of Judah by Babylon
Zechariah 14:1 – The Second Coming and Armageddon
Malachi 4:5 – Israel cast out
Acts 2:20 – Israel cast out
1 Corinthians 5:5 – The judging of our rewards in heaven
2 Corinthians 1:14 – The judging of our rewards in heaven
1 Thessalonians 5:2 – The Second Coming
2 Peter 3:10 – The New Heavens and New Earth
Isaiah
Isaiah 2:12
For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
There are two different prophecies in Isaiah 2. Although, they are both end times events. The first prophecy clearly explains that this is an end times event, and speaks of the judgment that will fall upon the world and the God’s rule over the earth:
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
If you were looking for a passage in the Hebrew Scriptures that referred to the Millennium, you just found it. That’s the reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years.
However, the rest of Isaiah 2 jumps back to a time before the Millennium. When Isaiah says this:
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
– Isaiah 2:5-8 (KJV)
These verses identify Israel as being idolatrous, full of idols and chariots. And, as I write this, this is the Israel of today. As I have explained, a key part of the Redemption of Israel will be a vast earthquake that will shake the whole world:
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
– Isaiah 2:12-15 (KJV)
And, we see this shaking of the world and the Redemption of Israel, here:
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
– Isaiah 2:19-15 (KJV)
Where do we see this elsewhere in the Bible?
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
– Isaiah 30:25-28 (KJV)
Where else do we see this?
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
– Revelation 6:12-17 (KJV)
What happens after this?
A great pause and the sealing of twelve thousand special men from each tribe of Israel in their foreheads.
(Remember that chapter divisions are artificial, inserted by a Roman Catholic priest.)
That cannot happen unless Israel has been saved. And, if these 144 thousand men are the same that follow the lamb wherever He goes, then they are a tiny part of a much larger group of Israeli Christians.
Why?
Because they are virgins.
Here is the reference from Revelation 14:
14 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
– Revelation 14:1-4 (KJV)
The rest of Isaiah 2 is a criticism of Israel and how God will judge the proud and destroy the idols that men worship. It also speaks about how God will rise and shake the earth. And for those who are counting, there are five earthquakes in the Book of Revelation. (And yes, that’s a link to a search of Revelation for ‘earthquake’)
Isaiah 13:6
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
This one is a little tougher because the context is a bit confusing. And, the confusing part begins with the first verse of Isaiah 13:
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
– Isaiah 13:1 (KJV)
And, the reason why that is the beginning of our confusion, is due to verses that follow, like these:
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
And these:
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
And these:
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
That is some serious destruction. In fact, it almost sounds global. But, there’s a problem.
This hasn’t happened…
…yet.
We know this because Babylon has never been destroyed in this way. For those of you who do not know, Babylon remained as an important regional capital for the Persian Empire until Alexander conquered it. Alexander died in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in 332 BC. The turmoil that followed emptied the city, which was eventually abandoned – with the inhabitants being moved to the Seleucid capital further north, on the Tigris River, in 275 BC.
In fact, there have always been towns and villages living in the area – even today. The Apostle Peter even confirms the existence of a town or region called Babylon, in this verse:
1 Peter 5:13
The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
People make silly claims that Peter was talking about some other place than a physical location called Babylon. Yes, I know about the stories of his upside-down crucifixion in Rome, during the time of Nero. And, I know about the claims that Peter started the church at Rome. But, we have very little evidence that any of this is true. But, even if it is, we also know that there was a place called Babylon during the time of Peter. And, we also know that there was a church there.
After all, it would be very easy for Peter to travel down the Euphrates to visit – or even plant – a church at Babylon.
For those who still want to claim that Babylon did not exist, look at history. At the time of Peter, the place called Babylon not only existed but was ruled by two Persian empires (Parthian and Sassanid) until the 7th century. It was temporarily conquered by Roman Emperor Trajan in AD 116, only to be abandoned to the Parthians by Hadrian, years later. The Persians continued to rule the area until an army of caravan raiders led by some guy named Muhammad, roared out of the desert.
The point is that Babylon was never destroyed in the way described by Isaiah 13.
But wait, I left something out.
These two verses:
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
– Isaiah 13:17-18 (KJV)
We know that the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC. But, we also know that they didn’t conquer Babylon in the way that Isaiah 13 describes. The Persians infiltrated the city after diverting the Euphrates River and took over the city almost without a fight. None of the walls were knocked down. Nothing was burned. It was almost a bloodless a coup, instead of an invasion.
So, this must be the future.
How would the Medes be a part of such a catastrophic destruction of Babylon?
Well, the capital of Iran is in the area where the Medes lived, and Iran is a Shia regime that has been attempting to create a corridor of control to the Mediterranean Sea – what some call the Shiite Crescent. And, they would be more than happy to massacre as many Sunni Muslims as they think necessary to make that happen.
Having said that, something different could occur. I don’t know. The balance of power in the region is shifting. So, we’ll have to wait and see.
NOTE: For those of you interested in the Millennium, read the previous two chapters, Isaiah 10 and 11. Part of that is definitely the Millennium. But, not all of it. Some of it is the gathering of Jacob into the Land.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah 46:10
For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
This Day of the Lord has already happened. This is about the destruction of Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia by Nebuchadnezzar. This would also have been part of the destruction of Judah. But, the chapter ends with two interesting verses that have not been fulfilled yet:
27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
– Jeremiah 46:27-28 (KJV)
That sounds an awful lot like this passage:
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
– Zechariah 13:8-9 (KJV)
This is definitely and absolutely a match with the last two verses of Jeremiah 46, and also definitely about the future. I hate the thought of this amount of death and destruction, but this will not be limited to just Israel. It will be global.
When God says this in Jeremiah 46…
“…for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee…”
Be ready for something awful. Global awful. The same kind of awful described here:
Ezekiel’s Fire
https://ezekielsfire.com
Next, we will talk about the Day of the Lord in Ezekiel 13 and two other passages, which were fulfilled in the past, and are also not about the Last Days.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel 13:5
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
Even though Ezekiel 13 is about the corruption of Israel before they were sent into exile, this hits awfully close to home for us today:
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.
10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
– Ezekiel 13:2-3,7-8,10,17,22 (KJV)
When I look at our churches, I am horrified by the corruption that I see. Preachers aren’t giving sermons from the Bible. They’re preaching from their own heart. They are building seeker-friendly churches without a foundation in truth (untempered morter). And, they say to the wicked that they don’t need to repent and turn from their sins.
God brought the Day of the Lord upon Israel for this. And that means that He will also bring the Day of the Lord upon us for doing exactly the same thing. We talk about the Day of the Lord at the Battle of Armageddon, but the Day of the Lord will come first to our unrighteous churches.
May God have mercy upon us and grant us repentance before His righteous judgment comes upon us.
TRANSLATION NOTE: Every translation of verse 20 gets gets it wrong, except the Young’s Literal Translation (which often gets other words wrong). The word לפרחות (leh-for-chote, ‘ch’ as in Bach) means to blossom or to flourish. It does not mean to fly or anything about birds. This is a really bad mistake for the KJV and other translations to make. Every Friday, in Israel, you will see men buying פרחים (prah-cheem, flowers) for shabbat. I do not understand how Bible translators could be this bad.
So, we can say that the ‘Day of the Lord’ in Ezekiel 13:5 has already been fulfilled when God judged Israel for her sins.
Next, we go to Ezekiel 30.
Ezekiel 30:3
For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
Okay, so this is against the heathen, but let’s check to see if it is in the future:
4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
10 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
– Ezekiel 30:4-5,10 (KJV)
This is exactly like the Day of the Lord that we saw in Jeremiah 46:10. That also was against Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya. And, God was using Nebuchadnezzar to judge those nations.
So, this is also a Day of the Lord that has already happened.
Joel
Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joel 2:1
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joel 2:11
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
Joel 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
These five references in such a short book seem to range from the past through to the future. And, the dividing point appears to be here:
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
So it appears that the references to the Day of the Lord chapter one and the first part of chapter 2 are all about this great plague of locusts. But, the reference to Joel 2:31 is talking about something completely different.
In fact, let’s allow Peter to tell us what Joel 2:31 is in reference to. But, before I let Peter speak, let’s set the stage a bit. This was the day of Pentecost after Jesus died and rose again, and the Holy Spirit came upon all who had gathered together. And, everyone began to praise God in languages of those from foreign lands who were watching. And, some began to mock them.
This is where Peter steps in and says in Acts 2:
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
The coming of Jesus, His sacrifice on the Cross and His Resurrection were all part of the Day of the Lord. But, the Day of the Lord did not end there. It also included the Day of Pentecost, and the destruction of Jerusalem almost 40 years later. And, it was recorded that while Jesus was on the Cross, this happened:
Matthew 27:45
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
That was NOT a solar eclipse. They don’t last three hours. Whatever that darkness was, it had to have been something miraculous.
Joel – The Future Day Of The Lord
Then there’s the last reference to the Day of the Lord in Joel:
Joel 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Joel 3 provides us with a paradox.
Joel 3
1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
Verse one tells us about the Return of Israel, and the end of the chapter speaks of Israel’s Redemption. And, those of you who know that Ezekiel 38 and 39 refer to Israel’s Redemption at the time of the coming of Gog and Magog. And, this is where things get difficult.
Joel 3:2 refers to ALL NATIONS, while Ezekiel 38 refers to most of them.
What’s the difference?
Well, turn to Genesis 10 and Ezekiel 38. In Genesis 10 you have a list of all the main descendants of Noah. In Ezekiel 38, we have a list of the massive army put together by some guy named Gog. Both lists are very similar with some exceptions:
Here is what you will find in Ezekiel 38:
- All the sons of Japheth, except Javan – Greece – and his sons.
- Half the sons of Ham. (Not Canaan and not Mizraim, also not Sheba and Dedan – sons of Cush)
- None of the sons of Shem, except Elam (which became part of Persia)
Are those exceptions small enough to classify the rest as ‘All Nations’?
Oh, and there’s one other thing. God says that He will bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. (And yeah, that Wikipedia link is actually pretty good.)
Where is the Valley of Jehoshaphat?
Well, in the 4th century, the very first guide book for tourists… err …pilgrims, said that it was in the Kidron Valley. And, a bunch of other dead guys said much the same thing.
In Israel, we have a name for such things, ‘tour guide stories’. They’re always fun tales that are very entertaining, but almost always dead wrong.
What does the Bible say?
Well, when Judah was being invaded by a huge army made up of Ammon, Moab and some others, King Jehoshaphat asked the LORD for help. God said that He would take care of this, and that everyone should stand on the hill of Tekoa. When this vast army marched through the valley leading from the Hebron area towards Jerusalem, God drove that army insane, and they killed each other.
You can read all this in 2 Corinthians 20.
This army was carrying so much stuff, that it took four days to haul it all off. When they were done looting this army and burying all the dead bodies, King Jehoshaphat called the place the Valley of Berachah, or Valley of Blessing. And, we know where this valley is. And, it’s the perfect place for any army to march through, if you want to attack Jerusalem – all other invasion routes are narrow, hard to get through and easy to defend.
Here’s the Google Map location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2x92NAYp7wcmu8fw8
And, here’s another source that offers a few other options:
https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a71f834/valley-of-beracah
I’m sorry, but I’m not going to believe a tour guide story about where the Valley of Jehoshaphat is. The Valley of Berachah makes more sense and would certainly hold a large army, while this Kidron Valley cannot.
Furthermore, we have a story from the Bible that fits what we are looking for. However, this is not the only place where Jehoshaphat was involved in a battle, but it’s the only place where ONLY Jehoshaphat was involved. All the other battles involved other kings.
The Battle Of Gog And Magog?
The next question is:
Is this really the Battle of Gog and Magog?
Here I have gone and spent all of this time talking in terms of Gog and Magog. But, there are two verses that seem to point in two different directions:
16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
And:
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Verse 16 would seem to tell us that this is the Second Coming, where the Battle of Armageddon begins at Jerusalem (Zechariah 14). But the Millennium comes after that, and during the Millennium, Egypt will not be a desolation. And, Isaiah 19 speaks of great desolation and upheaval.
Then to add just a bit more confusion, Joel ends with this verse:
3:21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
This could either mean that the Lord dwells at Zion because Israel has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, or because this is the Millennium and He is ruling and reigning from Jerusalem.
Also, I’m used to thinking in terms of Gog and Magog AND Armageddon being fought in the Jezreel Valley, which a large number of scriptures confirm. But, we also know that there are references to fighting in Judea – which is where the Valley of Jehoshaphat would be.
Because of the first verse of Joel 3, my instinct is to say that this is referring to the Battle of Gog and Magog, during which Israel recognizes Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And taking this further, it would seem to confirm a significant amount of time between the Redemption of Israel and the coming of the Antichrist.
At the very least, I hope that I’ve laid out the question with enough clarity for you to ponder it yourself.
Amos
Amos 5:18
Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:20
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa, and no one is considered lower in status than a shepherd. It’s the lowliest job that anyone can have. That’s why David, the youngest son of Jesse, was out with the sheep when Samuel the prophet came to anoint him to be king.
Even today, everyone in the Arab world looks down upon the Bedouin – the shepherds. I once made the mistake of describing someone in Jordan as a Bedouin when I was visiting Petra. I had seen someone dressed like a Bedouin soldier as part of some exhibit. Then, the next day, as I was looking for a taxi down to Aqaba, that same guy was the driver of my the taxi.
I said to him, “So, you are a Bedouin?”
And he raised up an imperious finger and declared, “No! I am Fellahin!”
I was a bit surprised since this was new to me. But, he had a sense of humor and proceeded to describe the difference. The Bedouin are shepherds. They are nomadic and are among the poorest and least educated in Jordan. While the Fellahin are farmers – more prosperous, better educated.
Even in Israel, when driving out into the more arid countryside, you will find Israeli Bedouin encampments perched on the sides of hills. It has taken Israel a long time to convince the Bedouin to give up their nomadic lifestyle so that they can have better education, more prosperity and an increase in their quality of life.
But, I digress…
So, when God called Amos to be a prophet, He was picking the lowest kind of peasant to deliver His words to a disobedient Israel.
From verse two of chapter one, the Book of Amos is destruction after destruction. Everyone and everything is broken in pieces and scattered. Everyone from Phoenicians to Philistines to Moabites to Amonites and especially to Israel are prophesied against. And, Amos spends most of his time prophesying against the children of Jacob. And, all that Amos prophesies has been fulfilled except for the last part of the book.
The turning point comes here:
Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
– Amos 9:8 (KJV)
In fact, the rest of the chapter is a fascinating description of the Redemption of Israel:
9 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
11 “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the Lord who does this thing.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.
– Amos 9:9-15 (NKJV)
That has NOT happened yet. And, I find it interesting that God includes you and me – the Gentiles who are called by His name. We are a part of this prophecy!
But, wait… what about that Day of the Lord in chapter five?
God is decreeing judgment upon Israel:
16 Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
– Amos 5:16-21 (KJV)
God, through Amos, was telling both Judah and Israel that He was going to crush them. And that was fulfilled when the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and then when the Babylonians destroyed Judah.
Even though Amos has a small segment about the Last Days. None of that refers to the Day of the Lord that so many like to talk about.
Obadiah
Obadiah 1:15
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
This one is a little more difficult. Obadiah (more correctly pronounced Oh-Vad-Yah) is just one chapter that is about the complete destruction of Edom, the descendants of Esau. And, there is literally no trace of them left anywhere.
The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Hasmoneans and the Nabateans all obliterated them. And, it’s a painful reminder to all that hate Israel, that what they do to Israel, will be done to them.
Here’s the verse with some context:
14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
– Obadiah 1:14-16 (KJV)
I’ve been through southern Jordan something like four or five times. There is literally no sign of the Edomites. None. Everyone in Jordan identifies as Arab, without even a hint of anything else. But, like with Amos, the Book ends with the Redemption of Israel:
17 “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,” For the Lord has spoken.
19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the land of the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of the South.
21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
– Obadiah 1:17-21 (NKJV)
Verse 21 seems to indicate that this is the Last Days. But, in verse 18 we see Israel devouring the last of the Edomites, which did happen under Hasmonean rule. The leadership were forced to convert to Judaism, and what was left of Edom slowly did the same. There was a kind of ‘come-back’ with King Herod who was half-Edomite, with his father having converted to Judaism and marrying a Jewish woman. But, that would have been the ‘last hurrah’ for Edom.
After AD 70 and the collapse of the Bar Kokhbah Revolt, there’s literally nothing left to write, about the Edomites. Herod and his family certainly didn’t survive. And, successive invasions by the Persians, Byzantines and then the Arabs finished off anything that was left.
So, what are we to make of the prophecy of verse 17 to 21?
I think some interesting things could be happening in the future.
Zephaniah
Zephaniah 1:7
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:14
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zephaniah was a prophet of royal lineage, with King Hezekiah being his great-great grandfather. But, since the kingdom goes through oldest brothers… it was his somewhat distant cousin Josiah who was king. (Cousins are confusing. Especially mine.) And, like every other reference to the Day of the Lord, there’s trouble. Lots of it.
But, Zephaniah speaks of good endings when he finishes his prophecy.
Here’s the context of the Day of the Lord for Zephaniah 1:7:
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;
6 And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
– Zephaniah 1:4-8 (KJV)
Remember that the Northern Kingdom of Israel had already been taken into exile by the Assyrians. So, all that is left is the southern kingdom of Judah. And, God is going to obliterate it. It will be completely destroyed, because that’s what happens in The Day of the Lord.
Oh, and by the way, this prophecy is given while there is a good king on the throne – King Josiah. This Day of the Lord is coming no matter how good the present king is, because it is the accumulation of sin and the vilest of evils that are bringing this Day to come.
Here is the context of 1:14:
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
– Zephaniah 1:12-17 (KJV)
What a blistering prophecy against what was left of Israel. And, it all occurred within something like thirty to forty years – depending upon what time during Josiah’s reign this prophecy was given. And, there was a good king on the throne when this prophecy was given. But, God doesn’t stop speaking to Zephaniah in chapter one.
In the next chapter, God says this:
Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
– Zephaniah 2:3 (NKJV)
Is this like the Rapture?
Sorry, but No.
This is like what God did for Noah, Joseph, Elijah, Daniel, Esther and those who agreed to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and go into exile. God protected their lives in the midst of terrible trouble and kept them safe even though disaster was all around them.
Those who seek the Lord, are meek and humble, who are righteous and uphold justice…
…THEY will have an opportunity to be hidden from the terrible Day of the Lord.
Chapter two goes on to speak of how He will devastate the nations that surround Israel, even as far as Ethiopia. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon did all that, and then every other empire that rose up did it again and again and again. But, the next chapter is different.
NOTE: Remember that chapter divisions were inserted by a Roman Catholic priest 800 years ago. These chapter divisions are usually useful, but can obscure the truth if you aren’t careful.
Chapter three launches back into a scathing rebuke of Jerusalem and then abruptly changes tone in verse eight. In that verse, God starts to speak of the Last Days, judgment upon the Earth, the return of Israel and something interesting…
…A pure language.
The purest language in the whole world is Modern Hebrew. Not the biased and often incorrect Hebrew of James Strong. Not the Hebrew of the Rabbis and their Talmud. No, it was the resurrection of the Ancient Hebrew of the Bible by Eliezer ben Yehuda – the orthodox Jew who decided that the Nation of Israel needed the purest Hebrew language to speak.
If you know modern Hebrew, you can read the Hebrew Scriptures (what some call the Old Testament). And, a good modern Hebrew dictionary is actually better than anything that you will find in your seminaries. James Strong did good work, and we received much benefit from it. But, he was no Eliezer ben Yehuda.
This post has already gotten really long, so I invite you to read of God’s intention to redeem Israel in the rest of Zephaniah 3, in the last part of a chapter in my book, Ezekiel’s Fire:
Jeremiah 30, Micah 5 and Zephaniah 3
https://ezekielsfire.com/10-jeremiah-micah-zephaniah.html
Zechariah
Zechariah 14:1
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
This is where we finally get to what most people think of, when they say, The Day of the Lord. But, let’s step back a bit as we have been doing and look at the Book of Zechariah.
HEBREW NOTE: This prophet’s name is not pronounced like Zak-uh-rai-uh. It’s Zeh-CHAR-yah (‘ch’ as in Bach).
Zechariah is a book of almost unrelenting positivity and promise. God is going to bring His people back. God is promising to reverse all the curses that He put upon them. He promises to bring them back to the Land of Israel and make them His People once more. There is even mention of what looks like the four horses of the Apocalypse. There is reference to Jesus at His First Coming and then Jesus at His Second coming and finally… the Millennium, where Jesus will rule on Earth. But, there is a cost, a terrible one.
Two thirds of everyone in the Land of Israel will die, and those that survive will go through a terrible refining process where they will finally see Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The death and suffering will be terrible, and I’m hoping that the two thirds that die are mostly Israel’s enemies. But, I have to be honest and assume the worst, because that’s what Zechariah 13 seems to be saying.
It will be a terrible holocaust. And, I don’t want to believe it, but since the Bible says it… I must agree to what it says.
Here are the verses that are so terrifying:
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
– Zechariah 13:8-9 (NKJV)
Again, this is terrible, but is it The Day of the Lord?
No.
Remember that THIS is the Day of the Lord:
Zechariah 14:1
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
This is AFTER God refines the survivors and makes them His own people again. So, let’s look at the Day of the Lord in its proper context, but this time with a different translation:
1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
– Zechariah 14:1-5 (ESV)
This passage is three and a half years long, and it ends with the Jesus landing upon the Mount of Olives before going out to destroy the Antichrist at Armageddon. But, there are some translation problems that we need to fix to understand this properly.
First, notice the words ‘exile’. This is why I chose the ESV for this passage. It is one of the few that gets that word right. Other translations speak of ‘captivity’, but the Hebrew word גולה (pronounced Go-Lah) does NOT mean becoming captive or a prisoner. It means going into exile.
What exile is this?
Do you remember the woman who flees into the wilderness for three and a half years?
Right. This one:
Revelation 12
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12&version=NKJV
THAT is the exile that Zechariah 14:2 is talking about. The woman fleeing into the wilderness, chased by the Dragon.
Do you know who else spoke of fleeing into the wilderness?
Jesus:
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
– Matthew 24:15-18 (NKJV)
The ‘half that go into exile’ in Zechariah 14:2, are following what Jesus warned us to do. When we see the Abomination of Desolation set up in Jerusalem – run for the wilderness. And, half of Jerusalem obeys and gets out quick enough to evade the Antichrist.
Then, there’s one more translation problem. It’s that word ‘then’ in verse three. There is no ‘then’ in the original Hebrew of this passage. What the original Hebrew says is ‘And’. ‘And’ and ‘then’ are two completely different words with two completely different connotations, and there is hardly a single translation that gets it right.
‘Then’ indicates an even that follows immediately.
‘And’ indicates something that is added, but it doesn’t need to be immediate.
So, that word ‘Then’ in Zechariah 14:3 is three and a half years long. Because that is exactly what Revelation 12 says.
What does this mean?
It means that Israel is saved LONG before the Great Tribulation begins. Years. Probably decades. Maybe even centuries. I really can’t say, other than that there’s no way that Redemption of Israel happens at the Second Coming of Jesus.
Malachi
Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
This is another book where we talk about the First Coming of Christ. But, that happens later in the Book of Malachi. God starts with a fiery criticism of Israel, and how they have been unrighteous and full of hypocrisy toward Him.
HEBREW NOTE: Malachi is not pronounced Mal-uh-kai. It’s Mah-LAH-chee (‘ch’ as in Bach).
This criticism of Israel goes on for two chapters, until He introduces John the Baptist:
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
– Malachi 3:1 (KJV)
And, when Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist, He said:
26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
– Luke 7:26-27 (KJV)
And, we see John the Baptist again when we get to the Day of the Lord:
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
– Malachi 4:5-6 (KJV)
We know this because Jesus said this about John the Baptist:
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
– Matthew 11:13-14 (KJV)
And then, in Luke 1, when Gabriel appears to the father of John the Baptist, telling him that he would have a son, Gabriel says this:
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
– Luke 1:16-17 (KJV)
Of course, Zacharias – John’s dad – is finding this hard to believe, so he asks Gabriel for a sign that this will happen. However, Zacharias should have known that this was real and not something demonic, because he was in the Holy Place of the Temple. So, as both a punishment and a sign, Gabriel makes Zacharias unable to speak until John is born.
So, what is this great and dreadful day of the Lord that God speaks of through Malachi?
It’s the tearing away God’s Covenant from Israel and giving it to those Jews who accept Christ and the gentiles who come to Christ through the gospel. Jesus confirms this with what He says here:
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
– Matthew 23:37-39 (KJV)
So, there was a spiritual Day of the Lord, in which Israel lost her covenant with God as a people, but then there would be a physical Day of the Lord in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed and then when the Bar Kokhba Revolt was put down in AD 136.
It’s Always A Day Of Judgment
Of the seven verses that we looked at, Zechariah 14:1 is the only one that refers to the ‘Day of the Lord’ in the classical sense that most think of this term. But, there is one thing common to all mentions of the ‘Day of the Lord’:
It is always a day of terrible judgment.
And, there is only one reason why we would seek the Day of the Lord in the Last Days:
Because we will receive the blessed hope of the Return of our Lord, and the eternal rewards that He promised His followers.
Furthermore, there will be a special reward for those who suffer tribulation and remain faithful, even if it means that we lose our lives. May our Lord guide us through the days that are coming.
Finally… The New Testament
If you thought that the New Testament was going to make it easier for you to understand the ‘Day of the Lord’, think again. Acts, Corinthians, Thessalonians and 2 Peter each speak of a different Day of the Lord.
That’s right.
Four different Days of the Lord.
Mind blowing, right?
So, let’s dive in, with Peter speaking in the book of Acts.
Acts
Acts 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
I’ve already made reference to this in The Day Of The Lord – Part Two. And, there’s no way that I’m going to disagree with Peter on this, even though it sounds an awful lot like what we would see in the Book of Revelation.
Remember that this is the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon everyone, and they all spoke in the languages of the foreigners that were around them. This shocked everyone, but Peter said that this was a part of the prophecy given in Joel 2. So, let’s read again what Peter said in Acts 2:
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And, if you’ll remember what happened, when Jesus died on the Cross:
44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
– Luke 23 (KJV)
And, Matthew adds this:
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
– Matthew 27 (KJV)
This three hour period of darkness has always been difficult to understand. No lunar eclipse has ever lasted longer than minutes. So we have only two possibilities:
- A massive solar event that ejects a gigantic cloud of dust. (We’ve seen this happen on other stars.)
- A volcano somewhere, throws up a vast cloud of dust that turns the sky dark.
Either option would also have turned the moon blood red, when night fell.
So, all of this supports what Peter was saying, that at the time of the death of Jesus and then Pentecost, Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled. However, we still have the problem of what the ‘Day of the Lord’ means for this moment. Remember that every time we see the Day of the Lord, there’s always judgment.
So, who is being judged?
The unbelieving Jews.
From the moment that Jesus died, salvation could no longer be found through temple sacrifices and the following of Torah. And, I cannot find a more terrifying judgment than that.
Now, those Jews who were faithful followers of God before Jesus began His ministry, would have joined themselves to Christ and would have become Christian. And, we will see this happen again, when God redeems Israel by causing them to have faith in Jesus Christ.
However, that moment in time will be far more deadly, with billions of people dying and our world lying shattered. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of science to back up what the Bible says about that moment in time, and you can see it here:
Ezekiel’s Fire
https://ezekielsfire.com
Just remember that the Day of the Lord that Peter and Joel were speaking of must be the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ – followed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. To say anything else would require us to call Peter a liar, and I just won’t do that.
The next two references in First and Second Corinthians are different.
1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 5:5
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
There was a young man in the church of Corinth that was committing adultery with his father’s wife. Here’s what Paul said about that:
1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
– 1 Corinthians 5 (KJV)
What is this ‘Day of the Lord Jesus’?
Well two chapters earlier, Paul says this:
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
– 1 Corinthians 3 (KJV)
So what Paul appears to be saying here, is that the Day of the Lord Jesus is the judgment of our works. Those of us who have served the Lord well, will have unburnable rewards. However, those things that we have done that were worldly, will have those works burned up. But, this raises a rather thorny issue:
I know people who were pastors and missionaries who totally rejected Christ.
Completely.
Utterly.
Without reservation at all.
Worse, you would not have known them to be capable of such a thing. To this day, I will never forget the moment when a friend told me that a missionary that I knew well had become an Atheist. I had heard this man preach. I knew the work that he had been doing. I was beyond horrified.
How could such a Godly man, turn and reject Christ so thoroughly?
And, I have many other stories just like that, that I could tell. Far too many. But, that one was the most personal.
Will this man who rejected Christ so thoroughly – and I mean THOROUGHLY – be saved so as by fire?
When Paul was talking about this adulterous young man, there did not appear to be any rejection of Christ involved at all. Just the sin of adultery. And by handing him over to Satan, it appeared that Paul was also offering hope that the young man would repent – which did happen.
I don’t want to get into the Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS) debate. That is a fruitless argument that no one has the answer to, except God. But, I do know that God can and will erase your name from the Book of Life:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
– Revelation 22:19 (KJV)
And that’s just for taking away from the Book of Revelation!
What about a complete rejection of Christ?
I know that people have all kinds of things to say about this subject. But, I don’t care about ANY of those explanations. I just want to stay as far away as possible from having my name erased from the Book of Life. I would rather die horribly than ever risk taking even one step closer to THAT.
We have something to fear, and we’d best not forget that.
2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 1:14
As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our’s in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Here is this second reference to the Day of the Lord Jesus that Paul makes to the church in Corinth. Here’s the context:
12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
13 For we write none other things unto you, that what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;
14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our’s in the day of the Lord Jesus.
– 2 Corinthians 1 (KJV)
Paul is speaking here of his own service to God, part of which was at this church – as well as their service to God in their help towards him. And, he’s saying that this will be their rejoicing, their reward in the day of the Lord Jesus. And, yet again, Paul refers to the judging of our works in chapter five:
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
– 2 Corinthians 5 (KJV)
And, his point about knowing the ‘terror of the Lord’ is important for all of us to understand. There’s a line that we had better not cross, or we will suffer great loss of reward – or worse – in the Life to Come.
So again, it seems clear that Paul’s reference to the Day of the Lord Jesus is the judgment of our lives. It’s the Day of Rewards. But, I fear for some that it will be a day of terrible judgment, and I hope that I’m wrong.
1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
This reference to the Day of the Lord comes right in the middle of a discussion about the Last Days, the Resurrection, and the Rapture that happens afterwards. So, let’s look at the context, while reminding ourselves that the chapter break was inserted by a Roman Catholic priest 800 years ago:
Chapter 4
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 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:
17 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.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Chapter 5
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
– 1 Thessalonians 4-5 (KJV)
So, is this the Day of the Lord Jesus, that Paul spoke of to the Corinthians?
No. Paul was born a Hebrew speaker and was truly fluent in the Hebrew Scriptures. He knew EXACTLY what the Day of the Lord was, and he confirmed it in the next verse:
Sudden Destruction
So, what is this Sudden Destruction?
Well, it happens when the Resurrection occurs. Paul makes that clear in verse 14 of chapter 4.
So, when is this Sudden Destruction?
The Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon, where God judges those who come against Him.
Yes, there are many ‘sudden destructions’ in the Bible. We’ve talked about quite a few of those. But, when the context is the Resurrection, that tells us that the sudden destruction that Paul is referring to is the last great battle before the Millennium. It can’t be anything else.
If it were BEFORE the Great Tribulation, there would be no ‘sudden destruction’ to be concerned about. We would all be gone before such a thing happened. But, we have even better proof that mere logic.
After describing the military conquests of the Antichrist in chapter 11:21-45, Daniel describes the Resurrection that comes after the Great Tribulation:
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
– Daniel 12 (KJV)
Again, remember that the chapter break between 11 and 12 is artificial. It was placed there by a Roman Catholic priest 800 years ago.
The point is this. In the Last Days, the Day of the Lord is the Battle of Armageddon and God’s judgment upon the nations. That Day of the Lord is also the moment in which those of us who are dead will rise from the grave, and those of us still alive will be caught up into the air, to be with the Lord.
We don’t have a second option here.
2 Peter
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Now, we come to the 23rd and last reference to the Day of the Lord. But, like the 22 other references, there is some confusion involved.
What Day of the Lord is Peter talking about?
Well, to answer that, let’s look at the context of what Peter is saying:
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
– 2 Peter 3 (KJV)
Peter starts out his discussion of the Day of the Lord, by talking about how the earth was destroyed in the Great Flood. That was indeed a Day of the Lord. All the unbelievers died, and the only ones that were saved were Noah and his family. But, Peter is contrasting that Day of the Lord with a different one.
This Day of the Lord will be the destruction of everything. Not one thing on this earth, or in the heavens will survive – except the Angels and ourselves. Not even the earth or heaven will continue to exist. Those in the Lake of Fire will survive, but probably won’t want to.
Everything will dissolve in fire. Everything.
So, when is this Day of the Lord?
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
– Revelation 20 (KJV)
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
– Revelation 21 (KJV)
So, the Day of the Lord that Peter is talking about is the one at the end of the Millennium. That is when the final and last judgment will be made upon those in rebellion against God. Peter might even be making a passing reference to the Millennium when he speaks of a thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years, in verse 8.
Oh, and for those who wish to claim that Peter is denying the Millennium, you can forget that. He is specifically speaking about this last Day of the Lord, because we will finally be able to live in the New Jerusalem. Yes, we will be given rewards at the first resurrection. But, the ultimate reward of living in the New Jerusalem will need to wait until the Millennium is over.
For those who persist in denying the Millennium and ignoring the proof about it in Revelation 20 and Zechariah 14… Well, I have this verse for you:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
– Revelation 22:19 (KJV)
Never ever take ANYTHING away from the Book of Revelation. It would be better to agree that it’s there and that you don’t understand it – than to claim that it isn’t there and have your name erased from the Book of Life.
Summary And Conclusion
We have been through all 23 verses that mention the ‘Day of the Lord’. We looked at the context of each of those verses and determined what each verse meant by that phrase.
This is how Good Eschatology works.
Good Eschatology ALWAYS allows the Bible to speak for itself. We have forgotten that, and it’s time to bring that back into focus. Too many ‘scholars’ have replaced God and the Holy Spirit with corrupt human logic.
That needs to stop.
So, let’s summarize and conclude what we’ve found about the ‘Day of the Lord’. Here is each verse in the Bible that uses the phrase, ‘Day of the Lord’ and what we discovered what they meant:
Isaiah 2
Isaiah 2:12
For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
This reference is the more traditional meaning of the Second Coming followed by the Millennium. So, Isaiah does more than talk about the Day of the Lord, but also backs up what Revelation 20 and Zechariah 14 say about the Millennium.
The Millennium will be physical. On Earth. And, it really will be a thousand years long.
Isaiah 13
Isaiah 13:6
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
This one was harder. It’s not the Second Coming. It’s the destruction of Babylon. The problem is that Babylon doesn’t exist now, except as a museum exhibit. And, Babylon was never destroyed.
Let me repeat that:
Babylon. Was. Never. Destroyed.
It was abandoned. In fact, it continued on as a minor frontier town even during Roman times. So, when Peter talked about the Church at Babylon (1 Peter 5:13), there really was a church at Babylon.
The bottom line?
We’re not sure when or how this prophecy will be fulfilled. And, it points to changes in our civilization that must occur long before the Antichrist rises. (However, we DO know that Iran will be involved.)
Oh, and for those who want more on the Millennium, read Isaiah 10 and 11.
Jeremiah 46
Jeremiah 46:10
For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
This is the defeat of Egypt and Ethiopia by Nebuchadnezzar in a battle at the Euphrates River, and we know that Judah would have been completely destroyed shortly after. So, this ‘Day of the Lord’ has already happened. But, this chapter ends with a promise of a future Return and Redemption, something that has not happened yet.
Ezekiel 13
Ezekiel 13:5
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
This Day of the Lord has already been fulfilled with the destruction and exile of Israel. However, this chapter also offers a chilling description of what is happening in our own churches, and how the Day of the Lord is coming for us, as well.
Judgment always comes first for those followers of God who have corrupted themselves. Only then will the nation be judged. And, I’m afraid that the American and European church has invited God’s wrath upon them.
Ezekiel 30
Ezekiel 30:3
For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
This Day of the Lord was also fulfilled by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who destroyed Egypt, Ethiopia and Lydia.
Joel
Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joel 2:1
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joel 2:11
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
Joel 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
These five references in such a short book seem to range from the past through to the future. And, the dividing point appears to be here:
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
So it appears that the references to the Day of the Lord chapter one and the first part of chapter 2 are all about this great plague of locusts. But, the reference to Joel 2:31 is talking about something completely different.
This is where Peter steps in and says in Acts 2, pointing not only to the Day of Pentecost but also here:
Matthew 27:45
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
That was NOT a solar eclipse. They don’t last three hours. Whatever that darkness was, it had to have been something miraculous. And, it was also a judgment against Israel for rejecting their Messiah, taking the way of salvation from them.
Then there’s Joel 3:14. And, the way chapter three is described, it’s pretty clear that this is part of the coming of Gog and Magog. And, since we’ve identified the ‘Valley of Jehoshaphat’ properly, it is the perfect place for that part of the battle to take place.
Taking this further, it would seem to confirm a significant amount of time between the Redemption of Israel and the coming of the Antichrist.
Amos 5
Amos 5:18
Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:20
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
God, through Amos, was telling both Judah and Israel that He was going to crush them. And that was fulfilled when the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and then when the Babylonians destroyed Judah.
Even though Amos has a small segment about the Last Days. None of that refers to the Day of the Lord that so many like to talk about.
Obadiah
Obadiah 1:15
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
This one is a little more difficult. Obadiah (more correctly pronounced Oh-Vad-Yah) is just one chapter that is about the complete destruction of Edom, the descendants of Esau. And, there is literally no trace of them left anywhere.
The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Hasmoneans and the Nabateans all obliterated them. And, it’s a painful reminder for all who hate Israel, that what they do to Israel, will be done to them.
Furthermore, after AD 70 and the collapse of the Bar Kokhbah Revolt, there’s literally nothing left to write about the Edomites. Herod and his family certainly didn’t survive. And, successive invasions by the Persians, Byzantines and then the Arabs finished off anything that was left.
Now, not all of Obadiah is about the past, but we’ll have to wait for the rest that is in the future.
Zephaniah 1
Zephaniah 1:7
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:14
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
This ‘Day of the Lord’ is also about the destruction of Judah at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The good thing about Zephaniah is that he doesn’t end with the Day of the Lord. That’s actually just the beginning.
After the terrible destruction of the Day of the Lord, Zephaniah ends with God’s promise to Redeem Israel. That will be a difficult time all its own, but it will result in the glorious Return of Jacob to God.
Zechariah 14
Zechariah 14:1
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
This ‘Day of the Lord’, is one that is about the Second Coming and Armageddon. But, there’s a context that is often missed here, because it speaks of half of Jerusalem following the command of Jesus:
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
– Matthew 24:15-18 (NKJV)
This is yet another example of how we keep missing the Redemption of Israel because bad translators made foolish mistakes. Israel will need to be followers of Christ long before the Antichrist appears, so that they will be able to obey Christ to flee at the right time.
Malachi 4
Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
Jesus told His disciples that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this verse. But, this requires that we think hard about what the ‘Day of the Lord’ is here.
It’s the tearing away God’s Covenant from Israel and giving it to those Jews who accept Christ and the gentiles who come to Christ through the gospel. Jesus confirms this with what He says here:
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
– Matthew 23:37-39 (KJV)
So, there was a spiritual Day of the Lord, in which Israel temporarily lost her covenant of salvation with God as a people, but then there would be a physical Day of the Lord in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed and then when the Bar Kokhba Revolt was put down in AD 136.
Acts 2
Acts 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
I’ve already made reference to this in Joel 2. And, there’s no way that I’m going to disagree with Peter on this, even though it sounds an awful lot like what we would see in the Book of Revelation.
Remember that this is the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon everyone, and they all spoke in the languages of the foreigners that were around them. This shocked everyone, but Peter said that this was a part of the prophecy given in Joel 2.
Again, this ‘Day of the Lord’ has already happened, with the death of our Lord on the Cross, and the anointing of the church on the Day of Pentecost.
1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 5:5
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
What Paul appears to be saying here, is that the Day of the Lord Jesus is the judgment of our works. Those of us who have served the Lord well, will have unburnable rewards. However, those things that we have done that were worldly, will have those works burned up.
When Paul was talking about this adulterous young man, there did not appear to be any rejection of Christ involved at all. Just the sin of adultery. And by handing him over to Satan, it appeared that Paul was also offering hope that the young man would repent – which did happen.
2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 1:14
As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our’s in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Paul is speaking here of his own service to God, part of which was at this church – as well as their service to God in their help towards him. And, he’s saying that this will be their rejoicing, their reward in the day of the Lord Jesus. And, yet again, Paul refers to the judging of our works in chapter five:
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
– 2 Corinthians 5 (KJV)
And, his point about knowing the ‘terror of the Lord’ is important for all of us to understand. There’s a line that we had better not cross, or we will suffer great loss of reward – or worse – in the Life to Come.
So again, it seems clear that Paul’s reference to the Day of the Lord Jesus is the judgment of our lives. It’s the Day of Rewards. But, I fear for some that it will be a day of terrible judgment, and I hope that I’m wrong.
1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
This reference to the Day of the Lord comes right in the middle of a discussion about the Last Days, the Resurrection, and the Rapture that happens afterwards.
In the Last Days, the Day of the Lord is the Battle of Armageddon and God’s judgment upon the nations. That Day of the Lord is also the moment in which those of us who are dead will rise from the grave, and those of us still alive will be caught up into the air, to be with the Lord.
2 Peter
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Now, we come to the 23rd and last reference to the Day of the Lord. But, like the 22 other references, there is some confusion involved.
What Day of the Lord is Peter talking about?
This Day of the Lord will be the destruction of everything. Not one thing on this earth, or in the heavens will survive – except the Angels and ourselves. Not even the earth or heaven will continue to exist. Those in the Lake of Fire will survive, but probably won’t want to.
Everything will dissolve in fire. Everything.
So, the Day of the Lord that Peter is talking about is the one at the end of the Millennium. That is when the final and last judgment will be made upon those in rebellion against God. Peter might even be making a passing reference to the Millennium when he speaks of a thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years, in verse 8.
Final Score
So, what is the score for the ‘Day of the Lord’:
Isaiah 2:12 – Gog and Magog
Isaiah 13:6 – Future Destruction of Babylon
Isaiah 13:9 – Future Destruction of Babylon
Jeremiah 46:10 – Babylonian destruction of Egypt, Ethiopia and Lydia (and Jerusalem)
Ezekiel 13:5 – Babylonian destruction of Israel
Ezekiel 30:3 – Babylonian destruction of Egypt, Ethiopia and Lydia
Joel 1:15 – plague of locusts
Joel 2:1 – plague of locusts
Joel 2:11 – plague of locusts
Joel 2:31 – Israel cast out
Joel 3:14 – The destruction of Gog and Magog
Amos 5:18 – The destruction of Israel by Assyria and Babylon
Amos 5:20 – The destruction of Israel by Assyria and Babylon
Obadiah 1:15 – The destruction of Edom
Zephaniah 1:7 – Destruction of Judah by Babylon
Zephaniah 1:14 – Destruction of Judah by Babylon
Zechariah 14:1 – The Second Coming and Armageddon
Malachi 4:5 – Israel cast out
Acts 2:20 – Israel cast out
1 Corinthians 5:5 – The judging of our rewards in heaven
2 Corinthians 1:14 – The judging of our rewards in heaven
1 Thessalonians 5:2 – The Second Coming
2 Peter 3:10 – The New Heavens and New Earth
Here’s the Score
The Second Coming and Armageddon – Two
The future destruction of Babylon – Two
Past destruction of Israel by Babylon/Assyria – Five
Babylonian destruction of Egypt, Ethiopia and Lydia – Two
Destruction of Edom – One
Plague of Locusts – Three
Israel Cast Out – Three
Gog and Magog – Two
Judging of our rewards in heaven – Two
New Heavens and New Earth – One
Conclusion
The bottom line is that you cannot claim that the ‘Day of the Lord’ is always the Second Coming followed by the Battle of Armageddon. You just can’t. In fact, only three verses mention the Day of the Lord in that context.
What we can claim is that the Day of the Lord is always a time of judgment and destruction. Whether it is our works on earth or the eradication of God’s enemies, judgment and destruction is always ALWAYS the key part of the Day of the Lord.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
שאלו שלום ירושלים
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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you… Hosea 4:6
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