The Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord refers to a series of events when the world ends. It would comprise both disaster and salvation.
What is the day of the Lord?
ANSWER The phrase "day of the Lord" usually identifies events that take place at the end of history (Isaiah 7:18-25) and is often closely associated with the phrase "that day." One key to understanding these phrases is to note that they always identify a period during which God personally intervenes in history, directly or indirectly, to accomplish some specific aspect of His plan.
Most people associate the day of the Lord with a period or a special day that will occur when God's will and purpose for His world and humanity will be fulfilled. Some scholars believe that the "day of the Lord" will be a more extended period than a single day—a period when Christ will reign throughout the world before He cleanses heaven and earth in preparation for the eternal state of all humankind. Other scholars believe the "day of the Lord" will be an instantaneous event when Christ returns to earth to redeem His faithful believers and send unbelievers to eternal damnation.
18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes, and at all the water holes. 20 In that day, the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and private parts and to cut off your beard also. 21 On that day, a person will keep a young cow and two goats alive. 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 In that day, there will be only briers and thorns in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels. 24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. 25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run. - Isaiah 7:15-25
The phrase “the day of the Lord” is used often in the Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezekiel 13:5, 30:3; Joel 1:15, 2:1,11,31; 3:14; Amos 5:18,20; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5) and several times in the New Testament (e.g. Acts 2:20; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 3:10). It is also alluded to in other passages (Revelation 6:17; 16:14).
The Old Testament passages dealing with the day of the Lord often convey a sense of imminence, nearness, and expectation: "Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!" (Isaiah 13:6); "For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near" (Ezekiel 30:3); "Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand" (Joel 2:1); "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3:14); "Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near" (Zephaniah 1:7). This is because the Old Testament passages referring to the day of the Lord often speak of both a near and a far fulfillment, as does much of Old Testament prophecy. Some Old Testament passages that refer to the day of the Lord describe historical judgments that have already been fulfilled in some sense (Isaiah 13:6-22; Ezekiel 30:2-19; Joel 1:15, 3:14; Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:14-18), while others refers to divine judgments that will take place toward the end of the Age (Joel 2:30-32; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:1, 5).
The New Testament calls it a day of "wrath," a day of "visitation," and the "great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 16:14) and refers to a still future fulfillment when God's wrath is poured out on unbelieving Israel (Isaiah 22; Jeremiah 30:1-17; Joel 1-2; Amos 5; Zephaniah 1) and the unbelieving world (Ezekiel 38–39; Zechariah 14). The Scriptures indicate that "the day of the Lord" will come quickly, like a thief in the night (Zephaniah 1:14-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:2), and therefore Christians must be watchful and ready for the Coming of Christ at any moment.
Besides being a time of judgment, it will also be a time of salvation as God will deliver the remnant of Israel, fulfilling His promise that "all of Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26), forgiving their sins and restoring His chosen people to the land He promised to Abraham (Isaiah 10:27; Jeremiah 30:19-31, 40; Micah 4; Zechariah 13). The outcome of the day of the Lord will be that "the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day" (Isaiah 2:17). The ultimate or final fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the day of the Lord will come at the end of history when God, with incredible power, will punish evil and fulfill all His promises.
In the biblical canon, the earliest, direct use of the phrase is in Isaiah 2: "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; and he shall be brought low" (Isaiah 2:12). ... "That day will be darkness, not light" (Amos 5:18 NIV).
This article also refers to the *eschatological term.
The End of the World, also known as The Great Day of His Wrath and
"The Day of the Lord"
*eschatological - relating to death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and humankind.
"The Day of the Lord" is a biblical term and theme used in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, as in "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come" (Joel 2:31, cited in Acts 2:20).
In the Hebrew Bible, the meaning of the phrases refers to temporal events such as the invasion of a foreign army, the capture of a city, and the suffering that befalls the inhabitants. This appears much in the second chapter of Isaiah, which is read on the Sabbath of vision, immediately before the 10th of *Av.
*Av (Hebrew: ?Av, Tiberian: ?A?; from Akkadian, "Abu " is the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar.
The prophet Malachi foretells the return of Elijah immediately preceding the "great and terrible day of the LORD." This prophecy is read in synagogues on the Great Sabbath immediately preceding Passover.
In the New Testament, the "day of the Lord" may also refer to the writer's times or to predicted events in a later age of earth's history, including the final judgment and the World to Come. The expression may also have an extended meaning in referring to both the first and second comings of Jesus Christ.
Hebrew Bible usage. It was used first by Isaiah and subsequently incorporated into prophetic and apocalyptic texts. It relies on military images to describe the Lord as a "divine warrior" who will conquer his enemies. In specific prophetic texts of the Hebrew Bible, the enemies of the Lord are Israel's enemies, and in these visions, the day of the Lord brings victory for the people of ancient Israel. Other prophets use the imagery as a warning to Israel or its leaders, and for them, the day of the Lord will mean destruction for the biblical nations of Israel and Judah. This concept develops throughout Jewish and Christian Scripture into a day of divine, apocalyptic judgment at the end of the world.
In the biblical canon, the earliest, direct use of the phrase is in Isaiah 2: "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; and he shall be brought low" (Isaiah 2:12). Another early use of the phrase is in Amos 5:18-20. Wright suggests that the phrase was already a standard one, and Amos' hearers would take it to mean "the day when Yahweh would intervene to put Israel at the head of the nations, irrespective of Israel's faithfulness to Him." Yet Amos declares, "Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light" (Amos 5:18 NIV). Because Israel had sinned, God would come in judgment on them. Thus, the day of the Lord is about God chastening his people, whether it be through the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem or a locust plague described in Joel 2:1–11. Yet Joel 2:32 holds a promise that on the Day of the Lord, "everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved."
In Zephaniah 1:8, the Day of the LORD is equated with "the day of the LORD's sacrifice." This has led Christian interpreters to equate it with Jesus' death.
The Hebrew and Greek mean a 24 hours day or Age or epoch. So there are many events prophesied for the Day Of The Lord; which need to take into account that the Jewish day begins with the sunset, so it expects a dark phase (Amos 5:18) at the beginning of this Age and then the sunrise with The Morning Star (Revelation 22:16) followed by the plenty light (Malachi 4:2) of the eternal day.
Reference to a specific day as being "The Day of the Lord" is found in the Book of Daniel 12:12, "Blessed is he who waits and comes unto 1,335 days."
New Testament usage
This promise is also evident in the New Testament when Joel 2:28-32 is quoted in Acts 2:17-21. The phrase is also used in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 to refer either to the rapture or to the return of Jesus.
The phrase alludes to a judgment for eternal rewards in 2 Corinthians 1:14, where it says, "we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus."
The Book of Revelation describes the day of the Lord as an apocalyptic time of God's almighty wrath, which comes upon those who are deemed wicked. The text pictures every man hiding in the rocks of the mountains during a significant earthquake to attempt to hide from God's wrath, while celestial phenomena turn the moon blood red and the sun dark. These celestial phenomena are also mentioned in Joel 2:31, which foretells the same precise order of events mentioned in Revelation: The moon turns blood red, and the sun turns dark before the great day of the Lord. Matthew 24:29-31 mentions the same event, yet it places the celestial phenomenon as occurring after the "tribulation of those days." According to these passages, it then seems that the day of the Lord is an event closely tied with the Coming of the Messiah to judge the world.
2 Peter 3:8-10 reads, "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."
"Lord's Day" as the Christian day of worship."
Some expositors equate the "Day of the Lord" with the "Lord's Day," which is usually taken to refer to the Christian weekly day of rest. Kline argues that the "Lord's Day" mentioned in Revelation 1:10 is not first day of the week, but refers to "the already realized heavenly enthronement of the Lord Jesus."
(Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(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."
Desire the day of the Lord.— Expecting that day to bring you deliverance and judgments upon your enemies. It shall bring the reverse! There is a dark side to the pillar of fire.
Benson Commentary
(18) Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord — Scoffingly, not believing any such day will come: for this seems to be spoken of some among them, who, in mockery, expressed a desire of seeing those things which the prophet predicted brought to pass. Or, it may respect those who, notwithstanding all the prophet had said, still expected God would appear in their favor, not to their destruction: expressed a desire of seeing those things which the prophet predicted brought to pass. Or, it may respect those who, notwithstanding all the prophet had said, still expected God would appear in their favour, not to their destruction:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
(18) Woe unto you who do not scruple to say in irony, "We desire that the day of the Lord would come," that is, "Woe to you who treat it as if it were a mere dream of the prophets" (Isa 5:19; Jer 17:15; Eze 12:22).
Amos taking their ironical words in earnest: for God often takes the blasphemer at his own word, in righteous retribution making the scoffer's jest a terrible reality against himself. Ye have but little reason to desire the day of the Lord; for it will be to you calamity, and not joy.
(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.
(Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(19) Your escape will be impossible. You will avoid one calamity, only to fall into a worse.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
(19) "As if a man, did flee from a lion" - The Day of the Lord is a day of terror on every side. Before and behind, without and within, abroad under the roof of heaven, or under his shelter, everywhere is terror and death. The Syrian bear has been more fierce and savage than the lion. For its fierceness and voracity, see Daniel 7:5; God made it a symbol of the empire of the Medes in Daniel's vision. From both lion and bear, there might be escape by flight. When the man had "leaned his hand" trustfully "on the wall" of his own house, "and the serpent bit him," there was no escape. He had fled from death to death, from peril to destruction.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
"As if a man did flee from a lion" — A creature that has something of generosity in his nature; "and a bear met him" — Which never spares anything that comes in its way.
(20) "Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?"
To what end is it for you? — To what purpose you should desire to see the day of the Lord? The day of the Lord is darkness — Adversity, black and doleful, and not light — No joy or comfort in it. It will undoubtedly be a very dismal time to you, and indeed to all in the country when evils shall succeed one another so fast, that he who seeks to escape one shall fall into a greater
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness — It might indeed well be described as darkness; even very dark, without any brightness in it — Since it was to be no less than the destruction of the towns and cities, the desolation of the country, the slaughtering of the people, or the carrying of them into captivity, and even the overturning of the whole kingdom.
The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light; it will bring on affliction, calamities, miseries, and distress, which are often in Scripture expressed by "darkness," and not prosperity and happiness, which are sometimes signified by "light"; see Isaiah 5:30; and even the day of the Coming of Christ were to the unbeliever, The day of the Lord is darkness; all adversity, most black and doleful, therefore called in the abstract darkness.
And not light; no joy, hope, or comfort in it. Jews darkness, and not light; they were blinded in it, and given up to judicial blindness and darkness; they were hating and rejecting the light of Christ, and his Gospel, and which issued in great calamities, in the utter ruin and destruction of those people, John 3:19.
