THE DAY OF THE LORD

When you read about "The Day of the LORD" in the Bible it is time to take note. Something climactic is happening. This is a MAJOR theme in the Scriptures. It is important to realize that “The Day of the LORD” is a MAJOR theme grounded in the Old Testament that essentially has Israel and the nations in view. Remember the OT does not have Church Truth in view. The New Testament builds on the established premise of OT truth.

The exact phrase “The Day of the LORD” is found 19 times in the OT (cf. Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obadiah 1:15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5); and 4 times in the NT (cf. Acts 2:20; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; and 2 Pet. 3:10). However, there are MANY other places that speak of “the day” or “that day” which in context are clearly addressing what elsewhere is called “The Day of the LORD”. There are two books in the OT that have as their dominant theme “The Day of the LORD”. They are the book of Joel and the book of Zephaniah.

The word “Day” is essentially used three ways in the OT.

A. Day = Daylight hours
B. Day = 24-hour day
C. Day = A defining period of time (cf. “Day of our youth”)

“The Day of the LORD” is used in the sense of “C”. It refers to a defining period of time in which the LORDSHIP of God is uniquely put on display. The word “LORD” used in the OT phrase “The Day of the LORD” is the word YHWH. This was considered by the Jews to be God’s most sacred Name - His covenant NAME. This name YHWH emphasizes Him as being the eternal unchanging God which speaks of His faithful character. This is important to note because the Day of the LORD judgment is because of covenant unfaithfulness on the part of His people Israel and because the nations have no regard for Him as the covenant God of Israel. God has a problem with this! The Day of the LORD is all about God’s LORDSHIP! It is appropriately called “The Day of the LORD” because His LORDSHIP is most definitively put on display front and center in an undeniable fashion.

The Day of the LORD is when the Lord intervenes in human affairs in a most dramatic way. It is when the Lord directly interjects His Lordship in human history. So much of history is humanity seemingly defying the Lord but in the Day of the Lord the LORDSHIP of God will confront the arrogance of humanity head on (cf. Isa. 2). It is when the Lord God Almighty rises up and shows that He is Lord God Almighty! It is the LORD-GOD clearly on display for WHO He is!

There are four aspects to the concept of “The Day of the LORD” in Scripture. 1) There are various “Day of the LORD” events in the OT which are precursors that foreshadow the climactic end times Day of the LORD judgment. 2) There is the end times Day of the LORD judgment proper (the Tribulation Period). 3) There is the narrow Day of the LORD, referring to Christ’s Second Coming. And 4) There is the Day of the LORD kingdom rule. Thematically these all tie together.

By far, the predominant usage of “the day of the LORD” in Scripture refers to a coming climatic time of judgment that will usher in the Messiah. We commonly call this period the 7-year Tribulation Period or the 70th week of Daniel. This climactic “Day of the LORD” judgment will involve the entire world. None of the past “Days of the LORD” interventions referred to in the OT involved a divine judgment of all the nations. This is unique to the last days “Day of the LORD” judgment.

Obadiah 15 (NKJV)
15 “For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.

Zephaniah 3:8 (NKJV)
8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the LORD, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured With the fire of My jealousy.

The coming Day of the LORD judgment will be the most terrifying time in the history of the world. Jesus, speaking of events related to the Day of the LORD said it will be a time of unparalleled tribulation (cf. Mt. 24:21-22; Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1). It is designated and described in various ways.

1) The great and dreadful day of the LORD – Mal. 4:5
2) The day of vengeance – Isa. 34:8; 35:4; 61:2; 63:4
3) The day of the LORD’s wrath – Zeph. 1:18
4) The day of darkness of gloom – Amos 5:18, 20

Isaiah 13:6 (NKJV)
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Zephaniah 1:15 (NKJV)
15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,

Note that there are two contrasting aspects to the climactic future Day of the LORD. The Jewish day started at evening with the time of darkness which was then followed by the time of light in the morning. So, the Jewish day went from sundown to sundown. The day of the Lord follows this pattern. First there is a climactic time of darkness in the Day of the LORD judgment which is then followed by a time of light – the Day of the LORD kingdom blessing.

Joel 3:12–14 (NKJV)
12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:18 (NKJV)
18 And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD And water the Valley of Acacias.

Putting it altogether the end times Day of the LORD begins with the period of God’s judgment on the whole world which climaxes with the Day of the Lord Second Coming which then merges into the millennial kingdom. Therefore it is a prolonged period of 1007 years. It begins in darkness and ends in darkness with the destruction of this present heaven and earth.

One verse that puts the entire spectrum of the Day of the Lord together is 2 Peter 3:10.

2 Peter 3:10 (NKJV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, [the beginning of the Tribulation Period] 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 [conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom].

The Day of the LORD comes as a thief in the night on the heels of the Rapture the Church (cf. 1 Thess 4:13 - 5:4), and it concludes with the destruction of the heavens and earth at the conclusion of the Millennial Reign (cf. Rev. 21:1). But note also that in this context is the Second Coming which denotes THE ultimate Day of the LORD. So in the most narrow sense the “Day of the LORD” refers to the Second Coming. It is the ultimate display of LORDSHIP as Christ comes as "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" in power and great glory! (Rev. 19:11-16)

Joel 2:31 (NKJV)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

The world does not realize it but it is on a collision course with the coming DAY OF THE LORD JUDGMENT which will climax in THE DAY OF THE LORD SECOND COMING which will result in THE DAY OF THE LORD KINGDOM RULE! Take heart fellow believers! A NEW Day is about to dawn! The Day of the LORD is going to change everything. It is the great CLIMAX that all the prophetic Scriptures anticipate and build toward! It's coming just as sure as Jesus is risen from the dead! But the RAPTURE of the Church comes FIRST! It is the NEXT BIG THING on God's prophetic calendar! Maranatha! Perhaps Today! Live Ready!

Acts 17:30–31 (NKJV)
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”