Many have claimed that every time that you see the phrase, 'the Day of the Lord', it always means the Second Coming of Jesus and His judgment upon the nations. And, as with many errors, there is some truth to this claim.
The question is, what is true about this rule and what isn't?
As with anything that we study about the Bible, if a firm rule is claimed but exceptions are found that do not fit this rule... then the 'rule' is invalid. To claim otherwise is to claim that God is inconsistent, and I would never want to accuse Him of that.
So, let's look at The Day Of The Lord.
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The Day Of The Lord - Part One
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 God's judgment upon the earth at the Second Coming. It's a universal statement with a tiny little problem.
Not every verse that contains the phrase 'Day of the Lord', is about End Times judgment.
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 are two End Times passages that are not about the Second Coming, but refer 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:
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:
Isaiah 2 clearly explains that this is an end times event, and actually begins on a positive note before speaking of the judgment that will fall upon the world:
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.
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
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 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 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
Lord willing, in Part 2 next week, 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.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
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