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'.
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Here is each verse in the Bible that uses the phrase, 'Day of the Lord' and what we discovered what they meant:
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 13:6
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 46:10
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 13:5
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 30:3
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 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 5:18
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 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 1:7
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 14:1
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 4:5
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 2:20
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 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 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 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 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.
So, what is the score for the 'Day of the Lord':
Isaiah 2:12 - Second Coming
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
The Second Coming and Armageddon - Three
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 - One
Judging of our rewards in heaven - Two
New Heavens and New Earth - One
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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Keep this ministry alive with a donation.
Subscribe for free to Revelation Six and receive my articles in your inbox:
And, read my two books:
https://whengogcomes.com/
https://ezekielsfire.com/
I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here:
https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/
If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter.
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