The purpose of discussions about the day of the Lord, past or future, is to illumine the present. One striking consequence of the day of the Lord for nations will be a recognition of Yahweh ( Joel 3:17 ), but not without desolation ( Zep 2:13-14 ) and death ( Zep 2:12 ). The Day of the Lord as a Day of Calamity. Some metaphors for the day are negative. God's agency will be recognized, for he will "make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place" ( Isa 13:13 ). Salvation consists in abundance of grain, new wine, and oil, "enough to satisfy you fully" ( 2:19 ; cf. The theological significance of the day of the Lord may be summarized along three lines of thought. Not that the Holy Spirit will not be operating on earth during the Tribulation, but He will be taken out of the way as a restraining force when the Church is caught up to be with Christ.
The message of the day of the Lord is that evil be trounced and evildoers will in the end receive their due. The New Testament only confirms the destructive character of the "day" ( 1 Thess 1:9-10 ). Others point to Israel's history, theologically interpreted. 13) or Joel's prophecy about the Spirit ( 2:28-32 ), or it may be in the far distant future. In the words of Zephaniah, God will "restore their [Judah's] fortunes" ( 2:7 ), an expression that implies the restoration of a desirable situation, a recovery of what has been lost. In the New Testament, equivalent expressions, such as "day of Jesus Christ, " are found in 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philippians 1:6, 10; and 2 Peter 3:10, 12. Still, pictures of Gentile response given elsewhere (such as Psalm 96 ) are reinforced by Zephaniah's classic description of the day of the Lord: "From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings" ( 3:10 ; cf. More likely, however, is the proposal that the wars of the Lord in Israel's history serve as the background, since battle images abound ( Joel 3:9-10 ; Rev 16:14 ) and issues of jurisdiction and authority are central to the day of the Lord. Even though they expected their righteousness to be vindicated against their enemies, they were to discover that God's righteousness entailed his move against them. Second, the day of Yahweh addresses the question of theodicy not only the existence of evil, but especially undoing the havoc that it brings and making all things right. "Day of the Lord" appears in 2 Thessalonians 2:2. Variously formulated as the "day of the Lord" ( Amos 5:18 ), the "day of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( 1 Col 1:8 ; cf. One pastor who teaches that the Body of Christ will go through the tribulation and that its Rapture to be with Christ will follow the tribulation, writes: Here we must ask what will cause men to say peace and safety? There have been days of the Lord in the past. The day of the Lord portends salvation for the nations. Announcements about favorable prospects for Gentiles, while considerable, are not often found in conjunction with language about the day of the Lord. This is a time when God will actively intervene in the affairs of humanity with devastating impact. Article Images Copyright © 2020 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. As depicted by Joel, the day of the Lord means decision: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
His presence totally dominates.
The day of the Lord means destruction of the godless. In the New Testament the appearance of God is more distinctly the coming of Christ, specifically the return of Christ, his second coming. For God's people, Israel, the day of the Lord will mean physical abundance and spiritual blessing. The preview of the day of the Lord, as in the destruction of Babylon or at the time of the Christ-event, including the day of Pentecost, already shows evidence of God's extraordinary work and power, so that the day of the Lord at the end of history is quite beyond human description.
The heavens will disappear, also by fire ( 2 Peter 3:10-11 ). An upheaval of cosmic proportions means changes in the sun, moon, and stars ( 2:30 ). The outcome, according to Isaiah, is the massive abolition of idols ( Isaiah 2:18 Isaiah 2:20 ).