Reference: Day of the Lord
Hastings
The day in which Jehovah was expected to punish sinful Hebrews and the enemies of Israel, and to establish at least the righteous remnant of His people in political supremacy. The Hebrews believed implicitly that their God Jehovah was certain to defeat all rivals. Before Amos this view had not reached a definite eschatology, and probably involved only a general expectation of the triumph of Israel and Israel's God. With Amos, however, the conception of punishment became less ethnic and more moral. The sins of Israel itself deserved punishment, and Amos declared that the luxury of the nation, with all its economic oppression, had grown hateful to Jehovah, and unless abandoned would bring fearful punishment (Am 2:6-8; 3:9-15; 5:10-13; 6:4-8). The righteousness of Jehovah demanded that the sins of His people as well as those of the heathen should be punished. After Amos the thought of an awful day of Divine punishment was extended from Israel to a world of sinners. According to Zephaniah (Am 1:2-15; 2:4-15), punishment was now to come upon all wicked persons, both Jews and Gentiles, because of wrong. So, too, the unknown prophet who wrote under the name of Malachi. Ezekiel (Eze 30:2 f., Eze 34:12; 39:8 f.), however, reverted to the same national thought of a 'day of battle,' in which Jehovah would conquer all Israel's foes; and to some extent this same national idea is represented by Joel (Joe 2:18-27). With the later prophets there is to be seen an element of reconstruction as well as punishment in Jehovah's action. Sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, are to be punished, but a pious remnant is to be saved, the beginnings of a new Israel.
It is clear that this conception of a great Day of Jehovah underlies much of the Messianic expectation of apocryphal literature. The establishment of a remnant of a pious Israel was the germ of the hope of the Messianic kingdom; and the Day of Jehovah itself became the Day of Judgment, which figures so largely in both Jewish and Christian Messianism. It fact, it is not too much to say that the eschatology of Judaism is really a development of the implications of the prophetic teaching as to the Day of Jehovah.
Shailer Mathews.
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Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Howl ye, Woe of the day!
As the shepherd recognizes his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I recognize my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Behold, it is come, and it is over, said the Lord GOD; this is the day of which I have spoken.
Then the LORD will be jealous for his earth and forgive his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you bread and new wine and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles: read more. But I will remove far off from you he of the north wind and will drive him into a land barren and desolate; his face shall be toward the east sea, and his end unto the western sea, and he shall exhale his foul odour, and he shall decompose, because he has lifted himself up. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD has done great things. Be not afraid, ye animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness shall become green again, for the trees shall bear their fruit, the fig tree and the vine shall give their fruits. Ye also, sons of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God for he has given you the former rain according to righteousness, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain as in the beginning. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the caterpillar has eaten, the locust, and the cankerworm, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God that has dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never again be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is none other; and my people shall never be ashamed.
And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the pastors shall be destroyed, and the top of Carmel shall wither. Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Damascus and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron. read more. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. I will also break the bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitants of the plain of Aven and him that holds the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir. Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Gaza and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: but I will send a fire in the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof. And I will cut off the inhabitants of Ashdod and him that holds the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Palestinians shall perish, said the Lord GOD. Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Tyre and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and did not remember the brotherly covenant; but I will send fire in the wall of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces. Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Edom and for the fourth, I will not convert her because she pursued her brother with the sword and cast off all mercy, and with her anger she stole from him perpetually, and she kept her wrath for ever: but I will send fire in Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they have ripped off the mountains of Gilead that they might enlarge their border: but I will kindle fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof as with shouting in the day of battle, as with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, said the LORD.
Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Judah and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they have despised the law of the LORD and have not kept his statutes, and their lies caused them to err after which their fathers have walked: but I will send fire in Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. read more. Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Israel and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes,
Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Israel and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes, desiring that there be dust of the earth upon the head of the poor, and to twist the way of the humble: and the man and his father have gone in unto the same maid, profaning my holy name:
desiring that there be dust of the earth upon the head of the poor, and to twist the way of the humble: and the man and his father have gone in unto the same maid, profaning my holy name: and they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by any altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
and they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by any altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god. Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as an oak; yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. read more. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness that you might possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up of your sons for prophets and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye sons of Israel? said the LORD. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Do not prophesy. Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver his soul: neither shall he that handles the bow stand; and he that is swift of foot shall not escape: neither shall he that rides the horse save his life.
Publish upon the palaces of Ashdod and upon the palaces of the land of Egypt and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great oppression in the midst thereof and the great violence in the midst thereof. For they do not know to do right, said the LORD, storing up violence and robbery in their palaces. read more. Therefore thus said the Lord GOD: An adversary there shall be even round about the land, and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. Thus hath the LORD said: As the pastor takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel escape that dwell in Samaria in the corner of the bed and at the border of the couch. Hear ye, and protest in the house of Jacob, said the Lord GOD, the God of the hosts, that in the day that I shall visit the rebellions of Israel upon him, I will also visit upon the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall be cut off, said the LORD.
They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly. Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat, ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. read more. For I have known of your many rebellions and your great sins that afflict the just and take a ransom and turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time.
that lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall; that chant to the sound of the flute and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David; read more. that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now they shall go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of those that stretched themselves upon their couches shall be removed. The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, the LORD God of the hosts said, I abhor the grandeur of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore I will give the city with all that is therein over to the enemy.
Morish
This cannot be separated from Messiah's day. It is often characterised by judgement: "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness . . . . the day of the Lord is great and very terrible." Joe 2:2,11,31; Mal 4:1. "The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them." 1Th 5:2-3. "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." 2Pe 3:10. This scene is followed by 'THE DAY OF GOD' in 2Pe 3:12, which ushers in the new heavens and the new earth.
It is important to keep the 'day' quite distinct from the coming of the Lord to fetch His saints; for many have misapplied the term, and it has been constantly asserted that the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written to show the saints that it was wrong to be expecting the return of the Lord; whereas the fact is they thought the day of the Lord had come (though the First Epistle keeps the two things quite distinct: compare 1Th 4:13-18 with 1Th 5:1-4), and this could not come until Antichrist was revealed. There will be judgements before the millennium, and there will be judgements after the millennium, so that we may regard the Day of the Lord as extending through the millennium: it will be 'the Lord's' day in contrast to 'man's' day.
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a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of shadow that spreads itself upon the mountains as the dawn: a people great and strong; there has not ever been the like, neither shall there be any more after him, even to the years of many generations.
and the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for many are his camps and strong, that execute his word; for the day of the LORD is great, and very terrible; and who can abide it?
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes.
For, behold, the day comes that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, said the LORD of the hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as the others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so those who sleep in Jesus will God also bring with him. read more. For this, we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For ye know well that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night.
For ye know well that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should take you as a thief.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements, burning, shall be dissolved, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up.
waiting for and desiring earnestly for the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?