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, So says the Lord Jehovah: Howl, Woe is the day!
As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Behold, it is coming, and it will be done, says the Lord Jehovah. This is the day of which I have spoken.
Then Jehovah will be jealous for His land and pity His people. Yes, Jehovah will answer and say to His people, Behold, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied with it. And I will no more make you a curse among the nations. read more. But I will remove the northern army far from you, and will drive him into a barren and deserted land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his rear toward the western sea. And his stench shall come up, and his ill odor shall come up, because he was doing great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice. For Jehovah will do great things. Do not be afraid, beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness grow green; for the tree bears its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then, sons of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God. For He has given you the former rain according to righteousness, and He will cause the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. 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 which the swarming locust has eaten, the locust larvae, and the stripping locust, and the cutting locust, My great army which I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, who has dealt with you wonderfully; and My people shall never be ashamed. And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and no one else; and My people shall never be ashamed.
And he said, Jehovah will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall dry up. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea for four, I will not turn away from it; 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 Ben-hadad. I will also break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the dweller from the Valley of Aven, and from him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden. And the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir, says Jehovah. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea for four, I will not turn away from it; because they deported as exiles to deliver up a complete population to Edom. But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour its palaces. And I will cut off the people from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon, and I will turn My hand against Ekron. And the rest of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord Jehovah. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea for four, I will not turn away from it. Because they delivered up as exiles a complete population to Edom, and did not remember the brotherly covenant. But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea for four, I will not turn away from it. Because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pities, and his anger tore without end, and he kept his wrath forever. But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, yea for four, I will not turn away from it. Because they have ripped up the pregnant women of Gilead, to make their own border larger. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, says Jehovah.
So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea for four, I will not turn away from it; because they have despised the Laws of Jehovah, and have not kept His commandments. And their lies after which their fathers walked led them astray. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. read more. So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea for four, I will not turn away from it; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals;
So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea for four, I will not turn away from it; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals; panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek. And a man and his father will go in to the same woman, to defile My holy name.
panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek. And a man and his father will go in to the same woman, to defile My holy name. And they will stretch beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
And they will stretch beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, 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 the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from below. read more. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up prophets from your sons and Nazarites from your young men. Is it not even so, O sons of Israel? says Jehovah. But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Do not prophesy. Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart full of sheaves is pressed. And refuge shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his power, nor shall the mighty deliver his life; nor shall he who handles the bow stand. And the swift-footed shall not save; and the horse rider shall not save his life.
Make it heard at the palaces of Ashdod, and the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: Gather yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great uproars in its midst, and the oppressed in its midst. For they do not know to do right, says Jehovah, those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. read more. So the Lord Jehovah says this: An enemy! And he shall be all around the land; and he shall bring you down from your strength, and your palaces shall be plundered. So says Jehovah: As the shepherd takes two legs out of the mouth of the lion, or a piece of an ear; so shall the sons of Israel be taken out, those who dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch. Hear and testify in the house of Jacob, says the Lord Jehovah, the God of Hosts, for in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altar shall be cut off and shall fall to the ground. And I will strike the winter house together with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish. And the great houses shall be swept away, says Jehovah.
They hate him who rebukes in the gate, and they despise him who speaks uprightly. So, because of your trampling on the poor, and you take tribute of grain from him; you have built houses of carved stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink wine from them. read more. For I know your many transgressions and your many sins. They afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate. So the understanding ones shall keep silent in that time; for it is an evil time.
who lie on beds of ivory, and those sprawling on their couches, and eat lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; who chant with the mouth of the harp; they invent instruments of music for themselves, like David; read more. who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best of oils; nor do they grieve for the breaking of Joseph! So now they shall go into exile with the first of the exiles. And the feast of those who stretch themselves shall cease. The Lord Jehovah has sworn by Himself, says Jehovah, the God of Hosts: I despise the glory of Jacob, and hate his palaces; and I will shut up the city and all its fullness.
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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread on the mountains; a great people and a strong people; there has not been ever the like, nor shall there ever be again, even to the years of many generations.
And Jehovah shall utter His voice before His army; for His camp is very great; for strong is He who does His Word. For the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can stand it?
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Jehovah.
For behold, the day is coming, burning like a fire pot; and all the proud, and every doer of wickedness, shall be chaff. And the coming day will set them ablaze, says Jehovah of Hosts, which will not leave root or branches to them.
But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you be not grieved, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. read more. For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before 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 we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
But of the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up.
looking for and rushing the coming of the Day of God, on account of which the heavens, being on fire, will melt away, and the elements will melt, burning with heat?