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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Thou son of man, prophesy and speak, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Mourn, woe worth this day,
Like as a shepherd among the flock seeketh after the sheep that are scattered abroad, even so will I seek after my sheep, and gather them together out of all places, where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
"'Behold, it cometh, and shall be fulfilled indeed, sayeth the LORD God: This is the day whereof I have spoken.
And the LORD envied for his land's sake and had compassion on his people. And the LORD answered and said unto his people, "Behold, I sent you corn, new wine and oil, that ye shall be satisfied therewith. Neither will I deliver you any more unto the heathen. read more. Again, as for him of the North, I shall drive him far from you: and shoot him out into a dry and waste land, his face toward the east sea, and his hinder parts toward the utmost sea. The stink of him shall go up, and his filthy corruption shall fall upon himself, because he hath dealt so proudly." Fear not, O land, but be glad and rejoice; for the LORD will do great things. Be not ye afraid neither, O ye beasts of the field; for the pastures shall be green and the trees shall bear their fruit, the fig trees and vineyards shall give their increase. Children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God. For he hath given you a teacher of righteousness, and will make descend unto you the first rain and the later, as at the beginning. And the barns shall be full of corn, and the wine presses flow with wine and oil. And I will restore you again, with my great power which I have sent unto you, the years which the locusts and caterpillars have devoured. And ye shall eat and have enough and praise the name of the LORD your God, which hath wrought wonders with you. And my people shall not be in shame forever. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no more. And my people shall not be in shame forever.
And he said, "The LORD shall roar out of Zion, and show his voice from Jerusalem: so that the pastures of the shepherds shall be in a miserable case, and the top of Carmel dried up. "Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Damascus, I will not spare her: because they have threshed Gilead with iron stales. read more. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, the same shall consume the palaces of Benhadad. Thus will I break the bars of Damascus, and root out the inhabiter from the field of Aven, and him that holdeth the scepter, out of the pleasant house: so that the people shall be driven out of fair Syria,' sayeth the LORD. Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Gaza, I will not spare her: because they make the prisoners yet more captive, and have driven them into the land of Edom. Therefore will I send a fire in to the walls of Gaza, which shall devour her houses. I will root out them that dwell at Ashdod, and him that holdeth the scepter of Ashkelon, and stretch out mine hand over Ekron, that the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,' sayeth the LORD. Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of the city of Tyre, I will not spare her: because they have increased the captivity of the Edomites, and have not remembered the brotherly covenant. Therefore will I send a fire into the walls of Tyre, that shall consume her palaces.' "Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Edom, I will not spare him, because he persecuted his brother with the sword, destroyed his mother's womb, bare hatred very long, and so kept indignation always by him. Therefore will I send a fire into Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.' Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of the children of Ammon, I will not spare them: because they ripped up the women great with child in Gilead, to make the borders of their lands the wider. Therefore I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah, that shall consume her palaces: with a great cry, in the day of battle, in tempest and in the day of storm. So that their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together,' sayeth the LORD."
"Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Judah, I will not spare him: because he hath cast aside the law of the LORD, and not kept his commandments: For why? They would needs be deceived with the lies that their forefathers followed. Therefore will I send a fire into Judah, which shall consume the palaces of Jerusalem.' read more. "Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Israel, I will not spare him: because he hath sold the righteous for money, and the poor for shoes.
"Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Israel, I will not spare him: because he hath sold the righteous for money, and the poor for shoes. They tread upon poor men's heads, in the dust of the earth, and crook the ways of the meek. The son and the father go to the harlot, to dishonour my holy name,
They tread upon poor men's heads, in the dust of the earth, and crook the ways of the meek. The son and the father go to the harlot, to dishonour my holy name, they lie beside every altar upon clothes taken to pledge, and in the house of their gods they drink the wine of the oppressed.
they lie beside every altar upon clothes taken to pledge, and in the house of their gods they drink the wine of the oppressed. "'Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, that was as high as the Cedar trees, and as strong as the oaks: notwithstanding I destroyed his fruit from above and his root from under. read more. Again: I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, that ye might have the Amorites' land in possession. I raised up prophets among your children, and abstainers among your young men. Is it not so, O ye children of Israel?' sayeth the LORD. 'But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink! Yea, ye commanded the prophets, saying, 'Prophesy not.' Behold, I will crash you in sunder, like as a wain crasheth, that is full of sheaves: so that the swift shall not escape, neither the strong be able to do anything: no, the giant shall not save his own life. The archer shall not abide, and the swift of foot shall not escape. The horseman shall not save his life,
"'Preach in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces of the land of Egypt, and say, 'Gather you together upon the mountains of Samaria, so shall ye see great murder and violent oppression among them.' For why? They regard not the thing that is right, sayeth the LORD: they gather together evil gotten goods, and lay up robbery in their houses.' read more. Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD God, 'This land shall be troubled and besieged round about, thy strength shall be plucked from thee, and thy palaces robbed.' Thus sayeth the LORD, 'like as a herdsman taketh two legs or a piece of an ear out of the lion's mouth: Even so the children of Israel that dwell in Samaria, having their couches in the corner, and the beds at Damascus, shall be plucked away. Hear, and bear record in the house of Jacob,' sayeth the LORD God of hosts. 'That when I begin to visit the wickedness of Israel, I will visit the altars at Bethel also: so that the horns of the alter shall be broken off, and fall to the ground. As for the winter house and summer house, I will smite them down: and the houses of Ivory, yea and many other houses shall perish, and be destroyed,' sayeth the LORD."
But they owe him evil will, that reproveth them openly: and whoso telleth them the plain truth, they abhor him. Forsomuch then as ye oppress the poor, and rob him of his best sustenance: therefore, where as ye have builded houses of square stone, ye shall not dwell in them. Marvelous pleasant vineyards shall ye plant; but the wine of them shall ye not drink. And why? read more. As for the multitude of your wickednesses and your stout sins, I know them right well. Enemies are ye of the righteous; ye take rewards; ye oppress the poor in judgment. Therefore the wise must now be fain to hold his tongue, so wicked a time is it.
Ye that lie upon beds of ivory, and use your wantonness upon your couches; ye that eat the best lambs of the flock, and the fattest calves of the drove; ye that sing to the lute, and in playing of instruments compare yourselves unto David; read more. ye that drink wine out of goblets, and anoint yourselves with the best oil: but no man is sorry for Joseph's hurt. Therefore now shall ye be the first of them, that shall be led away captive, and the lusty cheer of the willful shall come to an end. "'The LORD God hath sworn even by himself,' sayeth the LORD God of hosts, 'I hate the pride of Jacob, and I abhor his palaces: and I will give over the city, with all that is therein:
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 dark and gloomy day, a cloudy and black day. As the morning is spread over the mountains, so it this populous and strong people: such as have not been since the beginning, neither shall be after them for evermore.
The LORD shall show his voice before his host, for his host is great, strong and mighty to fulfill his commandment. This is that great and marvelous fearful day of the LORD: And who is able to abide it?
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the LORD come.
For mark, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven: and all the proud, yea and all such as do wickedness, shall be straw: and the day that is for to come, shall burn them up, sayeth the LORD of Hosts, so that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
I would not, brethren, have you ignorant concerning them which are fallen asleep, that ye sorrow not as others do which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again: even so them also which sleep by Jesus, will God bring again with him. read more. And this say we unto you in the word of the Lord, that we which live and are remaining in the coming of the Lord, shall not come before they which sleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall arise first: then shall we which live and remain, be caught up with them also in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Where-fore comfort yourselves one another with these words.
Of the times and seasons brethren ye have no need that I write unto you: for ye your selves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall come even as a thief in the night.
for ye your selves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall come even as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, "Peace, no danger," then cometh on them sudden destruction, as the travailing of a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
For when they shall say, "Peace, no danger," then cometh on them sudden destruction, as the travailing of a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should come on you as it were a thief.
Nevertheless, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which day, the heavens shall perish with terrible noise, and the elements shall melt with heat, and the earth, with the works that are therein, shall burn.
looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens shall perish with fire, and the elements shall be consumed with heat.