List of Events that take place on “the Day of the Lord”

[Raymond]

Hi All,

I have been in communication with a number of Christians about the Day of Lord. There are so many different understandings of this important Day. I sometimes get confused and then frustrated.

So much takes place of this Day!

Has anyone created a list of events that take place on “the Day of the Lord”?

We have the Revelation Overview flowchart from Anders which is a great.

Thanks
Raymond

[Timothy]

Raymond,

One important point is that the cosmic signs of Matt. 24:29 occur “immediately after the tribulation” and these same signs are before “Day of the Lord” (Joel 2:31 & Acts 2:20). So it is evident that the “Day of the Lord” does not include or overlap the tribulation.

As to whether the Day of the Lord is a single 24-hour day, or whether it refers to the entire Millennium, IMO it is the 7th Day, the entire millennium of Christ’s reign. Peter referred to the beginning of Christ’s reign as the dawning of the Day (2 Pet. 1:19). This is also alluded to in Mal. 4:1-2. Several passages that refer to the Day of the LORD in the prophets go on to state that many things will occur “in that day” which must occur over a long period, perhaps the entire millennium.

[Anders G]

Tim,
If the “Day of the Lord” is the millennium or part thereof, how do you interpret the negative things that will occur in it?

[Zep 1:14-16 NKJV] 14 The great day of the LORD [is] near; [It is] near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. 15 That day [is] a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers.

[Joe 2:1-2 NKJV] 1 Blow 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 is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning [clouds] spread over the mountains. A people [come], great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any [such] after them, Even for many successive generations.

[Timothy]

Anders,

It is clear that the Day of the Lord begins with Christ’s return (1 Thess. 5:1-2). So it must include the battle of Armageddon. Isaiah 1 states twice that “the Lord alone will be exalted in that day”, and that the idols will be abolished. 2 Peter 3 describes the purging of the land by fire on the “Day of the Lord.” Yet other passages, where the Day of the Lord is mentioned, the blessings upon God’s people are also described as occurring “in that day.” For example, in Joel 3:9-21, the cosmic signs announce the “Day of the Lord” which then begins with the battle of Armageddon. But vs. 18 says: “And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD And water the Valley of Acacias.”. Again, in Zech. 14, the Day of the Lord describes the same battle, but then vss. 8-9 say: ” 8 And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be– “The LORD is one,” And His name one.” This seems to include the entire reign of Christ as being included in “that day” which is the “Day of the Lord.”

As a side note, when referring to the Day being a millennium (as in Psalm 90:4 & 2 Pet. 3:8) Justin quoted that statement as “the Day of the Lord is as a thousand years” rather than “a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.”

For as Adam was told that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have perceived, moreover, that the expression, ‘The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,’ is connected with this subject. And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place. Just as our Lord also said, ‘They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels, the children of the God of the resurrection.’ (Justin Dialogue with Trypho, 81).

Irenaeus did the same in Against Heresies, Bk. V, ch. 23 and again in ch. 28. So these early Chiliasts understood the Day of the Lord to be the 7th Millennium.

IMO, the primary focus is the day of Christ’s return. But in a secondary sense it seems to include the entire 7th millennium.

[Anders G]

Tim,
IMO, it is necessary to take two other time periods into consideration to understand the Day of the Lord correctly:

1. The time between the end of the Tribulation and the return of Christ, i.e. the ten days from the Feast of Trumpets until the Day of Atonement (called *“Days of Awe” (DoA)* in Jewish tradition). I believe that these days contain the darkness (as shown by Matt 24:29 and Joel 2:30-31), the battle of Armageddon, seal 6, trumpet 7, messengers 4-7, bowl 7 and other dramatic events.

2. The year from the return of Jesus until the start of the Millennium, called *the year of recompenses (YoR)* in Isa 34:8. This is also the last Jubilee year to be intercalated after each 7:th of Daniels year-weeks, and it is necessary to get exactly 6000 years between the creation and the Kingdom. This year contains cleansing of the earth after all wars and environmental abuses, judgement of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, the judgment seat of Christ where governmental tasks are distributed, the division of the land and the cleansing of the temple.

Hypothesis 1: Day of the Lord = DoA
In this case, the Day of the Lord is synonymous with the *”Day of Wrath”* as in Rev 6:17, 11:18, 14:19, 19:15 together with many OT passages. This would explain the violence in it as described in Zep 1:14-16 and Joe 2:1-2 among many others. The “Day” may still come “as a thief” since it may start with the rolling up of the sky (Rev 6:14, Isa 34:4) and Jesus becoming visible from the earth. The seventh trumpet may also sound during the whole period of ten days (as we discussed in the previous forum).

Hypothesis 2: Day of the Lord = YoR
This has the obvious advantage that “a day” prophetically corresponds to a year, which is common in the Bible (e.g. Isa 34:8). And it fits perfectly with Peter 3 describing the purging of the land on the Day of the Lord. It also fits with all the positive things that will happen in the Day of the Lord. (You have quoted a few above.)

Of course, there is also a possibility that the Day of the Lord is DoA + YoR, making it exactly of year.

None of the hypotheses is according to what the church fathers taught, but they probably did not know about DoA and YoR since God had not revealed (or rather “enlightened”) them yet. (His Spirit enlightens on a need-to-know-bases.)

What do you think?

[Timothy]

Anders,

You could be correct. But I am not sure that Scripture always uses the term “day” as strictly or as sharply defined as you are implying. There are times when the word “day” just refers to a general time period when a certain condition exists. For example, there are many prophecies that include the clause “in that day …” in a generic way, like saying “during that time.”

Certainly, the word “day” does often refer to a 24-hour period (for example the 6 days of creation), and at other times it refers to a larger, sharply-defined block of time such as the tribulation period (Rev. 3:10), or to an entire millennium (2 Pet. 3:8). However, since it is also used generically, I think we need to be careful not to impose a paradigm upon any Scripture that we are not deriving from that Scripture. Also, keep in mind that Peter refers to the 7th millennium as: “until the Day dawns” (2 Pet. 1:19). Thus Christ’s return is seen as the “dawning” (a small part) of a larger “Day.”

The “Day of the Lord” is certainly a technical term and refers to when God seizes full control of the kingdoms of this world. But as you know, seizing control is not a momentary thing. It is described as a “day” and a “year.” And the entire process actually takes the whole millennium, since the putting down of God’s and our enemies (including “death”) takes place over the entire 7th Millennium.

Also, while judgement is a feature of the Day of the Lord, this occurs on the 120th Jubilee which is the proclaiming of “liberty” to the captives. So while the Day of the Lord is “darkness” with no light in it for the wicked, it is a time of rejoicing and liberty for the faithful. The entire book of Zephaniah is about this contrast. The Israelites were longing for the “Day of the Lord” because it was supposed to bring liberty and blessing. But because they were rebellious, God warned them that for them it is a day of darkness and gloominess. So I think it is a mistake to define the Day of the Lord as all darkness and judgment.

Given that the Millennial Sabbath was not clearly revealed in the prophets, IMO it is a mistake to try to impose a rigid and technical meaning upon a term that was used widely in the prophets when they and their readers would not have understood it that way. For them it meant only the transfer of sovereignty from their oppressors to God’s people.

Just as with several OT prophecies, there seems to be layers of meaning. IMO, the “Day of the Lord” first refers to the 24-hour day of His coming, which is the 10th of Tishri when the Jubilee trumpet is sounded to announce “Liberty.” In a secondary sense, it refers to the entire 120th Jubilee year which precedes the Millennial Sabbath. Yet, it also has a deeper meaning, that of the entire Millennial Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath was called the Lord’s “Day” (Isa. 58:13). So would not the Millennial Sabbath, during which Christ reigns over all the earth as God’s Agent, also be “the Lord’s Day?”

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