The Day Of The Lord

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Greetings to All,

During the time of Noah, God saw how great man’s wickedness was on the face of the earth (Genesis 6:5). Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord and the Lord told him to build an ark. Around the year 2285 B.C. Noah enters the ark with his family and with a specific number of every creature male and female. The floodgates of heaven opened and the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days or five months (Genesis 7:24).


The purpose of God’s wrath is:
(1) To bring an end to transgressions and sins (Acts 3:13-16, Romans 11:26,27).
(2) Fulfillment of prophecy (Revelation 22:10) and
(3) Renewal (Matthew 19:28).


The Day of the Lord is spoken of by the Old Testament prophets, Christ and the Apostles. In the Old Testament the day assumes the character of a day of salvation for Israel. The threats of Judgment are directed not against Israel, but rather against the nations. In the New Testament the Day of the Lord refers to the Second Coming of Christ, his judgment upon the sins of the world and the salvation of the righteous consummated. Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. See, the day of the Lord is coming -- a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger -- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinner within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. (Isaiah 13:6-11)


See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants -- ... The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word. (Isaiah 24:1 3) Most references to earth in the Bible means the nations and or the land (Genesis 8:44, Exodus 20:11, Psalm 136:6, Acts 4:24).


The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls -- never to rise again. (Isaiah 24:18-20)


The Lord is angry with all nations; his wrath is upon all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will end up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. (Isaiah 34:2-4)


Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand -- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like a dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. (Joel 2:1,2)


It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. (Amos 5:19)


“I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. (Zephaniah 1:2-3)


On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great, valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime -- a day known to the Lord. (Zechariah 14:4 6)


See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In the days to come you will understand this. (Jeremiah 30:23-24)


The righteous are not subject to God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Here are several examples, rehearsals to that fact:
(1) Noah and his family (the righteous), went into the ark . God’s wrath came upon the whole earth and the unrighteous perished.
(2) Lot and his family (the righteous) were led out of Sodom and Gomorrah by angels. Once they were safely from the city, God’s wrath rained fire and brimstone upon the city and the unrighteous perished.
(3) When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, the Red Sea parted and they safely went through to the other side. Pharaoh and his army, who pursued them were swallowed up in the Red Sea. Again the unrighteous perished.
(4) When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels with him (Matthew 25:31), all nations will be gathered to him (Matthew 25:32). He will separate the goats (unworthy) from the sheep (worthy to receive). Christ addresses his sheep first to take their inheritance. Then he addresses the goats on his left and commands them to depart from him into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).
By these examples, we can see the righteous are not subject to wrath. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36) But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:5) Scripture continues to show us, the day of God’s wrath is the day of judgment between the righteous and the unrighteous.


Reading from the Book of Wisdom we are told what the destinies are of the good and bad. But the souls of the upright are in the hands of God, and no torment can touch them. To the unenlightened, they appeared to die, their departure was regarded as disaster, their leaving us like annihilation; but they are at peace. If, as it seem to us, they suffered punishment, their hope was rich with immortality; slight was their correction, great will their blessing be. God was putting them to the test and has proved them worthy to be with him; he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a perfect burnt offering. At their time of visitation, they will shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they. They will judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king forever. Those who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await his holy ones, and he intervenes on behalf of his chosen. But the godless will be duly punished for their reasoning, for having neglected the upright and deserted the Lord. Yes, wretched are they who scorn wisdom and discipline: their hope is void, their toil unavailing, their achievements unprofitable; their wives are reckless, their children depraved, their descendants accursed. (Wisdom 3:1-12 RSV)


The rehearsal of Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:27) took place during the first century. In 70 A.D., they saw the destruction of the Temple, the abomination of desolation and persecution. The enactment of the rehearsal will take place in our generation.


Let us look at other Scriptures that took place during the first century as a rehearsal. Scripture says, God will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh in the last days (Acts 2:16,17). God did pour out his Spirit upon those at Pentecost, during the first century and still does today. Jesus said the time had come, the kingdom of God is near (Mark 1:15). He said, some will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power (Mark 9:1). And we are told the kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:20-21). When Scripture speaks of the power of God and the kingdom of God within, it is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Christ states the kingdom of God (implicating the Holy Spirit) has come upon a person when demons are driven out from that person (Matthew 12:37). Scripture suggested the strong man (Satan) was bound (Matthew 12:29). Satan is bound within the realm of God’s command. However, we know he was not bound from the earth during that time. Scripture says, Satan tempted Christ in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11), Satan entered Judas betraying Christ (John 13:27) and Satan entered Peter (Matthew 16:23). We also know Satan was very much alive and participated with the crucifying of our Lord. Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world (John 18:33-37). Then Christ’s kingdom was not of this world. Scripture says, he must remain in the kingdom of heaven until God restores all things (Acts 3:21). Presently Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual-redemptive kingdom and will become an earthly-political kingdom when he returns. When reading Revelation, it is apparent many parts have not been fulfilled. The parts fulfilled were in a form of a rehearsal.


When Christ said, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31) What did Christ mean? Jesus answers, “the Holy Spirit will expose the guilt of the world in regard to judgement, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11). John tells us, The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8) And when Christ said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34), referring to the sequence of events mentioned in Matthew 24. What generation was Christ talking about? Jesus was talking about the generation who would experience the fulfillment of all things spoken of by him, in Matthew 24. What was the first sign Christ said to his disciples, when he left the temple and was walking away. He said, “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2) The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. But was every stone thrown down? No, the outer western wall consisting of enormous blocks of hewn stone, one on top of the other, still stands as a physical reminder of the temple.


God Bless,
Eve