“A text without a context is a pretext, usually for error.”
Dr. Walter Martin
The Challenge
At the new church that I am attending, one of the folks in leadership challenged me to examine the phrases “Day of the Lord” and “Great Day of the Lord” in the Bible. Somehow, he thought that such a study would persuade me to become a Premillennial Dispensationalist.
I already know that there are multiple Days of the Lord in Scripture. Something he flatly seemed to denied. What follows is a brief examination of the topic.
Just to prove that I took this challenge seriously, I finally opted to subscribe to Logos Bible software.
Of course, I find that the research tools are only as good as the searchable material. Out of the box, it’s skewed towards one eschatological position, as I expected. I think balance must be found at my expense by buying better reference books. Something for a future time.
Diving In
In the meantime, let’s begin with this verse.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joel 2:31.
Whenever you see the sun going dark, the moon turning to blood, stars falling from the sky to earth and similar language you know that prophetic language and judgment are being discussed. The problem is that folks, for reasons that I don’t understand, think they need to take such language literally when it is clearly figurative. The sun, moon, stars language can be seen as figurative all the way back in Genesis.
Joseph had a dream that the sun, moon, and stars would bow down and worship him.
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Genesis 37:9.
Jacob, his father, didn’t like what he was told and said:
What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Genesis 37:10b.
From this point forward in the Bible, sun, moon, and stars are most often people and not planets or lights in the night sky.
If you follow the sun, moon, and stars motif, you will find that their failing is related to the destruction of nations, and not at the end of the world.
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, Cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate: And he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, And the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Isaiah 13:9–10.
So, the Day of the Lord comes, and the sun, moon, and stars all fail. Clearly this is the end of the world, right?
Nope. Not even close.
Remember my opening quote about “a text without a context…”? Please look at verse 1 of the same chapter.
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Isaiah 13:1.
Isaiah is prophesying the destruction of Babylon and calling it the Day of the Lord.
Then there is the destruction of Egypt.
And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 32:7–8.
So too the destruction of Israel is also talked about in cosmic terms.
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, That I will cause the sun to go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning,
Amos 8:9–10.
The Great Day of the Lord comes to Judah
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: For the day of the LORD is at hand: For the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:7
The great day of the LORD is near, It is near, and hasteth greatly, Even the voice of the day of the LORD: The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of wasteness and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zephaniah 1:14–15.
Note that there is no difference between the Great Day of the Lord and the Day of the Lord. Both expressions are equal, as shown above.
Isaiah foretells the destruction of Judah and Israel.
For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, And upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Isaiah 2:12.
And what will God’s people do on the Day of the Lord?
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, For fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, Which they made each one for himself to worship, To the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the tops of the ragged rocks, For fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
Isaiah 2:19–21.
Then after this happened, they were taken away in chains to servitude in foreign lands. Clearly the Day of the Lord is not the end of the world but God coming in judgment.
Modern people reading about the sun, moon, and stars being darkened or made into blood or falling to earth or whatever and trying to claim that these things will literally happen in the sky, are clearly ripping such expressions out of their biblical and prophetic context. Again, the sun, moon, and stars language is typically used to describe human rulers being overthrow. In some cases, it may be that the principalities behind these rulers are falling as well.
Thus, anyone literate in the Old Testament usage of such terms knows that Matthew 24 is speaking in the prophetic language of Isaiah about the rulers of Israel falling and not the literal dissolution of the periodic table.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
Matthew 24:29.
Sidebar
Why do these guys think that literal stars are going to fall on the earth and then there will still be life on the planet? Even a quick glance at that Bruce Willis movie will debunk such a claim and ‘ole Bruce was only dealing with an asteroid or meteor or comet, not a star. Stars fall to earth twice in the Book of Revelation, in two different chapters, but the world still exists. How can that be possible? Only if they aren’t literal stars.
When a pair of scissors is the only exegetical tool they have, I guess you can get away with such sloppy treatment of the text.
Back to More Verses
Compare Joel and Peter. Peter is clearly basing his comments on Joel; and not just on the Holy Spirit but on the coming judgment, and the admonition to call upon the name of the Lord. Joel and Peter are both saying that the sign of impending judgment is the giving of the Spirit.
And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, As the LORD hath said, And in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Joel 2:28–32.
Peter, preaching his first sermon in Acts says that the Holy Spirit will be given and then …
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Acts 2:19–20.
In Acts 2, Peter says the gift of the Holy Spirit, as prophesied by Joel has happened. The pouring out of the Spirit was something predicted for the last days. Clearly the last days of the Old Covenant, since the Spirit is the sign of the New Covenant. Peter says Joel was very clear on that point.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days …
Acts 2:16–17a.
Peter then issued a warning that the existing political order is about to collapse. Peter calls this something that happens before the Day of the Lord. Peter exhorts his audience to believe in Jesus and concludes his sermon with a plea to save yourselves from this wicked generation.
Clearly Peter believed that the generation alive in his day was soon to face the Day of the Lord just as Jesus had previously predicted.
This is the same admonition given by John the Baptist who warned people to flee the wrath to come.
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luke 3:7.
Judgment was coming for them, and soon. By the time we get to the epistles of John, it is no longer the last days but the last hour (I John 2:18).
Other Synonyms for Day of the Lord
Days of Vengeance
The passage in Luke that is parallel to Matthew 23 – 25 includes the following:
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled
Luke 21:20–22.
Please note in the passage above, fleeing the destruction of Jerusalem is accomplished by fleeing to the mountains. Yep, on foot.
“The Day of the Lord” and “the days of vengeance” are synonymous terms.
For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, And the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Isaiah 34:8.
Isaiah’s Day of the Lord is judgment on God’s people which is fulfilled in the Babylonian captivity.
Day of the Lord’s Anger
How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, And cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, And remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: He hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; He hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, And he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, And slew all that were pleasant to the eye In the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
Lamentations 2:1–4.
The judgment language continues through the rest of the chapter, the final verse calls this judgment, the Day of the Lord’s Anger.
Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, So that in the day of the LORD’s anger none escaped nor remained: Those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
Lamentations 2:22.
Day of Wrath
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Romans 2:5.
Day of Christ
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2 Thessalonians 2:2.
Day of God
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2 Peter 3:12.
Meaning of Elements
Please note in this verse the word “elements”. Elements in the New Testament is a reference to the Old Testament sacrificial system not the periodic table. Thus, the elements melting away is describing the destruction of the Old Covenant system and its replacement with the New Covenant.
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Galatians 4:3.
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Galatians 4:9-11.
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [elements] of the world, and not after Christ.
Colossians 2:8.
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments [elements] of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Colossians 2:20.
Only by ripping 2 Peter 3: 10 & 12 out of their context can you try to apply them to the end of the world. Jump back to verses 3 & 4 of this same chapter.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2 Peter 3:3–4.
Why were they scoffing? Because Jesus said in Matthew 24 and other places that he would destroy the temple in Jerusalem and not one stone would be left upon another. Jesus also claimed that he would return on the clouds. Jesus claimed that both events would be seen by the generation of those that heard his voice.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, Herod continued to remodel and upgrade the temple. This remodel was finished in 64 A.D. At the time Peter was writing, the temple in Jerusalem was even more glorious than it was in the days of Jesus.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3: 9
Peter says the Lord was going to keep his word but was giving men time for repentance. This also seems to cross reference nicely with Revelation 6: 11 where the martyrs of Christ were “told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.”
God is waiting for the full number of saints to be converted. Some of these saints were persecuted and lost their lives while others were still coming into the Kingdom. Once this period of time was complete, then his judgment will come.
But 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.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2 Peter 3:10–13.
This section speaks of the land burning up. The Greek word translated earth is not cosmos (or world) but can be translated country as well as earth. Thus, in keeping with Matthew, this can be understood as a local judgment not the end of the planet.
1093. γῆ gē, ghay; contr. from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (incl. the occupants in each application):— country, earth (-ly), ground, land, world.
New Heavens and Earth
Here are other examples of prophetic language for a new heaven and earth.
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isaiah 65:17.
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, Shall remain before me, saith the LORD, So shall your seed and your name remain.
Isaiah 66:22.
Getting a “new heavens and a new earth” is a repeated theme in the Old Testament. It never means the planet or life on it is destroyed and replaced. It is always in terms of God remaking things. God makes all things new.
James Jordan, in his Biblical Worldview series on The Garden of God, teaches that there are at least six different creations of heaven and earth taught in the Bible. (Audio for this teaching series is available at Wordmp3.com item PG-475)
Please note that after the new heavens and earth mentioned in Isaiah are established that death remains.
There shall be no more thence an infant of days, Nor an old man that hath not filled his days: For the child shall die an hundred years old; But the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
Isaiah 65:20.
Home construction and agriculture continue.
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; And they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
Isaiah 65:21.
People are still having babies in the new heavens and earth.
They shall not labour in vain, Nor bring forth for trouble; For they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them.
Isaiah 65:23.
Thus, the new heaven and earth in Isaiah are not the end of the world or the end of history.
Lastly, in the passage from Peter, how could his readers in the first century be “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God” if the Day of the Lord was thousands of years in the future? How could they hasten it? It only makes sense if the Day of the Lord was an event that was near to them and about to happen.
Comments
When people ignore the audience relevance and how the original hearers or readers of the Bible would understand the text addressed to them, then the Bible becomes no better than the ravings of Nostradamus or some lunatic high on PCP. When the Bible is not used to interpret the Bible, then it becomes a device for justifying any doctrine of men or devils. Only by doing violence to the text can you find Artificial Intelligence, thermonuclear weapons, cobra helicopters, barcodes, jogging, gun powder, literal stars falling from the sky to earth, space stations, and such stuff within the pages of Scripture. Once such nonsense is injected into the Bible, it makes Phillip K. Dick’s novels look tame and unimaginative.
God is Active
God speaks.
Man responds.
God evaluates man’s response.
God also blesses and curses. He judges the nations now. They are His. He won them by His death on the cross.
“Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, The ends of the earth you possession.”
Psalm 2:8
He will redeem the earth and reverse the curse. The meek will inherit the earth not heaven. Believers will judge the nations, which is a now thing, not a future one.
In addition to the passages cited above, we also know that Jesus was coming to judge each individual church in Revelation. That’s seven judgements. Clearly there is more judgement in later passages of Revelation. God is always judging. God’s judgment is not a one-off event at the end of history. It is ongoing.
God is active every second of the day in His creation and caring for His creatures. This side of the Enlightenment, we think the world is governed by laws and scientific principles but that is an illusion. The earth is governed moment by moment by God and His angels. “The laws of nature are the habits of God.” — Augustine
Claims that the “Day of the Lord” only occurs at the end of history have been proven untrue just by my brief survey. Many more examples exist in the Bible. Also, “Day of the Lord” and “Great Day of the Lord” are interchangeable terms. One is not regular judgement and the other denoting the end of the world as the church leader implied when he challenged me about this subject.
What about the Second Coming
The Day of the Lord does not mean the so called Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world. The truth is that Christ comes frequently in time and space. If Christ came a second time following his Ascension, it was to judge Isael in A.D. 70. He predicted exactly that at his trial by the Jewish leaders.
And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
Matthew 26:63–66.
Note the audience relevance. Those hearing his words would see Jesus coming on the clouds. It would be seen by at least some of the guys that crucified him. The words of Jesus are a quotation from Daniel 7.
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13–14.
Christ, as ruler of the nations, is constantly judging the nations. He will continue to do so until all enemies are placed under His rule.
Ask of me, And I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psalm 2:8.
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psalm 110:1.
What About the Last Days
The phrase “last days” is related to the Day of the Lord, at least one of them. The last days of the Old Covenant were the period between the crucifixion of Christ (about 30 A.D.) and the prophesied destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
It is vitally important to emphasize this. Jesus repeatedly predicted the end would be during the lifetime of the generation hearing his words.
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
Matthew 16:28.
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Matthew 23:36.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:34.
Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
Mark 13:30.
And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Luke 11:29–32.
But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
Luke 17:25–18:8.
No stone of the temple would be left upon another, and this generation (those hearing his voice) will not pass away until his words are fulfilled.
And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mark 13:2.
The destruction that Jesus warned about was a local judgement. Those heeding the signs could escape on foot if they heeded the signs.
…then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
Mark 13:14.
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Matthew 24:16.
Oh, FYI there are zero records that a any Christian died in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Furthermore, this is why believers in Jerusalem were the only group of believers to sell their real estate and hold the proceedings of the sales in common. They knew the mountain of the temple would be cast into the prophetic gentile sea. Jesus promised that too.
Jesus said that the gospel would be preached to the whole Roman Empire (“oikomene” not “kosmos”) and then the end will come and it did.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24:14.
If Jesus lied about these prophecies, then he is a false prophet. The irony is if you take Jesus at his word when he promised that this generation (those hearing him speak) would see this judgment, many of his modern followers will call you a heretic or something equivalent.
Why? To believe the text conflicts with their presuppositions. They bring assumptions to the text which are not there and have to recast or ignore any data that conflicts with their interpretive grid.
Scofieldism
Mike Warnke once sang.
“My faith is built on nothing less than Scofield’s notes and Scripture Press.”
Scofield’s grip on American Christianity has had dire consequences for the Church. It has created an escapist mentality that has caused the church to relinquish her transformative power in culture, and influence upon society. Much of the church has lost both its future orientation and its belief in the victory of the Gospel. Instead, evangelical Christians are hiding in the four walls of their church, hoping that the Rapture will rescue them from their failure to transform their culture.
The absolute worst thing derived from Scofield’s eschatology is the notion that when Christians oppose evil, they are preventing the return of Christ. This belief is rooted in the idea that things must get worse and worse. If the world hasn’t gone far enough over the cliff and into hell, then Jesus will never return. Thus, to oppose evil is to keep the world from getting bad enough so Jesus will return. Talk about upside-down land.
Excuse me but the Good Book says judgment begins at the house of the Lord. Well, actually it began in the house of the Lord long ago, but somehow the sheep think being under judgment is normal. The water has been boiling for a while, but the frogs are happy as long as the sunscreen doesn’t run out.
Two quick examples: the abortion rate among Christians and Non-Christians is statistically identical and has been for decades. Ditto for divorce rate.
If the church is doing so great, why does it look so much like the world?
Last Thoughts
I was at the church’s Monday Night Men’s Bible Study this week. They are very slowly going through a prayer that Jesus offered for his disciples. The passage is in the Gospel of John, chapter 17. Verse 15 survived without much comment, so I’d like to take it up.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
What? Jesus is praying that God not Rapture Christians! Oh, clearly Jesus is mistaken.
All I hear about is Jesus is coming any second. Any time Rapture. 1948 happened so it’ll be any time now. Hal Lindsey sold 25 million copies of his book claiming a generation is forty years. Then he went for 50 years. Oops, then 60 years. Then Hal died. Subsequently, OK, maybe 80 years. Alex, can I have a lifeline for 100 years.
It’s the same refrain that I’ve heard since the 1970’s. Folks, it’s not true. Sorry kids, it’s not happening. The church has thousands of years’ worth of work yet to do.
I believe the Day of the Lord happens frequently. It is a fearful thing. God judges the nations all the time. Sometimes it’s even dramatic enough that we give him the credit for acting. Berlin Wall, anyone?
Also, there is no Rapture in the Bible. The only ones taken away in the Old or New Testament are evil doers. The righteous remain.
Noah and the Ark. We always read “…so as in the days of Noah …”
Please actually read the darn text, the bad guys are taken away, but the righteous remain. Check it out.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:38–39.
Keep reading in Matthew, two at the mill and one taken in judgment not to heaven.
Again, the meek will inherit the earth, not heaven. This is a promise for believers in this life, not one yet to come.
I look forward to the day when the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:14.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:9.
Many more Days of the Lord remain before this promise will be a reality.