THE DAY OF THE LORD: PART TWO

I began this study earlier by saying, "When someone speaks of the "day of the Lord," we almost automatically think of a single day, rather than a series of events that take place over a period of several years."  Here are the remainder of the verses containing the phrase "the day of the Lord."

 *  From Zephaniah - "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.  And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel" (1:7-8). "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" (1:14).  "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land" (1:18).  "Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness:  it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger" (2:2-3). 

 *  From Zechariah - "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee" (14:1).

 *  From 1Corinthians - "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (5:5).

 *  From 2 Corinthians - "As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1:14).

 *  From 1 Thessalonians - "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (5:2).

 *   From 2 Peter - "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" (3:2).

Note:

      These do not include all that the Word of God has to say on the subject.  The fact that nine books of the Old Testament, all written by God's prophets, address the day of the Lord as a terrible, future event is not surprising, in that, prophets typically preached warnings of God's pending judgment on His people, Israel.  This is a very important factor, in that, the day of the Lord is "bad news" to Israel, but "good news" to the Church.  There is ample evidence that the day of the Lord could not refer to a single twenty-four hour day, in that the events referred to (the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, the Millennium, the Great White Throne Judgment, the New Heaven and New Earth, etc.) clearly require, at the very minimum, one thousand seven years.