Day of the Lord

Jesus will arrive and gather his people on the Day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ.

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul refutes claims that the “Day of the Lord” is imminent. That day will not arrive until the “Apostasy” and the “revelation of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction.” Jesus will destroy this Master Deceiver at his “Arrival” or ‘Parousia’, an event the Apostle links to this final great day.

The “Day of the Lord” is a term found often in the Hebrew Bible applied to the time of visitation and judgment by God, the “Day of Yahweh” when He intervenes to rescue His people and judge His enemies. Among other things, it will be characterized by celestial and terrestrial upheaval - (Isaiah 2:12, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 2:31, 3:14, Malachi 4:5).

[Dawn Photo by Remi Yuan on Unsplash]

In 2 Thessalonians, Paul connects this “Day of the Lord” to the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus Christ, the “gathering” of his elect, and the destruction of the “Man of Lawless.”

In the same Letter, the Apostle describes the “Revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven” when he “takes vengeance” on all those who disobey the Gospel. Christ will also be glorified in the “saints” and “marveled at” on the same day. Both the righteous and the wicked receive their just desserts when Jesus appears - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2:1-12).

Paul also discusses the “Day of the Lord” in his first Letter to the Thessalonians. That day will mean “sudden destruction” for the unprepared, but the “sons of light” who remain faithful will not be overwhelmed by its arrival. Instead, they will “acquire salvation” when Jesus appears - (“For you know accurately that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-8).

Elsewhere in his letters, Paul identifies the “Day of the Lord” as the “Day of Jesus Christ,” the moment when he vindicates his righteous ones but judges the wicked. Thus, the “Day of the Lord” described in the Hebrew Bible becomes intimately connected with Jesus and his “arrival” from heaven - (1 Corinthians 1:8, 5:5, 2 Corinthians 1:14, Philippians 1:6-10, 2:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

The link between the “Day of the Lord” and the return of Jesus did not originate with Paul. Jesus himself applied language from key Old Testament passages when describing the future “coming” of the “Son of Man”:

• “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens. And then will all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” – (Matthew 24:29-31).

• (Isaiah 13:10) – “The day of Yahweh is coming <…> For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.”

• (Joel 3:15) – “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of Yahweh is near <…> The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.”

• (Zechariah 12:10) – “They will look unto me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for him, as a man mourns for his only son <…> On that day will there be a great mourning in Jerusalem.”

• (Isaiah 11:12) – “And it will come to pass on that day <…> He will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

• (Daniel 7:13) – “I saw in the night-visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man.”

PETER AND THE APOCALYPSE

The Apostle Peter also links the “Day of the Lord” to the ‘Parousia’ at the end of the present age. Despite “scoffers” who ask, “Where is the promise of his arrival,” the “Day of the Lord” will come. When it does, the “heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat.” In the meantime, believers must live righteously and “earnestly desire the coming of the Day of God.” By so doing, they may “hasten” that day’s arrival - (2 Peter 3:1-12).

The Book of Revelation also uses the Old Testament language that originally described the “Day of Yahweh,” only now, it is closely associated with the “Slain Lamb,” Jesus Christ:

• “Behold, he comes with the clouds; and every eye will see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him” - (Revelation 1:7).

• “And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood; and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casts her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand? “ - (Revelation 6:12-17).

The New Testament consistently identifies the “Day of the Lord” of Old Testament expectations with the “arrival” of Jesus from heaven when he gathers his saints and judges his enemies. It will be a day characterized by celestial upheaval and tremendous events on the earth, a time of vindication for his elect but also a time of condemnation and punishment of his enemies.

However, as the Apostle Paul makes clear, that day will not begin before the final “falling away” and the unveiling of the “Man of Lawlessness,” the Master Deceiver who will seat himself in the “Sanctuary of God” and employ “all power and signs and lying wonders” to deceive all those who refuse the “love of the truth.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Gathering the Elect - (The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected for judgment and cast from his presence)

• Disinformation - (Rumors about the Day of the Lord caused alarm and confusion in the Thessalonian congregation – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

• The Apostasy - (Paul warned the Thessalonians of a future apostasy and linked it to the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction)

• Stand Fast! - (Believers prepare for the Apostasy and the coming Man of Lawlessness by standing firm in the apostolic tradition)