In a very recent post I dealt with the term ‘the last days’. In this post I deal with another end-time term “The Day of the Lord” which covers similar ground.
In the scriptures we can find the shortened term “Day” or “that Day” referring to the same period.
“The Day of the Lord” or “The Day” refers to a divinely appointed time or times when God intervenes in human history with decisive judgment and salvation.
It is described as a day of both fear and hope, depending on one’s relationship with God.
For the unrepentant and wicked, it is a day of terrible judgment and divine justice.
But for the faithful and redeemed, it is a day of hope, deliverance and fulfilment.
The Old Testament prophets described it as a day of darkness, war, and divine reckoning. They marked it by cosmic upheaval language, wrath, and destruction. It has been used historically to describe events like the fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13:6–9 :21).
Joel portrayed it as a day of cosmic signs (darkened sun, blood moon) preceding divine intervention. Joel 2:1–11, 31.
Amos warned that the Day will bring darkness, not light, for those who are unrepentant. Amos 5:18–20.
In the New Testament these phrases point to a climactic day marking the end of the Old Covenant and the end of the Jewish nation. On this Day, God judges Israel, avenging Jesus’ rejection and death and establishing a new creation. This includes:
The return of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10).
The Great Tribulation (Mat 24:21, Revelation 6:17).
The resurrection and judgment (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).
The inauguration of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8-10, Jeremiah 36)
So let’s examine the following passages.
1 Corinthians 1:8. . . . . you are not lacking in any gift, as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:13-14. . . . . . . . and I hope you will understand until the end; just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.
Philippians 1:6. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.
2 Thessalonians 1:10. . . . . . when He comes to be glorified among His saints on that day,
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
In each of these texts it is clear that Paul expected the day of the Lord coming in his lifetime. It was imminent.
My friends, those texts must mean that Christ has already returned sometime in the first century! Isn’t that clear?
Or like C S Lewis do you believe Jesus was mistaken? Here is C. S. Lewis in his own words:
“It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.’ And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else”.
Don’t make the same mistake as Lewis. That mistake was to assume that His coming meant the end of the world. It is to assume you know more than Jesus and the plain words of scripture. Such arrogance! It is to assume Jesus would be visible to human eyes at His coming, something that is impossible.
All futurist views of eschatology say that Christ comes at the end of the current Christian age. However, the Bible is clear that the Christian age has no end! (Daniel 2:44-45, Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 2:32-33).
Furthermore, the Bible, in spite of popular views of the end, identifies “the Day of the Lord” or “that Day” as the last generation of the Old Covenant Age of Israel. That age came to its cataclysmic end in AD 70!
Realising this changed the lives of countless believers, dispelling the fear that the Day of the Lord is near. No end of the earth! No great tribulation! No rapture!
As I have said, I write as one who joyously and thankfully realised this truth only several years ago. I have joined an ever increasing number of believers around the world.
There’s much to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
Or prove me wrong!
Ian Thomson 