(Note: This is an article on “The Day of the Lord” that is presented within The Biblical Story Course under ERA 5: Jesus, lesson 24).
Synopsis
The Day of the Lord is a day of both judgment and rescue. The Old Testament prophets used the phrase to indicate the day when God would punish Israel and Judah by sending them into exile. In the New Testament, the term came to indicate the end of history, when all humanity will stand before God to give an account for their deeds.
Statement of Doctrine
The prophets spoke of a coming “Day of the Lord” when God would visit Israel, save His faithful people, and bring judgment to His enemies.
Biblical Support
As Israel faced oppression from her sinful, foreign neighbors, the Lord sent prophets to tell the people of the coming “Day of the Lord.” On that day, Yahweh would bring judgment upon those who had done wrong. Often the prophet directed these warnings of divine judgment toward specific nations. For example, Isaiah said the Day of the Lord was coming against Babylon to make the land a desolation and to destroy the sinners found in it (Isaiah 13:6-9). Jeremiah described it as the time when God’s sword would “devour” the Egyptian army in battle as punishment for their idolatry (Jeremiah 46:10, Jeremiah 46:25).1
Because these prophets spoke of the Day of the Lord as directed against foreign nations, some in Israel became smugly confident that the Lord would not judge them. In response, the prophets promised that God’s wrath would also come on unfaithful Israelites who failed to keep the covenant (Amos 5:18-20).2 Indeed, that terrible day did come when first the Assyrians (722 B.C.) and then the Babylonians (586 B.C.) carried the children of Abraham into exile.
After the exile, however, the prophets began to speak of a different Day of the Lord, which would bring hope along with judgment. On that day, the Lord would overthrow the oppressors of Israel and establish His kingdom with a descendant of David on the throne (Haggai 2:20-23). God was coming as the judge of the earth to rescue the righteous from this age of evil. The idolatrous nations would worship the one true God, who would be king over all the earth (Zechariah 2:11, Zechariah 14:9).3 As the Old Testament period came to an end, these promises lingered in the minds of faithful Israelites. They awaited the day when God would intervene to set all things aright.
Historical Interpretation
Most Christian interpreters of the Bible hold that the Day of the Lord will be most completely fulfilled when Christ returns at the end of human history both to judge all mankind and to save His people.4 Though no one can predict exact times and events,5 this uncertainty is not to lead to complacency. On the contrary, as Thomas Aquinas stated, “it behooves each of [us] to be so ordered that the day of the Lord find us not unprepared.”6
BibleMesh
Jesus Christ began His ministry by declaring “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). By this statement, he was implying that the biblical prophecies about the Day of the Lord were coming to pass in His life and ministry. Indeed, through His ministry, death, and resurrection, Jesus accomplished victory over the spiritual powers of evil and salvation for His people.
However as the Church awaits her King’s return, there remains a Day of the Lord, which will come as a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10).7 On that day Christ will return and bring judgment upon all humanity. For the redeemed it will be a day of liberty and freedom; for the lost it will be an awesome and terrible day, full of God’s vengeance (Isaiah 61:1-2).
For Further Study
Paul R House, “The Day of the Lord,” in Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity, ed. Scott J. Hafemann and Paul R. House (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007): 179-224.
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- This prophetic warning was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, defeated the Egyptian army under Pharaoh Neco in 605 B.C. at the battle of Carchemish (cf. Jeremiah 46:2). For other Day of the Lord prophecies against foreign nations, see Obadiah 1:15; Joel 2:31, Joel 3:14.
- Zephaniah 1:7 is another prophecy of the judgment that will come upon God’s people on the Day of the Lord, as a result of the idolatry of those in Judah. Ezekiel also connected the coming Day of the Lord’s wrath with the judgment upon Judah at the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem (Ezekiel 7:5-9, Ezekiel 13:5, Ezekiel 30:3).
- Malachi, another post-exilic prophet, also spoke of the Day of the Lord as a time when God Himself would visit His people to purify them, bring justice, and claim them as His own (Malachi 3:1-5).
- Thus, Cyril of Alexandria described it as the time when “the divine tribunal is set before everyone and Christ renders to everyone according to their deeds.” Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Twelve Prophets, vol. 1, trans. Robert C. Hill (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2007), 299.
- Throughout the history of the Church a variety of groups have attempted to pinpoint the exact date of Christ’s return. Inevitably all such attempts end in futility, for Jesus Himself said that no one knows the day or hour of His return (Mark 13:32).
- Thomas Aquinas, “Treatise on the Last Things,” in Summa Theologica, Christian Classics Ethereal Library Website, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.XP.iv.XP_Q88.XP_Q88_A3.html (accessed April 3, 2009). In other editions, see Supplement, “Treatise on the Last Things,” question 88, article 3.
- See also Romans 2:15-16; 1 Corinthians 5:4-5; 2 Corinthians 1:13-14; Philippians 1:6, Philippians 1:10, Philippians 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2.