The day of the Lord is a period at the end of human history when God's purpose for humankind will be fulfilled.
The period will begin with the return of Christ and will end with the cleansing of the heavens and the earth with fire
(2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21:1).
Some scholars believe the day of the Lord will be a long period of time. Others feel it will be an
instantaneous event when Christ returns to earth to claim His own faithful believers and to consign unbelievers to eternal
judgement (Rev. 20:14, 15).
The prophets of the Old Testament were the first to speak of the coming day of the Lord. This day
"will be darkness, and not light," Amos warned the unsuspecting residents of Judah (Amos 5:18).
Isaiah declared that the day of the Lord will come as "destruction from the Almighty" (Is. 13:6),
and Jeremiah referred to it as "a day of vengeance" (Jer. 46:10). Along with judgement, the prophets
emphasized the restorative and redemptive elements connected with the day of the Lord.
The prophet Joel envisioned God's Spirit being poured out "on all flesh" (Joel
2:28) just before the coming of the "great and terrible day of the Lord" (Joel
2:31). The occasion for Joel's prophecy was the invasion of Judah by a swam of locusts, followed by a severe drought
(Joel 1:1-4). As tragic as this destruction was, Joel declared, it will be as nothing compared
with the coming day of the Lord.
The New Testament emphasizes the suddenness of the Lord's coming (Luke 12:40, Rev. 3:3), the certainty of His judgement on unbelief (Matt. 25:32),
and the restoration of heaven and earth by fire (2 Pet. 3:10). Christ will fulfill these prophecies
on the day of the Lord as He judges all nations from the "throne of His glory" (Matt. 25:31).
As we have written on the home page of this website, rather than speculating about the exact time
of God's judgement, our pressing task is to proclaim His message of redemption to a lost world until the day of the Lord is
fulfilled.
