20160107 Thursday, January 7 2016
Joel 01: What And When Is The Day Of The LORD?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh ... And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west"

The "day of the LORD" is a term that is used throughout the Holy Scriptures. Note first and foremost that, as is plainly stated in the verses below, the complete term is "the day of the LORD Jesus" (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour). The "day of the LORD" has been (as we will read), and is, as it will be ultimately fulfilled, when the Messiah will reckon with those who defy His Law by refusing to repent and accept His offer of Salvation by living the right way (see Which Way Is Right And Left? and Grace, Faith and The LORD's Forgiveness; also Strait And Straight and What Gospel Did Jesus Preach?).

"5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:5 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.

5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 5:10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat." (1 Corinthians 5:4-11 KJV)

The "day of the LORD" will happen, in final fulfillment, at the time of the return of the LORD to establish His Kingdom of God on Earth, "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east" (see The First And Last Nation and The Patriotism Prophecy).

"14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zechariah 14:1-4 KJV)

Many of the true prophets of the LORD were given to write of the day of the LORD, in describing the wrath that came upon the corrupt kingdoms of Israel and Judah in history (see A History Of Israel's United And Divided Kingdoms), as well as the future time when the LORD will accomplish His final Judgment upon all nations.

From Isaiah (see also What Did The Messiah Read From Isaiah That Day?):

"2:10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:" (Isaiah 2:10-12 KJV)

From Jeremiah (see also A Faithful Winner Among Unrepentant Losers):

"46:10 For this is the day of the LORD GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates." (Jeremiah 46:10 KJV)

From Ezekiel (see also The Soul That Repents Shall Live):

"30:2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! 30:3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen." (Ezekiel 30:2-3 KJV)

From Amos (see also Amos: A Shepherd Of Tekoa):

"5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?" (Amos 5:18-20 KJV)

From Obadiah (see also Obadiah: A Prophecy Of Edom):

"1:15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head." (Obadiah 1:15 KJV)

From Zephaniah (see also Zephaniah: A Day Of The Trumpet):

"1:14 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. 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 1:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 1:18 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." (Zephaniah 1:14-18 KJV)

From Malachi (see also Malachi: Behold The Day Cometh):

"4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. 4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:1-6 KJV)

From Joel, as the Book of Joel begins:

"1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

1:2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 1:3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 1:4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

1:5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 1:6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 1:7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

1:8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 1:9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn. 1:10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 1:11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

1:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,

1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 1:16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 1:17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 1:18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

1:19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 1:20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." (Joel 1:1-20 KJV)

Fact Finder: What is the primary reason that some misled people say that they don't need to repent to be saved? What makes them think that wrong is right?
See Iniquity In History And Prophecy and Who Can Be Saved?