Another subject that often leads to arguments among Christians is the “Day of the Lord” and the period of time that is referred to when this is mentioned. Paul refers specifically to “the Day of Christ” in verse 2 of the preceding passage. Paul then references in verse 3 the events that will precede the “Day of Christ”. From what we have already discussed we know that the “day of Christ” is preceded by our Lord coming as a thief in the night to gather us – the Church – unto him and for the Antichrist to be revealed, which will be the start of the “day of Christ” or the opening of the first seal as described in Revelation 6:1. (This incidentally – and by God’s design – is also marked by the Revelation 12 sign!)
If we look at what God’s Word says about “the day of Christ” or “the day of the Lord” there are once again two distinctions that can be made. One perspective is from the earth for those who are left behind and another view from heaven for those who will be part of the wedding between the Bride and the Bridegroom. From an earthly perspective we have verses such as:
Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
There are many more verses that describe this “day” as a time of doom, but for now, let us just consider these for now. Then we have the day of the Lord being described by those who would consider it from a heavenly perspective. In the passage below we see Zephaniah describing “the nation not desired” – these are the Gentiles – specifically those who have accepted Israel’s Messiah as their Saviour, without seeing him, through faith. Also note the references to the point in time BEFORE “the day of the Lord” arrives and the fact that these will be hidden as shown in the last verse of the following passage:
Zep 2:1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; 2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you. 3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: IT MAY BE YE SHALL BE HID IN THE DAY OF THE LORD’s ANGER.
Jesus also confirms this in:
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Then we have a further reference to this day from Isaiah, which also ties in and expounds on what Paul says in:
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore COMFORT one another with these words.
In the above section it is not clear whether this is before or after the final 7 years on earth, but I believe Isaiah clarifies that for us, where He is pointing to the same events and also provides more information about the timing:
Isa 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, TOGETHER WITH MY DEAD BODY SHALL THEY ARISE. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, UNTIL THE INDIGNATION BE OVERPAST. 21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Both passages describe the dead being resurrected at the Lord’s coming and those who are alive in Christ being gathered onto him. In the passage from Isaiah however, we see people being hidden away from what will happen on earth, in “chambers” that are said to belong to them before the indignation occurs. This passage is directly linked to what Jesus said in:
Joh 14:3 And if I go and PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that WHERE I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO.
From these 4 passages we can see that this rising of the dead and people entering into their chambers (prepared for them by the Lord) will occur BEFORE the “indignation” (Isa 26:20). We know therefore that when Paul is describing those “which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord” he is referring to those who will be alive at the “thief in the night” appearance of the Lord where we will meet our Saviour in the clouds and where He will take us with him to the place that He has been preparing for us over the past 2,000 years. The last verse also excludes the Church’s presence on earth during this time as the place that God has been preparing for us is not on earth and the fact that He states that “we will be where He is” which is in heaven and not “we will be where the Antichrist is” which is on earth.
God took just 6 days to create the earth, the universe and everything in it, but He needed 2,000 years to prepare a place for us! Just imagine what that will be like!
We also see Paul referring to the day of the Lord in the section below as a day of joy – which will certainly not be the case for those who find themselves on earth – see the last verse in this passage:
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; THAT I MAY REJOICE IN THE DAY OF CHRIST, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
This would then be tied to the passage in Revelation where those who have been awarded crowns of glory in God’s evaluation of the churches and represented here by the 24 elders, will cast their crowns before the Lord to the glory of God – the reason for Paul’s joy.
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Note that this also happens before the first Seal is opened and the Antichrist is revealed.
Many speculate that God would be able to protect his Church on earth during the Great Tribulation that is coming, but is this Biblical? The Word says that there will be none left on earth after the final 7 years on earth except for those of Israel who will be supernaturally protected by God up to the end:
Jer 46:28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I WILL MAKE A FULL END TO ALL THE NATIONS whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
This passage does not mention any protection for anybody other than those belonging to Israel. Many people say that those who belong to the Lord represent what is truly Israel, but this would be twisting God’s Word and imply a replacement theology. If this was truly the case, why did God go to the lengths of specifying 12,000 people from each tribe of Israel to describe the 144,000 who will be sealed by him during Jacob’s Trouble and mentioning every tribe individually? Why did He bother to bring the nation of Israel back into their land as He promised, if He had no purpose for them any longer? I believe He does this to point out that when He talks about Israel, his intent is for us to understand “the nation of Israel”.
So if God is using Jacob’s Trouble to “make a full end to all the nations” except for Israel then we should understand that this is exactly what He intends to do.
We further see that his intention is to lay the land desolate and to destroy the sinners out of it.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
We also know that this period of time will be so horrendous that God will speed up the rotation of the earth to shorten the time and to allow for those of Israel who are protected by him to make it to the end.
Mar 13:20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
Rev 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
In these two passages God shows us both that He will be shortening the days to show mercy to those who are going through the Great Tribulation and that He will shorten the days by 8 hours. When I initially read Revelation 8:12, I interpreted this description of the day that will only be two thirds of a normal day as a result of the sun being blocked out by atmospheric catastrophes. This would then imply that the night would be one third longer, but if we read carefully what God’s Word says, the same is true for the night – it is also shorter by one third. The only way in which this can be achieved would be for the earth’s rotation to be increased. This will most likely occur as a result of a massive asteroid impact that would transfer impact energy to cause changes in the angular momentum of the earth.
Although God is fully capable of protecting his Bride through Jacob’s Trouble, there is no evidence for this in God’s Word. The fact that Jesus said “WHERE I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO” when He receives us unto him, also confirms that we will not be on earth, for we will be attending the Wedding Feast with our Saviour, only returning to earth 7 years later with him, when He comes to rule for 1,000 years over the earth, having the remnant of Israel to repopulate the earth.