The Day of the Lord

Our lives are all geared for one specific day; our destiny in the end! What will God do with us on His day? Everything I do and decide in my entire life will converge in one day. Eighty or so years will be reviewed and our fate determined on that very day. It is the day of reward for some and punishment for others. Prophecy indicates that few will be judged favorably. Our desire is to be one of them, and live eternally. One decision we make determines one decision God will make. Let us look at God's day:

The day of the Lord is apparently a different day according to different people. Neglecting the Hebrew interpretation that day has different meanings:

• The return of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:2) (The rapture of Christians)
• The Earth cleansed by fire). (2 Peter 3:10) (The destruction of the creation)
• The judgment day (1 Corinthians 1:4) (Great White Throne Judgment)

Of these, the most palatable according to scripture is the latter. It will be a great and terrible day. However, it would appear in God's timing that both the latter two events are described as one, and both culminates in the end.

Joel 2:11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.

The return of Jesus is a great and terrible day but there is no destruction at that time for most theologians set Jesus's return to gather the saints in the air, as before the tribulation period. That is so the Christians will not suffer the persecutions. (Those saints beheaded in the tribulation are believed to be 144,000 Jews who turn to Christ after the miracle of the general resurrection. That is understood because of the division of the twelve tribes of Israel, but is not scripture but commentary, and that differs among people. Let us just call them Christians for that is who they will be!)

The great part of that day is for the Christians - both the living and the dead, who will be resurrected. The terrible part of that day is that most people will not be taken up, and will face the terrible end-of-time government. (You communists and Muslims may like it, at least until the end comes!) However, the cosmos and earth will remain intact. The rapture of Christians is not the day of the Lord.

Judgment day is when all the dead are judged:

Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Everyone will be judged - the righteous and the unrighteous who have died. This implies that after the earth is wiped clean of sin, all will be judged.  I fall back on Noah for the following thought: In the days of Noah, the earth was destroyed by water. That was when sin was washed clean by water and sinners died, leaving only eight people living because of God's grace, and the faith of Noah. This was the last time the earth was to be destroyed by water. In apostolic times it was water which testified to salvation.

Genesis 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth... 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

The rainbow is a sign of hope, that all men will be given an individual choice as to their destiny. God decided on these eight, not all righteous, as we soon found out. Because they were of Noah's household, they were saved. On the other hand, judgment day is individual judgment. Noah will stand before God on that day, his sons, daughters-in-law, and all those who missed the boat. Along with them, you and I will stand before God - the righteous and the unrighteous. Judgment has two possible outcomes: (1) redemption and (2) damnation. Christ has already paid the price, so true Christians will be redeemed.

That same bow points to the earth from the sky. Perhaps it points toward the final destruction of the celestial bodies and the earth, and toward a renewed earth cleansed from sin forever. That is the ultimate hope!

It is assumed that when the earth is destroyed all mortal life is with it, just as in the days of Noah - save Noah and company. In order to judge all the dead, all must be dead. Therefore, judgment day would be after the destruction of the cosmos and earth. Immediately thereafter, New Jerusalem - heaven, comes down to this new earth. It would appear that the earth is cleansed by fire in readiness for New Jerusalem - the foundation of peace coming home, so to speak, replacing Old Jerusalem which never ever saw peace!

The Great and Terrible day of the Lord is, as I see it, the time when the earth is wiped clean of life and all the dead are judged - sort of a combined event whether it is the same day or not. (Note: The seven seals are prophecy and we don't know their timing. The seals which describe the destruction of the sun, moon, and earth must be near the end.)

The key point here is to be part of that great day. That's our choice. God doesn't make it a great day unless we choose His Son as Savior. For those who chose wrongly or didn't choose, it will be a terrible day regardless when it is!