The "day of the
Lord" is a very important factor in determining the time element of the Lord's
second coming. The student of the Word should give very careful attention to the study
of this day. Indifference toward the true significance of the frequent references to
this day will not encourage an honorable division of the Word of Truth. This day is
called "the day," "the last day," "the day of Christ,"
"the day of judgment," "the day of the Lord," "the day of
God," etc., but it always refers to the same period of time. Sometimes it is the
beginning of this day that is especially significant, at other times it is the end of
this day to which attention is directed.
It is of no little significance that
God worked six days and rested the seventh (Gen. 1 & 2; Heb. 4). God does not do
things without having a purpose or design to them. The work of creation was not so
great that God was unable to perform it within one day, or even one second, had He so
desired. Why, then, did He bless and sanctify the seventh day? Surely, he rested that
day, but God does not become tired that he should need to rest. Why did God ordain that
Israel work six days and rest the seventh? The Bible teaches that the Law was typical;
a shadow of good things to come (Heb. 10). Israel was to work six days and rest the
seventh day. There is definitely a far reaching application to these days. That
application is simply this: The six days of work represent the six thousand years of
bondage to which God has subjected man and all the earth. The seventh day on which God
rested teaches us that the earth and those united with the Son will rest a thousand
years upon this earth. After the one thousand years have ended, the earth with all its
works, the elements, and the heavens will be melted with fervent heat, and then will
come the new heaven and new earth.
This seventh thousand years is the day
of the Lord. It is His day; the day when He will shine forth as
the lily of the valley; the bright and morning star; the one who is altogether lovely.
The day of the Lord is the day when the Lord will truly be Lord over all the earth.
The time interval from the first advent
of our Lord to the end of the Millennium is called the "last days," or,
"latter days." Look at Acts 2:16-17, for instance, where the apostle Peter is
speaking of the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to
pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams." Look also at Heb 1:1-2: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." Other
scriptures in the New Testament such as II Pet. 3:3 and II Tim. 3:1 are very clear on
the matter. In the Old Testament one should study such passages as Gen. 49:1; Num.
24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Ezek. 38:8, 16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; and many
others.
Since the last three millenniums (5th,
6th, and 7th) are referred to as the "last days," or, "latter
days," it is only natural that the last millennium (the 7th) should be referred to
as the "last day." Do we find such references in the inspired Word? We
certainly do and with special significance. Look at John 6:39, 40, 44, and 54 where we
read words which came from the Lord's own lips. "And this is
the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life; and I will raise him up at the last day....No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day....Whoso
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at
the last day." Let us also look further at John 11:24. "Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
at the last day." I read after one writer who spoke of Martha as a poor
unlearned woman because she did not know that the resurrection would take place before
the last day. As I read such careless statements I was made to wonder if this writer
would also call Jesus unlearned and ignorant of the time of the resurrection. How
careless can we become?
Not only do we find the reference to
the "last day" in its proper order, but Jesus Himself says that the last day
is the time of the resurrection. The Greek says, "in the last day," not
merely "at" the last day, which some might interpret to mean just shortly
before that day. Inspiration says that the resurrection of the just is "IN"
the LAST day.
Now, look also at John 12:48 where we
find the Lord putting the judgment also "in the last day." One will observe
that the references to this "last day" include the time from the first
resurrection to the time of the second resurrection. This day is clearly the last
millennium before the new heaven and new earth mentioned in Rev. 21. Why should these
references to this "last day" be so specific? If it is possible to add still
greater emphasis, then it might be seen by the usage of both classifications (last
days, and, the last day) within the same discussion. This is done twice by the apostle
Peter -- once in Acts 2:16-20, and once in II Pet 3:3-12.
The day of the Lord is a day of
judgment. "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead"
(Acts 17:31). Compare also, Rom. 2:5; II Pet. 3:7; Jude 6; etc. This day begins with
judgment (I Thess. 5:2-3; Luke. 21:34-36; etc.). It will also end in judgment (Matt.
11:22, 24; II Pet. 3; Rev. 20:11-15; etc.). For the faithful servants of the Lord it
will be a day of rest, joy, boldness, etc. (Eph. 4:30; II Tim. 4:8; I Jno. 4:17; II Cor
1:14; Heb 3 and 4; etc).
Some writers have tried to make a
difference between the "day of the Lord," "the day of Christ" and
"the day of God," but to take a Bible and a good concordance and study the
references made to each of these will surely reveal that they are the same day. The
attitude of the child of God is to be precisely the same toward both the "day of
Christ" and "the day of the Lord" -- an attitude of expectancy (I Cor.
1:8; 3:13; 5:5; II Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6, 10; I Thess. 5:2-8; etc.). That the "day
of God" is the same as the other two, please examine Rev. 16:14; 6:17; Rom 2:16;
etc. A close examination of I Cor. 1:7-8 will reveal that the "revelation" of
Christ, "the day of the Lord," "the day of the Lord Jesus," and
"the day of the Lord Jesus Christ" will all begin at the same time. It is
wise to examine all these scriptures before passing any judgment.
II Pet 3:10 says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night: in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
Without a doubt, the day of the Lord is the thousand years in which Christ and His
saints will reign on the earth. This day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night
and will end with the dissolving of the present earth and heavens. Some seek to apply
this verse to the shaking of the earth at the beginning of the Millennium, but I cannot
follow that application though a good argument is made.
Now, I believe that we are better
prepared to examine some other significant passages in the proper manner. Let us look
at II Thess 2:1-8. In verse 1 Paul states his primary object of discussion, viz., the
coming of our Lord and our gathering together to Him. In verse 2 he teaches that the
coming of the Lord and our gathering together to Him will be simultaneous with the
coming of the day of Christ (the Greek text says, "the day of the Lord").
Verse 3 says plainly that two things must take place before the day of Christ comes.
The first of these is a great falling away. The second is the revelation of the man of sin. Paul does not have reference to
the time the Antichrist makes the covenant with the Jews, but rather to the time he
breaks it. The Antichrist will be revealed by his wicked deeds and blasphemous
assertions when he stands in the temple of God claiming that he is God. By no honest
means of interpretation can we gather from this passage that there will be a gathering
together of the saints to the Lord before the man of sin is revealed -- not even before
the day of the Lord dawns.
It was my belief in the earlier days of
my ministry that verse 7 had reference to the rapture of the saints, but this cannot
be. The statement, "only he who now letteth will let, until he be
taken out of the way," has reference to the Holy Spirit in the capacity of
His indwelling the churches, without a doubt. But you will observe that He is not taken
out of the world, but only out of the way, or path, of the Antichrist. The Holy
Spirit's restraint upon the Antichrist must be lifted before the Antichrist can
come to full power. You will also observe that the Holy Spirit must be taken out of the
way (middle, path) before the man of sin in revealed. The
saints are not gathered to the Lord until after the man of sin
is revealed. If we say that the expression, "taken out of the way," means
"taken out of the world," then we would have the churches of the Lord here on
the earth for a short length of time without the indwelling Spirit. Such will not
happen. We must understand that the Holy Spirit is not taken out of the world, but
merely moved out of the path of the Antichrist. The Holy Spirit will still indwell the
true churches here on earth during the three and one half years that the Antichrist is
in full power.
I Thess. 4:13-18 is always applied to a
supposedly secret coming of our Lord for His saints some three and one half or seven
years before His coming in glory. We must understand that chapter divisions in the
Bible are a work of man apart from inspiration. Chapter 5 deals with the same subject
as that of chapter 4. Chapter 4 tells what will happen. Chapter
5 tells primarily when it will happen.
Please mark the words carefully.
"But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night." Paul used the conjunction to link I Thess. 4:13-18
with the day of the Lord which is the one thousand years in which Christ shall reign on
the earth.
Christ shall descend "from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God" at the same time the day of the Lord begins. The day of the
Lord will not begin until after the man of sin has been revealed in the midst of the
week. The man of sin is not revealed until after the Holy Spirit is moved out of the
way (path). Let me remind the reader that the Lord will judge us according to our
willingness to receive the Holy Spirit's instructions. If we divide the Word of
Truth correctly, it is because the Spirit has instructed us thus. If we divide it
incorrectly, it is because we have refused the instructions of the Spirit. We cannot
have contradictory divisions of the Word and both or all of them be correct. Therefore,
let us NOT try to divide the Word of Truth in I Thess. 4:13-17 without going into
chapter 5 as the spirit intended for us to do.
While we are examining these matters in
I Thess. 5, let us look further at the day of the Lord. Study carefully verses 1
through 8. True church saints are spoken of as belonging to the day of the Lord (verses
5 and 8). The day of the Lord is spoken of as the daytime, while the present age is
spoken of as nighttime. The present age is a time of darkness. The day of the Lord, to
which we belong, is a time of light -- the light of God's righteousness will shine
throughout the whole earth. Could it be more clear that the day of the Lord is the
Millennium, which will begin with the Second Advent of Christ?
But some may ask, "If Christ comes
all away to the earth at this time, then why are the Saints caught up to meet Him in
the air?" My answer is that just as a child runs out with joyful shouts to meet
its father as he returns from a trip, or from work, so will we rapturously ascend to
meet our loving Master as He returns from His present heavenly dwelling. Yet possibly
it can be better understood by the fact that if most of the Saints do not rise into the
air and circle the earth, they will have to proceed through the earth to meet the Lord
above Matt. Zion. This passage in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 surely says that we will meet the
Lord in the air, but it does not say that we will be with Him in the air forever. The
passage says nothing about the saints remaining in the air with the Lord for any period
of time, not even an hour. They only meet the Lord there.
Chapter 5 verse 3 speaks of the sudden
destruction (wrath of God) that shall come upon this present world when the day of the
Lord begins. This surely harmonizes with the foregoing comments concerning the
beginning of the wrath of God at the same time Christ comes in glory. The world is
shouting peace and safety under the tyrannical rule of Antichrist, Satan is mocking at
the truth of God though he knows he has but a short time; then sudden destruction
shoots forth from the presence of the Almighty as boiling lava from a smoking, heaving
volcano, to envelop the whole Earth.
A thorough study of I Thess. 4:13-18
and 5:1-10 with the other scriptures already mentioned will reveal that the chief
coming of the Lord for His saints, and the glory coming
with His saints both happen in one event. Remember that I Cor
15 and I Thess 4 and 5 deal with the same subject and the same time element: the
last trump.