God’s Judgment: How It Works – Part 22

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God’s Judgment: How It Works – Part 22

We are currently looking at the phrase “Day of the Lord” in our special series about God’s Judgment: How It Works. We looked at the first use of that phrase in our last study.

For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up— And it shall be brought low— Isaiah 2:12

While Isaiah was the first to use the phrase, he was not the last prophet to use it.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

The Prophetic ‘Day’

We find the “Day of the Lord” used in many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament and also by New Testament writers. The “Day of the Lord” is not a literal 24-hour day, but a period of time where God will judge the world. Let’s look first at how an Old Testament prophet used the phrase:

And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants. I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls. Joel 2:28-32

Next, let’s see how a New Testament apostle used the same phrase quoting from the same Old Testament prophet:

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of theLord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ Acts 2:16-21

We recognize those as the words of the Apostle Peter from his famous sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Peter also quoted from King David and preached that Jesus of Nazareth is the “Holy One” of God who was exalted to the right hand of God and will sit on the everlasting throne of David. The “Day of the Lord” is about the judgment of Jesus Christ on Satan and sin.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:5-7

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. Ephesians 1:7-10

The judgment of God became obvious to all when Jesus died on the Cross. There was no reason for Jesus to be treated like a criminal. He had only done good. Jesus was beaten and crucified for sinners. God judged our sins on Jesus as He bled and died. We have redemption (delivered through ransom payment) through the blood of Jesus Christ, We have forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God’s grace.

The first coming of Jesus and His death and resurrection was also a vital step toward destroying the works of the devil. Those who have been saved during the last two-thousand years are part of Christ’s victory over Satan.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7

… and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:9-11

Jesus will complete His destruction of the devil’s works at His Second Coming.

The Day of Christ’s Return

As much as Christians look forward to the return of Christ, it is not something the world will want to see. Jesus Christ will return in great power to rule with a rod of iron and tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God’s:

And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:14-16

We have only to look back at the Old Testament prophets to see that the Day of the Lord will not be a good day for the enemies of God:

Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this: ‘There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing. In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,’ Says the Lord. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? Amos 5:16-20

Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt, And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. ‘I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Isaiah 13:6-11

Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You. Zechariah 14:1-5

For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. For as you drank on My holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,’ For the Lord has spoken. Obadiah 1:15-18

The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. Zephaniah 1:14-16

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Next Time

We will see how New Testament writers address the “Day of the Lord” in the next part of our special series “God’s Judgment: How It Works.”

Judgment and Justice

God’s future judgment will be based on His justice. That’s why we have connected this series with a new one titled “God’s Justice: How It Works.” You can read the first part of that series here.

If you have not read all of the parts of this study we’ve published so far, we invite you to do that now for the Scriptural background to Christ as Judge.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Part Eleven
Part Twelve
Part Thirteen
Part Fourteen
Part Fifteen
Part Sixteen
Part Seventeen
Part Eighteen
Part Nineteen
Part Twenty
Part Twenty-One

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