The
Post-Tribulation View is
Scripturally
Correct
Part Two
OUR BLESSED HOPE
Pre-tribulationists criticize those
who hold
a
post-tribulation hope of the rapture as
having
NO HOPE AT ALL. As a proof text,
they
quote l Thessalonians 4:17-18.
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall
always be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
According
to them, having a
post-tribulation
view means believers would
have
to go through the events of the
tribulation
before they can be comforted.
They
argue that urging believers to be
comforted
by the Lord's coming in
1
Thess. 4:18 wouldn’t have any meaning
if
believers have to go through any part of the
tribulation
first. Their thinking is that part of
the
reason the church has been given a
Blessed
Hope, is because the Lord's return is
imminent.
I, for one, would like the pre-tribulationists
to explain to an expectant mother that her HOPE of holding her baby in
her arms is no hope at all because she must first experience labor. I know that,
with each one of my six children, I experienced great hope in holding my baby in
spite of going through the pains of labor first.
A major problem with this argument is that
the Church was already experiencing great persecution when these Scriptures were
being written. Pre-tribulationists are thinking with a Western mindset, where
easy living for Christians was unknown to the early Christians. On the contrary,
the history of true Christianity is full of persecution. Today, we get upset and
think we are being persecuted if someone says something negative about us as a
Christian.
Remember, it is important to stick to the
grammatical historical interpretation of Scripture. We have to interpret these
kinds of statements in their historical setting of great persecution for the
Church, and not from our modern western mindset.
Our modern lifestyle is not the normal
Christian experience. In John 16:33, Jesus said that,
Joh 16:33 "These
things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
In Acts 14: 22 Paul told the churches
that,
Act 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying,
"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
The Thessalonian believers were comforted
in their tribulation by Paul's encouragement that they would rest from their
troubles "WHEN the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angels, in flaming fire" (2 Thess.1: 4-10).
2Th 1:4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God
for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and
afflictions which you endure.
2Th 1:5 This is a plain indication of
God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of
God, for which indeed you are suffering.
2Th 1:6 For after all it is only
just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
2Th 1:7 and to
give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord
Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
2Th 1:8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who
do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
2Th 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
2Th 1:10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be
marveled at among all who have believed--for our testimony to you was believed.
One of the reasons Jesus' coming was the
"blessed hope" was because He would rescue believers out of severe
persecution and trouble. Going through the events of Matt. 24 was not a
foreign concept to the early Church as it is to most Christians today. They were
already suffering intense persecution and martyrdom. For us, the thought of
going through the tribulation is frightening. Tribulation seems foreign to us
western Christians because we live in relative ease and comfort.
Christians living in China and other
places today, where Christians are still being persecuted, would not accept the
pre-tribulationists’ argument for one
second. In fact, we could argue, that the more difficult the situation, the more
"blessed" the "blessed hope" becomes.
The term "blessed hope" did not
originate with fashionably dressed Christians sitting on padded pews in air
conditioned mega-churches. It began during Paul's imprisonment, and the extreme
suffering of the early Church. I wonder if we could even say that the more
comfortably we live now, the less blessed the hope of Jesus' coming becomes.
THE MOUNT OLIVET DISCOURSE
In
reading the four Gospels we see that none of them gives a complete picture of
Jesus' life, actions, or teachings. Details in one Gospel are not always found
in the others. This holds true for the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Mark 13,
and Luke 21 as well. We have to examine each account and synchronize them
together in order to reconstruct the full account of what Jesus taught.
It
is important to notice that in Luke's account, Jesus gave specific instructions
to His disciples concerning their escape from the Roman siege of Jerusalem that
came in AD 70. The early Church historian, Eusebius, recorded that the early
Christians remembered and obeyed Jesus' warnings and fled the city when they saw
the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem, and were spared. It is obvious that
Jesus' instructions to His disciples in this discourse concern the Church.
Yet,
in the same discourse Jesus spoke of the tribulation at the end of the age, and
the cosmic signs that would announce His coming to set up His Kingdom. He told
the very same people whom He instructed to "flee to the mountains"
when the Roman siege arrived, that they would know that His post-tribulation
coming was near by watching the signs. He also told them to pray that they might
be counted worthy to escape all these things.
By
observing HOW the early Christians escaped the siege and destruction of
Jerusalem, we can know how we will escape the wrath of the last days. It won’t
be by rapture but by fleeing when appropriate.
The
disciples clearly understood the fact that the destruction of the Temple and the
end of the Age were separated by a significant period of time. Not only did He
distinguish the destruction of the Temple and the second coming, in Luke 21, but
Matthew also recorded something Jesus said that Luke did not mention. Before
leaving for the Mount of Olives Jesus said in Matthew 23:37-39:
Mat 23:37 "Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How
often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her
chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
Mat 23:38 "Behold, your house
is being left to you desolate!
Mat 23:39 "For I say to you,
from now on you will not see Me UNTIL
you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'"
Here
again, Jesus has clearly separated the destruction of the Temple from His second
coming to set up His Kingdom. Jesus is letting us know we won’t SEE Him
UNTIL we say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.” I
don’t read anything about a SECRET coming here.
DOES
THE CHURCH GO
THROUGH THE
TRIBULATION?
In
researching the pre and post tribulation views, I couldn’t find any reference
to an understanding of who Israel or the Church is according to our
understanding of the TWO HOUSES. Therefore, discussing the pre-tribulationists’
argument that the church is not present during the tribulation will be with the
understanding most people have about the Church and Israel being totally
unrelated.
Most
pre-tribulationists believe God's
purpose for the tribulation, in Daniel’s 70th week revolves around His plan
for Israel and does not include an earthly presence for the church. They
believe God's plan for Israel is unfinished at this point in history and that
when the role of the Church is completed she will be raptured as a completed
body to Heaven. Their main reason for believing this is that it will
CLEAR THE WAY for a restoration and resumption of progress toward
the completion of YHVH’s plans for the nation of Israel. Let’s see if
the pre-tribulationists’ belief for the following two points is Scriptural:
1.
The Old Testament expressly states that
the 70th week revolves around Israel so there is NO
EARTHLY PRESENCE OF THE CHURCH.
2. The Church's removal is
necessary to CLEAR THE WAY
for a restoration and resumption of progress toward the completion of YHVH’s
plans for His elect nation-Israel."
On
what grounds can they make the claim that the Church's removal is necessary for
YHVH to fulfill prophecy with Israel?
Certainly
not from past precedent! If what they claim is true, then we would have to
conclude that the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 had nothing to do with a
prophesied "time of trouble" for Israel. The destruction of Jerusalem
took place about 37 years after Pentecost, which was well into the Church age
while it was spreading rapidly throughout the Roman Empire. We read in Luke
19:41-44,
Luk 19:41 When He approached Jerusalem,
He saw the city and wept over it,
Luk 19:42 saying,
"If you had known in this day, even you, the things
which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
Luk 19:43 "For the days will
come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and
surround you and hem you in on every side,
Luk 19:44 and they will level you
to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one
stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your
visitation."
The
question pre-tribulationists need to answer is why it wasn’t necessary to
rapture the church before AD 70 for YHVH to deal with Israel! YHVH Himself,
using the Roman armies, judged Israel for rejecting the Messiah, and scattered
them among the nations. In fact, Luke 21 indicates a clear distinction between
Jesus' followers (the Church) and the wrath on Israel. He shows this is WHILE
BOTH ARE PRESENT in the land of Israel at the same time! Verses 12-24, of Luke
21, describes the events of the first century, including the persecution of the
Church, the wrath on Israel, and her scattering to the nations, all within the
same context.
Jesus
even warned believing Jews to escape the city when they see "Jerusalem
surrounded by armies" because the "desolation
thereof is nigh." They were to flee in order to escape the "wrath
upon this people" (Israel).
We
know from Eusebius' Church History that Christian Jews living in the city
followed Jesus' warnings and escaped to the mountains. The whole Jerusalem
church relocated to Pella when the Roman armies came. But the unbelieving Jews,
who didn’t believe Jesus or the warnings of the early Christians, stayed
within the walls of Jerusalem and were destroyed by the Romans.
We
have such a good historical pattern for YHVH’s dealing with Israel, in wrath
and judgment, WHILE the Church remained on earth. This makes it hard to
understand why pre-tribulationists believe the Church’s rapture is so
necessary to CLEAR THE WAY before He can finish with His plans for
Israel!
Furthermore,
if the removal of the Church is necessary for Israel's restoration, we have to
conclude that the reestablishment of the nation in 1948, and all subsequent
events among the Jews, has nothing to do with YHVH’s working with Israel on a
national basis because the Church is still here! Do pre-tribulationists really
believe the modern state of Israel and return to the land is contrary to the
will of YHVH?
Pre-tribulationists
have a huge problem with their logic. If they believe that the present situation
in the Middle East is in any way YHVH’s dealing with Israel nationally, then
their entire premise is destroyed. Since YHVH is presently dealing with
the nation of Israel, there is no logical reason why the Church cannot still be
here, right up until the end. YHVH can deal with Israel as a nation and the
Church as a spiritual body at the same time! History has shown this to be true.
They don’t believe the tribulation deals with the
Church at all, but only with the purification of Israel. According to them,
it is not the time of the Church's trouble, but the time of Jacob's trouble.
While researching all of this, I couldn’t help but think how much of this
would be cleared up in the minds of both sides if they understood, as we do, the
“two houses.”
Pre-tribulationists
believe that the multitude of believers
in Revelation, who have the "testimony
of Jesus Christ," who overcome the Beast "by the word of their testimony" and by "the
blood of the Lamb," and who have "washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," are
EXCLUDED from the "Church."
Their
belief is based on a circular argument.
A person must first ASSUME the pre-tribulation view of the rapture
is true in order to exclude the tribulation saints from the Church. This ALLEGED
distinction is used for the basis of their argument, that the tribulation does
not concern the Church because it is the time of Jacob’s trouble.
How
can pre-tribulationists claim that the tribulation's being referred to as the
time of Jacob's trouble rather than the time of the Church’s trouble,
excludes the Church from being present on earth? Such an argument from silence
proves nothing. Are pre-tribulationists ready to say that trouble is waiting EXCLUSIVELY
for Israel and no one else on earth?
Revelation
3:10 says,
Rev 3:10 'Because
you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of
testing, that hour
which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on
the earth.
This
passage makes it clear that the "hour
of temptation" will come upon ALL them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation also speaks of
plagues where one third of the earth's population is destroyed? How can such
language as the time of Jacob's trouble
exclude the Church's being present when it does not exclude the rest of the
population of the world being present as well as the tribulation saints?
It
is true that there is no mention of the
time of the Church's trouble in this Scripture. However, a similar phrase
is found in Ephesians 6:11-18, which has direct reference to the Church and the
tribulation.
Eph 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against
the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places.
Eph 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that
you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything,
to stand firm.
Eph 6:14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING
PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
Eph 6:15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
Eph 6:16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will
be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Eph 6:17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God.
Eph 6:18 With all prayer and
petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert
with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
This
is an extremely important passage because Paul clearly taught the Ephesians to
prepare themselves, by taking on the armor of God, so that they would be fully
equipped to stand their ground
when "the day of evil comes."
The use of the definite article twice in the Greek text of this phrase indicates
a specific "evil day" of which both Paul and his readers expected in
common at some point in the future.
It
is a SINGULAR "day" (time) they all knew was coming, for which they
needed to be prepared to stand fast. The phrase, "The day of evil" is very similar to the phrase "the
hour of temptation" in Rev. 3:10, which pre-tribulationists do agree
refers to the tribulation. Both phrases point to a single time period in
the future known to both writers and readers. *
Another
argument the pre-tribulationists use, for their belief that the tribulation
primarily concerns Israel, is the coming false Messiah sitting in the Temple.
But this argument doesn’t hold up because Revelation says that the whole world
will worship the Beast or false Messiah, whose names are not written in the book
of life?
Pre-tribulationists
believe the emphasis of the Tribulation
is primarily Jewish because of the 144,000 sealed in Revelation 7:4-8; and the
woman clothed with the sun in chapter 2:1-2. But, what about all the
Gentiles in Revelation both saved and lost? Again, if the tribulation affects "all
them that dwell upon the earth," how can it primarily concern
Israel? And, if as Revelation states, there is a "great
multitude" that has come out of "great tribulation" from every tribe and nation, and
there are only 144,000 Jews specifically mentioned, how can the tribulation
primarily concern Israel?
According to pre-tribulationists, none of the
Scriptures, in the Old or New testaments, mention the Church as being present
during the tribulation.
They believe such SILENCE speaks
loudly and supports the pre-tribulation position.
The
silence they refer to is only true if you omit the Church in the way traditional
dispensationalists have done. Again, the whole thing is a circular argument. Their
Church is defined by first ASSUMING
a pre-tribulation rapture in Revelation where none exists, and by excluding the
great multitude of Christians specifically mentioned in the tribulation in
Revelation. Then after chopping off part of Jesus' elect from the Church, they
loudly proclaim, "Look, the
'Church' is not mentioned in these tribulation passages!" Well
of course not! They have put an unbiblical and artificial definition on Church
that is intended to avoid any "tribulation" passages. To them, the
Church refers to Christians saved after Pentecost and prior to the tribulation.
Let me give you an example of their circular argument.
a.
The "Church" does not include the "tribulation saints"
because the Church is removed before the tribulation.
b. The rapture must be before the tribulation because the "tribulation
saints" are not part of the Church.
c. The "tribulation saints" can still be here because they are not
part of the Church.
DAY OF THE LORD / DAY OF CHRIST
AND
DOES IT INCLUDE THE TRIBULATION
In
1 Thess. 4, Paul said the dead in Christ will rise first, then the living will
be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In chapter 5,
Paul answered the question of when they could expect the rapture and
resurrection, to come, by making it clear that they are the SAME AS
the “Day of the Lord.”
1Th 5:1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you
have no need of anything to be written to you.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know full well
that THE DAY OF THE LORD will come just like a thief in the night.
The meaning of the "Day of the Lord" is vital to understanding
this passage. It is also critical to any basic understanding of eschatology in
general. Pre-tribulationists CLAIM the "Day of the Lord" includes
the alleged pre-tribulation rapture and the entire tribulation. This allows them
to reconcile 1Thessalonians 5:3-6 with their pre-tribulation belief since Paul
instructed believers to be watching for the "Day of the Lord."
1Th 5:3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction
will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they
will not escape.
1Th 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake
you like a thief;
1Th 5:5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor
of darkness;
1Th 5:6 so then let us not
sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
If
the "Day of the Lord" comes after the tribulation, as every Old
Testament occurrence indicates, then Christians must still be here at the end of
the tribulation in order to be alert and sober for that day. There is no
question the rapture and the coming of the "Day of the Lord" are
firmly connected by Paul in this passage. He uses the term "Day of the
Lord" as a synonym for the rapture. Therefore, Christians must pass through the tribulation in order to watch
for the "Day of the Lord." The rapture that Paul referred to is
clearly after the tribulation.
Now,
remember what I said last week about revelation being progressive and that we
must keep in mind what the audience already knew when studying the Bible.
Paul
was placing the rapture IN the "Day of the Lord." This is an
extremely important point because Paul shifted from describing the events
surrounding the rapture to speaking about when the rapture might come. And he
referred them again to what they already knew by saying, "1Th 5:2 For you yourselves
know full well that THE DAY OF THE LORD will come just like a thief in
the night.
Paul
used the phrase, "Day of the Lord" which was familiar to these
Christians because it is found several times in the Old Testament and is always
in the context of Christ's coming to destroy the enemies of Israel. Let’s look
at Isa. 13:6-13, Joel 3:9-17, and
Zech. 14 for examples.
Isa 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction
from the Almighty.
Isa 13:7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt.
Isa 13:8 They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in
astonishment, Their faces aflame.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning
anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from
it.
Isa 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the
moon will not shed its light.
Isa 13:11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the
wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
Isa 13:12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And
mankind than the gold of Ophir.
Isa 13:13 Therefore
I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At
the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.
Joel
3:9-17 says,
Joe 3:9 Proclaim this among the
nations: Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers draw near,
let them come up!
Joe 3:10 Beat your plowshares into
swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, "I am a mighty
man."
Joe 3:11 Hasten and come, all you
surrounding nations, And gather yourselves
there. Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones.
Joe 3:12 Let the nations be
aroused And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations.
Joe 3:13 Put in the sickle, for
the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow,
for their wickedness is great.
Joe 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in
the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of
decision.
Joe 3:15 The sun and moon grow
dark And the stars lose their brightness.
Joe 3:16 The LORD roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth tremble. But
the LORD is a refuge for His people And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.
Joe 3:17 Then you will know that I
am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be
holy, And strangers will pass through it no more.
And
Zechariah 14:1-5 says,
Zec 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the
spoil taken from you will be divided among you.
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the
city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the
city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when
He fights on a day of battle.
Zec 14:4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in
front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its
middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain
will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Zec 14:5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the
mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the
earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God,
will come, and all the holy ones with
Him!
There
has been so much written by pre-tribulationists trying to stretch the
“Day of the Lord” forward to include the entire tribulation period. There
are several Biblical reasons why the “Day of the Lord” cannot include the
tribulation, as pre-tribulationists claim.
*Zechariah
14:7 indicates that the Day of the Lord
is a 24 hour day. The Hebrew text says: "that day shall be one."
*The
Day of the Lord is first mentioned In Isaiah two. Isaiah wrote that the
Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
Isa 2:11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be
humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day
Isa 2:12 For the LORD of hosts
will have a day of reckoning Against
everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he
may be abased.
Isa 2:17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be
abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
But,
during the last half of the tribulation, the Antichrist will be worshipped as
God because Revelation 13:12 says of the Antichrist,
Rev 13:12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast
in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the
first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
The
two cannot overlap. The Antichrist cannot be worshipped in the Day of the Lord,
since Isaiah says the Lord ALONE will be exalted. Also, all idols will be
abolished during the Day of the Lord.
Yet, during the tribulation, the image of the Beast and other idols will be
worshipped.
*Joe 2:31 "The sun will be turned into darkness And
the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
Act 2:20 'THE
SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND
GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.
Mar 13:24 "But in those days,
after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS
LIGHT,
All
of these scriptures place the same cosmic signs between the end
of the tribulation and the beginning
of the Day of the Lord. The two
cannot overlap, otherwise these verses could not be true.
*Joel
3:9-17 describes the gathering of the armies of the nations around Jerusalem for
the battle of Armageddon, the cosmic signs, and the coming of the Lord. After
the armies are gathered, but before
the cosmic signs, Joel wrote that the Day
of the Lord is "near."
The Hebrew word means "at hand,"
"imminent," or "next
in sequence" (Strong's H7138). The Day of the Lord must begin after the armies of the nations are gathered for the battle,
which occurs at the end of the
tribulation, according to Rev. 16:13-16.
Rev 16:13 And I saw coming
out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the
mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;
Rev 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs,
which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the
war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
Rev 16:15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed
is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about
naked and men will not see his shame.")
Rev 16:16 And they gathered them together to the place
which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
*As
stated earlier, three times the phrase "the
Day of the LORD cometh"
is used in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:9, Joel 2:1, Zech. 14:1). In each case
the text immediately begins to describe the battle of Armageddon. The word "cometh"
is the Hebrew word "bow" (Strong's H935), a verb meaning to come or
arrive. It implies the beginning of the Day of the Lord. In all three cases, the
arrival of the Day
of the Lord brings the battle of Armageddon. Twice In the New Testament,
it is said the Day of the Lord "cometh"
as a thief in the night in 1Thess.5:1, 2 and 2 Peter 3:10. In both cases the
immediate destruction of the wicked occurs. Paul says "sudden
destruction" overtakes the wicked, and Peter says the land will be devoured
by fire along with the scoffers.
*According
to Revelation 16, the armies of the nations are gathered at the end of the
tribulation for "the battle of the
great day of
God Almighty. Therefore, the
"Day of God" is
clearly after the tribulation when the battle occurs. Peter shows us that the
terms "Day of God" and "Day of the Lord" are synonymous, by
using them interchangeably when repeating himself in 2Peter 3:10,12. (This is
the only other occurrence of the phrase "Day
of God" in the Bible.)
*2
Thessalonians 2:1-3 says the "Day of the Lord" will not come until after
the "falling away," and the revelation of the "man
of sin." Verse 4 indicates how he will be revealed, by
defiling the Temple at the mid-point of the tribulation.
*According
to Mal. 4:5, Elijah the prophet will come before the Day of the
Lord comes. Most agree that Elijah is one of the two witnesses in
Revelation. Therefore, the Day of the
Lord cannot begin until after the two witnesses come.
In
conclusion, I want to give you some scriptures showing there are many synonyms
for the "Day of the Lord." In Zech. 14:1-6, Acts 1:9-12, and 1 Thess.
3:13 we know that the "Lord" who comes in power "with all His
saints" on the Day of the Lord, is Jesus Christ. We also know that there
are various combinations of Jesus' name in the New Testament, including; Jesus,
Christ, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ, and Lord.
Therefore,
it is most likely that all of the following phrases are speaking of the same
day. Day of Christ (Phil. 1:10),
Day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6),
Day of the Lord Jesus Christ (1
Cor. 1:8), Day of the Lord Jesus
(1 Cor. 5:5), Day of the Lord (1
Thess. 5:2), Day of God
(2 Pet. 3:12), Day of God Almighty
(Rev. 16:14). There are also references to "the
Great Day:" (Zeph. 1:14, Jude 1:6, Rev. 6:17, Rev. 16:14).