The Day of the Lord is a set day, or period of time, in which God personally intervenes in this world with signs, wonders, and judgment ending in all things being under His rule.
It will also be a time of salvation as God will deliver the remnant of Israel, fulfilling His promise that “all of Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). 1
The Day of the Lord signifies the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, who will call all believers to be with him in the clouds.
It is a day of wrath, a day of visitation where God deals directly with humanity, and it is the great day of God Almighty.
Table of Contents:
1. What is the Day of the Lord?
The end of the world as described in the Bible is also called ‘the Day of the Lord’ and the ‘coming of the Son of Man’ which is when Jesus Christ returns to this Earth in the clouds to raise up all of his true followers to be with him forever.
When ‘the Day of the Lord’ was prophesied in the Old Testament it could refer to a day that was relatively close and would mean a deliverance for the Jewish nation (Isaiah 34:8).
It could also point to the day when the promised Messiah was to come – fulfilled in Jesus when he came to Bethlehem as a baby.
Or it could refer to the end of the world.
We will focus in this article on the Day of the Lord referring to the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Wikipedia states about the ‘Day of the Lord’:
The Book of Revelation describes the day of the Lord as an apocalyptic time of God’s almighty wrath, which comes upon those who are deemed wicked.
‘The Day of the Lord’ Wikipedia 2
The text pictures every man hiding in the rocks of the mountains during a major earthquake to attempt to hide from God’s wrath, while celestial phenomena turn the moon blood red and the sun dark. [Revelation 6:12-17]
These celestial phenomena are also mentioned in Joel 2:31, which foretells the same precise order of events mentioned in Revelation:
The moon turns blood red and the sun turns dark before the great day of the Lord. [Joel 2:31]
Matthew mentions the same event, yet it places the celestial phenomenon as occurring after the ‘tribulation of those days’. [Matthew 24:29-31]
According to these passages, it then seems that the day of the Lord is an event closely tied with the coming of the Messiah to judge the world.”
The Day of the Lord in the Old Testament was almost entirely seen as a day of fear, darkness and foreboding.
But the New Testament has elements of great hope, joy and victory mixed in with God’s anger over sin.
It is the day of Christ when he comes in glory with great victory and shortly all wickedness and rebellion will be silenced.
2. The Day of the Lord is a time of wrath.
It is known as a day when God’s anger overflows and the inhabitants of the Earth reel under his judgments:
But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 2:5-6 & 8-9 ESV
He will render to each one according to his works…
for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil…”
But God does not want it to be that way, because He is full of kindness, forbearance and patience and He wants to lead people to repentance (Romans 2:4).
The thought that the Day of the Lord will be full of wrath is shown in these verses:
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks,
Revelation 6:15-17 ESV
‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’ ”
The Day of the Lord will be a period where God judges all the wickedness and rebellion and will conclude with the total destruction of the world by fire:
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
2 Peter 3:7 ESV
The Day of the Lord compared to Noah’s flood.
It was a separating day when Noah and his family went into the Ark and got spared, but all the rest of humanity was destroyed.
What hideous crimes were they doing to warrant such action?
Jesus tells us that they were getting on with their everyday lives:
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:37-39 NIV
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
Surely eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage form a normal life?
There is nothing hideous here, so what does Jesus mean?
When we live out our lives in isolation from God, we actually have turned our backs on Him – but more of that later.
Noah’s flood was certainly a surprise to those who refused to listen to Noah, and the Day of the Lord will be just as surprising and will truly be a separating day:
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…
Matthew 24:36 & 40 NIV
two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”
This miraculous event is known as ‘the Rapture’ when the Lord will lift His followers up to join him in the clouds.
The church at Thessalonica was concerned about their loved ones who had died, but Paul encouraged them by reminding them that Jesus died and rose again, so those who were ‘asleep’ (who had died) would arise to be with Jesus in the air at his second coming:
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 ESV
The ones who are left behind will then face the consequences and will continue to experience this period of time known as the Great Tribulation, which started a few years earlier.
The Great Tribulation will carry on and will result in God judging all those who have rebelled against Him, including all the spiritual forces of evil.
In Noah’s time, people had a choice to listen to Noah and they could have joined him on the Ark, but they chose not to listen and they were suddenly engulfed by the flood waters.
There was nowhere to hide, the flood covered the highest mountains.
The Day of the Lord is compared to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Luke gives us some more details on what Jesus said about the end of the world, he describes Noah’s day and then he goes on to compare the Day of the Lord with that of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jesus had just explained how he, the Christ (the Messiah), must suffer and be rejected, then he said:
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
Luke 17:25-36 NIV
They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot –
they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all – so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.
Remember Lot’s wife.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.
There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”
But surprisingly, Sodom and Gomorrah will not receive the most severe sentence, Jesus said:
And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.
Matthew 10:14-15 ESV
Truly, I say to you it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”
There will be a harsher sentence on those who reject Jesus as Lord and Saviour than Sodom and Gomorrah.
3. When will the Day of the Lord happen?
We will not know when it will be, but that does not mean that we are completely in the dark…
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:2-11 ESV
While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day.
We are not of the night or of the darkness.”
So, there must be clues as to when the Day of the Lord will happen and the nearer we get, the clearer the picture will be.
The church at Thessalonica was troubled because they heard some teachers telling them that the Day of the Lord had already occurred.
The apostle Paul confronted this situation:
He did not say, ‘Jesus has not returned, it can’t have happened, because we are all still here! Jesus has not raised us up to the clouds!’
But he did say:
For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself…”
2 Thessalonians 2:3 ESV
Paul is teaching us to recognize a time of ‘rebellion’ when people turn away from the faith and when the man of lawlessness appears.
Jesus will come in the clouds after this event.
A time of apostasy in the last days.
Firstly Paul tells us that there will be a period of apostasy, ‘the rebellion** comes first’.
The word ‘rebellion**’ is ἀποστασία (apostasia) which means ‘apostasy, turning away, rebellion, abandonment’.
There is going to be a time of apostasy where people turn away from the faith:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon*** the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
1 Timothy 4:1–5 NIV
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
The word ‘abandon***’ occurs in Jesus’ parable of the sower:
And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall*** away.
Luke 8:13 ESV
So it seems that during this time of apostasy, many will turn away from the faith because they have no real roots in God’s Word, the Bible.
They are not fully persuaded that God’s truth is eternal and totally trustworthy.
Jesus also warns us about this time:
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
Matthew 24:10-14 ESV
And because lawlessness will be increased the love of many will grow cold.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
A man of lawlessness appears in the last days.
For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God proclaiming himself to be God…
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 & 9-12 ESV
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
The signs to watch out for in this man of lawlessness are:
- He, or she (because the Greek can mean either), is an individual person.
- The person is arrogant and proclaims themselves to be a god.
- This person takes leadership of the church, or the temple in Jerusalem (if the temple gets rebuilt).
- This person is not Satan but will perform false signs and wonders with Satanic power.
Paul’s solution to not being taken in by this person, is for us to not just know the truth, but to love the truth.
The reason they were deceived is that ‘they refused to love the truth and so be saved’.
We can know Bible truths in a merely mental sense, but we should love God’s truth and put it into practice:
Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Luke 6:46-48 ESV
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built…”
4. Why has God set a Day to judge and destroy the world?
We live in a cultured society and virtually everyone considers themselves to be good compared to others.
Many people do not see that by living their lives without God is actually rejecting Him and rebelling against His rule.
But anybody who eats drinks, marries, lives for themselves, and rejects God is facing His anger.
The only safe place is to be in the Ark, in Christ, so that the flood waters of the anger of God won’t touch us.
There was no safe place then, when the whole earth was flooded, not a corner was spared.
The only survivors were in the Ark.
The Ark represents our only place of safety and we need to flee to Jesus Christ, to be in Him, to avoid the coming judgement.
In Matthew’s gospel, it says:
and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came”
Matthew 24:39 NIV
Well, they would have heard Noah preaching, but they didn’t believe what Noah was saying, it wasn’t real to them, so they knew nothing about what would happen.
That is why Jesus often says:
He who has ears, let him hear!”
Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43, etc.
How many times do we read the Bible, or we hear a sermon, and we hear it, but it does not remain in our hearts?
There were many people who heard Christ’s powerful preaching.
Think about it, He is the Word of God, and yet they didn’t hear His message.
They didn’t understand so that they could be saved.
How we need to pray: ‘Lord help me by Your Spirit to listen, help me to understand, help the people I meet to understand and to be saved.’
When the gospel is proclaimed and it is preached faithfully and wisely, then that word will be a dividing one.
Like it or not, God says there are only two types of human beings:
- The first are those who obey and who trust in Him – this group God calls the righteous.
- The second group are those who don′t obey Him, and He calls them the wicked.
These two groups will be scattered throughout every society, class and nation.
The righteous and the wicked will be getting on with their everyday business, and then suddenly, the righteous are taken from the earth.
There is no need for a believer in the lowest of the low jobs to worry that they might get missed because the poor of this world can be rich in faith and be heirs of the Kingdom.
A struggling Christian need not worry if their hope is in Christ, because Jesus will not lose His grip, and He will lift them to safety to be with Him forever.
5. The Day of the Lord is a day of great joy.
For all believers, it is a wonderful day to look forward to.
One picture is that all of Jesus’ followers form his bride and we will soon be married to our Bridegroom:
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
Revelation 19:6-9 ESV
‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’ – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ”
It will be a day when all true Christians will finally feel totally clean and pure.
At present, believers are justified by faith (Romans 5:1), are clothed with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), and walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:5) but they cannot say that they are totally free from sin.
Sin is always waiting to pounce, but when we meet Jesus in the clouds we will be totally free from sin.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Philippians 3:20-21 ESV
It is a day of joy because all believers will be given new resurrection bodies.
All those past and present, who suffer from pain and disabilities will be made new, like Jesus’ body after his resurrection.
There will be no more tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4).
All believers, regardless of social status, or country, will be raised to new life, and not one believer will be missed:
whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:37-40 ESV
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Trumpets are used in the Bible to announce different events, see these seven occasions that can be related to the end of the world.
‘The Abomination’ mentioned in the Bible doesn’t refer to just one event…
What does the Bible actually say about the end of the world?
6. The Day of the Lord is when peaceful order will be restored.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Colossians 1:19-20 ESV
This is the final goal of God that everything is to be reconciled and in unity, but all of His enemies, people and spiritual forces, that prevent this will be removed:
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 ESV
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’
But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.”
God will be the undisputed Supreme Ruler and will receive glory as such.
The Son will equally share in this glory because they are one in the Godhead.
More detailed articles covering:
[1] Does God turn away from us?
[2] How to guard against being deceived?
[3] “Oh no, my life’s falling apart” – How to remain steadfast when the world turns bad.
[9] Ready to meet God? The Ten Virgins.
References and credits – open in new tabs:
‘What is the day of the Lord?’ Got Questions Ministries. Last updated: 4 January 2022. ↩
‘The Day of the Lord’ Wikipedia. Last edited on 19 August 2023 ↩