Jesus will arrive and gather his people on the day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ. Paul refutes claims
that the “day of the Lord” is imminent. That day will not arrive until the
“apostasy” and the “revelation of the man of lawlessness.” And
Jesus will destroy this malevolent figure at his “arrival” or parousia,
an event Paul links to this final day.
The “day
of the Lord” is a term found often in the Hebrew Bible for the time of
visitation and judgment by God, the “day of Yahweh” when He intervenes
to rescue His people and judge His enemies. That day will be characterized by celestial
and terrestrial upheaval - (Isaiah 2:12, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 2:31, 3:14, Malachi
4:5).
HIS ARRIVAL
In 2
Thessalonians, Paul connects this event to the “arrival” or ‘parousia’
of Jesus, the “gathering” of the elect to him, and the destruction of the “lawless one.”
In the same context, he describes the “revelation of
the Lord Jesus from heaven”
when he “takes vengeance” on all those who disobey the gospel. But he
will also be glorified in the “saints” and “marveled at” on that
same day. Both the righteous and the wicked receive their just desserts on the “day
of the Lord” - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2:1-12).
Paul also discusses the “day of the Lord”
in his first letter. That day
will mean “sudden destruction” for the unprepared, but the “sons of
light” who remain faithful will not be overwhelmed by its arrival. Instead,
they will “acquire salvation” - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-8).
DAY OF CHRIST
Elsewhere,
Paul identifies the “day of the Lord” as the “day of Jesus Christ,”
the moment when he vindicates his righteous ones but judges the wicked.
Thus, at least in his letters, the “day of the Lord” becomes intimately connected with Jesus and his “arrival” from heaven - (1 Corinthians 1:8, 5:5, 2 Corinthians 1:14, Philippian 1:6-10, 2:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).
The
connection between the “day of the Lord” and the return of Jesus did not originate with Paul. Jesus himself
applied language from key Old Testament passages when describing the future “coming”
of the “Son of Man” – (Matthew 24:29-31).
COSMIC UPHEAVAL
Thus, on that day, the “sun shall be darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” When
he appears, “all the tribes of the earth will mourn,” and he will dispatch his angels with the “sound of a trumpet to gather” his
elect. This description
echoes several passages from the Hebrew Bible, including:
- (Isaiah 13:10) – “The day of Yahweh is coming… For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.”
- (Joel 3:15) – “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of Yahweh is near… The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. ”
- (Zechariah 12:10) – “They shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son… On that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem.”
- (Isaiah 11:12) – “And it shall come to pass on that day… He will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
PETER AND REVELATION
The
Apostle Peter also links the “day of the Lord” to the ‘parousia’
at the end of the age. Despite “scoffers” who ask, “Where is the
promise of his arrival” or ‘parousia,’ the “day of the Lord”
will come. When it does, the “heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with
fervent heat.”
In the
meantime, believers must live righteously and “earnestly desire the coming
of the day of God” - (2
Peter 3:7-12).
The book of Revelation also uses the Old Testament language that originally described the “day of Yahweh,” only now, it is identified with the “Lamb.”
For
example, on that day, the “sun became black
as sackcloth, the moon became as blood, and the stars of the heaven fell unto
the earth.” All men attempt to hide in
caves or under rocks to escape the “face of Him that sits on the throne and
the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath is come” - (Revelation
6:12-17).
Likewise, all the “kings of the earth” are gathered to the “war of the great
day of God, the Almighty” at “Armageddon.” That will be the moment
when Jesus arrives “as a thief in the night” - (Revelation 16:14).
Thus, the New Testament
consistently identifies the “day of the Lord” with the “arrival”
of Jesus from heaven, the time when he gathers his saints but also renders
judgment on his enemies. It will be a day characterized by celestial upheaval
and tremendous events on earth.
But that day will not arrive
before the final “falling away” and the unveiling of the “man of
lawlessness, the son of destruction,” the one who will seat himself in the
“sanctuary of God” and employ “all power and signs and lying wonders”
to deceive all those who refuse the “love of the truth.”