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The Day of the Lord – Week 41 / October 9th
“But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2 Peter 3:10
The Day of the Lord is a subject that is written about in almost every book of scripture. It is therefore not an isolated or obscure subject and yet it is largely ignored by preachers and expositors of scripture today. Scripture has all of history moving toward this great day. There have been types of it in history just as there have been types of the Antichrist in history but, for sure, God and the human race have a final appointment that will be kept. This will be the Day of the Lord!
So, what can we learn about it from the Bible?
1. That it will come when the world least expects it;
its arrival will be like a thief in the night. In fact the world will declare a new and unprecedented order of peace and safety and then the Day of the Lord will befall it. (1Thessalonians 5:2-3) As I write it is clear that the conflict unfolding in the Middle East will escalate, shake the world and stampede it toward global government. Sadly the new world order will finally banish the God of the Bible from its domain and those who continue to revere Him and His Son Jesus Christ. They will “rage” against anything biblical and against Israel. (Psalm 2) Their victory will appear complete but like the coming of a thief in the night the Day of the Lord will overtake them.
2. That it will be a terrifying Day of judgment.
It will engulf the whole world and ultimately consume it with fire. Many great passages of the Major Prophets refer to it and Isaiah 24, Zechariah 14 and Joel 3 are examples of this. All of them have the luminaries failing and falling; a theme that Jesus, Paul, Peter and John pick up on. (Matthew 24:29; Acts 2:14-21; Revelation 6:12-17)
3. That it will be a Day of undetermined length.
That is, since the luminaries fail it will not be your usual 24 hour day. It is the unique Day of the Lord. ( Zechariah 14: 6-7) The leaders of the earth will be caught out completely by surprise by its arrival and have enought time to gather their weapons in a last ditch effort to resist the purpose of God. (Revelation 19:19) they will fail!
4. That it will be a Day of salvation. ( Acts 2:21)
Millions of people, all over the world, will be overcome by a spirit of repentance and call out to God to save them by the once for all finished work of Jesus on the cross. This will truly be the “last call” for the human race. The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord will shake them free of sin and bring them to the grace of God and yet millions more will continue in their hatred of God and all things Christian. Such is the wickedness of the human heart.
5. That it will be the Day of Jesus’ second coming.
On this Day, as it breaks, Jesus will come for His Church and save her from the wrath to come. The Day of the Lord and thus the Day also of His coming is like a “thief in the night”. (Revelstion 16:12-16) Both events are wound into one and so as He comes in flaming fire to judge the world we will behold Him for the first time and marvel at His glory and magnificence. (2Thessalonans 1:3-12)
Even so Lord Jesus come!
Given the above it is no wonder that Peter concludes his words about the coming Day of the Lord by writing that, as a consequence, we should live holy and godly lives and do everything possible to hasten its arrival. Note verses 11-13 of 2Peter 3. We should all live in the light of the coming Day of the Lord and take every day as a gift from God to love Him and do His will on earth. The Day of the Lord is surely coming and we must be ready and waiting for our Lord. This is why Jesus gave us the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25. Look it up again and read it carefully for it warns us not to be spiritually asleep in these days.
Blessings in Jesus,
Malcolm Hedding.
©Malcolm Hedding Ministries
2012Devotional