Joel End Times Series - Session #2: Day of the Lord

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Session #2: The Day of the Lord

THE DAY-OF-THE-LORD THEME OF THE BOOK OF JOEL

15For the day of the LORDis at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty. (Joel 1:15)

1Blow the trumpet in Zion…for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand. (Joel 2:1)

11For the day of the LORDis great and very terrible; who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)

31The coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (Joel 2:31)

14For the day of the LORDis near in the valley of decision. (Joel 3:14)

A. The primary theme of the book of Joel is the “day of the Lord,” which is mentioned four times (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14).

B. The Day of the Lord is a significant timing indicator in understanding the structure of the book of Revelation and the timeline of end-time activity.

DEFINITION OF THE DAY OF THE LORD

C. One of the prominent themes in the Old and New Testament prophets is the Day of the Lord. It is also referred to as “that day”or “the great day.” The phrase “Day of the Lord” or phrases that speak of it, such as “the Day” or “the great Day,” are found in Scripture nearly 100 times. These phrases are in the Old Testament approximately 80 times.

D. It is “His Day” because He displays His sovereign leadership for all to see. In showing His power and wisdom in an unusual way, it is His day, and thus, “The Day of the Lord.” God’s normal mode of leadership over the earth is to patiently restrain His greater judgments against sin (2 Pet. 3:9; Eccl. 8:11). Rarely has God altered His usual mode of operation by breaking into the natural realm to confront rebellion openly on a large scale. These open demonstrations of His zeal are seen in both revival and the release of the judgments of God.

E. The Day of the Lord is a veryunique period of time in history when God’s blessing and judgments are openly manifest in an exceptional way. It speaks of a special time when God’s blessings or judgments are actively poured out in a heightened way. He displays His power over that which persists in opposing Him. He manifests His zeal in calling nations to account for rebellion against Him, and He visits His people with unusual Holy Spirit power and blessing.

F. This day indicates a unique time frame when God acts with unusual manifestations of power for His people and against His enemies. This is a time when God manifests Himself as the Warrior-King going to war against sin, as He decisively intervenes against His enemy. The Warrior-King openly battles against oppressors of His people as He delivers and vindicates them.

G. For the primary passages in the Old and New Testaments, see Isa. 2:10-22; 4:1-6; 11:1-15; 13:6-9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18-20; Obad. 15; Zeph.l:7, 12, 14-18; Zech. 14:1-4; Mal. 4:5; 1 Thes. 5:2-3; 2 Thes. 2:1-4; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 6:17.

THE TWOFOLD NATURE OF “GOD’S DAY” - GREAT AND TERRIBLE

11For the day of the LORDis great and very terrible; who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)

5“I will send you Elijah…before… the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” (Mal. 4:5)

H. The twofold nature of the day of the Lord is that it is both great in power and blessing for the redeemed and terrible in judgment for those who persist in rebellion. Isaiah refers to this time as the acceptable year or the year of favor (NIV) and the day of vengeance (Isa. 61:2). It is a “year” of favor, speaking of an extended period of time and a “day” of vengeance or a very short time.

2“To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.”
(Isa. 61:2)

I. Great Day:To the redeemed it will be the time of the greatest manifestation of the power of God ever seen in history. It will include supernatural provision, direction (Ps. 91:1-8; Jer. 31:9), and protection (Goshen principle of Ex. 8:22-23a; 9:4, 6, 26). The miracles seen in the book of Acts and the book of Exodus will be combined and multiplied on a global scale. The “great” aspect of that Day will include the outpouring of the Spirit with extraordinary miracles (Joel 2:28-32).

J. Very Terrible Day:To the rebellious it will be the most severe time of God’s judgments ever seen in history. The “terrible” dimension of the Day of the Lord speaks of judgments against the Antichrist’s empire in the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments (Rev. 6; 8-9).

K. Through Scripture, God appealed often to two Old Testament events to illustrate the two aspects of the activities of the Day of the Lord. The story of Moses in Exodus is a picture of the “great” aspect with God’s miraculous deliverance for those who call on Him. The Babylonian military invasion in 586 BC portrays the “terrible” aspects of judgment against persistent rebellion. These two examples teach the primary principles related to the end-time judgment and blessing.

1. Positive: The book of Exodus gives insight into the miracles that will be released when God delivers end-time Israel as they repent.

2. Negative: The Babylonian invasion gives us insight into the judgment on end-time Israel as they persist in rebellion and refuse to receive God’s mercy.

3. Repeatedly, Scripture speaks of these events, as if to say, “Let the deliverance that God released through Moses show you His delivering power, and let the Babylonian invasion make known His zeal to confront persistent rebellion.” By understanding these, we better understand God’s deliverance and judgment related to the final Day of the Lord.

I I. EXPRESSIONS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD IN HISTORY: GLOBAL AND LOCAL SCALE

A. Global and ultimate Day: It occurs only once and is related to Jesus’ return (Joel 2:18-3:21).

B. Local and lesser day: It occurs various times throughout history (Joel 1:1-2:11).

C. Some Old Testament times of judgment are called the “day of the Lord.” These days point to a future Day at the end of the age when similar judgments will be released with greater intensity.

D. The positive aspects of the final Day of the Lord will be seen in the great end-time revival and Jesus’ millennial kingdom.

E. The Old Testament prophets teach us that some of the “day of the Lord” periods in Israel’s history picture the final and ultimate Day of the Lord, which involves worldwide revival and judgments at the end of the age.“Lesser days,”like the locust plague, followed by the Babylonian invasion(Joel1-2),are propheti cforeshadows o fthe future Day at the end of the age(Joel 2:31).

F. Israel’s end-time crisis at the hand of the Antichrist will exceed the previous military conflicts in their history. This military invasion will far surpass the Babylonian devastation of Joel 2:1-9.

1Behold, the day of the LORDis coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken… (Zech. 14:1-2)

G. In God’s divine strategy, a global conflict will mount alongside a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The worst days and the best days for planet earth are coming in the future.

THREE “DAYS OF THE LORD” IN THE BOOK OF JOEL

H. We see three “days of the Lord” in the book of Joel. First, in Joel 1, we see the agricultural crisis (Joel 1:15). Second, in Joel 2, we see the Babylonian military invasion of Israel (Joel 2:1, 11). Third, in Joel 3, we see God’s blessing on Israel and judgment on the Antichrist’s empire (Joel 2:31; 3:14).

I. There is a progression of judgment in the book of Joel involving three different time frames referred to as the Day of the Lord. These three “days” were each associated with a catastrophe.

1. The first day of the Lord involved an agricultural crisis caused by a locust plague (Joel 1:4-12), accompanied by a drought (Joel 1:15-20) and raging fires.

2. The second day of the Lord was a military crisis. The Babylonian army invaded Israel (Joel 1:1-2:9).

3. The third day of the Lord pointed to God’s activity at the end of the age (Joel 2:18-3:21). This Day of the Lord crisis is seen in the book of Revelation (Rev. 6:17).

4. All three day-of-the-Lord descriptions must be studied together to get a complete picture.

J. The crisis in Joel’s day became progressively worse. The agricultural crisis (Joel 1:1-19) was followed by a military crisis (Joel 2:1-9). This agricultural devastation brought Israel to the brink of starvation as four waves of locusts destroyed Israel’s food. As the people and animals died, disease broke out. The entire population was threatened. The locust plague crisis probably lasted three to five years (Joel 2:25).

1. As the negative impact of the agricultural locust plague was passing, the word of the Lord came again to Joel. This time God spoke about a coming Babylonian military invasion. This was far more severe than the agricultural conflict. The locust plague was still fresh in everyone’s mind because the negative effects were still felt in the land.

2. It was at this time that Joel called the people to a solemn assembly of prayer with fasting (Joel 1:14). Why did it come in three stages? God wanted to give Israel time to repent before the next invasion came. Why? Because repentance could minimize some of the lingering fallout from the agricultural crisis, as well as stop the coming military invasion.

3. Israel did not repent. Joel may have prophesied about this for ten to twenty years before it began. God’s judgments sometimes gradually intensify, so as to give those who persist in rebellion the opportunity to repent before the next wave of judgment comes.

K. In Joel 1, the prophet gave an account of the three dimensions of natural disaster that had come upon Israel: the locust invasion (Joel 1:4), drought (Joel 1:17-20), and raging fires that followed the drought (Joel 1:19-20). All of Israel’s life resources were being threatened by this crisis.

1. They assumed their current disaster would soon pass. Yet Joel cries out, in essence, “No! It is going to get much worse!”

2. God sent Joel to these confused people to give them understanding as to why the crisis was increasing, from the absence of wine and oil to ruined grain, to the land being withered, and to the despondency of the people. He said that the calamities would increase until God’s desired effect occurred—seeking God with all their heart (Joel 2:12).

L. The second day of the Lord that Joel prophesied was the Babylonian invasion (Joel 2:1-9). The Babylonians deported many of the Jewish population to Babylon to be put into work camps.

1. The locust crisis lasted a few years, yet the Babylonian crisis lasted 70 years (Jer. 25:8-14; 29:10).

2. The Babylonian military invasion came in three different waves or attacks (606, 597, and 586 BC) over 20 years. That “day” was a 20-year military crisis in which God judged Israel’s persistent rebellion.

WE STUDY THE LESSER DAYS OF THE LORD TO UNDERSTAND THE GREAT DAY

M. Each of these three distinct days reaches a greater intensity of judgment and/or blessing, and portrays different expressions of the final Day of the Lord. All three must be studied together to get the complete picture.

N. The various “local and lesser days of the Lord” teach us of the one “global and ultimate Day.”

O. The judgments in the “lesser days” teach us about God’s mercy. These lesser days “document” God’s zeal in history against oppression and rebellion and His willingness to show mercy. The history of revivals is a record of God breaking in when His people repent with prayer and fasting.

P. As we study the lesser days of the Lord in history, we gain insight into the final Day of the Lord. He has not left us unaware of His ways. He does not leave us guessing what response He wantsin order to grant favor. History tells the story. What He has done in the past, He will do again.

Q. During times of judgment, many are filled with fear and confusion, asking: “What? Who? When? And, where? Where is God? What are we supposed to do? What is going on?” We do not need to be confused, because we have a record in Scripture of what God wants in times of judgment.

R. God never changes. Therefore, His way of relating with His people is clear in Scripture.

WORLD WAR II IS A SIGNIFICANT LESSER DAY OF THE LORD

S. Israel has experienced several great crises of divine discipline in history, constituting a day-of-the-Lord judgment. In 70 AD, the Roman army brutally invaded Israel and destroyed Jerusalem.

T. The trauma of World War II gives insight into some of the horrors of the final Day of the Lord.

U. Nazi Germany’s invasion of various European nations gives insight into the Antichrist’s military invasions. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power.

1. Most Germans were not alarmed as to the evil that Hitler was capable of. Six years after he came to power, he started World War II by invading Poland (Sept. 1, 1939). At that time, no one imagined that within another six years 50 million human beings would die.

2. What happened would have been unthinkable only a few short years before World War II started. It was inconceivable that Germany, one of the most cultured nations, would set into motion a military crisis that resulted in an unprecedented death toll.

V. What suddenly happened in World War II serves as a warning of how quickly something of such magnitude can unfold. The horrors that drastically affected much of Europe and Asia in the 1940s give us insight into the crisis that will touch the entire earth before Jesus’ second coming.

W. The Holocaust also proves that anti-Semitism can suddenly escalate and spread across nations.

X. The Church of our day is as disconnected with the reality that a great shaking is coming as the people of Europe were just before the horrors of Nazi Germany began.

III. THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL DAY OF THE LORD: NARROW AND BROAD

A. The end-of-the-age Day of the Lord is both a one-time event when Jesus enters Jerusalem to be crowned King, as well as a series of events starting with the Great Tribulation and extending for the 1,000 years of the millennial kingdom.

B. Narrow Day of the Lord: Refers to the 24-hour day when Jesus returns to Jerusalem.

C. Broad Day of the Lord: Refers to the period when God’s blessings and judgments are released across the earth in an exceptional way. The broad Day of the Lord continues for about 1,000 years, beginning with the Great Tribulation and continuing until the end of the Millennium.

1. It begins in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week at the first seal and includes the blessing and judgment events of the Great Tribulation. It includes the second coming and the judgment of the Gentile nations (Mt. 25:31-46), and continues through the millennial reign of Jesus for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1-6).

2. It also includes God’s judgment on the final revolt of the nations at the end of the Millennium and the cleansing of the present heavens and earth with fervent heat (Isa. 65:17-19; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1).

D. The analogy of a natural day is helpful, as it begins in the night, followed by hours of darkness before the morning light finally dawns. So the Day of the Lord has 3½ years of darkness before the “millennial light of day” breaks forth at the second coming.

THE SECOND COMING: WINDS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A GREAT HURRICANE

E. Daniel saw the activity of God shifting things in the nations like winds stirring on the sea.

2Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3And four great beasts came up from the sea.” (Dan. 7:2-3)

F. Many events surrounding Jesus’ second coming—before, during, and after—are involved in the Day of the Lord. Think of a great hurricane out at sea that is approaching the coastlands. Imagine that it has 200 mph winds surrounding the center of the storm. The winds will increase and affect the coastland long before the fullness of the eye of the storm reaches land. Think of the center of the storm as the second coming of Jesus.

G. The winds of judgment and blessing will increase greatly before Jesus’ return, just as the winds of a hurricane precede the center of the storm that is still out at sea.

H. There will be a progressive intensity of events, both good and bad. As the winds are on both sides of the center of the storm, so God’s winds of blessing and judgment will be on both sides of Jesus’ coming. The winds will be discernable before and after Jesus returns.

I. I believe we are at the beginning of the beginning. We still have time to seek God and to go deep in revelation. In my opinion, we are in the early days of the generation in which Jesus will return. I believe that there are people alive today who will see the return of Jesus. It may be the twenty-year-olds or the two-year-olds who see it; I do not know with certainty. No one knows this with absolute certainty. This is by God’s design because He wants us to move forward by faith as we search the Word and live in deep connection and relationship with Him through the Spirit.

J. The winds preceding the Lord’s appearing will cause a great shaking of all things.

26“Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” (Heb. 12:26)

K. There will be a great disruption in the nations just before and immediately after Jesus’ appearing. Some nations will be eliminated as Jesus, the King of kings, sets the nations in order. Many geographic changes will occur before and after He returns. The key positive and negative events surrounding Jesus’ coming—before, during, and after—are all a part of the Day of the Lord.

DAY OF THE LORD: PARTIAL, SUBSTANTIAL, AND ULTIMATE

L. Partial: Seen in various times in history, like in Joel’s generation.

M. Substantial: Seen in the Great Tribulation, which initiates the final Day-of-the-Lord judgments.

N. Ultimate: Seen in the great white throne judgments, which end the final Day of the Lord.

THE FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE: “LIKE KIND, BUT LESSER DEGREE”

O. Joel described the blessing and judgment of the Day of the Lord as it relates to Israel. It is important to understand this because of the principle that I call “like kind, but lesser degree.”

1. The glory and judgment that God will release on the nation of Israel in the Great Tribulation and the millennial kingdom will be given in “like kind, but to a lesser degree” to the Church and the Antichrist’s empire in this age.

2. Israel will receive the most severe judgment for their rebellion and the greatest degree of blessing in their repentance.

3. The same manifestations of God’s power in blessing that will be manifest in Israel in the millennial kingdom will be seen in the Church in this age, but to a lesser degree.

4. This principle applies to the judgments of God that Israel will endure throughout the Great Tribulation. These judgments will also come on the Gentile nations that persist in rebelling against God, but to a lesser degree.

P. The remnant of Israel will have a spirit of glory resting upon them that will surpass the rest of God’s people in the Church, especially after Jesus’ second coming. Israel’s judgment will be more severe, but their glory will be greater. For example, Jesus will set up His throne in Jerusalem and rule all the nations from Israel (Isa. 2:2-4; Zech. 6:12-13).

Q. When the Old Testament prophets prophesied the Day of the Lord, their focus was nearly always on Israel. Occasionally, we find a few references in the Bible regarding the Day of the Lord for the Gentile nations.

R. We study how the blessing and judgment of the Day of the Lord will touch Israel. We gain insight into the blessing and judgment that Gentile believers and unbelievers will experience. It will be in like kind, but to a lesser degree.

S. The crisis of the Day of the Lord in Joel is centered on Israel. However, we apply these truths to other nations, knowing that a parallel crisis that involves military invasions and agricultural crisis will come to all nations that are in agreement with the kingdom of darkness.

T. Some theologians have what I call “selective theology” in relation to Israel. They apply the scriptural promises of blessing given to Israel to the Church, yet leave the judgment prophecies to be fulfilled only by Israel and not the Church.

U. We study Joel, knowing that what will happen to Israel, good and bad, will happen in part to the nations of the earth as well.

Much of this teaching will be used by the English speaking Pastors in the Africa Training Bible School.(ATBS)

Each of these ATBS Series includes an audio and handout or study notes to be downloaded as well as a PowerPoint to make the viewing more visual for the Pastors in Africa and the youth in their church.

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