“…will come as a thief in the night…”
The phrase, Day of the Lord, appears 29 times in the King James Bible (KJV). It has been said that when God repeats something (for example, the Ten Commandments are stated as Law in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5), that
He intends to place emphasis on the point being made. Such is the case when the Day of the Lord is mentioned twenty-nine times strongly suggesting a major, Major, Biblical doctrine!
Verse numbers in the following sample case study are left out to smooth parts of the narrative so as not to be distracting. Bible verses are copied from a website and are written here in blue and red exclusively for emphasis to
distinguish them from comments, observations and references. All Bible quotes are KJV. No comments are from the Internet except where indicated.
Following is a case study of Zechariah 14. I have compiled a complete listing of all occurrences of Day of the Lord in Old and New Testaments for one’s perusal.
Case Study of Zechariah 14
Note: in the following the phrase, in that day, is an allusion to The Day of the LORD specified in verse one. We will now
highlight, in red, all such occurrences in this chapter to focus on each reference.
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. (Nuclear war?) And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up
against the hand of his neighbor. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and
the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Seven times the phrase, in that day, occurs all alluding to verse one. It is obvious the entire chapter is about events pertaining to the Day of the Lord.
End of case study of Zechariah 14
List of references to the Day of the LORD follows (each is worthy of a separate study as I have given for Zech 14):
Isa 2:12 For the Day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low… (Contrast later with Zephaniah 2:2-3.)
Isaiah 13:6 Howl ye; for the Day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isaiah 34:8 For it is the Day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.
Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable Year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (clearly, this is a reference to the Day of the Lord).
Isaiah 63:4 For the Day of vengeance is in mine heart, and The year of my redeemed is come. (this also is a reference to the Day of the Lord.)
Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the Day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord
GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Lamentations 2:22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the Day of the Lord’s anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
Ezekiel 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the Day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity.
Ezekiel 13:5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the Day of the LORD.
Ezekiel 30:3 For the Day is near, even the Day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! for the Day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joel 2:11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible Day of the LORD come.
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the Day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the Day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:20 Shall not the Day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Obadiah 1:15 For the Day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
Zephaniah 1:7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the Day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:8 And it shall come to pass in the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great Day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the Day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the Day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them
that dwell in the land.
Zephaniah 2:2-3 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in The Day of the Lord’s anger. (Contrast with Isaiah 2:12 above.)
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. (Reread the case study above.)
Malachi 4:5 Behold, before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the LORD: I will send you Elijah the prophet.
• This verse reveals that a godly man, a spokesman for God, will come just before the Day of the LORD , who will speak in the Spirit and the power of Elijah and will challenge the world about their loyalty. Elijah asked, I Kings18:21: “How long halt ye between opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. I Kings18:21: The world will
subsequently be forced to decide where their loyalty lies.
The following is a listing of the phrase, Day of the LORD, in the New Testament:
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable Day of the Lord come.
1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the Day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…
Revelation 16:14 …the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that Great Day of God Almighty. (Same as Day
of the Lord!)
One More Thing
There is another reference to the “Day of the Lord” not found by my search engine: Revelation 1:10: I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day… Some have asserted that this is a reference to Sunday. Sunday? John was an Old Testament
Jew, who, if he meant Sunday would have said: …on the first day of the week…
John’s reference to the Lord’s Day is the same as Day of the Lord.
For a deep down scholarly study of Revelation 1:10 visit: https://www.cogwriter.com/lordsday.htm
Conclusion
There is much prophesy in the Old Testament missed by most readers. The Old Testament described, in advance, much of the events concluded by the book of Revelation.
Perhaps the Book of Revelation should be RENAMED to the more fitting title: The Day of the Lord with the subtitle: The Final Revelation!