So, for a while now I’ve studied the Day of the Lord theme throughout the Bible, and I seem to be having a bit of a conflict with the timing of it all . I'm focusing mainly on the braod Day of the Lord. So...
The main timing indicator verses (that I know of) are:
Joel 2--
30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
1 Thess 5--
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
Revelation 6--
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood... 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Mike places the starting point at the 3 ½ year mark, along with the releasing of the first seal. I’m not so sure about this, because as far as I know, the DOTL is never equated with the Great Tribulation in the NT. They aren’t two names for the same thing. Great Tribulation seems to be, in a nutshell, heightened trouble for everyone, whereas the DOTL has a very specific purpose in the heart of God. And I’m not convinced that the first seal is going to break the period of false peace (but it might—I may change my mind later). On the other hand, the peace and safety verse does make a lot of sense with this theory. It goes very well with the “as in the days of Noah” reality. It really does work, until you throw in the other passages.
The other option that I can see as far as starting points go would be the sixth seal. This goes perfectly with Joel 2 and Rev 6. Another awesome thing to note, if indeed this theory is right, is that the DOTL is brought on by the fifth seal:
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
You'll love the idea (and Jesus) even more after reading Psalm 18 =D. But anyway, to get off the bunny trail, even though I personally like this theory a lot, it doesn't really line up with 1 Thess 5 and the whole "days of Noah" thing. You have to seriously stretch the passage to assume that the world will be saying "peace and safety" at the time of the fourth seal, or even the second and third.
I don't know if any of that made any sense to anyone but me, but basically I have no conclusion. I still have plenty of study and think-pray time to do, and the book of Daniel to explore, but for the moment I just really want to know how it's all going to work! So...thoughts, suggestions, verses, theories? Anyone?
The main timing indicator verses (that I know of) are:
Joel 2--
30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
1 Thess 5--
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
Revelation 6--
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood... 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Mike places the starting point at the 3 ½ year mark, along with the releasing of the first seal. I’m not so sure about this, because as far as I know, the DOTL is never equated with the Great Tribulation in the NT. They aren’t two names for the same thing. Great Tribulation seems to be, in a nutshell, heightened trouble for everyone, whereas the DOTL has a very specific purpose in the heart of God. And I’m not convinced that the first seal is going to break the period of false peace (but it might—I may change my mind later). On the other hand, the peace and safety verse does make a lot of sense with this theory. It goes very well with the “as in the days of Noah” reality. It really does work, until you throw in the other passages.
The other option that I can see as far as starting points go would be the sixth seal. This goes perfectly with Joel 2 and Rev 6. Another awesome thing to note, if indeed this theory is right, is that the DOTL is brought on by the fifth seal:
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
You'll love the idea (and Jesus) even more after reading Psalm 18 =D. But anyway, to get off the bunny trail, even though I personally like this theory a lot, it doesn't really line up with 1 Thess 5 and the whole "days of Noah" thing. You have to seriously stretch the passage to assume that the world will be saying "peace and safety" at the time of the fourth seal, or even the second and third.
I don't know if any of that made any sense to anyone but me, but basically I have no conclusion. I still have plenty of study and think-pray time to do, and the book of Daniel to explore, but for the moment I just really want to know how it's all going to work! So...thoughts, suggestions, verses, theories? Anyone?
Labels: Eschatology, My Thinkings
posted by Jessica G at
6:20 AM
3 Comments:
As I was reading/thinking about it, I had an idea... tell me what you think.
The premise I'm working on is that there is both a broad and narrow Day of the Lord... The narrow Day of the Lord would be the Second Coming Procession of Jesus in which the mystery of God is finished and the wrath of God complete (Rev 10:7, Rev 14:17-15:1). That seems pretty clear because when the narrow Day of the Lord is referenced, the Lord Himself is the One who steps down and distresses the nations (Rev 19 - psalms 18 in that light is awesome!).
But I was thinking about the progressive nature of the Day of the Lord, and I began to think that the broad Day of the Lord really does begin with the first seal in that its what starts the progressive process to break the false peace and safety deception from the earth.
1st Seal - Crown was given - Conquering and to conquer
2nd Seal - Granted to take peace from the Earth
3rd Seal - Huge Famine - *do not harm the oil and the wine... (don't mess with the rich people yet?)*
4th Seal - Death and Hades granted power over 1/4th of the earth
5th seal - Martyrs cry for vengence
6th Seal - Sun turns black, Moon like blood, now (Rev 6:15) men of all rank and class are hiding themselves. They cry out "the great day of His wrath has come." However, it seems like they are more talking about the great "time period" of His wrath has come because 1., afterward it only get worse for them... 2. Even more stuff happens to the sun and moon after that (4th Trumpet Rev 8:12-13). So maybe the Joel 2 Day of the Lord is specifically speaking of the return of Jesus...
As for 1 Thess 5 - In a way, people are trying to convince themselves and others of peace and safety up till the 7th bowl... (Anti-christ and kingdom/Babylon: refusing to repent - drunk on the blood of the saints -Insanity - Deception to gather to fight the Lord of Hosts) The sudden destruction seems to come in waves (...like labor pains...) to break deception, instead of just once... [the waves even in response to the waves of worship and prayer that run through the story of Revelation (Maybe Rev 5:4, 8 (prayers of the saints -connected to taking the scroll)?, 5th Seal, Rev 8:1-6, Rev 15:3-4, maybe a connection between Joel 2:32-33 and Psalms 18 - the deliverance/salvation of Israel?] And an interesting verse to pair with 1 Thess 5 is Rev 16:15... Jesus says, "Behold I am coming as a thief..." after the sixth bowl, and right before the seventh bowl. So... you could even take the narrow Day of the Lord that comes as a thief (sudden destruction) right up to the seventh bowl... (Isaiah 24) or even further? Revelation 19:11-21...? Revelation 20:9...?
So basically my answer is "I don't know!... good question" lol
What exactly is getting birthed, and who is doing the birthing?
Maybe it would help us figure out when the DOTL is by having a more clear definition of what the DOTL is...
Those are my thoughts for the night... ;-)
Oh the depths both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
By
Micah, at 4:00 AM
Hmm. That aroused several points/questions, and I was going to post them but really, they're just over little technicalities, and its better to discuss those in person. Things that one spoken sentence might clear up take a whole paragraph or two to clarify when you're writing. And even then sometimes you're still lost. So...
The main thing I want to focus on is this: Is the broad DOTL progressive?
I can't answer that at the moment (maybe you can?), but I'll give it some serious thought.
As for everything else...maybe I'll post it later...or save it for another time...
By
Jessica G, at 2:42 PM
Ya... sorry...
I just kind of used your post as an excuse to stay up all night and read the book of revelation... haha
Merry Christmas! =)
By
Micah, at 8:56 PM
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