The Day of The Lord

The Day of The Lord

© C. O. Bishop 2010 (reviewed and expanded, 2020)

Introduction

I heard a sermon recently, written and delivered by a sincere man, a believer, but which stirred me to re-study the subject of the “Day of Jehovah” or, in the New Testament, “Day of the Lord”. The man had correctly read 2nd Peter 3:10-12 to describe the day of the Lord, but had incorrectly taught that it all happened at the same time. (read it) We see there, that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night, and that it results in the complete destruction of the earth.

There is a fair amount of confusion about the subject, so, I would like to begin at the beginning, so to speak.

First Mention

The first mention of the Day of the LORD is in Isaiah 2:12. [The word “Lord” is in all caps, in the KJV, indicating that the word being translated is the “tetragrammaton”… the Hebrew four-consonant word, YHWH, that is sometimes translated Jehovah, or, occasionally, in modern Bibles, “Yahweh”. We simply do not know how the word is to be pronounced, but, since, in the New Testament, the word was translated Lord—from the Greek, kurios , then I will feel free to simply point out the different words, and use the same English words: “The Day of the Lord.”]  The introduction of the concept is a warning that God will judge the proud ones of the earth, and specifically, that judgment would begin at Jerusalem; that he would judge her before blessing and restoring her. Isaiah goes on to elaborate on the theme and mentions the day of the Lord, in eight more passages. Frequently, the theme is enlarged upon without using the full phrase, but only calling in “in that day”. Listen to what the various scriptures say about this Day:

Many Contrasts

The day of the Lord is said to be a day of vengeance, of salvation, and recompense. (Isaiah 34:8) Everyone left alive in Jerusalem will be declared holy—a cloud and smoke by day will mark the city and a shining, flaming fire by night. (Isaiah 4:1-6)

The Messiah, (root of Jesse) will be eagerly sought after by the Gentiles, and the twelve tribes of Israel will be united again—literally, and relationally. The Dispersed Jews will be brought back to Israel from everywhere on earth, and will get along perfectly, for the first time in history. (Isaiah 11:10-13)

Israel will blossom, and abound with fruit, and be utterly blessed by God…after a terrible judgment. (Isaiah 27:6)

Idolatry will finally be utterly done away with, voluntarily, as every man will get rid of his idols. (Isaiah 2:20, 17:7, etc.)

It will be a day of cruel Wrath and fierce anger (Isaiah 13:6-11)

It will be a day of blessing, and peace, and gentleness. (Isaiah 19:23-25) Are you starting to see some apparent contradictions? And yet ALL these prophecies will be fulfilled literally, in the Day of the Lord. If any fall short, then God’s Word would fall short. Remember that they are to be fulfilled in the Day of the Lord, not before. There may be similar things that happen before, or have already happened, but the ultimate fulfillment is in the Day of the Lord.

The country south of Israel, once known as Edom, or Idumea, will be destroyed—its creeks will flow with pitch (what we call “tar,” I think), and sulfurous dust will cover the ground. The tar (if that is what it is) will burn, and will not be put out. There will be some wildlife that finds a habitat there, but humans will not live there anymore. (Isaiah 34:5-11; 63:1-6)

Not an Ordinary “Day”

Isaiah concludes by stating that God will judge the whole earth, and that after that judgment, the whole world will come to worship Him. (Isaiah 66:15-24) Interesting…that is pretty much what the book of the Revelation describes, too, as the tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, the destruction of the enemies of God, and the blessedness of the Kingdom that follows. But it takes 1007 years, not one single “ordinary” day.

So we see that the Day of the Lord is not a 24-hour day, nor even a single occurrence, but a series of occurrences that follow a prescribed format and a God-ordained schedule. Incidentally, Isaiah did not have the whole picture: there was more to come, after the Kingdom age.

Jeremiah confirms Isaiah’s message (Jeremiah 25:29-38)—he says that Judgment will begin at Jerusalem, but will cover the earth, and that the slain will be from one end of the earth to the other, and that they will not even be buried, but will be allowed to rot on the face of the earth.

Ezekiel confirms the terror of the coming day. (Ezekiel 30:1-3, ff) He also tells of some huge changes, regarding the temple, itself. (Ezekiel, chapters 41-48)

Church Age Excluded (sidebar)

Daniel (9:23-26)does not use the phrase “the Day of the Lord”, however, he describes the Day of the Lord and the 483 years prior to the Messiah (in other words, prior to Jesus’s life and death) but skips the Church age entirely, as does every single Old Testament prophet…they were given no hint of the mystery of the Church age. Daniel’s message begins with Nehemiah’s day, and runs as far as the Cross, then skips straight to the tribulation, and beyond. We have been in the Church Age for nearly two thousand years, and the prophets did not see it coming at all. The New Testament confirms (Ephesians 3:4-6) that they did not know about it. They weren’t told!

More prophecies of the Day of the Lord

Joel warns that the priesthood won’t escape God’s judgment. (Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-11)  The whole nation will suffer the judgment. But he also points to the coming blessing. (Joel 2:18-3:21)

Amos reminds the people that the Day of the Lord would begin with horrific judgment on Israel…and was not something to be looked forward to. (Amos 5:18-20) But he, too, confirms that after the terrible judgment of God there will be restoration and blessing. (Amos 9:11-15)

Obadiah 15-21 emphasizes the judgment on the heathen (gentiles), and does not specifically mention the judgment on Israel.

Zephaniah 1:7-18 again emphasizes the judgment on Israel.

Zechariah 12:1-14, 13-1-6 describe the judgment and the salvation of Jerusalem, and the subsequent holiness of the people of God. Zechariah 14:1-21 describes the judgment of the enemies of Israel, and the fact that the survivors of that judgment will be worshipping God thereafter, and coming to Jerusalem year after year to do so.

Malachi 4:1-7 concludes the Old Testament with the assurance that the Day of the Lord was certainly coming, and that Elijah would precede its coming. (Jesus talked about that too, and said it was fulfilled in John the Baptist. Interestingly, Elijah appeared personally, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and evidently will appear again, during the latter period of the Great Tribulation, though he is not specifically named in that passage.)

Jesus spoke about the same period of time, in Matthew 24:4-44. In verses 29-31, he specified when the second coming would happen: it will be after the Great Tribulation.

New Testament Warnings

In Acts 1:11, the angels said that Jesus would return in like manner as they had seen him leave (ascending into a cloud)…so they could expect a physical, bodily visible return. But in Acts 2:19, 20 Peter again described the terrible signs of the Day of the Lord.

No further mention is made until Paul is correcting some bad doctrine that had already crept in, in Thessalonica. Evidently some people had been teaching that the Day of the Lord had already occurred. (2nd Thessalonians 2:2…called the “day of Christ,” here)

Paul gives them some hope in 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18, and describes what we call the “rapture.” (Compare 1st Corinthians 15:51, 52)  Then (1st Thessalonians 5:1-5) he describes the Day of the Lord, and states that it will overtake the world “as a thief in the night”, but states that that day would not overtake them (the recipients of the letter), as they were not of the night. (Ephesians 5:8 points out that the believers—all of them—were no longer of the darkness but of the light, and admonished them to behave accordingly.) 1st Thessalonians, chapters four and five are continuing the same context! The events of chapter four immediately precede those of chapter five. Chapter four describes the “thief in the night” portion. What follows is total nightmare.

It is interesting, too, to see that the beginning of the tribulation will be associated with what the World will see as security and safety—peace, in fact. It seems as though the “middle-east peace treaty,” that everyone has wanted for years, will finally actually happen, but that treaty will be the beginning of the tribulation. (This is speculation on my part, to some extent, but give it some thought: why else would the whole world say “Peace and Safety!”? Compare Daniel 9:27)

Those who rejected the truth before the Rapture will not “change their minds” after it. (another sidebar)

In his second letter to the Thessalonian believers, Paul further described the events of the tribulation, specifically describing the antichrist, and explaining how the people would respond to the rapture (apparently,) in saying that God will send a “strong delusion” so that those who had previously rejected the Gospel would not believe (because of the rapture?) but that those who had not rejected it (never heard it, or whatever) would apparently still be free to believe. (2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12) Read it carefully…the verb tenses are important. This is why millions will be saved during the tribulation, but none who previously rejected His Grace.

“The Day of the Lord,” again

Finally, we get to 2nd Peter 3:10-12, the passage that was so poorly treated in the sermon I heard. The verses truly do describe the Day of the Lord…beginning with the rapture, as a matter of fact. Consider: it comes as a thief in the night—not as an armed robber at dawn, or an attack at mid-day. The “thief” comes by night specifically to take away with Him something of value. And those sleeping are not aware it has been taken until they awaken: Too late!

Remember that in 1st Thessalonians 5, Paul pointed out that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, immediately after he described the catching away of the church. He stated that this was the beginning of the destruction, similar to the beginning of labor, for a woman in childbirth. (“The time has come and it cannot be evaded or postponed.”)

But what part of the tribulation could be described as coming as a thief in the night? The wars? The famines? All the judgments of the tribulation are done openly, and known worldwide. The physical return of Jesus is seen by all: it is the single most “public” event in history, to that date.

The only aspect of the Day of the Lord that can be likened to a thief in the night is the Rapture of the Church. The World will be in profound spiritual darkness, and deeply asleep, in regard to the call of God. Jesus comes silently (from the World’s perspective) and takes away the Church secretly (so far as the World is concerned). We will hear the call! We will see him face to face! But those left behind will only wake up to find a bunch of “Christian whackos” have “gone missing.” (Big deal! Good riddance! Party time!) And, at about that time, just before or just after the rapture, evidently a seven-year peace treaty (Daniel 9:27) will be signed with Israel. Everyone will rejoice, and say, “Peace and safety!” not knowing the tribulation is upon them.

The Tribulation will conclude with the physical return of Christ, and we will be coming back with Him. (Revelation 19:11-21) Those opposing him will die in the attempt. The Judgment of the living nations will immediately follow (Matthew 25:31-46). Those who have become believers during the Tribulation (and survived it) will go into the kingdom in their natural bodies (verse 34), but those who were enemies of God will go directly into judgment—specifically Hades. The kingdom will last 1000 years (Revelation 20…confirmed six times in the first seven verses), and will be the place and time-period of blessing described by all the prophets. During that Kingdom age is the time when “the Lion shall lie down with the calf.” (Isaiah 11:6-8) The whole world will know Jesus personally, face to face. (Jeremiah 31:34; Habakkuk 2:14) They will come and worship Him there in Jerusalem, year after year, as we read in other passages.

But not all will willingly serve him…children will be born who do not want to serve him, and there will be a growing undercurrent of unrest. There will be occasional minor rebellions, which will be quickly crushed. Nations that choose to ignore the feast of tabernacles, specifically, will find that the rains “choose to ignore” their lands. It specifically says that Jesus will “reign with an iron scepter”. It will not be a re-run of “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild” On the other hand, he will literally know the heart of every human, so there will never be a “miscarriage of justice.” Jesus is (and always has been) the Judge of all the earth, and He will do no wrong.

The Kingdom will culminate in a final attempted rebellion by those who had pretended subservience and loyalty during the kingdom-age (Parable of the wheat and the tares: Matthew 13:24-30; 37-43), but the rebels will be rounded up by angelic means (none other than Satan and his cronies, who instigated the rebellion) and the human rebels will be burned on the spot.

The End of the Age

At that point, the skies will open, and a Great White Throne will appear in the sky. The Judgment which is referred to as the “Great White Throne Judgment” ensues immediately. The Day of the Lord is about to end. This judgment pronounces sentence upon all the lost souls of all time, and they all are cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

The very next scene shows the new heaven and new earth, the old having passed away… How? Well, that is what 2nd Peter 3:10, 11, 12 are referring to—the fact that the heaven and earth shall pass away with a “fervent heat and a great noise!” I find it interesting that Colossians 1:17 says “…and in Him all things consist” (hold together)—if Jesus is literally what is “holding all things together,” then what would happen if he “let go?” A “fervent heat and a great noise,” I’ll bet!

Conclusion:

Now, while we are thinking about, and looking at, the passage in 2nd Peter, please notice that the context in Peter includes 2nd Peter 3:7-9: “But the heavens and the earth which are now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is, with the Lord, as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

AH! So, maybe there was precedent for understanding that the 1007(+) years that constitute the “Day of the Lord” do not violate any scriptural norm. God is not restricted in His use of time, as we are. A millennium passes, and it is as if a day has passed. God is simply not affected by time. Time was created for the sake of Man, and will apparently end with the passing of this world.

Don’t miss the point here, though—we Christians are running out of time! We are supposed to be ambassadors for God, here on earth. We are supposed to have the same heart for the lost that God has. We do not have to be afraid of the coming judgment for our own sakes, but we should be afraid for the sake of the lost. Judgment is coming, and, like it or not, we are the only messengers sent to avert disaster for the people. Angels do not have the privilege of sharing the Gospel: Only Humans get this assignment!

So, to summarize: the Day of the Lord begins with the rapture, which happens silently and secretly, as a thief in the night, where the World is concerned, and which ends in the destruction of the world, as we know it, resulting in the establishment of a new heaven and new earth, (Revelation 21:1.) We are not told much about the new world. I think we will find it satisfactory.J

But, I am anxious that we conduct our lives in such a manner that our Savior will also find us satisfactory. We are already saved, but we are told that we can add rewards to salvation. Salvation is a gift that has been given and it will not be lost. But rewards can be missed out on, and we will be grieved if we lose those opportunities.

Let us consider how to live so as to please the One who died for us. Anything else is ultimately worthless.

Footnote:

I am printing these notes and providing them to any who want them, in the church. My recommendation would be that you take the time to look up and read all the passages cited in the notes, re-examining the message as you do so. I do not want you to believe anything simply on my word…you need a “thus saith the Lord!” So please study the passages, ask questions, and establish your own convictions regarding what is to come.

If you are reading these notes online, feel free to download the notes and print them, for study purposes.

If you have specific questions, please feel free to contact me. I will do my best to answer questions and explain the notes, as needed.

Things God Wants you to Know

Things God Wants You to Know—and Things He Doesn’t.

© Chet Bishop 2011

Introduction:

I rarely offer “current events” sermons… The most current thing in the world is God’s Word, and I can never offer anything more relevant than what He has to say. But over the last few weeks a frustrating, sad thing has been happening. A man (Harold Camping) has claimed to know something, and has presented this “special knowledge” to the world at large. He did so in the name of Jesus. He advertised worldwide…spent millions, in fact,  to tell everyone that Jesus was going to rapture the church on May 21st, 2011 at 5:59 PM. (In case you are wondering, nothing happened at all…guess we missed it.)

This is not the first time this charlatan has made this claim. He did the same thing in 1994, and it almost seems to me that he claimed the same day that time, but I can’t remember for sure. At any rate, he was shown to be a false prophet that time, and has done so again. But this time, the whole world is mocking the Christians, assuming that this is what Christians believe. They laugh, and write slanderous ditties, mocking those who believe in the Christ at all, let alone the relative few who accepted the message of the charlatan.

Serious Christians and, more specifically, serious Bible students were not at all disturbed by his message, except that we all fervently wish he would knock off the frivolous claims, and quit dragging the name of Jesus in the dirt of public mockery. We knew he was wrong.

How did we know?

There are things God definitely wants us to know. He says so, and commands Christians to share that knowledge with anyone who will listen. (He also says that we are not to waste it on those who are opposed to the message.) But there are things God does NOT want us to know, as well: more specifically, things He has plainly told us we will not know, that it is not ours to know.

Things God want us to Know:

Let’s look first at just a few of the things God says He wants us to know—there are many, of course, but let’s look at a few of the key issues:

Isaiah 6:1-3 says “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim…and one cried to another, and said, ‘HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the LORD of Hosts’!”

(God is Holy! In fact, Holiness is His primary attribute…and He wants us to know it!)

Zechariah 8:17 says, “And let none of you imagine evil in your heart against your neighbor… for these are things that I hate, saith the LORD”

One thing God wants you to know (and He declares it to be so, over and over) is that He is a Holy God. That means he is separated from sin. It also means he hates sin, as any grieving parent would hate the drugs that were destroying his or her precious child…God hates sin because it is repugnant to him…offensive to him; and he hates it because of the destruction it is working in the world he has created…the people that he loves…the people for whom he died.

God is Holy, and He hates sin…he hates the evil that mankind thinks up, one against another—all of it—from the gossip and lies that are so common in the world, to the greed that consumes our nations, to the immorality that riddles all of our cultures.

We don’t like to think about God hating—but he does—He is Holy, and He hates sin.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Now, Love is something we DO like to associate with God—we like to remember his Love, and we sing, “Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus!” Let’s see what it says He loves: It says, “God so loved the WORLD…” the people. Not the World system of thinking, which despises His grace, and spits on his Law, but the people themselves, created in His image. He hates the sin, but loves the sinner.

So, another thing God wants you to know is that He loves you—you, personally, with all your pride and sin, and failings. (Yes, you are a sinner…most of you do not need me to tell you that…you already knew it.) God says that “ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23) He also says “the wages of Sin is death” (Romans 6:23.) But God says He loves you in spite of your sin, and sent His Son to die in your place.

Now, one thing He told us briefly, in John 3:16, is that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That begins to let us know what God wants us to do…He says he wants us to believe in His Son, who died for us.

Once Jesus was speaking to a large crowd of people, and one of them asked “Teacher, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?” Some of you know His answer—this question was in John 6:28—verse 29 gave His answer. He said “this is the work of God; that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” Jesus could have quoted the Ten Commandments to them—He was the author! But God has NEVER invited us to do good works to earn His favor. He has always invited us to place our trust in His perfect work, and receive un-earned favor—that’s what we call GRACE. (Grace means “unearned favor.” God says “By Grace are ye saved, through Faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.”He loveH

So, right along with the fact that He loves us, is the fact that he wants us to place our trust in Him—specifically, in his Son, the Lord Jesus.

In another situation, Jesus was talking with a group of people, and made a very special promise.

 John 5:24 says “Verily, Verily, I say unto you; whosoever heareth my Words, and believeth on Him who sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life”

God wants you to know HOW to receive eternal life, He wants you to receive it, and He wants you to know for sure that you have received it. Let me re-emphasize that: He wants you to know how to have eternal life, He wants you to HAVE eternal life, and He wants you to KNOW you have it—NOW, not waiting ‘til you die, and hoping you would get it.

Look at that promise! John 5:24 is ONE promise, with TWO conditions, and THREE clauses. (ONE, TWO, THREE!)

The whole verse is one promise—what are the conditions? He said whoever (that means you and me)…#1: whoever hears my words (If you have heard the promise of Christ, even if today was the first time, and I know for most of you it is not), #2: and believes on Him who sent me (If you place your trust in the Grace that sent Jesus to the cross—believing that His blood was sufficient to pay for your sin) Those are the only conditions—there is no one here who cannot fulfill those two conditions. Let’s look at the threefold promise that rests on those two conditions:

Whoever hears, and believes, #1: HAS everlasting life (notice it does NOT say, will have everlasting life—it says HAS everlasting life—NOW!— not “someday, if you are good enough”… NOW— in spite of your sins.

#2: The second clause is similar—it says you shall not come into condemnation—God will remember your sins no more. He will never condemn you again. Your sins are gone forever, in terms of judgment. They were nailed to the Cross. Will you still sin? Yes. Will God ever condemn you again for your sins? NO. Those sins were paid for by the blood of Jesus.

The third is almost too simple—we almost miss it.

Clause #3 states that we have passed from death unto life. Now notice the tense, here—the first clause is present tense—it says we HAVE eternal life—present tense. The second is future tense—it says we WILL NOT come into condemnation. That covers my present and my future—what about my past?

The last clause is past tense, but not just past tense; no, rather, God used past PERFECT tense in the original language—meaning I have crossed over at some specific time in the past, and it has eternal results. I can never go back. That’s why we call it the new birth–Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again!” Well, by faith, I have been born again, and cannot be “un-born.” That is what perfect tense means…it’s a done deal!

God wants you to know that you have eternal life!  

1st John 5:11-13 says, “This is the record, that God has given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His son. He that hath the Son, hath life. He that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. These things I have written unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life.

God says He wants you to know that you have eternal life—not “hope you can hang on long enough to get it.” These are all things God definitely wants us to know.

Things God does NOT want us to know:

Some things we can assume He did not want us to know because He simply does not tell us, and there is no way to find out. What was God doing the day before Genesis 1:1? It isn’t entirely a silly question…God has been active throughout all eternity. We are given a few things to know—we know that there was a war in heaven—we don’t know exactly when. We know that the angel named Lucifer fell into sin because of pride, and became the adversary known as Satan (which means “the adversary”—the enemy.) We know that a third of the angelic host joined him in his rebellion, and were lost with him. We think (can’t prove it) that they are probably the spirits that became the demonic host that plagued Israel during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. This type of question can be considered in light of what God has told us, and probable answers can be proposed…but only tentatively.

Peter asked Jesus, just before the ascension, what John was to do. Jesus told him, in effect, that it was none of his business, and that he should concentrate on his own walk with God. (John 21:20-23). I would hypothesize from Jesus’ answer that we are not given to know God’s will for another individual except in the general sense, in that he has told us his will for every believer in a wide range of circumstances, and general principles, so that there should be little doubt. But he does not tell me what he wants of you in your ministry. There is no hierarchy of clergy through which God reveals his will for all the laity—in fact, the whole concept of a division between clergy and laity is foreign to the church age. Every believer is a priest in the Body of Christ, and we all have responsibility as priests…and we all work directly for the Head of the Body—Jesus, himself.

Daniel once observed that he could not understand the prophecy he had just been given (Daniel 12:8, 9)—the angel who had given him the message told him to “write it down and run along—“ that it was not for him to understand, but for the people of the end time. Interesting! Daniel, one of the greatest prophets of all time, was not allowed to understand the prophecy he was sent to deliver!

Jesus’ disciples had essentially the same question…when is all this stuff going to happen? (Matthew 24:3, ff)  Jesus had gone to great lengths to explain the Great Tribulation, and the things that would preface his physical return to earth…but not a word as to how to put a date on it. In fact, in verse 35, he confides that not even the angels knew the date—but (at least at that point), only the Father (Matthew 24:35). In fact, in Mark 13:32, Jesus said that he himself did not even know the date of his return! Does Jesus know today? Undoubtedly, since he is God—and He was God, then— but evidently he had set aside that particular prerogative, and was living by faith, as a man. We might (probably should) take enough from these passages to understand that this is a closed issue. But the disciples weren’t satisfied…they just had to ask again.

At the ascension, just before Jesus left the Earth, they tried once more (Acts 1:6-8), asking, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?” They did not understand any of the issues involved—they were asking for a restoration of the glory of the kingdom of David, or possibly that of Solomon—they had no idea of the Kingdom of God, or they would not have asked for “restoration”—they had never seen the Kingdom of God; Israel had never had it—so it could not be “restored”.

But Jesus’ response is a real key to the whole matter of the end times: He said, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power (authority.)” (None of your concern!) But, he went on to say, “you shall receive power…and ye shall be witnesses unto Me…” the great commission was reiterated at this point. The thing that WAS theirs to know was that they were to be ambassadors for Christ throughout the whole world.

That particular question was never raised again by the disciples—and it was not bandied about in the epistles. There is zero discussion about when the Day of the Lord may begin…only that it will begin suddenly, without warning, and that it will begin with the snatching away of the church, and the Tribulation (seven years of it) will immediately follow (see 1st Thessalonians 4 and 5). Jesus’ return to earth will terminate the Tribulation, and usher in the Millennial Kingdom Matthew 25:31 and following. Also Revelation 19 and 20.). The book of the Revelation primarily concerns itself with this whole time period from the rapture to the end of the millennial kingdom…but no clue is give as to when it might happen. There are many clues as to how to know it is coming, but not one bit about setting a time.

So…when someone claims to have that knowledge, you are dealing either with a false prophet who is deliberately attempting to lead you astray, or, hopefully, simply someone who has allowed themselves to be deluded, either by their own reasoning (quite common) or someone else’s (even more common). This is simply one of the few things we know of that God does NOT want us to know, and that, indeed we cannot know. Jesus said: “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is!” All we can do is be ready.

Today, this is a pressing hope in the Church. We see the World rapidly deteriorating, and we fervently hope for the Lord’s Return. But all we can do is press forward with the Great Commission, which is one of the things we DO know is His will, and look forward to the Hope of His Coming…another thing we know is His will.

How Shall we then Live?

Paul made an interesting comment to the Church at Corinth: “Awake to righteousness and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (1st Corinthians 15:34) This is especially applicable today, as we are hoping for the Lord’s soon return: There are millions around us who would be eternally lost if He returned today. Paul says we are to wake up and do something about it. At the very least, our lives should reflect the Holiness and Love of God. It is our responsibility to act as ambassadors of Christ, as well, sharing that Love and the Salvation He provided at the Cross with the lost world around us.

Now, There’s something God wants you to know! And He calls each of us to wake up and respond to Him in faith and obedience.

God help us all to open up and yield to His Spirit, and reach out to the lost around us.