Announcing the Day of the LORD

Title: Announcing the Day of the LORD

Text:

(1) What is the Day of the LORD?

The day of the LORD is when Jesus Christ returns for the vindication of all that is right and the judgment of all that is evil.

The day of the LORD is when Jesus Christ comes with a host of angles to execute judgment upon all who have remained enemies of God.

2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 KJV 1900

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Jude 14–15 KJV 1900

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Joel is a prophet to the Southern Kingdom. We believe him to be a prophet before the exile of Jerusalem, and he is given the privilege of announcing the Day of the Lord. Note:

Joel 1:15 KJV 1900

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 KJV 1900

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

Joel 2:11 KJV 1900

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 KJV 1900

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 KJV 1900

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

The scope of this lesson will be Joel’s announcement in .

(2) What does the announcement about the Day of the LORD reveal?

Historically, Joel anticipated a fulfillment upon the city of Jerusalem.

The announcement is calling the inhabitance to tremble (quake/quiver) -

The announcement shows a shadowing darkness by a powerful army -

The announcement reveals an army that is “like” an army of men - [simile usage]

The following quotation is from Van-Lennep’s work, Bible Lands. “The young locusts rapidly attain the size of the common grasshopper, and proceed in one and the same direction, first crawling, and at a later period leaping, as they go, devouring every green thing that lies in their path. They advance more slowly than a devouring fire, but the ravages they commit are scarcely inferior or less to be dreaded. Fields of standing wheat and barley, vineyards, mulberry orchards, and groves of olive, fig, and other trees are in a few hours deprived of every green blade and leaf, the very bark being often destroyed. The ground over which their devastating hordes have passed at once assumes an appearance of sterility and dearth. Well did the Romans call them ‘the burners of the land,’ which is the literal meaning of our word ‘locust.’

Baxter, J. Sidlow; Baxter, J. Sidlow. Baxter's Explore the Book (pp. 945-946). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

The announcement shows this army to be an unstoppable force -

This announcement reveals the justice and power of the Lord -

This announcement reveals the grace and mercy of the Lord

The command to turn to the LORD -

The reason to turn to the LORD -

The result of turning to the LORD -

Application:

(3) How does the announcement of the Day of the LORD point to Christ?

Christ is the offering left in Jerusalem (Mt. Zion) by the LORD

Hebrews 10:5–10 KJV 1900

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Christ is the ultimate manifestation of Jehovah's grace and mercy

John 1:14 KJV 1900

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Christ is the recipient of evil that was due to us

1 Peter 3:18 KJV 1900

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Christ is the One who makes full-heart love towards God possible

Conclusion:

We thus conclude that the Day of the LORD is announced as a warning to those who do not know the LORD, and it is announced as a testimony to God’s sovereignty, as a testimony to his grace, and to his mercy.

Thus, it is a call to all sinners to repent from their sin.

It is a call to religious people to repent of their self-righteousness.

It is a call to affirm the events of the 1st coming of Jesus Christ and claim Him as your LORD and Savior.

To Christians:

It is a call to Christians to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and with all your mind.

It is also a call to Christians to live lives of true hope in the Christ of the Second Coming.