We fairly often see the phrase day of the Lord in the Bible. Google says it appears 18 times in the Old Testament and 5 times in the New Testament.
So, what is the day of the Lord? It refers to a time of God’s judgment on the world. The New Testament refers to the day of the Lord as a day of God’s wrath. When is that time? Is this referring to a single day? How long is God’s day in the Bible?
The day of the Lord tells us a lot more than most people realize. The first thing we have to understand is how God describes a day in the Bible. 2 Peter 3:8 (NIV) says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day.”
Psalm 90:4 (NIV) states, “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by or like a watch in the night.”
Why is God telling us this? To start putting the pieces of the puzzle together, we have to go back to Genesis 1:3 (NIV) where God said, “Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.” He also says this same phrase for the 2nd through the 6th day. This clearly shows that these days are 24-hour days with morning and night. Genesis 2:2 says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.”
God is showing us that He has created six days of “work” and one day of “rest.” Our day is 24 hours, and later God shows us that His day is like 1,000 years. If we substitute His 1,000-year days for our 24-hour days, we see that God’s plan is showing six 1,000-year days of WORK for mankind followed by a seventh 1,000 years of REST.
Because God has “shown us” His 7th day of rest is 1,000 years, this has caused many theologians and the Jewish Talmud to show that God’s plan for mankind is a 7,000-year plan consisting of 6,000 years of work and one thousand years of rest.
With hindsight we can see that God has divided our 6,000 years of work where mankind is ruling the planet into three dispensations of 2,000 years of no law, 2,000 years of law through Israel, and 2,000 years of grace, called the church age, through Jesus.
The Talmud and many theologians say that God’s plan for mankind is a 7,000-year plan. How do we know that? We know God says His day is as 1,000 years compared to our day, but how does that “prove” He has a 7,000-year plan for mankind? Is there anywhere in the Bible that “proves” God’s 7,000-year timeline for humanity?
Yes, there is. It’s called the Day of the Lord. Is there any place in the Bible that actually “shows” God’s day IS 1,000 years? Most definitely there is. It is called the Day of the Lord when Jesus comes back to judge the world and begin His “1,000-year” millennial reign on Earth. This is God’s 7th Day of Rest when mankind’s rule of six days of 1,000 years of Work is over. Revelation 20 refers “6 times” to Jesus’ rule on Earth being 1,000 years.
So, with God showing us His seventh Day of Rest is Jesus’ 1,000-year millennial reign, what is the most important question we can ask concerning when the season of the rapture, tribulation, and Jesus’ Second Coming is? We need to ask WHEN does Jesus’ seventh day begin?
There is a very simple answer to that. It begins following the END of the 6,000 years of mankind ruling the planet. The next important question is, how can we know when the 6th day of 1,000 years ends?
God helps us to figure that out by giving us three dispensations of 2,000 years each, with the church age being the LAST 2,000 years. So, all we need to know is about when the 2,000 years of the church age ends. To answer that, we need to know when it began.
The church age began at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to indwell all born-again believers. When was that? It was 50 days following Jesus’ resurrection. To know that year, we need to know the year Jesus was crucified and resurrected, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, there is debate about the exact year of Jesus’ resurrection. The good news is there is enough information to nail it down fairly close . We know that according to Josephus, Pontius Pilate ruled from 26 to 36 CE. This certainly makes it prior to 36 CE.
What other methods might we use to possibly narrow it down? The first thing we need to look at is that Jesus was crucified on a Passover, which occurred on a Friday. What Passovers from 30 CE to 36 CE did occur on a Friday? The internet shows Passover occurred on a Friday on April 7, 30 CE and April 3, 33 CE.
We also know there is a 7-year tribulation period at the end of the 6,000 years that ends when Jesus comes back to save Israel from the antichrist and to set up His millennial reign. The strongest evidence shows the rapture occurs before the beginning of the 7-year tribulation, which is also the final week of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy (70 weeks of “years”) when Israel will finally receive their Messiah and all of God’s promises to them. Jesus was crucified at the end of Daniel’s 69th week of 483 years, leaving a gap of almost 2,000 years to complete Daniel’s 70th week.
When we compare 30 CE to 33 CE, we can see that 30 CE does not qualify because it would be saying the 7-year tribulation could possibly begin in 2,000 years in the year 2030, minus seven years for the tribulation to begin in 2023, and that did not happen. We now need to look at 33 CE plus 2,000 years is 2033 minus seven years for the possible beginning of the tribulation in 2026.
This certainly does not mean it has to occur in 2026 or before. The good news is God “wants” us to be ready by studying His word in the Bible in order to know the “signs of the times.” In Matthew 16:3, Jesus says to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times [His first coming].”
Daniel’s 70 weeks of years prophecy shows that Israel’s Anointed One would be put to death after 69 of those weeks of years, or 483 years, which shows pretty close to the exact year Jesus would be here for His First Coming and be crucified. Jesus is upset with the religious leaders because they had God’s prophetic word to show them the signs of the times, and they ignored it. God showing us this in His word helps us to understand, since He gave us prophecy to figure out the signs of the times for His First Coming, then it makes sense that He has probably given us prophecy to figure out the signs of the times for His Second Coming.
Jesus wanting us to always be watching for His return is referring to His bride, the church, at the rapture vs His Second Coming for one simple reason – the doctrine of imminency, which says Jesus could come at any moment. If we are looking for His Second Coming, we would be watching for the antichrist and the tribulation to come “first” and then start looking for Jesus’ coming for His bride. That would do away with God’s doctrine of imminency.
Let’s not forget that Daniel 12:4 says, “But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scripture until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” This verse is unfolding right before our eyes and causes many rapture watchers to study God’s word like never before so that, unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ day, we will, indeed, recognize God’s signs of the times, which pleases Jesus.
The bottom line is God does not allow us to know the day and hour of Jesus’ return for His bride, the church. However, here are a couple of Bible verses that point out we are to always watch and be ready for Jesus’ return.
Matthew 24:42 says, “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know what day your Lord will come.” Luke 21:36 says, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen [tribulation] and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man [rapture]” In the parable of the 10 virgins, God’s watchers will always have oil in our lamps just like the five wise virgins did.
All of the signs Jesus gives His disciples in Matthew 24 as to when His coming and the end of the age will be are at the severest frequency and intensity levels ever recorded. The most important sign is Israel, and right now, they are at war with Iran. God’s word in the Bible showed us thousands of years ago what signs will occur and how to recognize them, and we are seeing the “birth pains” in Matthew 24 occurring today like never before in REAL TIME!
Maranatha, Lord Jesus,
David Cogburn