The Day of the Lord. Revelation 19:16;
Isa 2:10-22, 24:1-8;
Obadiah 1-21
Jesus Christ is going to
establish Himself as the King of kings and Lord of lords and conquer the
nations. This is summarized in Revelation but what is behind it is a host of
passages in the Old Testament, found in the prophets—Jeremiah, Ezekiel, many of
the Minor Prophets which give us snapshots of these events. It is somewhat
difficult at times to put all these together but that is what we will start
doing.
The “day of the Lord” is a
description of this whole judgment as a focus of God establishing His rule on
the earth and how that plays into the prophecies related to Israel is the preliminary or introduction to the study on
the details of the Armageddon campaign. There is no place in Scripture that
gives a chronological flow that puts everything together so it takes some time
and study to do this and to correlate these passages.
Revelation 19:16 NASB “And on His robe and on His thigh He
has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND
LORD OF LORDS.’” This indicates that what
He is doing at the Second Coming is establishing Himself as the true ruler over
all of the nations on the earth. That fulfills Old Testament prophecy specifically
related to the term “the day of the Lord.” This is a term that is crucial for
understanding what is happening during the end times. This phrase occurs in
nineteen Old Testament verses. That is, in reference to a special time of
divine judgment. It is complicated because it is not just that simple phrase
“day of the Lord” that is of significance but there are additional phrases that
allude to that—“that day, on that day, the day, the great day of the Lord
(Zephaniah 1:14), the great day of God (2 Pet. 3:12; Revelation 16:14).”
Then there is another group of terms that talk about the day of the Lord’s
wrath, the day of intense wrath, the day of the Lord’s anger, the Lord’s day of
anger. These do not use the precise phrase “the day of the Lord” but they do
seem to relate to this whole concept of a special time of divine judgment.
We must recognize that the
term “the day of the Lord” refers to a time of God’s special intervention into
the course of world events to judge His enemies, to accomplish His purpose for
history, and thereby demonstrate who He is as the sovereign God of the
universe. That is why this fits within our study when we see Jesus returning as
the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is establishing His rule, His reign as
the Son of Man who has been given the kingdom by the Father. That is in a
narrow sense the meaning of the term “the day of the Lord,” but in a broader
sense the term includes much more than just the immediate events surrounding
the return of Christ to the earth, broader than the Armageddon campaign.
Broadly speaking it includes the Tribulation period or Daniel’s seventieth
week. The term, or variations of it, are also used to refer to certain
historical judgments that God brought against Israel in the Old Testament, such
as in 586 BC when the southern kingdom was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, but
that was not the day of the Lord that
we think of in terms of the future judgment related to the Second Coming. All
of these references have as their fulfillment the return of the King of kings
and Lord of lords to establish His kingdom on the earth in Revelation 19.
We will look at some of the
passages where the term “day of the Lord” is used so that we can develop our
understanding of this biblically. One of the first mentions of the day of the
Lord is in Isaiah. Chapter two starts out talking about the Millennium and then
about the day of the Lord. Verses 1-4 give indications of what the Millennium
(the kingdom) will be like for Israel. This ties into Revelation 20:1-6. In those verses it is Mount Zion which is to become the focal point of all worship in
the Millennial kingdom and all nations will come to it. Isaiah 2:2 NASB
“Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be
established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.” The “mountain” is not the present
temple mount. The future temple is roughly one mile square, so it is going to
be enormous. All of the Gentile nations will have as the focal point of their
worship in the Millennial kingdom the temple in Jerusalem. [3] “And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach
us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go
forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. [4] And He will judge between the nations, And will
render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against
nation, And never again will they learn war.”
Verses 5-9 focus on the call
to Jacob in terms of the present time in light of the future that will come; it
is a call to obedience and to reject idolatry because there will be this future
day of judgment. Then in verses 10-22 Isaiah looks beyond the immediate and
into the distant future and to the judgment that occurs as the day of the Lord.
He describes the day of the Lord as a time of judgment upon the nations, upon
those who are proud, those who are arrogant, and God will display His power,
omnipotence, and righteousness, and all of those who are in rebellion against
Him will flee before Him in terror. The key verses we want to focus on are,
first of all, vv. 10-13.
Isaiah 2:10 NASB “Enter the rock and hide in the dust
From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.
[11] The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be
humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” So
the focal point of the judgment is against the arrogance of man who has lifted
himself up against God—man seeking to be God himself. “That day” is a key term
there because the reference is to the day of the Lord.
Isaiah 2:12 NASB “For the LORD of hosts
will have a day {of reckoning} Against everyone who is proud and lofty And
against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. [13] And
{it will be} against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan…” Bashan is the area we now know as the Golan Heights. In the ancient world it was heavily forested and the
strength of the trees was proverbial, but the power of God is such that even
these cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan will be torn
down. [14] “Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are
lifted up, [15] Against every high tower, Against every fortified
wall, [16] Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the
beautiful craft.” Tarshish is another name for Spain. This was at the western end of the Mediterranean and the Phoenicians would sail past the straights of Gibraltar and out into the Atlantic and have trade down around Africa
as well as up into Europe. So all of the ships of Tarshish is a reference to
all the commerce and trade that was going forth out of the Mediterranean. [17] “The pride of man will be humbled And the
loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, [18]
But the idols will completely vanish.”
Sp the picture here is that when the day of the Lord comes He destroys the
arrogance of man. How He does that is then described more fully.
Isaiah 2:19 NASB “{Men} will go into caves of the
rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the
splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.”
This is talking about some kind of physical earthquake that occurs and the
response is for men to go into the rocks and caves of the earth in order to
escape the terror of the Lord. [20] “In that day men will cast away to the
moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they
made for themselves to worship, [21] In order to go into the
caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the
splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.” If we are
thinking in terms of the book of Revelation it should remind us of the sixth
seal judgment which occurs very early on in the Tribulation period. Revelation 6:14 NASB “The sky was split apart like a
scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places.” If we think about that description and then the one
in vv.20-21 of Isaiah chapter two it is the same kind of response in both
places. Revelation 6:15, 16 NASB “ Then the kings of the earth and
the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave
and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from
the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” So there
is a depiction in Isaiah 2:10-14 that sounds just like what is described in the
sixth seal judgment. That would put events related to the day of the Lord as
very early in the period of Daniel’s seventieth week. It is a time of judgment
when the proud, the mighty, the strong, the leaders of the earth dwellers are
fully aware that God is the one who is bringing judgment against them and yet
they continue to resist and shake their fists in His face and refuse to bow
down. They are going to try to crawl into the holes in the ground in order to
be protected from divine judgment.
Isaiah chapter thirteen
deals with a judgment on Babylon,
and this is described in Revelation 17 & 18. Isaiah 13:6 NASB
“Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the
Almighty. [7] Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will
melt. [8] They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold
of {them;} They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one
another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.” What we should note from this is
that this is the first time we see a reference to this analogy of labor pains
in describing all of the suffering and all of the horrors that go with the day
of the Lord. The picture is that something is being born and before this new
thing can come into existence there is going to be a time of unprecedented
suffering as if the earth is in labor to give birth to this new thing. The new
thing that is coming is the Messianic kingdom, but first there has to be this
judgment and purification. [9] “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will
exterminate its sinners from it. [10] For the stars of heaven and
their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when
it rises And the moon will not shed its light.” This gives a description of
certain astro-geophysical phenomena that occurs in association with the day of
the Lord. We have the same kind of thing going on early in the Tribulation
period in association with these other judgments.
One of the questions that
has been raised is the tendency to try to put all of these at the same time. In
Joel chapter two we will see that Joel describes the same phenomenon as
occurring right before the Lord returns. But of we try make all of these
references refer to that same event we have a problem because we can’t fit it
all in chronologically. There are several times during the Tribulation period
where the light from the sun and the moon are impacted by these judgments. All
of this fits the increasing intensification of judgment that is known as the
day of the Lord when the Lord will come to judge—Isaiah 13:11 NASB
“Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I
will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of
the ruthless. [12] I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind
than the gold of Ophir.”
In Isaiah 34 we see the emphasis on the judgment of the
nations. This focuses on the fact that this is a judgment on the nations, the
Gentiles; it is not national judgment, it is individual judgments of individual
Gentiles, and because they make up nations that is how they are described. Verses 1-8 NASB “1 Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from
it. [2] For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, And
{His} wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has
given them over to slaughter. [3] So their slain will be thrown
out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be
drenched with their blood. [4] And all the host of heaven will
wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will
also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as {one} withers from the
fig tree.” The “host of heaven” here is not a reference to angels
but rather to the stars of heaven. “And the sky will be rolled up like a
scroll.” Where have we seen that same terminology? Related to the sixth seal in
Revelation 6:14. [5] “For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall
descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to
destruction.” Where did Edom come from? This started talking about the nations and
now there is a focus on Edom, the homeland of the descendants of Esau. This is the
area of Jordan. Obadiah is about judgment on Edom and most of it has occurred historically. That is why
when we get into passages like Obadiah and Nahum (prophecy on the destruction
of Assyria) they are not books that have a tremendous amount of
application of relevance to church age believers. [6] “The sword of the LORD is filled
with blood, It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat
of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah And a great slaughter in
the land of Edom.”
What we will see when we get into the stages of Armageddon is that this is
referring to the time when the Lord returns at the Second Coming and He goes to
the remnant of Israel that has fled according to Jesus command, that when they
saw the abomination of desolation they were to flee to the mountains of Judea
and then across into the area of modern Jordan where Petra is located. It is
there that they will call upon the Lord to return. There He returns; there He
begins to execute His military victory against the armies of the Antichrist. So
He will be coming up from Bozrah covered in blood. That is why His robe is
dipped in blood in Revelation 19 when He returns. So there is a great slaughter
in the land of Edom.
[7] “Wild oxen will also fall with them And young bulls with strong ones; Thus
their land will be soaked with blood, And their dust become greasy with fat.
[8] For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the
cause of Zion.” The Hebrew term for “vengeance” is one for
judgment. God is executing judgment finally for all of the evil of the nations
against Israel. The Hebrew word “day” does not necessarily mean a
24-hour day, it depends on the context. It also refers to a time period in
contexts like this where there is no number associated with it and it can be
translated “the time” or “the period” of the Lord’s vengeance. Notice the focal
point here is that God is executing judgment to defend Israel: “for the cause of Zion.”
That brings us to the book
of Obadiah.
We really don’t know who
Obadiah was. There are some thirteen people in the Old Testament who have this
name of Obadiah but we don’t which of those is this Obadiah, and he may not
even be one of the other twelve. There is no specific historical peg in these
21 verses that we can go to and identify exactly and precisely when this was
written. There are a couple of things that indicate that it was early, and one
of those is that it is placed early in the twelve, and these were the early
pre-exilic prophets. When we study the issues on the date of Obadiah its
content deals with a time when Edom had not helped Israel but had been allied with the enemies of Israel, and there is a partial destruction of Jerusalem. People either identify this time period as being
early on, approximately 850 BC, during the time of the ministry of Elisha, or others
try to place it at the time of the destruction in 586 by Nebuchadnezzar. The
problem with the latter view is that when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem he did it by himself and he didn’t need any help from
Edom, and secondly, Nebuchadnezzar at the time of the
Neo-Babylonian empire totally destroyed Jerusalem. Obadiah isn’t talking about a total destruction, it
is a partial destruction. On that basis it is probably an earlier date when
there is an assault by the Philistines who invade into Judah and into Jerusalem, but it was not a time of total destruction. Edom did ally herself with the Philistines at that battle,
during the same time as Elisha. If it is early it is supported by the fact that
the Jews historically and traditionally placed Obadiah very early in the Old
Testament. The focal point is a judgment on Edom.
Later on the Edomites are
defeated by the Nabataens and they have to move from their traditional
homeland. By the New Testament times the Edomites had all moved into the
southern territory of Judah
and are known as Idumeans and they tried to blend in with the Jews. Herod the
Great was an Idumean. Edomites had historically been antagonistic to Israel during the time of the conquest, they refused to
allow Moses to bring the Israelites through their land on the way to Canaan.
During the early monarchy, during the period of Saul and David, they were
hostile to Israel. They were eventually subdued and defeated by David
and were under the control of the united kingdom. But by the time of Ahab’s grandson Jehoram they are
breaking loose from that control and by the time of Jehoshaphat in the southern
kingdom they successfully rebel against the southern kingdom and have more of
an independence. By the time of the fifth century BC the Nabataeans forced them
out and they moved westward and eventually attempted to assimilate with the Jews.
The focus of Obadiah is
that this is a judgment on the Edomites because they have failed to be their
brother’s keeper; they have failed to be a protector of the descendants of
Esau’s brother Jacob and because of that they are going to be judged by God and
removed.
There are three basic
divisions in Obadiah. There is a warning of approaching judgment in vv. 1-9.
Their indictment is summarized in vv. 10-14. Then there is a shift from
historical judgment on Edom to the eventual establishment of Israel’s sovereignty in fulfillment of the promises of God
to Israel, vv. 15-21. We see that there are a lot of
similarities between God’s judgment and the indictment on the Edomites and the
indictment God brings against the nations in the day of the Lord at the end of
history. In that sense we see that the Edomites are used as a type of all of
the gentile nations that are in arrogant hostility toward God. So this book
shows the destiny of all Gentile nations as enemies of God throughout history
and how God will eventually bring a judgment against them and establish Israel as His people.
Obadiah 1:1 NASB
“The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom— We have heard a report from the LORD, And an
envoy has been sent among the nations {saying,} ‘Arise and let us go against
her for battle’— ” The “her” here is Edom. It is a call to the nations that God is going to use
in order to bring about His judgment on the Edomites. [2] ‘Behold, I will make you small among the
nations; You are greatly despised.’” The thrust of the whole
indictment is Edom’s arrogance and God is going to reduce them and humble them to where
they are despised. We see pride here in these verses emphasized. [3] “The arrogance of your heart has deceived
you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling
place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’”
They were isolated by the terrain which protected them as the Nabateans did after
them. Again, this is an indictment of their mental attitude sins of pride and
arrogance. [4] “‘Though you build high like the eagle, Though you set your nest
among the stars, From there I will bring you down,’ declares the LORD.”
In verses 5-7 the emphasis
is on the fact that thieves would come and may just steal a few things and may
destroy a few things but in divine judgment everything would be destroyed.
Obadiah 1:5 NASB “If thieves came to you, If robbers by night— O how
you will be ruined!-- Would they not steal {only} until they had enough? If
grape gatherers came to you, Would they not leave {some} gleanings?
[6] O how Esau will be ransacked, {And} his hidden treasures searched out!
[7] All the men allied with you Will send you forth to the border, And the men
at peace with you Will deceive you and overpower you. {They who eat} your bread
Will set an ambush for you. (There is no understanding in him.)”
Those they trusted, the nations they were in alliances with would turn against
them just as Edom had turned against her brother Israel. [8] “Will I not on that day,” declares the LORD, “Destroy
wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau?
[9] Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, So that everyone may be cut
off from the mountain of Esau
by slaughter.” So this is the destruction of Edom’s leadership, the wise men in verse 8 and the mighty
men in verse 9.
Obadiah 1:10 NASB “Because of violence to your
brother Jacob, You will be covered {with} shame, And you will be cut off forever.
[11] On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his
wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them.” They
allied themselves with the enemies of Israel. [12] “Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day
of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of
their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of {their} distress.”
The day of Israel’s captivity. They were as exultant in their victory
over Judah as the enemies of Judah and so for that they are condemned.
Then in v. 15 we have the
shift from the historical circumstance to the future day of the Lord. NASB
“For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it
will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.”
Just as God was going to judge Edom, which happened historically, God will at some point
in the future judge all the nations. What we see in Isaiah 34 and in Obadiah is
that the day of the Lord judgment is a judgment on all of the nations/Gentiles.
They are going to reap what they have sown. [16 ]“Because just as you drank on
My holy mountain [in Jerusalem], All the nations will drink continually. They will
drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.” So
this is a description of their judgment that shall come upon them, a picture of
drinking in judgment just as they, the Edomites, drank on the holy mountain,
i.e. in their victory over Israel, so now the nations shall also drink of judgment and
violent defeat in the same way.
Then verse 17 shifts to Israel’s ultimate triumph.
NASB “But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy.
And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.” This is
talking about a future fulfillment when the house of Jacob [Israel] will possess their possessions—the inheritance that
they have never possessed fully in history. They will possess all of the land
that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then we have the two phrases:
the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph, indicating the entirety of the
nation Israel, all of the tribes.
[18] “Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a
flame; But the house of Esau {will be} as stubble. And they will set them on
fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,”
For the LORD has spoken.” Fire is picturing
purification and judgment. The Edomites will be destroyed but the house of
Jacob and the house of Joseph will be established.
Obadiah 1:19 NASB “Then {those of} the Negev
will possess the mountain of Esau,
And {those of} the Shephelah the Philistine {plain;} Also, possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, And Benjamin {will possess} Gilead.”
So now the mountains of Esau which were not originally given to Israel as their possession will be part of the land and part
of their possession in the Millennial kingdom. [20] “And the exiles of this
host of the sons of Israel, Who are {among} the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Will possess the cities of the Negev.”
What this is saying is that at the time of the day of the Lord there is this
judgment on all the nations. Following that judgment on all of the nations Israel will finally possess all of the land that God had
promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This prophecy of vv. 15-21 is as yet
unfulfilled. [21] “The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau,
And the kingdom will be the LORD’S.”
Illustrations