The Holy Spirit has been prompting me of late to come out of the world [even more] and eliminate anything that distracts me from hearing Him. I'm sensing that it's so important that I stay tuned in to what I need to know as one of His Watchmen on the Wall. I take Ezekiel 33 very seriously ... Whenever He gives me a word and instructs me to warn the people of God, I am to share what He has given me -- regardless of whether it is received or not. So, if I don't warn them, and they are harmed, their blood is on my hands. In contrast, if I do give the warning, and it is ignored, that person will die in his sin and iniquity, while I will be delivered, having been obedient to my calling.
These are dangerous times we live in. The world is on the brink of destruction; physically, economically, and spiritually. While my husband, Mark, and I have been blowing the trumpet for over 15 years, we seem to be closing in on a time where there is no turning back. And the consequences will be distressing and devastating. Which is why we brought up the topic of The Day of the Lord with a group of friends that are faithful Christians. We asked the group of around 10 people, "Who has never heard that terminology... and, if you have, do you know what it means"? About half of the group had never heard the phrase. The other half agreed it referred to the day of Jesus's Second Coming.
While I did not expect that outcome to our survey, I have to say I wasn't surprised. Our Western model [and history] of religion has resulted in a Church that has failed to teach a complete and accurate foundation of God's Truth. In addition, the Church has not encouraged the faithful to study and learn the fullness of God's Word, either through adequate education, or examination [and scrutiny] on their own. Therefore, something as important as The Day of the Lord, goes largely unheeded or misunderstood.
So, let me refer you to the Word, itself, to enlighten you to the reason the Holy Spirit has given me this timely prompting. Just as Mark and I did in the discussion with our group of faithful friends, let me refer you to passages and verses in the Bible that makes it clear what God means when He writes of The Day of the Lord -- not just what some seminary or podcast has taught through a popular Christian "voice". I will present the Word in chronological order so you can understand that God's teaching on this important concept has been consistent through time ... it was Truth in the past history of the world; it's the same Truth today; and it will be the same Truth in what I think is the near future. So, let's begin in the Old Testament...
Isaiah 2:12 For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up -- and it shall be brought low;
Isaiah 13:6-8 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. They will be dismayed; pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will be aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
Ezekiel 13:5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord.
Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
Joel 2:11 The LORD utters His voice before His army, for His camp is exceedingly great; He who executes His word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
Amos 5:15-17 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts [armies] will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: "In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, 'Alas! Alas!' They call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst," says the LORD.
Obadiah 15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.
Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome [terrible] day of the Lord comes".
Are you able to hear and understand that from the days of the prophets the Lord has warned that a day was drawing near; a day in which the Lord brings His judgment and devastation against people and nations who have been prideful and sinned greatly against Him? And in Malachi, we see the end of the Old Testament, and God announces that He will now bring "Elijah the prophet", who will bring the last warning "before the great and awesome day of the Lord". But here's where we have to dig a little deeper ... Elijah does not magically appear again after being taken up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11).
What Malachi is referring to is the prophecy over John the Baptist, given to his father Zechariah by an angel of the Lord, who told him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord.... and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared".
It would be more than 400 years after Malachi's prophecy until the power and spirit of Elijah appeared in John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus to begin His ministry. The Flood had ostensibly wiped Evil off the face of the earth. Men had the opportunity to repent of their ways and walk righteously before their God, but the verses we've just read tell us that they were once again offending the Lord, whose anger and wrath were being stored up for them if they didn't repent and change their ways.
So God decides to send Himself, in the flesh, to remind mankind that God's patience would not last forever. He sends John the Baptist (with the spirit and power of Elijah) to set the stage for Jesus's appearance. But it became clear within three years that Evil was determined to destroy God's messenger and Kingdom on earth. So the final warnings in this age were given in the New Testament of the Word; which was really the same warnings that He had given throughout the history of mankind....
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the LORD comes [when the Glory of the Lord is revealed].
1 Corinthians 5:5 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and My spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction ...
NOTE: 1 and 2 Thessalonians are often interpreted as the Rapture, but that's a discussion for another day. Just let me say this before we move on to the final scriptures regarding the day of the Lord... It is true that we know neither the day nor the hour that the Son of Man will appear (Matthew 24:36-44). But we are warned "to watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour" (Matthew 25:13). It is my opinion that Matthew 24 and 25 give us the signs that the Day of the Lord is near and it won't simply be a pleasant day, full of joy. Please read those two chapters and see if you don't agree that everything God warned about it in the Old Testament will be apparent... so let's continue with the remaining verses in the New Testament.
2 Peter 3 I urge you to read this short chapter. It is a great summary of what has come before and accurately represents where I think we are today... "you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through the apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation ... But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Now we come to the final chapters of the Bible that reveal the culmination of all the warnings that have been given mankind regarding the Day of the Lord. Through the centuries of history, God has been patient, giving men the opportunity to repent and abstain from His wrath. But "just as it was in the days of Noah", the Lord will recognize that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord will regret that He has made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart. That happened in Genesis 6, but we see the story repeated again in The Book of Revelation when Jesus opens the seals of the scroll which will reveal God's final judgment against the men of earth...
Revelation 6:15-17 [As the sixth of seven seals is opened, we read, "Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great Day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?' "
Revelation 16:13-15 This chapter of the Bible reveals the Seven Bowls of God's Wrath, including, once again, an admonition that He will come like a thief ... And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!").
Here, I am reminded of the Ten Virgins, who went out to meet their Bridegroom. Five of them did not stay equipped with enough oil (the Holy Spirit), and were unable to stay awake (watchful, aware of the times); becoming drowsy and falling asleep. So many people in the Church are like these five unprepared Virgins. They are not awake or equipped. And I fear equally for those who do not know about or understand what "The Day of the Lord" ultimately means for them. Yes, we can see it as the day the Lord will return to earth ... but its significance is much more consequential!
As these Scriptures that span the Bible disclose [in their unbroken and consistent declarations], there will be a Great Day of the Lord in which His warnings of destruction and devastation against man's bond with Evil will be punished and He will pour out His Wrath upon mankind and the planet. Sadly, man will plead, "Forgive us, Lord, we didn't know what the Day of the Lord meant"! But, whose fault is that?? As I've shown today, there was ample opportunity to know this important precept, if people would just read their Bible! We all are held responsible for seeking the Lord ... It is the Glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to search it out [Proverbs 25:2]. None of us has an excuse.
Secondly, the Church and the Pastors will also be held accountable. They are to be the caretakers and disseminators of God's Word; Shepherds leading their flocks. But what are we to do when they are ignorant themselves of what the Word says and means? The Enemy has been very successful, down through the centuries and millennia, of sending false prophets and teachers into the midst of Godly people; people who truly love the Lord, but are easily misled and deceived. But how long do you think before God and the Lord say ,"Enough is enough?" It seems to me that the Evil that men have sowed into the world has finally filled God's cup of wrath. When will it begin to overflow?
At this point, I know some may be thinking these verses are taken out of context; they are all about Israel as God's people. But we belong to God, too, and the warnings and commandments and expectations [from God] are the same for us as they were for ancient Israel. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
This post is not meant to embarrass, offend, or accuse anyone. I am simply bringing the important precept of the Day of the Lord to everyone's attention. It's what a Watchman on the Wall does. I pray that all [especially the Church] takes the time to study it, take it to the Lord, and ask the Holy Spirit to elucidate all the Scripture. It's not a simple manner of avoiding these warnings by way of a Rapture -- the Scripture doesn't say that.
What it does say is this... it seems to separate the event at the end of 1 Thessalonians 4 [the coming of the Lord and being caught up together with Him in the air] from the event at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians 5 [the day of the Lord that will come like a thief in the night]. The Bible very distinctly says "While people are saying, 'Peace and safety', destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape". Does this sound like the same event to you? Remember, the Bible often leaves gaps in its testimony and it is His Glory to hide what He hopes we will seek in order to know Him deeper.
We will all be judged, but are not all appointed to God's wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). In addition, we are told to Study to show ourselves approved by God; to be a workman in His Kingdom, unashamed and rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). That's a huge statement to unpack! So, I will leave you with a lot of information and Scripture to piece together and connect the dots. But know this ... the Holy Spirit is waiting and eager to help you comprehend. It's up to you to take the challenge. Happy New Year! May 2026 be a year of great growth in the Lord!
2 Peter 3:17-18. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever! Amen.
