Parallels of the Day of the Lord and Second Coming

 

The promise of Christ's coming is also the time of the “Day of the Lord.”

“knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? ... ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, ...” 2 Peter 3:3-10

The Day of the Lord comes as a “thief” as does the coming of Christ...

In connection with the 6^th bowl of wrath, in which the nations are gathered for battle in Jerusalem, Jesus says he comes as a thief, and notice he speaks of watching...

¹² Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, ... I saw three unclean spirits ... they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. ¹⁵ "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." ¹⁶ And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.” Revelation 16:12-16

The Olivet discourse where Jesus may speak of the rapture, the need to watch, and coming as a Thief...

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. … Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:40-44

Wrath on the world is the chief feature of the DOL:

⁹ Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. ¹¹ "I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. ¹² I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, ... ¹³ Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.” Isaiah 13:9-13

Cosmic disturbances precede the DOL and the coming of Christ:

^“14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. ¹⁵ The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. ¹⁶ The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake;” Joel 3:14-16

²⁹ "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, … ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:29-31

¹² I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. ¹³ And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. ¹⁴ Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. ¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷ For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Revelation 6:12-17

​

^{The Day of the Lord is the “time of the gentiles” distress. It shall be the distress of nations. Ezekiel looks to the far day of Divine judgment on the nations. In Luke 21.20-27, Jesus speaks of a near future judgment on Israel, being the destruction of Jerusalem, and from that time forward, Jerusalem will be trampled by gentiles until the “times of the gentiles” are fulfilled, as seen in the far future event as the distress of nations at the coming of Christ as prophesied by Jesus.}

¹ The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, ² "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Wail, 'Woe to the day!' ³ For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. Ezekiel 30:1-3

²⁰ "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. ²⁴ And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵ "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶ men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." Luke 21:20-28

The Day of the Lord will not only be preceded by cosmic disturbances, but the gathering of nations for battle at Jerusalem.

³ And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. Zechariah 12:3

​¹ Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. ² For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; Zechariah 14:1-2

³ Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. Zechariah 14:3

¹² "Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. ¹³ Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great." ¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. ¹⁵ The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. Joel 3:12-15

³⁰ "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. ³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. ³² And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:30-32

¹⁵ "For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. ¹⁶ For as you drank on My holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. Obadiah 1:15-16

No escape for anyone from the Day of the Lord.

¹⁸ Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light. ¹⁹ It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! ²⁰ Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? Amos 5:18-20

A timeline for both Preterist and Futurist views

 Click image to enlarge

Rapture parallels

 Click image to enlarge

Thessalonians background

The Apostle Paul wrote the letters to the believers in Thessalonians not too long after he had left there, around AD 50.   The letters were probably written in response to the report he received from Timothy, who was sent there while Paul was in Athens, 1 Thess 3.1.-3.  Acts chapter 17 gives the account of Paul and Co.'s first encounter with the Thessalonians.  He had some positive response from his speaking in the synagogue of the Jews.  Luke does not record much of the time in the city, for Acts 17.5 says the Jews who were not persuaded became envious and caused trouble, so as to probably not be a problem for the new believers, Paul and Silas moved on to Berea where they had success as well in the synagogue, but Jews from Thessalonica came and stirred up the crowds against them.  So, Paul was moved along to Athens while Silas and Tim. remained behind.  After they came, Tim and Silas were sent back to Thessalonica.  Paul would move onto Corinth.  It was there that Tim and Silas would return with news from Thessalonica, Acts 18.5.  This was during the time of the proconsul Gallio, around AD50, and it was during this time the letter to Thessalonica was written in response to the report of Tim and Silas.   Paul was concerned about these young believers, because they had to face persecution from the jealous unbelieving Jews, who had lost gentiles to the Way, and they would be under affliction and temptation by their own people.  Paul must have spent more than a few days at Thessalonica, because Acts only records his impact on the Synagogue attendees, while his first letter speaks of those who turned to God from idols, which reveals an evangelistic ministry to those on the outside.  The letter also indicates his primary audience is gentile:  1:9; 2:14; 4:3-5.  His letter also addresses issue about the coming of Christ and the events leading up to it, which would indicate some time was spent on teaching such things.  This reveals that such topics should be taught even among younger believers.  Paul writes in response of the report from Tim.  He writes to encourage them by his cognition and approval of their conduct and to address the problem of persecution and the need to endure it.  He also addresses issues of prophecy and conduct becoming a child of God.

The tension for the Christian futurist concerning Israel

 

There can be a real tension for the Christian who is a futurist, when it comes to eschatology (last things), and the situation with Israel. The tension is in knowing that salvation is through believing in Jesus as the Christ (Son of God) and Savior from sin and wanting to be a friend of Israel, wanting what is right and just for them as a people and nation, to be able to dwell safely in the land that was once theirs, before their conflict and dispersion into the world during the time of the Roman Empire. The tension is in wanting what seems right for them as a nation, to dwell safely in that land which seems by some to be illegitimate and contrary to the belief about who Jesus is, and that He is the only way of salvation. Can't a futurist Christian--who believes in a future salvation of Israel as a people and nation according to numerous Old Testament prophecies and the book of Romans chapter 11 (“All Israel will be saved”)--want what is right for the nation with respect to the land of Israel and still be concerned about them evangelistically? It is true, from a futurist perspective, and from those Jews who may be anti-Zionists (they see the present state of Israel as illegitimate) that Israel will not be restored back into the Land according to the prophets until the coming of Messiah (that Jesus' “Second Coming” for Christian futurists). The futurist must believe that Israel is saved in the *same manner as the gentile--through faith in Jesus as the Christ and Savior from sin, and yet, futurists usually have a strong desire for justice for the Jewish people, to have a right to dwell in that land which was clearly theirs historically. Can't a futurist Christian be for both the evangelism of the Jew and their right to exist in the land? It's like the Christian who is concerned for both evangelism and the maintenance of social moral values--can't both be pursued? Can't one speak both the gospel and against abortion and other moral issues at the same time? Aren't we to be salt and light in the world? We live in a country that allows us to have freedom of speech and elect or run for political office. Can't we as believers in Christ do more than one thing? Can we seek to do that what is right in society and evangelize?

* But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we [Jews] shall be saved in the same manner as they [Gentiles]." Acts 15:11

If God chooses a particular world of free will choices...

  I just think that in God choosing a particular world of free will choices, those free will choices will happen and not others.  But they are free will choices.   Yet God also will intervene in cases as needed to accomplish certain things or to limit certain things-- for example, limiting or redirecting the evil Joseph's brothers intended to do to Joseph, so that he ended up in Egypt, and he could be a savior to the family and provide the circumstances that would fulfill the prophecy to Abraham.  It was how Joseph was able to soften the evil his brothers did by saying it was not they but God who sent him there.  There may be a better way to say it, but he deflected the offense from them it seems.  

Inclination and God's moral will

 As a child, I had an inclination to steal.  Stealing is wrong. It is contrary to God's moral will.   I had to choose not to steal.  The inclination waned over time, but even if it hadn't, it still would be contrary to God's moral will.  I believe the inclination to steal is an inordinate desire that somehow developed out of the original free will act of Adam to act contrary to God's will, and it passed on to his progeny.  We all have inordinate desires that have their source in Adam.  Some call it the "sin nature" or the "evil" that dwells within us (See Romans 7 and Paul's account of struggling with covetousness).

I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." ⁸ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:7-25