What is 'The day of the Lord?'

"The day of the Lord" is a formulaic term repeated in both the Old and New Testaments.

As best as I can gather, "The day of the Lord" can be defined as a period of time when God is particularly present in judgment and blessing.

In the Old Testament:

1. The prophets tended to see "The day of the Lord" in the future, a time when all conflicts will be resolved and God's blessing comes completely upon His people. For example: "... in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine..."

2. The prophets tended to see natural phenomena as metaphors for either the judgment or blessing of God in "The day of the Lord." For example, the prophet Joel interpreted a plague of locusts as a form of judgment on "the day of the Lord."

3. Interpreted in this way, natural occurrences became warnings for God's people to examine themselves and to repent of ways that were not pleasing to Him. Joel: "... The day of the Lord is awesome ... that is why the Lord says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time...'"

In the New Testament:

1. The emphasis is upon NOW. Now is the day of the Lord. For example, what was for Joel a future reality ("After all those things I will pour out my Spirit upon all people...") in the New Testament becomes NOW. And so Peter says this on the Day of Pentecost: "... what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel..."

2. But there is still a future tense to "The day of the Lord." Peter again: "But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief ..."

So we are living in a cosmic time when the blessing and judgment of God are particularly present now, but will be even more so at a future, ultimate, time. It is fitting that this is so, because what makes the New Testament new is the first advent of Christ.

Christ's promise is that he is with us always, even unto the ends of the world. This being so, how can it not be that God's presence is particularly with us now?

But even with his presence, the sense you get is ... we ain't seen nothing yet. So everything still holds from the Old Testament: anticipation of future blessing while living each day with a godly fear that respectfully reads all things and all events not as indicators of God's absence, but of his presence.

Logos2Go

Joel 3.17-18 Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, live in Zion, in my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy forever, and foreign armies will never conquer her again. In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, nd the hills will flow with milk ...

Joel 1.6 ... 15 A vast army of locusts has invaded my land ... The day of the Lord is near ...

Joel 2.11-12 The day of the Lord is awesome ... that is why the Lord says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time...

Acts 2.17 ... what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days... I will pour out my Spirit upon all people..."

2 Peter 3.10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment.

Matthew 28.20 ...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.