One of the major sources of confusion which gives rise to some of the interpretations of end-time prophecy, such as the Pretribulation Rapture view, is the way they interpret key words and phrases. One of those key phrases is the expression often used in scripture, “the day of the Lord.” This is an important key to interpretation, because it is a term that is often used to refer to a future time when Christ is going to return, and God is going to judge the earth. However, it is also a term that is fairly clearly defined by it use in scripture – if we let scripture speak for itself, and just let scripture interpret scripture. This is not really that difficult as it is only used 23 to 25 times, depending upon which version one chooses (KJV 25, NIV 24, and NASB 23 times). The following are the relevant texts in which this expression is used:
“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. 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.” (Isaiah 13:9-10)
“Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt. And 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. 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. 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. 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. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger.”(Isa.13:6-13)
[Note: In context this prophecy by Isaiah concerns an invasion by Babylon, thus some Bible commentators interpret it as referring only to the historic events with no eschatological significance. To do so, however, they have to ignore the striking similarity of the language and metaphors used with that of other passages which they do interpret as prophetic of the end time apocalypse – passages such as Joel 2:31 and 3:14, Matthew 24:29, Acts 2:20, and Revelation 6:12. Clearly the details of vv. 9-13 of this prophecy by Isaiah have never been fulfilled – hence the dual nature of prophetic passages (near term partial fulfillment, long-range future complete fulfillment) also applies in this case, as in most other prophetic passages.]
“For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.” (Ezek. 30:3)
“Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” (Joel 1:15)
“Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle. Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale. They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths. They do not crowd each other; they march everyone in his path. When they burst through the defenses, they do not break ranks. They rush on the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. And the Lord utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it?” (Joel 2:1-11)
“And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” (Joel 2:30-31)
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. And the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.” (Joel 3:14-16)
“Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light; as when a man flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?”(Amos 5:18-20)
“Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the Lord! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry, against the fortified cities and the high corner towers. And I will bring distress on men, so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Zeph. 1:14-18)
“Before the decree takes effect– the day passes like the chaff– before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:2-3)
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ” (Mal. 4:5)
“’And it shall be in the last days, God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind … And I will grant wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.” (Acts 2:17-20)
“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thess. 5:2-3)
“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!” (2 Pet. 3:10-12)
For the intellectually honest truth seeker, this should be enough. There really is not big mystery, no real ambiguity, about what God was communicating here when His prophets wrote about this “day of the Lord.” Granted the word “day” does not always have to refer to a 24 hour period of time, nor is it necessarily that in these passages – but we know that also from how that word is used throughout scripture. But it is clear that a momentous, climactic, cataclysmic event in which God is going to judge this earth and its inhabitants, is what is intended. It is a term that ties together Old and New Testament prophecies about the same end-time event, which most literalists and futurists usually refer to as the “second coming of Christ.” Several of the prophecies above describe it as the time when God is going to destroy the whole earth as we know it today, and all the inhabitants of the earth. Several associate it with those sign events mentioned in other passages, such as Matthew 24:29-31, of the sun being darkened and the moon turning blood red, which we find as part of the sixth Seal of Revelation 6:12-17, where it is also referred to as “the wrath of the Lamb.”
Several of these passages also clearly indicate the timing of this “day of the Lord” event with respect to the rapture of the church. As discussed in the article on that subject, we are clearly told that the rapture of the church will happen after that period called the Tribulation Period:
One of the major sources of confusion which gives rise to some of the interpretations of end-time prophecy, such as the Pretribulation Rapture view, is the way they interpret key words and phrases. One of those key phrases is the expression often used in scripture, “the day of the Lord.” This is an important key to interpretation, because it is a term that is often used to refer to a future time when Christ is going to return, and God is going to judge the earth. However, it is also a term that is fairly clearly defined by it use in scripture – if we let scripture speak for itself, and just let scripture interpret scripture. This is not really that difficult as it is only used 23 to 25 times, depending upon which version one chooses (KJV 25, NIV 24, and NASB 23 times). The following are the relevant texts in which this expression is used:
“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. 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.” (Isaiah 13:9-10)
“Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt. And 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. 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. 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. 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. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger.”(Isa.13:6-13)
[Note: In context this prophecy by Isaiah concerns an invasion by Babylon, thus some Bible commentators interpret it as referring only to the historic events with no eschatological significance. To do so, however, they have to ignore the striking similarity of the language and metaphors used with that of other passages which they do interpret as prophetic of the end time apocalypse – passages such as Joel 2:31 and 3:14, Matthew 24:29, Acts 2:20, and Revelation 6:12. Clearly the details of vv. 9-13 of this prophecy by Isaiah have never been fulfilled – hence the dual nature of prophetic passages (near term partial fulfillment, long-range future complete fulfillment) also applies in this case, as in most other prophetic passages.]
“For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.” (Ezek. 30:3)
“Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” (Joel 1:15)
“Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle. Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale. They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths. They do not crowd each other; they march everyone in his path. When they burst through the defenses, they do not break ranks. They rush on the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. And the Lord utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it?” (Joel 2:1-11)
“And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” (Joel 2:30-31)
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. And the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.” (Joel 3:14-16)
“Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light; as when a man flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?”(Amos 5:18-20)
“Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the Lord! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry, against the fortified cities and the high corner towers. And I will bring distress on men, so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Zeph. 1:14-18)
“Before the decree takes effect– the day passes like the chaff– before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:2-3)
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ” (Mal. 4:5)
“’And it shall be in the last days, God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind … And I will grant wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.” (Acts 2:17-20)
“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thess. 5:2-3)
“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!” (2 Pet. 3:10-12)
For the intellectually honest truth seeker, this should be enough. There really is not big mystery, no real ambiguity, about what God was communicating here when His prophets wrote about this “day of the Lord.” Granted the word “day” does not always have to refer to a 24 hour period of time, nor is it necessarily that in these passages – but we know that also from how that word is used throughout scripture. But it is clear that a momentous, climactic, cataclysmic event in which God is going to judge this earth and its inhabitants, is what is intended. It is a term that ties together Old and New Testament prophecies about the same end-time event, which most literalists and futurists usually refer to as the “second coming of Christ.” Several of the prophecies above describe it as the time when God is going to destroy the whole earth as we know it today, and all the inhabitants of the earth. Several associate it with those sign events mentioned in other passages, such as Matthew 24:29-31, of the sun being darkened and the moon turning blood red, which we find as part of the sixth Seal of Revelation 6:12-17, where it is also referred to as “the wrath of the Lamb.”
Several of these passages also clearly indicate the timing of this “day of the Lord” event with respect to the rapture of the church. As discussed in the article on that subject, we are clearly told that the rapture of the church will happen after the Beast of Revelation, the “Antichrist,” has come to power and set himself up in the temple as God:
“1Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
Again, taking the true literal approach to interpretation, it is clear that the term “the day of the Lord” is used to refer to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,” which immediately precedes it. This is not hard to figure out – a “no-brainer” as they say. Yet strangely enough there are many Bible scholars and Theologians who seem to miss this, or have found another interpretation they prefer. One might, and indeed should ask, why? Could there be some presuppositions, some prejudicial preferences causing them to look for another meaning other than the natural, literal, obvious meaning?
Another passage, which is equally clear is the one in what is called “the Olivet Discourse,” Matthew 24:
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31)
Here again we have as clear a reference to the rapture of the church, and its temporal relationship to the other end-time events, as can be found anywhere in scripture. After a description of the Tribulation Period, which corresponds to the descriptions in Revelation, it tells us that after that time of tribulation Christ will return. Again, most literalists and futurists correctly recognize this as a prophecy about the second coming of Christ. It is also recognizably about “the day of the Lord.” Even though that expression does not appear here the description matches closely some of the other passages where it does appear. And it is possibly the clearest reference to the rapture of the church, as can be found in scripture, aside from that appearing in 1 Thessalonians 4.
However, the wrong definition of “the day of the Lord” allows one to come up with the wrong interpretation of passages such as this, and the one cited above in 2nd Thessalonians. Combine that error with another forced and unnatural interpretation involving the definition of another key term, and we get the explanation given by the Pretribulation Rapturists. Since the natural literal interpretation of this passage clearly contradicts their view, that the rapture precedes the Tribulation Period, they cannot accept what is so clearly stated here. So they have come up with another definition of a key word in this passage, which allows for an interpretation that fits their preconceived view. That key word is the word “elect.”
Here again we should begin by looking at where and how this word is used in scripture, and let scripture interpret scripture. The English word “elect” is the translation of the Greek word “ἐκλεκτός” (eklektos), which appears thirteen times in the King James Version. In every case but one it is used to refer to those who are believers, followers of Christ, which we also call “the church” (the only exception is 1 Timothy 5:21 where it refers to “the elect angels”). Thus, when we see it used here in Matthew, and similarly in Mark, there is no scriptural reason to believe it is not referring to the church, as in all the other passages.
We do find a related term, “the election” (ἐκλογή (eklogē)) which does refer to Jewish believers. However, as believers, even they are part of what is referred to as “the church.” So here again, we have a word that is actually pretty clearly defined by its usage in scripture. There is really no need to try to find another different definition – unless one is trying to force a preconceived meaning on a passage where it is used. However, this whole issue can be avoided by again looking to another parallel passage of scripture, where the word is not even used. Both Luke 12 and 21 also describe the same event. There we do not see the clear reference to the rapture, but clear warnings to all believers living at that time, to prepare them for that climactic event. There the promise to the church is, “your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
The forced definition of these key words, which we have alluded to above, are as follows: “the day of the Lord” is interpreted as referring to the whole seven-year Tribulation Period at least, and for many if not most Pretribulation Rapturists, it also refers to the whole 1000 years of the Millennial reign of Christ on this earth. Part of the confusion is also the way they define “the wrath of God,” or “the outpouring of God’s wrath,” or “the day of the Lord’s wrath” and similar expressions. Although the “day of the Lord” is about that day of God’s judgment, they fail to see the distinction in scripture between the period of trial and testing called the time of tribulation, and the final day of judgment when God pours out His wrath on the unsaved, unbelieving, sinful world.
It is both scripturally and logically problematic to define this “day of the Lord,” or “the day of the Lord’s wrath” as being the whole Tribulation Period, let alone the 1007 years which included the perfect kingdom of God era on this earth. Passages such as Amos 5:18-20 (cited above) explicitly exclude that prolonged period of bliss and perfection as included in this “day of the Lord.” In the book of Revelation we see rather detailed descriptions of what will happen during that Tribulation Period, and what will happen at the end when God does pour out His wrath. During the former God turns loose the Devil and his angels (or demons), who work through and empower human agents such as the Antichrist and his False Prophet, to persecute Christ’s followers, the church, and God’s chosen people Israel. He also allows the destructive forces of nature to follow their course, bringing celestial or cosmic disasters (such as falling stars), and terrestrial disasters (earthquakes and volcanoes). If we accept that this is all God’s doing, intervening to pour out His wrath, then we have Him torturing and persecuting and punishing His own people. No matter how we interpret the “saints” found in the Tribulation Period in Revelation, they are followers of Christ who are enduring and standing in their faith, and they are martyred and persecuted for it. It makes no sense to say that God is pouring out His wrath on His own people, even if one wishes to call them “Tribulation Saints,” as opposed to “the church.”
This is how the proponents of the Pretribulation Rapture position try to explain those “saints” found in Revelation who are suffering for their faith during that Tribulation Period. It is also related to how they interpret our clear passage in Matthew 24 as not being a description of the rapture of the church. The “elect” there in that 31st verse is not the church, as it is everywhere else that it is used, but it is only those “tribulation saints.” For some it is explained as being all those who come to Christ during that period, after the church has been raptured out – something which scripture tells us nothing about. For others it is a reference to only Jews who turn to Christ during that same period of time – because they were God’s chosen people, the “elect” of the Old Testament, before Christ came the first time.
This latter interpretation is also related to one of the underlying principles, a doctrinal presupposition (without any explicit scriptural support), of that brand of Dispensationalism which gives rise to the Pretribulation Rapture view. That “dispensational distinctive” as some have called it, is the a priori assumption that the Tribulation Period can only be a time of trial and testing for the literal nation Israel – i.e. ethnic Jews. Thus for them, it cannot be about the church, nor can it include or affect the church. Since the first 69 weeks of Daniel’s end-time prophecy was about God’s program for Israel, the 70th week – which is the 7 year Tribulation Period – must also be only about God’s program for Israel. Thus, when one approaches any of he end-time prophecies in the New Testament, such as Matthew 24, or the whole book of Revelation, one has to accept the presupposition that the church is not in either of them, until at least Revelation 19. So the rapture that we see in Matthew 24 is not the rapture of the church, but the rapture of those who survive and become believers during the outpouring of God’s wrath on the unsaved unbelieving world – according to their view.
There is a lot of other explanation and manipulation of scripture which has to go along with such interpretations, to try to make sense of them. But when all is said and done, not only is the resulting scenario much more obscure to derive from actual scripture, but it is also fraught with logical discrepancies. Perhaps it is best after all to just let scripture speak, and interpret itself.
end times revisited 