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In order to understand the nature of the Day of Christ,
one must first understand the nature of the various Day of
the Lord events that preceded it.
Jehovah's numerous OT comings were always described as
personal and visible (see: Isa 19:1-2; Isa 31 all; Deut
33:2, Zech 9:13; etc.). Jesus was to come "in the glory of
the Father." Christ's coming was to be a Day of Yahweh
event, which reveals to us the precise nature of that event.
The desolation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was a past
"Day of the Lord." After it happened, the prophet Jeremiah
tells us:
Lamentations 1:12
behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me
in the day of his fierce anger.
Lamentations 2:1
How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud
in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the
beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the
day of his anger
Lamentations 2:21
The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my
virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast
slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed,
and not pitied.
Lamentations 2:22
Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about,
so that in the day of the LORD'S anger none escaped nor
remained
**Note also that it was God who did the killing! Did anyone
SEE Jehovah kill people? Was the prophet lying? Of
course not. This is how the prophets spoke.**
Furthermore, Ezekiel had foretold of this same Day of the
Lord against Jerusalem which took place in the 500s BC,
saying:
Ezekiel 7:19
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold
shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be
able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of
Jehovah: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither
fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their
iniquity.
And again, Ezekiel says of this same past Day of the Lord...
Ezekiel 13:2-5
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that
prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their
own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their
own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets
are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into
the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel
to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.
The prophet Zephaniah also calls the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Babylonians "the Day of the Lord."
Zephaniah 1:1 - 1:7
The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of
Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of
Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of
Judah. I will utterly sweep away everything off of the
surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and
animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of
the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut
off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I
will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal
from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan
priests, those who worship the host of the sky on the
housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also
swear by Malcam, those who have turned back from following
Yahweh, and those who haven't sought Yahweh nor inquired
after him. Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for
the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a
sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.
Folks, there we have the classic "Day of the Lord" in
scripture. The prophets speak of Jehovah who comes down and
does a whole host of "physical" things. Yet did any
one SEE Yahweh do these things? Was Zephaniah lying?
This scripture goes on all the way to the end of Zephaniah
chapter two, and be sure to note that the judgments that
ensue upon the other surrounding nations are also a past
Day of Yahweh event (1:14; 2:2-3).
So, the destruction of Jerusalem in the 500s BC is just one
example of MANY past day of the LORD events.
The N.T. teaches that Christ's return was to be a "Day of
Yahweh" event. This perfectly coincides with AD 67-70, which
was the greatest Day of the Lord in history.
Jesus wielded Rome's powers as Jehovah had wielded the
powers and kings of Babylon and Persia as his own anointed
servants (Jer 25:9; Isa 44:28-45:13). That's how the Day of
the Lord judgments work. Rome continued so that the Church
would over take it as the stone of Daniel 2 that became a
giant mountain over the whole earth. The pagan Roman Empire
was destroyed.
John's own interpretation of Rev 1:7's cloud-coming is found
in Rev 14:14-20! No one can deny that the Rev 14:14-20
passage shows a coming in the heavenly realms which brings
disasters upon earth--it is not an incarnational event.
Rather, this perfectly depicts the way the Father came in
O.T. times--in power and great glory. As Jesus promised, he
was to come "in the glory of the Father." Furthermore, Jesus
said that when his future kingdom came, no one would be able
to point to it and say "look here it is, or look there it
is" (Luke 17:20-21). Since "the kingdom does not come in an
observable fashion" (Luke 17:20-21), and since Christ was to
come "in his kingdom" (Mt 16:27-28 ), it follows by logical
necessity that Christ's coming was not observable. Rather,
it was a "Day of the Lord event (i.e., in the heavenly
realms with great disasters and wrath poured out upon
nations and people).
The coming of Christ on the clouds that every eye would see
(Rev 1:7) is actually shown us in Revelation 14:14-20. There
can be no doubt that the Rev 14:14-20 passage makes clear
that it is a coming in the heavenlies like unto the many
O.T. Jehovah comings (cf. Isa 19:1-2; Deut 33:2; 2 Sam 22:7-16;
Zech 9:13-16; Zeph 1:2-5; Isaiah 31, Neh 9:13-15;
Hab 3:3-16; etc.). Jehovah came often in O.T. times, yet his
presence, which always performed the desolations, was potent
and invisible. Jesus had promised that he was to come "in
the glory of the Father.
The great and terrible Day of the Lord struck at the
headquarters of opposition. Apostate Jerusalem, a.k.a. the
great city Mystery Babylon (Rev 14:8/11:8 ), was responsible
for the persecution of Christ and the apostles and prophets.
They used the power of Rome to persecute the Church worldwide
after killing Christ himself. For that, all of the
blood shed on the earth from Able unto the time of Christ
was to be avenged upon their generation according to Matt
23:31-36. All torah-observant, Christ-rejecting Jews in the
Roman Empire were destroyed in Jerusalem in that great wrath
of AD 67-70. The judgment came at that time (1 Peter 4:17;
cf Jn 12:31), for the end of all things was then at hand (1
Peter 4:7; 2 Tim 4:1)--the end of the age had come.
Furthermore, the vengeance of God in those last days (Heb
1:1-2; James 5:3; Acts 2:15-17) had worldwide impact. A
last-days famine hit the whole empire (Acts 11:28 ), God was
striking down kings (Acts 12:20-23) as well as the
emperor-gods (Nero, Galba, etc), Rome burned, and the world
Temple of Jupiter was destroyed in AD 69. That Day of the
Lord, the greatest of all those before it, did come upon the
whole world as prophesied. Christ's Church emerged
victorious and has become the greatest empire known to
mankind.
If one understands what the Day of the Lord was, and if one
is very familiar with the many historic Day-of-the-Lord
judgments that transpired in Old Testament times, then one
quickly understands that the second coming was, by nature,
to be a Day of the Lord event just like those in O.T. times.
The preterist view is entirely consistent with the Old
Testament in understanding AD 67-70 as not only a "Day of
the Lord," but the greatest of all those that had ever been
or will ever be.
one must first understand the nature of the various Day of
the Lord events that preceded it.
Jehovah's numerous OT comings were always described as
personal and visible (see: Isa 19:1-2; Isa 31 all; Deut
33:2, Zech 9:13; etc.). Jesus was to come "in the glory of
the Father." Christ's coming was to be a Day of Yahweh
event, which reveals to us the precise nature of that event.
The desolation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was a past
"Day of the Lord." After it happened, the prophet Jeremiah
tells us:
Lamentations 1:12
behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me
in the day of his fierce anger.
Lamentations 2:1
How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud
in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the
beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the
day of his anger
Lamentations 2:21
The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my
virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast
slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed,
and not pitied.
Lamentations 2:22
Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about,
so that in the day of the LORD'S anger none escaped nor
remained
**Note also that it was God who did the killing! Did anyone
SEE Jehovah kill people? Was the prophet lying? Of
course not. This is how the prophets spoke.**
Furthermore, Ezekiel had foretold of this same Day of the
Lord against Jerusalem which took place in the 500s BC,
saying:
Ezekiel 7:19
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold
shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be
able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of
Jehovah: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither
fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their
iniquity.
And again, Ezekiel says of this same past Day of the Lord...
Ezekiel 13:2-5
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that
prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their
own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their
own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets
are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into
the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel
to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.
The prophet Zephaniah also calls the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Babylonians "the Day of the Lord."
Zephaniah 1:1 - 1:7
The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of
Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of
Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of
Judah. I will utterly sweep away everything off of the
surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and
animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of
the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut
off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I
will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal
from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan
priests, those who worship the host of the sky on the
housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also
swear by Malcam, those who have turned back from following
Yahweh, and those who haven't sought Yahweh nor inquired
after him. Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for
the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a
sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.
Folks, there we have the classic "Day of the Lord" in
scripture. The prophets speak of Jehovah who comes down and
does a whole host of "physical" things. Yet did any
one SEE Yahweh do these things? Was Zephaniah lying?
This scripture goes on all the way to the end of Zephaniah
chapter two, and be sure to note that the judgments that
ensue upon the other surrounding nations are also a past
Day of Yahweh event (1:14; 2:2-3).
So, the destruction of Jerusalem in the 500s BC is just one
example of MANY past day of the LORD events.
The N.T. teaches that Christ's return was to be a "Day of
Yahweh" event. This perfectly coincides with AD 67-70, which
was the greatest Day of the Lord in history.
Jesus wielded Rome's powers as Jehovah had wielded the
powers and kings of Babylon and Persia as his own anointed
servants (Jer 25:9; Isa 44:28-45:13). That's how the Day of
the Lord judgments work. Rome continued so that the Church
would over take it as the stone of Daniel 2 that became a
giant mountain over the whole earth. The pagan Roman Empire
was destroyed.
John's own interpretation of Rev 1:7's cloud-coming is found
in Rev 14:14-20! No one can deny that the Rev 14:14-20
passage shows a coming in the heavenly realms which brings
disasters upon earth--it is not an incarnational event.
Rather, this perfectly depicts the way the Father came in
O.T. times--in power and great glory. As Jesus promised, he
was to come "in the glory of the Father." Furthermore, Jesus
said that when his future kingdom came, no one would be able
to point to it and say "look here it is, or look there it
is" (Luke 17:20-21). Since "the kingdom does not come in an
observable fashion" (Luke 17:20-21), and since Christ was to
come "in his kingdom" (Mt 16:27-28 ), it follows by logical
necessity that Christ's coming was not observable. Rather,
it was a "Day of the Lord event (i.e., in the heavenly
realms with great disasters and wrath poured out upon
nations and people).
The coming of Christ on the clouds that every eye would see
(Rev 1:7) is actually shown us in Revelation 14:14-20. There
can be no doubt that the Rev 14:14-20 passage makes clear
that it is a coming in the heavenlies like unto the many
O.T. Jehovah comings (cf. Isa 19:1-2; Deut 33:2; 2 Sam 22:7-16;
Zech 9:13-16; Zeph 1:2-5; Isaiah 31, Neh 9:13-15;
Hab 3:3-16; etc.). Jehovah came often in O.T. times, yet his
presence, which always performed the desolations, was potent
and invisible. Jesus had promised that he was to come "in
the glory of the Father.
The great and terrible Day of the Lord struck at the
headquarters of opposition. Apostate Jerusalem, a.k.a. the
great city Mystery Babylon (Rev 14:8/11:8 ), was responsible
for the persecution of Christ and the apostles and prophets.
They used the power of Rome to persecute the Church worldwide
after killing Christ himself. For that, all of the
blood shed on the earth from Able unto the time of Christ
was to be avenged upon their generation according to Matt
23:31-36. All torah-observant, Christ-rejecting Jews in the
Roman Empire were destroyed in Jerusalem in that great wrath
of AD 67-70. The judgment came at that time (1 Peter 4:17;
cf Jn 12:31), for the end of all things was then at hand (1
Peter 4:7; 2 Tim 4:1)--the end of the age had come.
Furthermore, the vengeance of God in those last days (Heb
1:1-2; James 5:3; Acts 2:15-17) had worldwide impact. A
last-days famine hit the whole empire (Acts 11:28 ), God was
striking down kings (Acts 12:20-23) as well as the
emperor-gods (Nero, Galba, etc), Rome burned, and the world
Temple of Jupiter was destroyed in AD 69. That Day of the
Lord, the greatest of all those before it, did come upon the
whole world as prophesied. Christ's Church emerged
victorious and has become the greatest empire known to
mankind.
If one understands what the Day of the Lord was, and if one
is very familiar with the many historic Day-of-the-Lord
judgments that transpired in Old Testament times, then one
quickly understands that the second coming was, by nature,
to be a Day of the Lord event just like those in O.T. times.
The preterist view is entirely consistent with the Old
Testament in understanding AD 67-70 as not only a "Day of
the Lord," but the greatest of all those that had ever been
or will ever be.
