The Day of the Lord

Well, thank you, Mr. Emery. Good afternoon, everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Trumpets. Continue to do so. I have the difficult task this afternoon of keeping you and myself awake. The good news is the Feast of Trumpets gives me all sorts of opportunities to pound the podium. Yeah, I'm kidding. But, well, lots of things to wake you back up just in case you start to nod off a little bit.

But no, hopefully that will not be the case. It is a day, as has already been mentioned, one that is incredibly rich in meaning, incredibly rich in symbolism. I've often joked you could close your eyes and throw a rock and hit something that is prophetically or scripturally important when it comes to this day. What we're going to talk about today is the concept of the Day of the Lord. And the Day of the Lord is a theme that runs throughout the fabric of Scripture, runs throughout the fabric of Scripture in a variety of locations. Predominantly, we see this particular concept found in the prophets, primarily, where it's equated to a time of judgment. It's equated to a time in which God pours out His wrath on a nation, on a people who have ultimately turned their back on Him. That nation, that people, have ultimately forsaken Him. During the time of Isaiah, the prophet was sent with a message for the people of Judah and their capital city of Jerusalem. The people of God, at that time, they had turned to Eastern ways, they had turned to idolatry, they had built up riches, they built up military might, and in the process, they turned their back on the one who had provided it all. Isaiah 2 records this time, if you'd turn over, please, to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 2, it records not just this time, but it also records the condition of the nation.

The way that the society at that time was, and ultimately, it records the message that God sent to Judah. Okay, we'll pick it up in verse 5 of Isaiah 2. Isaiah 2 and verse 5, it says, O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. It says, For you, Isaiah tells them. God inspires Isaiah to tell the people this.

For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways. They are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is also full of horses, there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols. It says in verse 8, they worship the works of their own hands. They worship the works of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. It says, people bow down, and each man humbles himself. It says, therefore, verse 9, do not forgive him. It says, instead, enter into the rock, hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Verse 12 says, for the day of the Lord of hosts, the day of the Lord of hosts, shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up, and it shall be brought low.

People of God at that time had turned their back on Him. They were worshipping the work of their own hands. They were worshipping the idols that their own fingers had made. They had done exactly what God told them was going to happen once they entered the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 6. And they suddenly had this wealth, and they had these things, and they had all these aspects that were there in Deuteronomy 6.

And they turned their back on the God who gave it all to them. They had forgotten Him. They had taken up the gods of the people around them. And as a result, God's anger against them was aroused.

But it was more than that. It was more than that.

Judah did not feel shame about it. They didn't feel shame. They didn't feel guilt.

As a nation, as a people, they were not cut to the heart as a result of their actions, by and large, as a whole.

They were not repentant, despite the numerous messages of the prophets. Instead, what we see at this time in history, in God's people, their pride was front and center.

Their pride was front and center. And God made it abundantly clear, as we read in Isaiah 2, that during the events of the day of the Lord, that only He would be exalted in that day.

If you turn over a couple of books here to the book of Lamentations, go ahead and leave a bookmark here in Isaiah 2. We're going to come back to it. But if you turn over to Jeremiah, or Jeremiah, sorry, he wrote it. Lamentations! Lamentations 2!

The other Jeremiah. Not quite. Lamentations 2.

Lamentations 2, and we'll pick it up in verse 22.

What we see is Jeremiah describe what it was like for Jerusalem, ultimately. What it was like. And again, if you want to leave a bookmark there in Isaiah 2, we are going to come back to that. But Lamentations 2, 22, as Jeremiah describes what it would have been like being on the ground at that time.

Being in place as you saw these things happening, as these events of the day of the Lord at this time are being, in some ways, fulfilled here, in part.

Lamentations 2, in verse 22. Lamentations 2, in verse 22. He says, You have invited as to a feast day the terrors that surround me. It was as though those terrors had been invited to the table.

And Jerusalem was the table.

In the day of the Lord's anger, there was no refugee or survivor. Those whom I have borne up and brought up, my enemies have destroyed.

The devastation, you look back on the histories of this time, the devastation was significant.

The Babylonians laid siege to the city for 18 months.

They sat outside the walls for 18 months and laid siege to the walls. And the population of Jerusalem was getting increasingly more and more desperate as that siege continued.

The food, the resources, the resolve of the people dwindled until eventually the food ran out completely.

As you read through some of the accounts in Jeremiah and in Lamentations, it was dire.

I won't go through the specifics, the grisly, but it was dire.

The place that the people found themselves in. In the final weeks of the siege, the walls were breached, they were flattened. The houses from the least to the greatest were burned with fire. The temple was torched before the Babylonians made off with the gold, the silver, and the bronze to take back to King Nebuchadnezzar.

God's judgment had been poured out for the sins of his people.

And these prophecies that we see in Isaiah 2 and that we see in other places throughout the prophets as well, had been fulfilled in part.

They'd been fulfilled in part, not in their entirety, but in part. Because as we see from Scripture, the story of Jerusalem, it wasn't over yet. The story of Jerusalem wasn't over yet, because within these prophecies of God's coming judgment, there is incredible hope.

There is incredible hope in these prophecies that we read.

We didn't read it earlier, actually, on purpose. If you want to go back to Isaiah 2, I wanted to come back to it at this point. Go back to Isaiah 2. God gave Isaiah a future vision of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. It was a time in the future when God, his law and his ways, would be exalted above all.

The description of the time that Isaiah was provided, this prophecy, could not have been more night and day from the time in which Isaiah lived. And the time in which he was prophesying in Israel, this time that was to come.

Isaiah 2, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 2. Just a little up from where we picked up earlier. Isaiah 2 and verse 2. The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It says, Now it shall come to pass, in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. And it shall be exalted above the hills. All nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of God from Jerusalem. It says, He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. And yet you beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war anymore. God was not done with Israel. He was not done with Judah. As Jeremiah records, there remained a future and a hope for the people of God, despite these dire circumstances that they found themselves in the moment. Sitting in that city as the nations surrounded it as though they were coming to a feast.

Experiencing that moment with those boots on the ground, so to speak. When we read these prophetic accounts, we read about the Day of the Lord in general, these prophetic accounts speak to judgment, and they also speak to mercy. They speak of a terrible despair, and they speak to an incredible hope. The Day of the Lord, and this concept of the Day of the Lord as we see it in Scripture, includes both.

It includes a time of incredible challenge and a time of incredible blessing. We see here that God would establish the mountain of the Lord's house. He would establish His kingdom. That kingdom would be exalted above all the others. The nations would flow to this place to learn God's ways.

The law would go forth from Jerusalem. God would judge between the nations. There would be a time of peace and abundance that would come. So much so that the weapons of their warfare would be turned into implements to farm with. There would be no longer a need for these things. They would be utilized instead to produce, instead of destroy. There would be peace, and they would not learn war anymore. But before all of this, God told His prophets that judgment would come first. That there would be judgment which came first. We see this reference throughout Scripture. He told Isaiah of a coming judgment against Babylon. He told Isaiah of a judgment far in the future, a judgment of all the nations.

He told Jeremiah of a judgment against Egypt. Obadiah about a judgment of the Edomites. And in every circumstance, these judgments are referred to as the day of the Lord. For to His times in which God would take very specific control and cause very specific actions and events to take place according to His purposes. So we see a partial fulfillment at this time of some of these things.

But one of the interesting things about prophecy is that it's frequently duality. It's frequently focused on the future as well. And as we examine these accounts of the prophets that describe the day of the Lord, we see references in those passages to a time to come that is yet to be fulfilled. We see references to a time in the future that we can see scripturally as encompassing the time and space of a single day, a time and space of a year, of one thousand years, and even eternity, all referencing this concept of the day of the Lord.

The title of the sermon today is the day of the Lord. And with the time that we have left, I would like to take a look at this concept in these various time periods to help understand how this connects to this day that we're here to commemorate today, this Feast of Trumpets, and the important part that this Feast of Trumpets plays in the overall plan of God. So let's first take a look at how it means a day, specifically a day. Let's turn to Joel. Book of Joel.

Book of Joel. Joel's tucked in there behind Hosea before Amos. Sometimes I can't find him real easy. Joel's one of the minor prophets that wrote down his prophecy, likely during the reign of King Joash. It's not 100% certain as to the timing, but it seems like a lot of the events that are taking place fit in that timeframe.

That was a challenging time in Israel and in Judah. They'd been receiving warnings from God. They'd been being asked very gently to that point by God to repent. And their time was about out. Their time was about to run out with regards to the repentance that was going to come. In their prophecy, Joel describes these events that were going to come in their immediate context.

But not only that, he describes them as they're coming in a future time as well. Joel 2, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. Joel 2 and verse 1 says, In a dark light, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. He goes on to describe why this is so concerning.

It says, You know, this gathering army, this horde of people, is described like locusts. If you've ever had a chance or an opportunity to see locusts, they just swarm all over each other. They just, this big ball of just insect, as they just swarm all over each other. And they climb in and around things. They're just everywhere. They're just everywhere. And this army is described as this massive horde of locusts. Paralleling a real horde of locusts. It was taking time, taking place at that time. But they devour what's before them. They leave desolation.

They make noise like chariots. They make a noise like a raging fire that consumes the stubble. Those of you that have had an opportunity to stand near a large fire makes an incredibly foreboding noise, as it rips and it chews through whatever is coming. These locusts swarm on one another.

They climb the fortifications. They swarm into the windows and the houses. Verse 2 stated that this people comes great and strong, the like of whom has never been, nor will there ever be any such. It says, after them. You combine that with a description later in this same chapter of God's Spirit being poured out, it seems evident that we are talking about a primarily end-time fulfillment here, though it certainly had a partial fulfillment in the time of Israel and Judas fall at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians, respectively.

We see that God is seeking the repentance of his people. He is desiring that his people turn to him and that they repent. And in verse 17, it even says that the priests would cry out and that they would plead with God to spare his people. Verse 17 of Joel 2 says, Let the priests who minister to the Lord weep between the porch and the altar.

Let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God? The word that's used for nations here is the Hebrew word goi. Some of you might be familiar with that term, the goim. It's the concept of the Gentiles, the foreigners, the aliens in this case. It says that this nation, this goi, these foreigners, it says, should rule over them. The priests were to plead that the people of God should not be tread on, that their heritage given over to reproach to these foreign nations who would ultimately rule over them.

We've heard a little bit today already in the other messages about the trumpets that are part of this opening of the seventh seal. You know, as the trumpets sound one disaster after another in succession as they strike the earth, just boom, boom, boom, boom. There's very little repentance that takes place in this process. God desired that repentance from his people. Revelation 16 and verse 14, we won't turn there. If they want to put it on the screen, feel free. It talks about how three unclean spirits during the latter events of the seventh trumpet, they go out and they gather the armies of the nations to come surround Jerusalem.

Again, very similar to what we read earlier in Isaiah 2. The Jerusalem would be surrounded by these nations. These unclean spirits convince the armies of men to come and make their stand against Jesus Christ. These foreign armies, the kings of the earth, the whole world, it says, the kings from the east, these leaders gather their armies at the plains of Armageddon for the final battle, ultimately, of that great day of God Almighty. Let's turn over to Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14, we'll see these events spoken of here as God returns to destroy the armies of Babylon the Great, which have surrounded Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14, we'll pick it up in verse 3. Zechariah 14 in verse 3 says, Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. Mankind is incapable of ruling themselves. We're incapable. We're too susceptible to Satan's influences. God has to intervene. God has to send Jesus Christ. And when Jesus Christ returns, as represented again by the symbolism and the meaning in this day of trumpets, this lynchpin festival, to the rest of God's plan, God will restore control of the governments of this earth to their rightful ruler.

They will return him into the hands of his son. It says, in that day, verse 4, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Jesus Christ has returned. It faces Jerusalem on the east. It says the Mount of Olives shall be split in two. He sets foot on the Mount of Olives, and it just cracks down the middle.

Splits in two. It says, from east to west, making a very large valley. Interestingly, think about positioning. You know, that's fascinating how that's coming from one side to the other, east to west. It says, making a very large valley. Half the mountain shall move to the north, half of it to the south. What does it say in verse 5? Then you shall flee through my mountain valley. For the mountain valley shall reach to us all. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Isaiah, king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you.

Remember, in these prophecies we see despair and we see hope. We see despair, we see judgment, we see hope, we see blessing. Just as God did with his people when they were stuck between the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army, he did something completely unexpected. He parted the sea and his people passed through on dry land. In this case, God split a mountain and he made a valley of escape.

He splits a mountain and provides a valley of escape, just when it looked like all hope was lost. Just when it looked like there was no way they were going to get out of that city and that they were going to be completely and utterly destroyed. Jesus Christ returns and the Mount of Olives is split in two.

Revelation 16 talks about the noises and the thunderings and the lightnings, the earthquake that will take place with the seventh bowl plague. You can imagine the kind of force it takes to split a mountain. Makes you wonder where all those noises come from, doesn't it? It's from the forces that take place in this process. Half the mountain goes north, half the mountain goes south. We get this new valley that the people then can escape. Verse 12, we see that God begins the fight. We see that God, in that time, in that day, begins the battle.

Verse 12 of Zechariah 14, I wasn't going to read it. I'm going to read it. It's grisly, but I'm going to read it anyway. It says, And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem. These armies surrounding Jerusalem are the recipients of the following.

Their flesh will dissolve while they stand on their feet. Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets. Their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. Have you ever seen the Raiders of Lost Ark? The scene where they opened the Ark? This was their attempt at picturing this event. They said they took this as the inspiration, as they were trying to put that together in that movie. That was Hollywood's attempt. Imagine the real thing is going to be a little different.

There's no contest, brethren. There's no contest. Their defeat is sudden. It is fast. And it is decisive. The battle was over before it even began, really, to be honest.

The account goes on to talk about the effect that that has on others. It goes on to talk further about the treading of the winepress. We actually sang the song earlier today, you know, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the treading of the winepress. It talks about the blood to the height of a horse's bridle for 1600 stadia. For those of you unfamiliar with stadia, that's about 183 miles.

A bridle on a horse is about yea high. I'll give you perspective. Salem to Grant's Pass is only 200 miles. About 20 miles short of that is where the blood would stop being this high, from Salem to Grant's Pass. This is devastating. This is absolutely devastating to those who thought that they could go up against the Lord God.

The stone that was not cut out with hands, right, this stone that we see in this prophecy of Daniel, has utterly destroyed. The final human empire of clay and iron. Babylon has fallen. The beast, the false prophet who led them are cast into the lake of fire and they are destroyed. God is victorious. You know, we look at all these things again, the difficulties leading up to this point.

All of the challenges that we see, which we'll explore here again in a second. The moral of the story is that God is victorious. That is the moral of the story. And so it is appropriate to consider the day of the Lord as the time of this final battle between God and spirit armies against the armies of man. When the kingdoms of this world are finally defeated and God rules, His creation. That is one aspect of the day of the Lord.

We also see that there's a number of passages throughout Scripture that reference the time leading up to this seventh trumpet and its events that precede it as the day of the Lord as well. One of the other ways you can interpret it and look at it is as a year. If you want to begin turning over to Revelation 1, it's entirely appropriate to see the day of the Lord as a year's time. Revelation, we'll see the words of the Apostle John here in Revelation 1. Revelation 1, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 10.

Part of the visions that John was provided by Christ and the events of the time period that were revealed to him. Revelation 1 in verse 10, he says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And he tells John, what you see, you write it in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia.

So this message that we see recorded here in Revelation goes out to them, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and of course, down through time, to us today. We see John here in Revelation 1.10 was taken up in the Spirit, and he was ultimately shown the events that would take place during this time period, during the stay of the Lord in a vision.

The Greek word for day that's used here is the Greek word hamara, which encompasses a really wide variety of time intervals. It can be used to describe a literal day, as we just discussed. It can be used to describe components of that day, so a certain portion of that day. It can be used to describe a time of a specific type or length, and it can be used poetically to describe time in general.

So the Greeks used the word hamara in a lot of different ways. Finds Expository Dictionary says, hamara can be used to describe a period of undefined length that is marked by certain characteristics. It's real helpful finds. Basically what it's saying is that in this case, in Revelation 1, verse 10, the manifested judgment of God upon the world are these events that we're looking at and the powers that God unveils being kind of punctuated by these specific events. John was given a vision of what was going to come during this time period, during this day in which God would take control of world events and judge the nations.

So Revelation 6, if you'd like to turn over there, we'll take a look at what was going to come during this time period, during this day in which God would take control. We see the beginning of this process with the seals of God being opened. Okay, so we see this process with the seals of God being opened. John describes the opening of these seals, the events that take place as they're opened up. We see false Christianity. We see war. We see famine. We see disease. We see things that to some degree have taken place to this point.

But at this time, when these seals are fully opened, they will escalate significantly toward the events of the fifth seal that's recorded in verses 9 through 11. So Revelation 6, and we'll begin in verse 9, says, When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. They cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

How long before these events that you said would take place, this judgment that you would pour out?

Then, verse 11, a white robe was given to each of them. It was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed, as they were, were completed. As we see the beast of Revelation rise, as we see a civil and a religious power become consolidated, there will be a time of troubles that comes upon the people of God. We see that there are wars that take place in the Middle East, around Jerusalem, in other capacities. We see an abomination of desolation that gets set up in the temple. And that sign provided to Daniel is the sign that this great tribulation against the people of God has begun. We see the king of the north, the king of the south pushing against each other. For this three and a half year period of the great tribulation, the two witnesses prophesied during this time. The people of God will either be in the wilderness or suffering persecution at the hands of this beast power. These are the same individuals that are spoken of by Christ in Luke 21 and verse 10. Luke 21 and verse 10, if you would turn over there, Luke 21 and verse 10.

These are the same individuals that Christ references here in Luke 21.

Luke 21, we'll pick it up in verse 10. It says, Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes in various places, famines and pestilences. There will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things they will lay their hands on you.

So before these signs, before these great fearful sights and great signs from heaven, it says, Before these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, Delivering you up to the synagogues and to the prisons. You'll be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.

It says, Therefore, settle in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you'll answer. He says, Let me give you the words. Let me give you the words. He says, Don't think about, well, if somebody asks me this question, this will be my answer. Nope. He says, Don't meditate on it beforehand. He says, Settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you'll answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or to resist.

You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends, And they will put some of you to death, and you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. Verse 18, But not a hair of your head shall be lost. He says, By your patience possess your souls. They will lay hands on the people of God. They will persecute them. They'll deliver them up to the synagogues and to the prisons.

They'll bring them before magistrates as a result of their faith. And God says He will give them a mouth to respond. He will give them wisdom to respond. He will be with them even in the midst of martyrdom, even in the midst of these things. Verse 11 talks of the great earthquakes, the famines, the pestilences, the fearful sights, the great signs in heaven that would follow this event, that would follow these events of this fifth seal.

When the sixth seal is opened in Revelation 6, verse 9, we see a great earthquake. We see the sun become as black as sackcloth, the moon like blood. The stars of the heaven fall to earth like a shaken fig tree. It says the sky will recede as a scroll when it's rolled up, and the mountains and islands are moved out of place. In fact, it goes on and it says, The kings of the earth, the rich, the commanders, the mighty. And it says, The slaves and every free man, they were afraid, and they hid themselves, saying what?

The great day of his wrath has come. Who is able to stand? Joel 2, verse 31, says, The sun will be turned to darkness, the moon into blood before the coming of that great and awesome day of the Lord. These supernatural events that precede this event known as the day of the Lord. If you want to turn over to Isaiah, Isaiah talks about this as well in Isaiah 34. Using similar terminology, Isaiah 34, we'll pick it up in verse 4. Again, looking at the similarities between this writing and what is described in Revelation 6, verses 9-11.

Isaiah 34, in verse 4, Oops, not 43. 34, in verse 4. Isaiah 34, in verse 4, says, All the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved, the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, all their hosts shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine and as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Again, same words that John uses to describe the events of the sixth seal. And so we see a similar focus in this particular passage of this seal. Verse 8, a little further down here in Isaiah 34. Isaiah 34, in verse 8, says, For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

Ultimately, Isaiah writes, This coming day of the Lord is a year of recompense, that the events that take place in the judgment of the nations, these events that represent the wrath of God being poured out on Babylon in the nations is a period of a year's time, culminating in the decisive battle that we just talked about in our first point of that day when he returns and destroys the armies of Babylon. We see at this time the seventh seal is open.

Hear these individuals at the end of the sixth seal? They are hiding in rocks. Man, they are hiding under anything they can get into. They worm in their way into crevices in the canyons, trying to avoid the wrath of God. The sky's falling, it's making noise, stuff's happening, the sky's rolling back like a scroll. There's all these heavenly signs taking place, and then the seventh seal is opened in silence. Absolute silence for a half an hour. Absolute silence. And you know, earthquakes, they come along, they shake everything, people go, they do their thing, they stand in the spot, and then it stops.

And what do you start to do? Is it over? Maybe you have a moment of, was that it? Was that all God's got? That was it? Silence for a half an hour, and then 30 minutes later. Trumpet blast takes place. 30 minutes of silence, and then this supernatural blast of a trumpet.

They're going to know real quick, it is not over yet, that it's only just begun. It is only just begun. This wrath, this period of wrath that we see in the opening of this seventh seal with these seven trumpets is a period of a year's time. It's a period of a year's time as these trumpets blow and as the events of these trumpets take place in succession. This isn't an uncommon principle in Scripture to have something be a year's time. We see it in Numbers 14, 34. God gave Israel one year in the wilderness for each day that they spied out the land of Canaan. It can be found in Ezekiel 4, verse 6. Poor Ezekiel. He was given a specific number of days lying on his side relating to the number of years of Israel's iniquity. And then he had to flip over and do it again on the other side. So this is not outside the way that God operates. God operates with this year for a day principle in a number of places. So we see beginning with the events of the fifth seal, we have a three and a half year time period known as the Great Tribulation. The final year of this period, final year of this period, beginning with that silence in the heavens for a half hour and then the opening ultimately down through the seventh seal in its trumpet blast encompasses a period of a year's time, and we see that we see the day of the Lord as the day of the Lord. So it is also appropriate to refer to the final year of the Great Tribulation, not just the battle, but the whole year leading up to that battle and ultimately into the thousand years, the day of the Lord also. But we also see, scripturally, that it references the day of the Lord as the one thousand year period of the millennium as well. It's also included there. After we see the fulfillment of these days of this particular feast of trumpets, Jesus Christ sits on his throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The mountain of the Lord's house is established. This period of healing can begin. This period of time, this millennium, represents one thousand years from the time of Christ's return ultimately to the release of Satan at the end of those one thousand years. And then we have into the kingdom, from there, into eternity. But during this time period, we see that Satan is chained, he's bound. The people who remain, who live through the events leading up to and through this Great Tribulation, can begin to relearn life without Satan's influence. They can begin to learn to live again without the influence of Satan present.

Can you imagine the level of trauma that these individuals are going to have that have come through this time? What they will have seen? What they will have experienced? We talked earlier about blood the height of a bridle from Salem to Grant's Pass. What these people will have witnessed? And they have to come through this somehow.

It is during this time, during this one thousand year period, when God's first fruits, brethren, you and I, those he has called at this time, will be working with and will be serving the people who remain. Teaching them the way of God. Teaching them to unlearn the things that they had known before.

Those who were born during this time, the children who were born during this time, will never have known, aside from the history books, what had taken place prior. They're born into a world that gets progressively better as those years progress, as Satan's influence is removed more fully. The traumas of the past become further and further in the rearview mirror, so to speak. As God's first fruits work with those individuals as well, there is a mighty restoration that takes place. Habakkuk records that the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, and just as the waters cover the sea, the land will be filled with the knowledge of God.

Can you for a moment imagine what that's going to be like? I mean, really imagine what that's going to be like.

As society moves further into the millennium, a time in which there is no temptation, there's no jealousy, there's no envy, because the being that stirs that up is gone. And once that's been unlearned, and as time progresses into the millennium and generations are born, those things will be forgotten as time goes on. Imagine what it would be like when people work together to achieve things instead of actively opposing one another, jockeying for position.

When God is at the forefront of society and at the forefront of culture. When there are news articles that talk about what he is doing, news articles that talk about what's going on. For those of you that get Compass Check, there's a really awesome article in Compass Check this month that I would strongly encourage you to check out. It was written by David Blue, and he writes it from the point of view of a young lady living in the millennium to the kids of today. It's really awesome. Talking about how she's reading through the histories and seeing what it's like, and can't believe that we were able to make it through the way that it was. It's well worth taking a look at. But what a contrast. What a contrast.

Night and day.

In multiple places, throughout Scripture, when you look at this time period, this thousand-year period, the prophets say, in that day, in that day, used to reference this period of Christ's rule. And in those places, they describe certain aspects of this time. A couple of examples. In that day, the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk. In that day, I will assemble the lame, will gather the outcast, those who I have afflicted. The Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion. In that day, speaking again, millenially, there shall be a root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people. In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. In that day, the great trumpet will be blown. They will come, calling about, calling the assemblies of the feasts. And they will worship the Lord in the holy Mount of Jerusalem. In that day, referencing this one thousand year period of the millennium. There are more throughout the books of Isaiah, throughout Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the other prophets, but the prophets spoke of this one thousand year time period of the millennium when Israel and Judah would be restored as being that day, that day of the Lord. That's not a surprise. Psalm 90, verse 4, talks about God's view of time. It talks about how, you know, a day to God is, or a day is like a thousand years to God. A thousand years is like yesterday, as the way Psalm 90 puts it, when it's past. You know, that ultimately a thousand years is like a day to Him. And the Apostle Peter talks of this connection as well. Let's go to 2 Peter, verse 3. 2 Peter, verse 3.

2 Peter 3, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 8.

2 Peter 3, and verse 8.

As we consider this thousand-year period of the millennium, Peter writes, He says, But, beloved, don't forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is His one day. And then he goes on to say, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

And so he's getting at this idea that God views time differently than we do. Ultimately, He sees time differently than we do. He's not slack concerning His promise. He's waiting for all to come to repentance. With the Lord, a thousand years is His one day, one day is His a thousand years. And in that sense, this thousand-year period of the millennium can be considered the day of the Lord as well. In God's perspective, it's a period of time in which He reigns.

It's His day. It's no longer the day of man. It's no longer the day of Satan. It is His day. But interestingly, with Peter's writings, his understanding, it seems, of the day of the Lord goes beyond the thousand years of the millennium as well and on into eternity. Read on in 2 Peter 3 and verse 10.

2 Peter 3 and verse 10, there's this reference to what is to come. It says, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat, and both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Again, an event being described as the day of the Lord. Peter's talking of a time here that is beyond the millennium, a time in which the heavens, the elements, will melt with fervent heat. You see, from other places in Scripture, it doesn't appear the earth is destroyed, but likely the surface of the earth, the works of man that are in it, will be burned up as they've been reserved for this day of judgment and perdition.

It says kind of until the events of this great white throne judgment. But he asks an important question. He says, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Ultimately, in verse 12, he goes on, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

Because of this coming end to that which is physical, this earth, the works that are in it, the atmosphere that surrounds it, such that nothing physical can survive. Just earlier than this, he talks about the time of Noah, which in case there was a flood that made it impossible for anybody but the ones that God desired to make it through that flood to survive.

Peter's kind of making this likeness in a similar way. He's saying, here is this other thing that's going to happen. The surface of the earth, the works that are in it, the atmosphere around it, nothing physical will survive this. Unless you are of God. Unless you are Gods. He says, what manner of person then ought we to be, recognizing that this coming flood, so to speak, is coming? What type of people, what holy conduct and godliness should we be as we look forward to and hasten the coming of this day of God?

It should be something that's on the forefront of our minds. It should be something, as Mr. Griswold mentioned in his sermon edit, should guide our conduct now as the vision that we hold on to. And that ultimately should be innervated in all of these other places in our lives.

So it seems, as we look at this in verse 13, he concludes, he says, nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. In other words, the old is gone. The old physical things, they're done. They're over.

Now there's this new heavens, this new earth that we look forward to in which righteousness dwells. So it seems, as we look at this, it seems as though Peter had an understanding of the day of the Lord being something that continued on through the end of the millennium, into the time of the judgment, beyond, as the saints of the Most High will receive that kingdom and possess it forever. What we see from Scripture is that the day of man, the day of Satan, will come to an end. That our attempts, our misguided attempts at ruling ourselves, all of which have been met with failure, will come to an end. They'll come to a close when God fulfills his plan via the events of this day of trumpets. When those events take place, the day of the Lord begins, when that seventh seal is opened, when that seventh seal is opened and there is that silence, and then there is those trumpet blasts over that period of one year that encompass that final year of the Great Tribulation. We see the seventh seal opened. We see the angels blow the trumpet of God, heralding and pouring out God's wrath upon Babylon. See those trumpets ultimately progressing toward the culmination of that seventh trumpet. Jesus Christ returns. The final bull plagues are poured out. Mankind's last stand takes place. We see at that moment in that time, Jesus Christ and his armies defeat the nations of this world. A final battle which takes place in the literal day of his return. And we see that he returns not as the humble lamb of his first coming, this time he returns as a conquering king. And he met's out a final judgment on the armies of Babylon and on their leaders, the beast and the false prophet, defeating them soundly in a battle that we can consider to be the day of the Lord.

The rightful restoration of Jesus Christ to his throne ushers in 1000 years of peace and prosperity, abundance, that we see scripturally is sometimes also referred to as the day of the Lord, a period of time in which God is in charge of mankind's affairs. And in that day, we see a physical creation that is restored. We see a restoration of proper worship of God that will be instituted worldwide.

And we see in that day there will be one God and that he will be exalted above all. And then finally, the day of the Lord can refer to the time period beyond the millennium as well. Into the great right-thrown judgment, into the kingdom ultimately, as the heavens dissolve, the elements melt, as the new heavens and new earth are here and the Father dwells with his saints. Day of the Lord is an important theme throughout Scripture. It's one that has significant meaning as we think about the events of this Feast of Trumpets, the real lynchpin that this Feast of Trumpets is in the plan of God, and how all that comes after it, the events of today, have to take place for the rest to be able to occur. You can't have what follows without what takes place and is symbolized by this feast day. What we see is that it is a time of woe and it is a time of challenge, but it's also a time of incredible hope. It's a cataclysmic series of events that result in rich and incredible blessings. They are the birth pangs that lead to something new and something beautiful. So, brethren, as we come into this fall Holy Day season, as it kicks off today here, as we come into the fall Holy Days, and as we go through here and we commemorate the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day, let's not forget the pivotal spot that this Feast of Trumpets has in the events of the rest of these Holy Days as well, that the Day of the Lord ultimately plays in the plans that God has for His creation, and let us never forget the One who made it so.