The Day of the Lord

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This word study focuses on all the passages I’ve found that talk about the day of the Lord. The purpose of this page is to better define both what the day of the Lord is, and when it takes place in history. This is important because, as you will see, the day of the Lord is the beginning of God’s wrath, and we as the bride of Christ are not appointed to this time. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 | Luke 21:34-36 It is before the day of the Lord that we should expect our blessed hope, Titus 2:11-15 the coming of our Lord Yeshua and our gathering to Him, the harpazo of the bride. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

As we will see through this word study, the day of the Lord has two parts to it. First is a sense of sudden destruction and God's wrath and the second is focused on Christ taking the kingdoms, restoring Israel to the land and ruling with a rod of iron. According to scripture, Matthew 24:36-39 and Luke 17:24-33, Christ’s coming is with sudden destruction like the days of Noah and Lot, this is the beginning of God’s wrath and the beginning of the day of the Lord.

There is a similar page, focused more on the idea of the millennium, commonly associated with the idea of the day of the Lord being around 1,000 years. It is more focused around this reign and not necessarily the wrath of God preceeding it.

The Day of the Lord: Wrath and Sudden Destruction

Isaiah 2:12-21
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

I think it’s interesting how verse 10 starts with hiding under the rocks for fear of the Lord. That’s exactly what Revelation 6:15 says about the sixth seal. This fits perfectly with the wrath of God starting just about ½ hour after the seventh seal is opened when the trumpets begin to sound God’s wrath upon the earth. This is also during His rule for 1,000 years, the lofty will be brought low and all the world will worship Him and He will rule with a rod of iron. We even have the connection of the Lord rising to shake the earth and in that day, they go hide in the mountains and caves.

Revelation 6:15-17
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Isaiah 13:6-11
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Here we see the day of the Lord directly related to destruction from the Almighty. And once again, we see the sixth seal associated with the day of the Lord, describing the sun darkening and the moon darkening.

Revelation 6:12-14
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

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: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

I don’t believe this passage is referring to the day of the Lord, but it is representative of what the day of the Lord will be like, with His all-consuming fire.

Ezekiel 13:5
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 the LORD.

The context of this passage is how the prophets of Israel were prophesying out of their own hearts, not the Lord’s, misleading and not making Israel strong in His Truth. I’m not entirely sure how that relates to standing in the battle in the day of the LORD though.

Ezekiel 30:1-8
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.

The day of the Lord is described as a day of woe, of cloudiness, and in the time of the heathen. Since it happens in the time of the heathen, the day of the Lord must at least begin during the time that the heathens rule. This places it as starting before the millennial reign of Christ.

Joel 1:13-16
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

That puts it pretty bluntly and clear. Truly there is no joy or gladness in the house of the Jews. They have been blinded for their rejection of their Meshiach Nagid, Yeshua.

Joel 2:1-11
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

The day of the Lord comes in darkness and gloominess. The abomination of desolation happens before the sixth seal, 1290 days before the end of the 70th week. (Daniel 12:11) This part of Joel 2 is, I believe, describing the genocide of 2/3 of Israel after the abomination of desolation. (Zechariah 13:8,9) I believe this great, strong people will be those under the beast of Revelation 13:1-10. Then, the sun and moon go dark and the stars withdraw their shining, which again is a description of the sixth seal. This matches perfectly with scripture placing the sixth seal after the abomination of desolation and just before the wrath of God is poured out.

Joel 2:23-32
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Again, the sixth seal is connected as happening before the day of the Lord. I also find it interesting that the latter rain promise is to Israel specifically. I’ve always heard it pointed towards Christians, but that’s not what it says.

Joel 3:14-18
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Here we see the sixth seal again, then the heavens and earth shake. This is the wrath of God. (Isaiah 13:13) Even though His wrath is being poured out, He will be the hope of His people, Israel. This is another reason why I believe the church is caught away before the sixth seal, the focus is on Israel and their land. When the Lord is dwelling in Zion, that will be the millennium.

Amos 5:18-20
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

The context of this verse is directed at Israel long ago, I believe because verse 27 tells them they will “go into captivity beyond Damascus.” I believe that the Jews may have been looking forward to the day of the Lord, not realizing that in their present condition, it would not be an experience they wanted to go through.

Obadiah 1:10-18
For thy [Esau] violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou [Esau] shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

Esau is Jacob’s brother, who he tricked to gain the birthright. Esau has also been called Edom, meaning red, (Genesis 25:30) which is the name of the land where his descendants settled. (Genesis 32:3 | Genesis 36:1-43) This is saying that the descendants of Esau should not have rejoiced in Israel’s destruction, nor should they have cut off those trying to escape. The day of the Lord here is directed at the heathen, recompense for those things done against the Lord and His chosen ones.

Zephaniah 1:7-18
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

The day of the Lord is the time of His wrath, it’s very clear here. A time of gloominess and darkness, of trouble and distress. Put together from the rest, it is a time for the heathen’s destruction by the wrath of the Lord just after the sixth seal.

Zephaniah 2:1-3
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

Here we see Israel the subject of this warning from God about the day of the Lord’s anger. There is a direct word to seek the Lord, righteousness, and meekness so that they may be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger. Reminds me of Isaiah 26:19-21 Based on other studies, I believe the bride of Christ will be “hid” in the day of God’s wrath based on the promises to escape the wrath of God, such as Revelation 3:10. For Israel, who is taken and protected in the wilderness to be refined through fire, they will be “hid” in the day of God’s wrath on the earth, 144,000 of them sealed and protected explicitly from God’s wrath.

Zechariah 14:1-11
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

There’s talk of half the city going into captivity and the rest remaining in the city. That must be at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The cleaving of the Mount of Olives obviously hasn’t happened yet, and can’t happen until Christ returns in glory. That is right after He defeats the armies at Armageddon. We see that all the saints are coming with Christ when He cleaves the Mount of Olives. We see also the effect of Yeshua’s presence on the earth during the millennium in that there is no day or night as we know it, but He will be the light of the world, literally. There will be no day or night, just one long day, the day of the Lord, which is as a thousand years, where we get “millennium.”

Malachi 4:5
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

I believe that Elijah is one of the two witnesses in Revelation, primarily due to this passage. These two witnesses will be prophesying 1260 days. (42 months/3½ years) Don’t let the numbers make you jump to the conclusion that they are in the first or last half of the 70th week of Daniel. It says it right here that they come BEFORE the day of the Lord. That starts at or around the sixth seal. Therefore, the two witnesses will come during the first half of the 70th week. I believe they will show up soon after the temple is rebuilt on the Temple Mount, probably prophesying at the temple and frustrating those going there. We know that Apollyon is the one who ends up killing these two, (Revelation 11:7) and he isn’t let out of the bottomless pit until the fifth trumpet. (Revelation 9:1-11)

Acts 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the LORD come:

This is a repeated prophecy from Joel 2.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the LORD so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

The day of the Lord does come like a thief in the night. However, we are not in darkness like the world such that this day won’t surprise us, we’ll be watching for it. Notice also that the sudden destruction comes upon them and they shall not escape. Notice also that we are not appointed to wrath but salvation by our Lord Yeshua the Christ. Those are in direct opposition to each other. Some do not escape (those in darkness) while those who are not in darkness are not appointed to that wrath that comes suddenly like a thief in the night. The Lord is taking something from the earth, our current house. He is taking His bride before His wrath comes upon this house to their new place He is building for them currently. John 14:1-3

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8-10
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

We see here that within the timeframe of the day of the Lord, the heavens will pass away and the elements melt with a fervent heat and the earth burned up. This can only happen after the great white throne judgment which is after the millennium is over. After the destruction of this heaven and earth, a new heaven and earth will be created. In this way, the day of the Lord encompasses the time from the beginning of God’s Wrath during the 70th week of Daniel through to eternity in the new heavens and new earth.

Isaiah 66:22
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed [Israel] and your name remain.

Revelation 21:1-5
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

2 Peter 3:8-10 is the key to understanding the timeframe of the day of the Lord. His day starts with His wrath shaking the heavens with the trumpet/thunder/bowl judgments. (Isaiah 13:13 | Matthew 24:29) This happens after the seventh seal is broken and the seven angels are given their seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:1,2) It is at the end of this 1,000 years and the great white throne judgment that the elements melt with a fervent heat.

Keep in mind that the 1,000 years begins about 3½ years before Christ returns in glory to actually take the kingdoms of the earth and begin His millennial reign. (we don’t know the day or hour from the framework of exact-day prophecies.) This means that either Christ can’t be ruling for a full 1,000 years because the timeline for the destruction of this heavens and earth at the great white throne judgment starts with God’s wrath before Christ returns in glory. Or it could be that the 1,000 years is not exact to the day. There is some debate as to the Greek word chilioi used for a thousand is “plural of uncertain affinity” and not necessarily 1,000 exactly. Given the dragon is chained for 1,000 years after 3½ years have passed since the beginning of the day of the Lord, I lean toward around 1,000 years and not exactly.

We can see from these passages that the day of the Lord begins as a time of vengeance to those opposed to Christ. For those who are in Christ, it is a time of rejoicing. Why? Because the bride of Christ is taken out prior to the wrath of God coming. This is called a pre-wrath harpazo.

Day of Christ

There’s something distinctly different about the “day of Christ.” Yeshua the Christ is Lord and so the day of the Lord and the day of Christ are somewhat equivalent. Where they differ is in the tone. I believe they both refer to the same time, the beginning of the day of the Lord, but for the Christian, the day of Christ is the blessed hope and the appearing of our Lord to gather us to Himself as He promised.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Understanding the definition of the day of Christ reveals that the day of Christ is the harpazo of the bride. It is the day of the Lord, which coincides with the coming of the Lord and the sudden destruction we’re not appointed to. Keep reading, there’s more.

Philippians 1:9,10
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.

Why is it only till the day of Christ that we should be sincere and without offence? Are we going to be insincere and offensive after the day of Christ? No, we will be in our resurrected, immortal bodies. We will be married to Christ such that the two become one. We’re taken to the marriage of the Lamb in the harpazo. That’s what the kingdom parable of the 10 virgins is all about. Matthew 25:1-13 Only 50% of those considering themselves to be waiting for the bridegroom are allowed to the marriage. Do you have oil in your lamp? Matthew 7:13-23

Philippians 2:14-16
Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Paul was anticipating the running (work) he was doing for Christ would not be for nothing. The day of Christ is the point when he rejoices over the fruits of his labor. What day could that be if he was laboring for the church. Paul tells us exactly what his goal is in 2 Corinthians 11:2.

1 Corinthians 5:5
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the LORD Jesus.

Notice the different tone, one of salvation on this day. The spirit is saved in this day. Both the day of the Lord and the day of Christ are to come suddenly and at an unknown day or hour. I believe this is because just prior to the day of the Lord is when the Lord snatches His bride from the earth to go to the marriage of the Lamb. For those that have faith in the promises of Christ, this day is one of deliverance and salvation, a departure to our true home with God in heaven. The Father’s house has many mansions, where Christ is preparing a place for us that when He returns He can take us to it. (John 14:1-3) Isaiah 26:20,21 talks about entering into our chambers for a little while till the Lord’s wrath punishing the inhabitants of the earth is over.

I would also like to point out that the scripture only speaks of the spirit being saved, not the body. That is because at the resurrection/harpazo of the just, we receive new immortal bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:50-54

2 Corinthians 1:12-14
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. For we write none other things unto you, that what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our’s in the day of the LORD Jesus.

Here again, the day of the Lord Jesus is a time of rejoicing for those who are in Christ. Why? Because we are removed before the wrath of God is poured out on the children of disobedience.

There’s a distinct difference between the day of the Lord (darkness, wrath, gloominess) and the day of Christ (rejoicing, finishing the race, gathering in Christ). It’s all a matter of perspective. For the Christian, they will not see the day of the Lord and the wrath that encompasses it. They will see Christ and stand before Him. Revelation 7:9 Those who are not in Christ will see the day of the Lord, God’s wrath. Find out what it takes to be the one rejoicing. It’s a lot easier than you think, if you just have faith and trust in and rely on God. What is a Christian?

So is there any scripture that would confirm that Christ comes on the day of the Lord? If the day of the Lord comes as a sudden destruction from the Almighty, Isaiah 13:6-13, then it would follow that our gathering to meet the Lord in the air, the harpazo, would come at some point around that time. We don’t know the day or hour of it, but then again, nobody knows the sudden destruction of the day of the Lord is coming until it arrives, much like the days of Noah...

Matthew 24:36-39
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

So in Noah’s day, everyone was living life normally...except Noah and his family. So in the coming of the Son of man, Yeshua, we are to expect it to be the same. We should expect that people will eat, drink, and be merry not knowing that sudden destruction is coming to take them all away. We are promised to meet the Lord in the air and escape the coming destruction. So it would seem that the Lord’s coming is tied in directly with the sudden destruction coming to which we are not appointed. Since we know neither when the sudden destruction is nor the day and hour of Christ’s coming, they seem to be tied together quite intimately.