The Great Day of the LORD, Yahuah

Scripture has much to say about the great and coming day of the LORD. Unfortunately, my experience has been that the subject is treated with silence from the pulpit. I am somewhat puzzled why this is the case with the subject matter spoken about by virtually every writer in the Old and New Testaments. I suppose it is not a real cheery topic, and may make people uncomfortable, but that has never stopped anyone before. There is actually deception that has crept in, hiding the truth.

I have compiled several references from scripture, and there are more, but it could end up being an information overload. The first reference is from the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi, right before the Gospel of Matthew.

Mal 4:1 “For look! The day is about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says Yahweh of hosts. “It will not leave behind for them root or branch.
Mal 4:2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like fattened calves.
Mal 4:3 You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am going to act,” says Yahweh of hosts.
Mal 4:4 “Remember the instruction of my servant Moses, which I commanded him at Horeb to all Israel, the rules and regulations.
Mal 4:5 Look! I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh!
Mal 4:6 And he will bring back the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with a ban.”

So it looks like it will be a hot day, and there will be two groups of people involved, those who are evil doers, and those who revere the name of Yahweh. Yahweh reminds the reader to remember what he commanded Moses at Mount Horeb, the rules and regulations, for all of twelve tribes of Israel. I am wondering if that is the standard Yahweh will use to determine what consists of evil, as opposed to revering his name?

I am going to bounce back and forth from the Old and New Testaments just so it is clear that everyone is talking about the same day. Peter also talks about the extreme heat that will dissolve basically everything.

2Pe 3:1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2Pe 3:2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
2Pe 3:3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
2Pe 3:4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
2Pe 3:5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
2Pe 3:6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
2Pe 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
2Pe 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
2Pe 3:11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
2Pe 3:13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Peter speaks of the writings of the prophets, which we will cover below. We will start with Joel because Jesus actually quotes Joel describing the day.

Joe 2:10 Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars have withheld their splendor
Joe 2:11 And Yahweh utters his voice before his army, because his encampment is very large; strong is the one who carries out his decree, for great is the day of Yahweh and exceedingly fearful. Who can endure it?
Joe 2:12 “And even now,” declares Yahweh, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing.”
Joe 2:13 Rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to Yahweh your God, because he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in loyal love, and relenting from harm.

Yahweh’s solution to enduring His day is to return to him because he is gracious and compassionate. So where is the grace of the one who is causing this terrible day to happen? It is quite simple. Yahweh shows us the path to take, how to live and gives fair warning, if a person is willing to listen. Some of these writings go back 3000 years and there have been plenty of people who have sounded the alarm. Jesus, the Word in flesh, is one of these who came to show Yahweh’s grace, and He is the one who will carry out the judgement of Yahweh.

Mat 24:29 “And immediately after the tribulation of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.’
Mat 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it.

Jesus even tells us when this will take place. It is after the “tribulation of those days“, and it will be the worst time ever experienced in the history of the Earth. As bad as times may have been, none of this has happened yet.

Mat 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
Mat 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Joel had more to say about the day of Yahuah. Yahuah is an alternate spelling of Yahweh. As Josephus states in War of the Jews, the pronunciation of the sacred name is four vowel sounds. Either English transliteration could be ee-yah-ew-ah. Here Yahweh has a sickle and a wine press for the wicked, but He is a refuge for his people.

Joe 3:11 Hurry and come, all the nations, from all around, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!
Joe 3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from all around.
Joe 3:13 Send forth the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Go tread, for the winepress is full! The vats overflow, because their evil is great!
Joe 3:14 Commotion, commotion in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision!
Joe 3:15 The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars have withheld their splendor.
Joe 3:16 And Yahweh roars from Zion; from Jerusalem he utters his voice, and the heavens and the earth shake. But Yahweh is a refuge for his people, and a protection for the children of Israel.

Where else do we see this language of sickles and wine presses? In John’s Revelation. It is the same event.

Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
Rev 14:16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Rev 14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
Rev 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

In Revelation, we have one who looks like the son of man on a cloud reaping the Earth, and also, certain angels reaping and putting the grapes in the great wine press of the wrath of God. I suggest that this coincides with Matthew 24 and the gathering of the elect. Other analogies are the gathering of the wheat and tares, and separating the goats and sheep. John the Baptist and Jesus both speak of wheat and tares or chaff.

Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Mat 13:26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
Mat 13:27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
Mat 13:28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
Mat 13:29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Mat 25:31 Now when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Zephaniah and Micah shed a little more light on the day of Yahweh. It looks again, like those who sinned against Yahweh, are the ones that are feeling the wrath of God. Also, it looks like it will be a day of trumpet and trumpet blasts. These could be a clue as to what time of year we will see this take place.

Zep 1:14 The great day of Yahweh draws near; it is near and coming very swiftly. The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness; there, a warrior cries out!
Zep 1:15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of disaster and ruination, a day of darkness and deep gloom, a day of clouds and thick clouds,
Zep 1:16 a day of trumpet and trumpet blast against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers.
Zep 1:17 And I will bring distress to all humankind, and they shall walk about like the blind, for they sinned against Yahweh; their blood shall be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.
Zep 1:18 Moreover, their silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh. And in the fire of his zeal, the whole land shall be consumed, for a terrifying end he shall make for all the inhabitants of the land.

Mic 1:2 Hear, all you peoples; give heed, O earth and its fullness. And let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness, the Lord from his holy temple.
Mic 1:3 For behold, Yahweh is coming out from his place, and he will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
Mic 1:4 The mountains will melt under him and the valleys will burst open, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

In the book of Revelation there is a similar scene. Again, we are talking about the same event.

Rev 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
Rev 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
Rev 6:14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Rev 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
Rev 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Rev 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

With the day of the LORD being a day with trumpets blowing, it makes me think that it could happen at the feast of trumpets, which is one of the fall feasts, and the only feast that really doesn’t have anything ascribed to it. It sounds like it is preparation for the arriving king.

Lev 23:23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.
Lev 23:25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.”

In this next passage from Habakkuk, we get the same sort of theme where the righteous shall live by His faithfulness, and the unjust, or those who sinned against Yahweh, as Zephaniah expresses it, will receive wrath.

Hab 2:2 Then Yahweh answered me and said, “Write the vision and make it plain on the tablet so that it might be read quickly.
Hab 2:3 For there is yet a vision for the appointed time; it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie. If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and not delay.
Hab 2:4 Look! His spirit within him is puffed up; it is not upright. But the righteous shall live by his faithfulness.
Hab 2:5 How much less the defiant; the arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed.

Maybe we should try to figure out how “sinning against Yahweh” is defined. Thankfully the Apostle John spells it out clearly.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

John indicates that sin is the transgression of God’s law, which is His instruction, or the Hebrew word Torah. Someone that is abiding in God, is not sinning, but someone who is sinning is of the devil.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Yet none of us are without sin! John earlier in this letter tells us those who say they don’t sin are liars. How can this be? Thankfully, John also gives us the answer:

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Also, Philippians 4:13; I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Continuing with the day of Yahweh, one of my favourite extra-biblical texts, Enoch, also spells out a similar situation with mountains melting like honeycomb, the elect saved and judgement coming to all.

THE word of the blessing of Chanok, how he blessed the elect and the righteous, who were to exist in the time of trouble; rejecting all the unrighteous and wicked. Chanok, a righteous man, who with ELOHIYM, answered and spoke, while his eyes were open, and he saw a holy vision in the heavens. This the angels showed me. From them I heard all things, and understood what I saw; that which will not take place in this generation, but in a generation which is to succeed at a distant period, on account of the elect. Upon their account I spoke and conversed with him, who will go forth from his habitation, the Holy and Mighty One, the ELOHIYM of the world: Who will hereafter tread upon Mount Ciynai; appear with his hosts; and be manifested in the strength of his power from heaven. All shall be afraid, and the Watchers be terrified. Great fear and trembling shall seize them, even to the ends of the earth. The lofty mountains shall be troubled, and the exalted hills depressed, melting like a honeycomb in the flame. The earth shall be immerged, and all things which are in it perish; while judgment shall come upon all, even upon all the righteous: But to them shall he give peace: he shall guard the elect, and towards them exercise clemency. Then shall all belong to YAHUAH; be happy and blessed; and the splendour of YAHUAH shall illuminate them. CHANOK (ENOCH) 1:1-8 את CEPHER

Much like Enoch, the book of Revelation describes similar events once again. Every eye will see him, and all the tribes of the Earth will mourn, wail and be terrified.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
Rev 1:6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Rev 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Paul also speaks of the great day of Yahweh, and I would not want to leave out what he has to say. It is the same message as everyone else.

1Th 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
1Th 5:4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
1Th 5:5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 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.
2Th 2:3 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;
2Th 2:4 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.

Paul says He will come like a thief in the night, but they who abide in light will not be surprised. Also, this day will come after the man of sin and lawlessness is revealed.

With all of these scriptures, and many more that I have not included, why the silence in the churches? I have only been around a little more than half a century, and observing for the last 40 years or so. Once I did hear a Pastor mention briefly the day of the LORD, nervously, and then he brushed it off as just being the tribulation. I suppose in his mind, the “church” will have been raptured before any of that happens. Hence the problem. Due to fictional stories like the Left Behind book series and movie, plus one hundred plus years of the John Nelson Darby and C.I. Scofield deception, main stream religion has ignored much of scripture and cut the rest up into a hodgepodge of cherry picked verses to make this “left behind” theology work. Make no mistake, there is only one day of Yahweh, one second coming, and when it happens you will not want to be with the crowd that is burned with the chaff. There will not be a church crowd viewing from the heavens in some sort of disembodied spirit body. Once Jesus appears in the clouds, gathers his own, resurrects the dead, and melts the mountains, it is the end of this age. Here is Paul’s description of the resurrection of the dead during the gathering. It was a letter originally, so there would be no chapter separation between 4:18 and 5:1.

1Th 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
1Th 4:15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1Th 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
1Th 5:4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
1Th 5:5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

It’s the same day. As Paul stated, his readers didn’t have to be told about the times and the seasons because they were fully aware.