The Day of the Lord: How a “Day of Darkness” Offers Future Hope

It was the week before my wedding, and I was excited! All of my thoughts were on that coming day, my wedding day, when my life would be forever changed. Excited, happy, and afraid, my head was full of all the aspects of the wedding: Would the recorded music work? Would people dance at our swing music reception? But I was also thinking about what would come after that coming day. Would I be a good wife? How would marriage change our relationship?

The concept of the day of the Lord in Scripture functions similarly. Like a bride waiting for her wedding day, God’s people anticipate the day of the Lord with both hope and fear. It is the day when God will act decisively to judge good and evil, rightly responding to both.

Simply put, the day of the Lord is a day in which the Lord intervenes. This intervention may be perceived as positive, characterized by blessings, or negative, characterized by punishment. In either case, when Scripture announces the coming day of the Lord, its purpose is to call people to heed God: Listen when he speaks, respond when he calls, and anticipate his future intervention.

On that day, everything will be transformed. The only question that remains is whether someone will be on the side of destruction or restoration—and what will come next.

The day of the Lord and the judgment of the Lord

The day of the Lord is associated with God’s intervention in judgment. It simultaneously pictures right judgments rendered for both the righteous and the wicked.

In the Old Testament, justice is rooted in right judgment, and God specifically stands as the Judge who will judge rightly, as we see in the Psalms (e.g., Ps 96:13). God will correctly judge wrongs. These wrongs create injustice that need correction through right judgment.

In Hebrew, the terms “justice,” “judgment,” and “judge” all share a common root. We still see remnants of this in English when we talk about the justice system where judges are to make right judgments. This helps us avoid thinking that “judgment” speaks only of something negative to avoid. Right judgment both rewards and punishes and, at its best, positively transforms lives.

We can imagine modern situations where the same judgment feels positive for one person and negative for another. A mother rejoices in court when her child’s murderer receives deserved punishment. A worker celebrates when his employer must pay wages unjustly withheld for years. If we focus only on the negative judgment—the murderer’s sentence, the unjust employer’s penalty—we miss how the mother and worker experience this same judgment as hope.

For the oppressed righteous, that day is good news. The hope of right judgment means everything wrong could be made right.

Thus, when we see “the day of judgment” and “the day of the Lord,” we must remember: For the oppressed righteous, that day is good news. The hope of right judgment means everything wrong will be made right by a God who is good, holy, and just. When we hear of “a day of darkness,” we should ask: “Who experiences that day as ‘dark’?”

The day of the Lord in the Old Testament

While God’s future activity is a theme throughout the Old Testament, the phrase “day of the Lord” appears specifically in prophetic literature. The idea of a “day” in the Old Testament does not necessarily refer to a twenty-four hour period, but rather to a designated period of time. Thus, the “day” of the Lord could begin on a specific day and last for a period of special time that God designates.

Pre-exilic: darkness and terror

The earliest examples of the day of the Lord in the pre-exilic period—Amos, Isaiah, and Zephaniah—tend to emphasize the day’s darkness and terror.

Amos

Amos likely provides the Old Testament’s earliest use of the phrase “day of the Lord.” Amos 5:18–20 introduces the day by asking why the Northern Kingdom longs for a day that will be for them “darkness, not light.” This suggests that the idea of the day of the Lord was already present among the people before Amos describes it, but their expectations of it were wrong. Amos 5:12 shows that the Northern Kingdom had sinned greatly, oppressing the innocent. They loved evil and hated good. Yet they think God will still take their side (v. 14). Amos’s description in verses 18–20 makes clear that God will judge their wickedness alongside the wickedness of the nations.

Isaiah

Whereas Amos emphasizes that all wickedness will be judged on the day of the Lord, Isaiah’s description focuses on how it will be a day of reversals. Isaiah 2 speaks of “days to come” (v. 2) and a “day” belonging to the Lord of Hosts (v. 12) when the Lord will judge between nations and peoples. He will turn their weapons into gardening tools (v. 4). On the Lord’s day, God will humble the arrogant and powerful (vv. 11–18). Isaiah 13 and 14 describe the two sides of the day of the Lord. The day will be a terrifying event for everyone (13:6–7) with cosmic-level effects (vv. 10, 13). The Lord will judge “the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity” (v. 11). Isaiah associates this day with the Lord’s wrath and anger (vv. 9, 13). Yet the Lord will show compassion on Judah and Israel. He will return them to their land and give them power over their enemies (14:1–2).

Zephaniah

Like Isaiah, Zephaniah emphasizes the universal nature of the day (Zeph 1:2) and connects it with the Lord’s wrath (vv. 14–15). Building on Amos, Zephaniah piles words describing the day as dark and upsetting. In just one verse, he includes: wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, gloom, clouds, and thick darkness (v. 15). In Zephaniah 2:1–3, only the humble who seek the Lord will be preserved. Because Isaiah and Zephaniah’s day is universal in judgment, it may be eschatological, pointing to expectations of the “end times.”

Exilic: judgment yet hope

When Babylon took the Israelites captive (the exilic period), the day continued to point to fear and doom. But it also offered hope for the faithful.

Ezekiel

While Ezekiel does not use the phrase “day of the Lord,” he does use terms and imagery similar to the day of the Lord elsewhere in the OT. Ezekiel 7 describes how “the end has come” (v. 2). Ezekiel repeatedly refers to this “end” as “the day” (v. 10) or “the day of the Lord’s wrath” (v. 19). The imagery of fear and doom (vv. 5–9, 17–18), reversal of fortunes (vv. 19–21), and judgment on sin (vv. 8–9) sound similar to earlier prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Zephaniah. Yet whether “the end” in Ezekiel refers to a future eschatological event coming at “the end” or to Babylonian devastation during Ezekiel’s time remains unclear.

Obadiah

Obadiah focuses entirely on the day of the Lord from start to finish. Instead of universal judgment, Obadiah narrowly focuses on Edom’s judgment, Israel’s traitorous neighbor and cousin. Like Zephaniah, Obadiah layers descriptions of the day: misfortune, destruction, disaster, trouble (vv. 8–14). The Lord will judge Edom for its sins (v. 15). Yet like Isaiah 14, the Lord will remain faithful to his covenant promises to the Israelites (v. 17).

Postexilic: restoration and inclusion

When the Persians conquered the Babylonians, they allowed the Israelites to return to their land. Day imagery during this time becomes extensive, focusing not only on God’s judgment but also his promises for the faithful—and (shockingly) even for the nations!

Joel

While Amos likely provides the earliest reference to the day of the Lord, Joel contains the highest density of references to it. Joel’s day is one of both great destruction and salvation with transformation. Joel begins with a locust plague’s devastation (possibly a metaphor for overwhelming armies; 1:2–12). But something worse is approaching: “the day of the Lord is near” (1:15). Though fear of the day’s destruction pervades (2:11), a call for repentance offers hope that the Lord will restore the land and be present with his people (vv. 18–27). After cosmic disturbances lead up to the day (vv. 28–31), the Lord will bring salvation to those who turn to him (v. 32). He will pour out his Spirit on people regardless of gender, age, or social class (vv. 28–29). The day results in universal knowledge of God’s sole rule (3:17), restoration of the land’s fertility (vv. 17–18), and the people’s return to Judah (v. 20). In Joel, the day offers hope for repentance, salvation, and restoration, and these become the foundations for the New Testament’s understanding of the day.

Zechariah

Like Joel, Zechariah speaks of the day not exclusively as judgment but as restoration. The first thirteen chapters of Zechariah make frequent use the phrase “on that day” to indicate future acts of restoration (2:15; 3:10; 9:16; 12:3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11; 13:1, 2, 4; cf. “those days” in 8:23). Zechariah 14 describes the day’s effects, including:

• the Lord’s aid and protection for his people (vv. 1–5),
• his kingship over the entire earth (vv. 7–9),
• his defeat of Judah’s enemies (vv. 12–15), and
• survivors from all nations coming to worship God (vv. 16–21).

Thus, in Zechariah, God is the King who restores and saves his people. The New Testament repeatedly uses this day/kingdom imagery.

Malachi

While Malachi’s day imagery is less extensive than Zechariah’s, it emphasizes the people’s response to God’s prophetic calls and their purification. On that day, God will purify his people like a refiner’s fire (3:2). Fire imagery recurs when Malachi 4:1 compares the day to a burning oven, turning the arrogant and evildoers to stubble. The righteous will not only escape this punishment (v. 2) but will help enact judgment against their enemies, who become ashes under their feet (v. 3). Malachi also anticipates Elijah’s coming as part of the approaching day (v. 6).

A call to repentance and perseverance

Throughout these examples, descriptions of the day serve not merely to inform the people but to motivate them. The judgment of the day calls people to repent, while the hope of the day encourages perseverance through present difficulties.

In this way, the day interweaves with the prophets’ other themes. It emphasizes that evil requires judgment and God is faithful to judge correctly. The day frequently calls people to repent with the hope of being restored to God and their land. It often shows how God, the Great King, stands present in the midst of suffering and offers them hope for future transformation.

Each aspect of the Old Testament day sets up expectations present in the New Testament.

Logos’s Smart Search in Bible search for the day of the Lord across Scripture. Logos provides key verses as well as a synopsis.

The day of the Lord in the New Testament

The New Testament builds on the Old Testament picture of the day of the Lord. Rather than using the exact phrase, “the day of the Lord,” the New Testament uses language such as “on that day,” “day of God’s wrath,” “day of judgment,” and “the day of Christ Jesus.”

While some of the imagery about this coming day remains quite similar to the Old Testament, the New Testament develops the concept in new ways in light of Jesus. Beth Stovell and David Fuller summarize New Testament usage well:

In many places in the New Testament, the “Day of the Lord” is an event that will come in the future (Phil 1:6). It includes judgement of the righteous and the wicked (Rom 2:5, 16; 1 Cor 1:8; 5:5; 2 Cor 1:14; 2 Tim 4:8; 2 Pet 2:9) and destruction of the physical creation (2 Pet 3:10). It will come suddenly in a time of apparent peace (1 Thess 5:2–3), but is also preceded by rebellion (2 Thess 2:2–3).¹

Let’s survey a few particularly illuminating examples.

The Gospels: from one day to two

In the Gospels, Jesus’s parables and preaching speak about the coming day of God’s judgment, frequently associating the day with God’s kingdom. Yet as Jesus explains what will happen, he starts to transition expectations from those developed in the Old Testament. On one hand, the day will include aspects of previous expectations: judgment on wickedness, reversal of fortunes, cosmic disturbances, salvation, and transformation. On the other hand, the day is not a single decisive future moment as the Old Testament pictured. Instead, one day has become two.

The first day has already begun. It began when Jesus came. Its effects are already underway as Jesus judges oppressors, brings salvation, and his kingdom reverses fortunes. This explains why the Gospels repeatedly speak of Jesus fulfilling Old Testament anticipations. Jesus’s first coming marks how God is present with people in their struggles.

Yet Jesus’s arrival, death, and resurrection have not fulfilled all Old Testament expectations for the day. The climactic events when everything is judged and is set right is yet to occur. Jesus’s parables and preaching point to another future day when this will happen: Jesus’s return, his second coming. So Jesus addresses what it means to live in God’s kingdom in the space between his first and second coming.

Acts: The day has arrived

Acts provides a striking example of this present sense of the day. Peter quotes Joel 2 to explain what’s happened at Pentecost: The Lord has poured his Spirit on people, regardless of gender, age, and social class! The day of the Lord has come! Peter explains that the day has arrived because of Jesus (Acts 2:22–36). Through Jesus, God worked miracles and wonders (v. 22) expected in “the last days” (v. 17). Jesus died and was resurrected (vv. 23–24).

As with other Old and New Testament passages about the day of the Lord, Peter’s purpose is not merely to inform. He calls for a response from the people: Repent and be baptized. The Old Testament themes of repentance and purification re-emerge, but are now associated with Jesus’s forgiveness and the Holy Spirit (vv. 38–39).

Revelation: the day as past, present, future

As we’ve seen, the New Testament transforms the single day of the Lord into two, corresponding to Jesus’s first and second comings. But this raises an important question: Is the day the same as “the end times”?

Rather than equating the day with the end times, it’s more accurate to say Jesus has expanded the day’s meaning to begin and end with him. Jesus’s first coming initiated the day of the Lord. We continue experiencing those aspects of the day. Yet we anticipate the coming day in the end times when Jesus Christ will return and finish what he started. In this way, the day of the Lord directly correlates to the realization of God’s kingdom, which is also fulfilled in two installments (“already/not yet”).

Jesus’s first coming initiated the day of the Lord. Yet we anticipate the coming day in the end times when Jesus Christ will return and finish what he started.

Revelation offers insights into the past, present, and future aspects of the day of the Lord while offering an end-times depiction of Jesus’s second coming. As Revelation begins, the Lord calls John to write Revelation on “the Lord’s day” when he is “in the Spirit” (1:10). Then Revelation introduces Jesus, the Great King to be worshiped, as “the Alpha and Omega … who is, and who was, and who is to come” (v. 8) and “the first and the last” (v. 17). The day of the Lord begins and ends with God. Our experience of the kingdom of God and the effects of the day are past (“who was”), present (“who is”), and anticipated in the future (“who is to come”).

Elsewhere, Revelation describes God’s judgment on the persecutors of God’s people with phrases such as “the wrath of the Lamb,” followed by “the great day of his/their wrath” (Rev 6:16–17), and “the great day of God Almighty” (16:17). Building on Old Testament expectations of the day of the Lord, Revelation demonstrates God’s presence amidst people’s sufferings. John describes himself as “your brother and companion in suffering and kingdom and patient endurance” (1:9). Revelation also points to how Jesus’s suffering offers hope for the future day of his return. In Revelation 5, only the slain Lamb proves worthy to open the scrolls that reveal the day, salvation, and final judgment.

The day of the Lord in our lives

If God’s kingdom is past, present, and future, then we can experience the day this way, too.

1. A day of humble sacrifice

The nature of Jesus’s first and second comings reveals something powerful about the day and God’s kingdom. In his first coming, Jesus came with humility, willing to suffer and die for others. As Revelation shows, this made him worthy to enact the day’s final stages in his second coming.

Jesus’s humility and sacrificial love offer us a model for our own lives.

2. A day without fear

At times, Christians have lived in fear of the coming “day of judgment” or “day of the Lord” because of the potential negative implications that they are the ones to be judged for their actions.

However, Jesus removes fear and reshapes the day of judgment as good news, focusing our attention on how we can live in God’s kingdom now.

3. A day for the poor in spirit

As Joel calls people to mourn and weep in response to the day of the Lord, the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 remind us that God blesses those who mourn for a hurting world.

The Beatitudes reveal what kingdom people look like. They are hearts turned toward God. They acknowledge their weakness, hunger, and thirst for him, seeking transformation by Christ’s holiness.

4. A day whose future shapes the present

Living in light of these Beatitudes helps us live with “the end” in mind. Focusing on the day of the Lord reminds us of what we know. We know what God will do—and what we will do—at the end of time.

So we can live with this end in mind as we live in the present. We can seek the hope of all nations worshiping together, sharing resources with others so no one remains empty, and doing so empowered by the Spirit.

5. A day that informs our suffering

When we believe in God’s already-and-not-yet kingdom, we grow in our understanding of how to respond to suffering.

Depictions of the day remind us that God is present in the midst of deep despair and suffering. Revelation reminds us Jesus, the slain Lamb, knows our pain.

6. A day of making right

Finally, remembering the day encourages us to believe in God’s ultimate judgment of evil, violence, death, and their effects.

God is actively at work now to judge evil and transform the world for good, but we believe he will complete this work fully in Jesus’s second coming. We can live confident that God will make all things right—and that even now we can participate in working toward that vision.

Share your thoughts

How do you understand the day of the Lord in Scripture? Join in the Word by Word group to share your thoughts.

Beth Stovell’s recommended resources for further study

Related articles

• What Is Eschatology? 4 Views, Why There’s Disagreement & More
• Parousia: What the New Testament Says about the Second Coming
• The Kingdom of God: The Great Unfolding Drama of Salvation
• 1 Thessalonians 4 & the Truth about the “Secret” Rapture
• What Does the Olivet Discourse Predict? | Mark Strauss on Mark 13