The Day of the Lord Is Near!

The Day of the Lord is coming soon! God has impressed on me several times recently how He looks forward to this magnificent day. 

What is the Day of the Lord? This is when the nations of the world gather their armies to attack Israel, and Jesus himself comes down to Jerusalem leading the armies of heaven to defeat the enemies of God and bind Satan for a thousand years. This Day is also the moment when the house of Israel, the Hebrew people as a nation, finally recognize Jesus as their messiah and embrace him. After the battle, Jesus will establish his throne in Jerusalem and reign for a thousand years on earth. We will no longer have governments run by men since Jesus himself will rule from Jerusalem as King of kings. This time is also creation's Sabbath rest, when the lion lies down with the lamb and there is finally peace on earth, after 6,000 years of striving under the fall of man and dominion of Satan.

The Day of the Lord is the final battle and culmination of this age, and marks the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. I believe the Lord wants us to realize this Day is coming soon and to look forward to it with the same anticipation and enthusiasm He does!

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On January 3, 2015, 10:44 a.m., I was sitting in a cabin in the mountains of Idaho and had read this passage in Ezekiel:

"In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground."
- Ezekiel 38:19-20

Then I heard the window frames squeak and felt the floor shake. It felt like an earthquake! It was! Later in the day I pulled up the Drudge Report and saw an article about an earthquake in Challis, Idaho:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/01/03/3571708_49-earthquake-hits-challis-reportedly.html?rh=1

But it was more than an earthquake. God was telling me something: Pay attention to the earthquake, pay attention to the details in the passage. I looked at other prophetic passages in Scriptures with similar details (the Lord coming to defend Israel, the sun and moon darkened, earthquakes, Mount of Olives split in two, etc.) and realized they all referred to the same event. They are all descriptions of the Day of the Lord:

• Zechariah 9:10-17 - The Lord of hosts appears over Israel and defends his people
• Zechariah 12-14 - The Lord defends Jerusalem and the people turn to him in repentance
• Joel 2-3 - The Day of the Lord and the great army of God
• Matthew 24:27-31 - The Coming of the Lord
• Revelation 16:16-21 - Battle of Armageddon. 
• Revelation 19:11 to 20:3 - The Lamb of God rides on a white horse with a sword, leading the armies of heaven to defeat the enemies of God, the beast, the false prophet and Satan.

By reading all of these passages, you will have a great understanding of that magnificent day.

Here is a summary of events of the Day of the Lord:

• In the latter days of this age, the Jews will return to inhabit the land of Israel and live securely. This has been fulfilled, and continues to happen as Jews from around the world move to Israel.
• A great army of many nations from far and near will gather to attack Israel. God's fury will arise against the attacking army.
• The sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky.
• Jesus will appear in the sky as a warrior king leading the armies of heaven to battle the enemies of God.
• Those who went up to meet the Lord in the air during the Rapture will ride in the army of heaven. At this time, we will have immortal bodies like the angels. (See Revelation 19 and pay close attention to what the bride of the Lamb and the army of heaven are wearing. It's the same!)
• There will be a great earthquake in Israel. The Mount of Olives will be split from east to west.
• The people of Israel will fight as mighty warriors with the Lord defending them. Even so, two-thirds of the people will perish, and one-third will come through the fire, refined as silver and tested as gold.  
• There will be a great panic among the soldiers in the invading army, and they will turn against one another. Fire, hail and brimstone will fall on them and a plague will rot their flesh.
• The invading army will be completely destroyed and birds will eat their flesh. It will take seven months for Israel to bury all the fallen soldiers.
• All the nations will know the Lord is the Holy One of Israel.
• The house of Israel will weep in repentance and embrace Jesus as their Messiah, and God will pour out his Spirit on them.
• Jesus, the Lamb of God, will be king over all the earth with his throne in Jerusalem.
• "And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; and a spring will go out from the house of the Lord to water the valley of Shittim." - Joel 3:18

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I am convinced God very much looks forward to this Day. If He didn't, He wouldn't have mentioned it so many times in Scripture!

So where are we in the timeline of apocalyptic events? I believe it goes like this:

1) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride (right now).
2) Rapture
3) Great Tribulation - 42 months of Satan's one-world beast kingdom
4) Day of the Lord
5) Millennial Kingdom of Christ
6) New Heaven and New Earth - eternity with God

In the meantime, eyes on Jesus and persevere to the end!