The
phases “The Day is Near” and “The Day of the Lord” seem to me to be rather
equally undesirable. Throughout the Old Testament warnings of this day is given
by a number of the prophets including Mican,
Amos, Jeremiah. Often the prophecies were for the latter days.
Chapter
one of Zephaniah told of a Judgment on the whole earth in the Day of the Lord. Zephaniah
1:14, “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. Ezekiel
7:7, “The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time
is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the
mountains.”
Store
your goods….
At
that time material goods will have no value. Zephaniah 1:18, “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” is
similar to Ezekiel 7:12, “The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the
buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude
thereof.”
1
Timothy 6:17-19, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us
richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves
a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal
life.”
A
remnant will be saved
God
leaves hope that some will be spared. Zephaniah 2:7, “And the coast shall be
for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses
of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall
visit them, and turn away their captivity.” Ezekiel 6:8, “Yet will I leave a
remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations,
when ye shall be scattered through the countries.”
Matthew
24:15, “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes
desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the
housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field
go back to get their cloak.”
Added later:
The
requirement of being born again is found in both the Old and the New Testaments:
Deuteronomy
30:6, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your
descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your
soul, and live.”
John
3:5, “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my
saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You
hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
As
an aside, In the later verses of Ezekiel “The day” refers to the enemies of
Israel.
Ezekiel 30:3, “For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a
cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.” There is the famous “Valley
of Dry Bones” follows with it’s fulfillment in the 20th Century. The “Battle of
Magog” is yet in the future.
Deut
30:6; Jer 31 :31-33; Jer 32:37-40; Ezek 36:24-26; Zech 7:11-12; Isa 53:2-6
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