The Day of the Lord is described in many ways by Biblical scholars. Some tie it directly to the Rapture while others link it to Christ’s second coming. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology describes the Day of the Lord, God or Christ as:

[The] expression, often in the context of future events, which refers to the time when God will intervene decisively for judgment and/or salvation. Variously formulated as the “day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18), the “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:8; cf. 2 Cor 1:14), the “day of God” (2 Peter 3:12; Rev 16:14), or “the last day(s),” the expression highlights the unmistakable appearance of God. God will make visible his rule of righteousness by calling for an accounting by the nations as well as individuals, dispensing punishment for some and ushering in salvation for others.1

Not everyone is likely to agree with the above description, but I believe most people would have at least some agreement with Baker’s description of the Day of the Lord. Whether you agree or not, however, the verses presented in the above quote provide little aid toward understanding the Day of the Lord or its timing. I suspect a lack of understanding of this subject is a shortcoming that spreads through most, if not all, of the Church. The verses are presented below so you can read them and decide for yourself.

Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light. (Amos 5:18)

Who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:8)

Just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus. (2 Corinthians 1:14)

Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! (2 Peter 3:12)

For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (Revelation 16:14)

My goal in this and the lessons to follow is to show that while the above definition of the Day of the Lord may seem to make sense, it is not entirely accurate and in many ways completely false. So let me present what I believe to be a more accurate definition of the Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord is an actual Day as well as a Time Period. Hence, the Day of the Lord is an extended event which was brought about to fulfill God’s purpose to have a people He can call His own according to the words of Jeremiah: ‘I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.’ (Jeremiah 24:7) God’s purpose was achieved when His blood covenant with Abraham was completely fulfilled by the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. The day of Christ’s resurrection was the Day of the Day of the Lord. The Time Period of the Day of the Lord is the period of time following the Day of the Day of the Lord. It extends the day of Christ’s resurrection up to the present time and will continue for as long as God desires. It is the Time Period when God’s judgment of all mankind is carried out through His system of justice called the Righteous Judgment of God. This Time Period is called the Last Days. This is the time in which we are currently living.

The phrase, ‘Day of the Lord,’ appears in the New American Standard version of the Bible twenty-one times, sixteen in the Old Covenant and five in the New Covenant. The Day of the Lord is known by many names in the Bible. Following is a non-exhaustive list of other phrases that refer to the Day of the Lord: Day of Trouble; Day of Wrath; Day of Visitation; Day of Disaster; Day of Wrath and Indignation; Day of Darkness; Day of Clouds and Thick Darkness; The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord or simply That Day.

Following are a few examples of references to the Day of the Lord found in the Old Covenant:

14 Near is the great day of the Lord,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness. (Zephaniah 1:14-15)

Seek the Lord,
All you humble of the earth
Who have carried out His ordinances;
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:3)

2 Lift up a standard on the bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My mighty warriors,
My proudly exulting ones,
To execute My anger. [These are the spiritual warriors who execute the curses of the Righteous Judgment of God, i.e., His Instruments of Indignation, see verse 5.]
4 A sound of tumult on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle.
5 They are coming from a far country,
From the farthest horizons,
The Lord and His instruments of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty. (Isaiah 13:2-6)

The Day of the Lord is also referred to as the Day of Salvation in Isaiah 49:8 and 2 Corinthians 6:2.

Thus says the Lord,
“In a favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages.” (Isaiah 49:8)

For He says,
“At the acceptable time I listened to  you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.”
Behold, now is “the acceptable time” behold, now is “the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Thus we see the two sides or aspects of the Day of the Lord, judgment and salvation, or according to covenant language, curses and blessings. Both aspects of the Day of the Lord are clearly seen in following extended passages from the book of Joel.

15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as destruction from the Almighty. (Joel 1:15)

1 Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming;
Surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
[These are the spiritual warriors who carry out the curses of God’s system of justice. This army is not the Church as many mistakenly claim.]
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them. (Joel 2:1-3)

11 The Lord utters His voice before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)

[Who can endure, that is escape, the judgment of the Day of the Lord? The answer follows in the very next verse.]

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart, [In New Covenant language, “REPENT.” Thus, it is those who repent who will escape the wrath of the Day of the Lord.]
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
13 And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [God’s covenant love]
And relenting of evil. (Joel 2:12-13)

[To return to the Lord with all your heart is to repent. Therefore, those who have repented are the ones who are surviving God’s wrath and judgment of the Day of the Lord. Next we see the salvation side of the Day of the Lord.]

18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land
And will have pity on His people. [All those who have repented.]
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
20 “But I will remove the northern army far from you, [the spiritual army that administers God’s wrath and indignation]
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it [God’s army] has done great things.” (Joel 2:18-20)

25 “Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
[And the blessings follow.]
26 “You [who have repented] will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.
27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, [Israel is a prophetic reference to the repentant believers of the body of Christ today.]
And that I am the Lord your God,
And there is no other;
And My people will never be put to shame. (Joel 2:25-27)

16 The Lord roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth tremble.
But the Lord is a refuge for His people
And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be holy,
And strangers [God’s Army of wrath and indignation] will pass through it no more.
18 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 3:16-18)

The book of Joel also describes the Last Days, the time period following the Day of the Day of the Lord, when God’s righteous judgment rules all of humankind.

1 “For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations [all the people of the world]
And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat [“The Lord has judged”].
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
And they have divided up My land. (Joel 3:1-2)

9 Proclaim this among the nations [all the people of the world]:
Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men [the Lord is ready to do battle with those who choose to oppose Him]!
Let all the soldiers [those who want to fight against God] draw near, let them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
[let all who want to fight God arm themselves]
Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”
11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, O Lord, Your mighty ones.
12 Let the nations be aroused
And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations. (Joel 3:9-12)

[God has declared war against all the people who think they are strong enough to win in a battle with Him.]

13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
[This is not a harvest of the righteous but the wicked.]
Come, tread, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
[We (all persons alive today) are now living in the valley of decision, and everyone has an opportunity to choose which way they will go — God’s way or Satan’s.]
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. (Joel 3:13-14)

[Next is the curse of the covenant for those who choose to oppose God.]

19 Egypt [a picture of the world, i.e., all the people] will become a waste,
And Edom [descendants of Esau who sold his inheritance for a bowl of stew] will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
[But God’s people, the body of Christ, will be blessed with eternal life.]
20 But Judah [the people of God] will be inhabited forever
And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the Lord dwells in Zion. (Joel 3:19-21)

It is my recommendation that you pause now, get your favorite version of the Bible (either print or digital) and take the time to read the entire book of Joel. It is not a long book so it won’t take long to read it. Afterwards, don’t forget to come back and complete this lesson and those to follow.
The Day of the Lord is clearly a day that God told us about through His prophets. Next we will move on to show that the Day of the Lord is a day that has already taken place rather than one that will happen at an unknown time in the future. We will do this by presenting three Scripturally-based arguments which I call ‘positions.’ The positions are:

1st. — The Coming of Elijah
2nd. — The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit
3rd. — The Time Of The Day Of The Lord

Please join me on this exciting Biblical study of the Day of the Lord as we go through the first position, The Coming of Elijah, in the next lesson.

1Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Book House, 1984, Walter A. Elwell, editor.