Context:

The treatment of the concept of the ‘Day of the Lord’ by the post-exilic prophets entails both positive and negative consequences for Israel.  A universal judgment is expected by prophets like Malachi and Joel. Generally, the prophets stressed more on futuristic judgment.

Joel prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah in the aftermath of invasion by a swarm of locusts, followed by a severe drought. (Joel 1: 2-4) As tragic as this destruction was, Joel declared, it will be nothing compared with the coming Day of the Lord.

Reference:

Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;

For the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand:

A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains

A people come, great and strong, the like of whom have never been;

Nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.

A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns;

The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them is desolate wilderness;

Surely nothing shall escape them. (Joel 2: 1-3) (NKJV)

Message:

In spite of the clear message of doom that Joel declared in the above verse concerning the day of the Lord,  many people in Israel thought that God would make Israel the leading nation in ‘the Day of the Lord’. But they did not expect that the nation will be in deep trouble before the final restoration. Joel prophesied that the day of the Lord would be a time of darkness and sorrow, not light and joy. It could only be averted by justifiable repentance. If they repent the day of the Lord would be one of destruction upon the enemies of God and deliverance for those who trust in him. Joel also prophesied the doom of all the nations and the ultimate glory of Jehovah’s case.

Speaking in the aftermath of disaster, he challenged the people to see Yahweh and come back from the brink of calamity to a right relationship with the God of the covenant.

Lesson:

Joel envisioned God’s Spirit being poured out on all flesh just before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. (Joel 2: 28-31)

When Apostle Peter preached on the day of Pentecost – the day of the Holy Spirit outpouring, he quoted this prophecy and attested its fulfillment. (Acts 2: 16-18)

According to Joel, the Holy Spirit of God was to be poured out on all flesh before the coming day of the Lord. The fulfillment of that prophecy has started on the day of Pentecost and God is still pouring out His Spirit “on all nations”. God’s plan is not just of universal judgment (Joel 3: 1-2) but in fact, it is a plan that holds out the offer of salvation, as a way of escape, to all nations.

What is the lesson for us on whom the ends of the ages have come? We need to accept the offer of salvation and receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God. It is the only way that can enable us to escape the ultimate wrath of God.

Popularity: 22%

Context:

The general treatment of the concept of ‘Day of the Lord’ by pre-exilic prophets in the Bible has been that of criticizing the society which they perceived to be violating the stipulations of the covenant with God. As a sinful nation, they could only expect divine punishment, rather than a glorious restoration which was their notion regarding the ‘Day of the Lord’.

Amos’ ministry took place around the year 760 B.C., when Jeroboam II (787-747) was on the throne of the northern kingdom of Israel. The Assyrian empire was the dominant military power at that time, but it was occupied with advances of the kingdom of Urartu from Asia Minor. Thus Jeroboam was free to enlarge and develop his territory and to enrich his economy with booming trade and business.

Reference:

“Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness and not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him,

Is not the day of the LORD darkness and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?” – Amos 5:18-20 (NKJV)

Message:

The phrase ‘Day of the Lord’, in its earliest use in the Book of Prophet Amos in the verse above, implies that it already had a standard usage in society. For the people it meant – the day when Yahweh would intervene to put Israel as the head of the nations, irrespective of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him. Amos declared that the ‘Day of the Lord’ actually meant judgment for Israel. Amos’s expression about ‘the Day of the Lord’ is far clearer than the rendering of other Old Testament prophets.

The social, religious and economic picture of the society in his time is graphically described by him.

  • There was hypocrisy in worship of God – (Amos 4:4-5; 5:21-23)
  • Due to economic prosperity there was growth in upper class’ luxury and opulence but they were totally unsympathetic to the affliction of the poor – (Amos 6:4-6)
  • The rich grew richer by exploiting the poor – (Amos 2:6; 8:4,6)
  • Greed for money and consequent deceitfulness in business practices – (Amos 8:5)
  • There was corruption and denial of justice (Amos 5:10,12)
  • Excessive consumption patterns – (Amos 4:1)
  • Lifestyle characterized by debauchery and immorality (Amos 2:7)

Thus Amos meant to preach about the impending doom of exile when he described the ‘Day of the Lord’. The doom of exile meant the collapse of all that was seemingly glorious in the eyes of the people. Due to the ideal military and economic circumstances in his day, the people of Israel found it hard to imagine the coming disaster predicted by Amos. However, it was only three decades until the downfall of Israel.

Lesson:

Does the book of prophet Amos also convey any message of the end times for us in the contemporary world? Maybe yes, if we also consider the promises of restoration of Israel. (Amos 9: 11-15)

The situation of New Testament Israel, that is, the church is not very different from the description of the society in Amos’ time. Today’s church is marked by apostasy, greed, injustice and immorality. Amos’ warns the people of Israel that the ‘Day of the Lord’ will be darkness for them instead of light as they expected. Is the same message not applicable for us too? We hope for a new dawn in the second coming of Jesus Christ. May it not turn out to be eternal darkness for us instead of light that we were hoping for.

“Now all these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” – I Cor 10:11

Paul, the Apostle, says that the end of the ages has come on us and we ought to be admonished by the things that happened to the people of Israel. They serve as examples for us.

May you be found in Him on that ‘Day of the Lord’. God bless you.

Maranatha!

Popularity: 5%

Reference

II Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (NIV)

Message

When we encounter Jesus in our lives, He changes our life completely. We no more see things from a worldly point of view, but place Christ before everything. We become ambassadors of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s take a look at Paul’s life. Paul, who was named Saul earlier, was a persecutor. He encountered Jesus on his way to Damascus. He received salvation and was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Tremendous changes took place in Saul’s life.

1. First, his name changed – He got a new name “PAUL” meaning “LITTLE”

2. Secondly, he who was a persecutor of God’s people started preaching the word of God. Once he, who was notorious for destruction, now was the messenger of salvation.

3. Thirdly, he who was proud of his wisdom and tradition, now talked about God’s grace (Gal 1:14).  Jesus humbled him.

4. Fourthly, he dedicated all his wisdom, zeal, strength and power to the work of the Lord.

Thus we see that Jesus changed Paul’s priorities, perspective, character and goal.

This is the total turnaround that Jesus brings when we receive him in our lives.

Lesson

Paul was just like you and me. He was no extra ordinary human being. He was a murderer, a sinner and detestable in the eyes of both God and Man. But in Jesus Christ, he became a new creation.

Remember:God is not bothered about what you were or what you are, but he cares about what you are going to be“.

He wants to make you a new person, carry you in his arms, fill you with overflowing joy & peace, and spend eternity with you; if you would allow him to enter and take over the reins of your life today.

This article is a part of Free Bible Study Lessons from End-Times-Outpouring.com

Popularity: 13%

The situation of the world in general is not very different from the one described above. All over the world, immorality is rising to frighteningly high levels. This is one of those signs of the end times from the Bible and it cries out aloud that the end of the world is near and the coming of Jesus Christ is at hand more than ever before.

The weaker we are, the more we fail. All around us we see the survival of the fittest and extinction of the rest. Look to those who couldn’t survive – what messed them up?

The night was over and the sun rose as it did every day. It was same as the days on earth before. The routines were the same but yesterday had gone and a new day had come. Nobody knew what was in store. As usual it was expected to be another day filled with everyday routines. But what was unexpected was that the Lord responded to the cry of the heart on that day.

The word “Rapture” does not occur in the Bible. The concept of the Rapture, though, is clearly taught in Scripture. The Pretribulation Rapture of the church is the event in which God removes all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth during the Tribulation period which may be called as “the Day of the Lord”.

Zacchaeus was a rich tax collector. The Jews hated him and called him a sinner. Now Jesus was passing through Jericho and a big crowd followed him. As Zacchaeus was unable to see Jesus through the crowd, he climbs up the tree to see Jesus. There could have been two reasons why he climbed the tree.

Today we are living in the end days and with the incidence of war rising day by day, the Christian increasingly finds himself in a dilemma regarding the moral and spiritual stance to be taken in a war situation. The Christian, End days and War attempts to present a rational view of the whole matter regarding what should be the Christians’ attitude towards war. Is it right to take the life of another person even under the command of one’s Government? Is there a biblical base to engaging in war?

After the Babylonian exile ended in 538 B.C, God started bringing his people back to their land as He had promised through Jeremiah the prophet. Of these, the first return was led by Zerubbabel with whom around 50,000 people decided to leave their comfortable life in Babylon and take the further burden of rebuilding the temple.

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