Wrath – Page 4 – Praying Pint

12.r. “Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Zephaniah 2:1 Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Psalms 105:4    Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Isaiah 55:6-7    “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Jeremiah 3:13-14    Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.  Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Hosea 7:10    The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this.

1 Thessalonians 4:1    Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God,

2 Peter 3:18    But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

The announcement of judgment in chapter 1 is understood as a warning and as an invitation to repentance. Gather together as a demonstration of national mourning and repentance. Zephaniah proclaimed; “this is what will happen to you if you do not repent.” There was a sense of urgency and a call to repent before it was too late. There is nothing worth showing for all we accomplish in a day if we neglect what is most important: getting right and staying right before God. It is a seemingly easy life to let days pass away day after day without giving much of a thought to living for and humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying, and trusting God. One of Satans most powerful lies isn’t that there is no God, or no bible, or no truth – often the most powerful lie that affects and entices so many is that there is no hurry or urgency to humbly, repent, seek, desire, serve, follow, and grow in understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Warnings from God to a nation needs to be heeded by both the humble and the proud. It would be easy to think this warning does not concern me. Rest assured that at times of national danger and crisis even the meek and humble must urgently seek the Lord.

When we look around at what is happening in our country it is clear God is sending a strong message to return to Him. How much more confusion, chaos, disease, rioting, hate, and division need to take place before our hearts humbly seek and call out to Jesus Christ. In times of prosperity, many fall away from seeking and desiring Jesus Christ. Their hearts and minds get consumed with things of this world. Ease of life has led them astray and down paths of neglect and complacency. Tell me it is not true. Tell me you have not neglected or been complacent in your walk with Jesus Christ. Look around and tell me all that has happened in the last 6 months. This did not happen by chance it is the Hand of Jesus Christ at work. These are more than subtle warnings. They are actual judgments upon the world and our nation. Through this many hearts will turn to Him but a greater number will harden their hearts and minds even more. Many will just see this bad luck and not even give Jesus Christ a second thought. May Jesus Christ open our eyes to the work of His hands and give us a clear vision of our need to repent and seek Him.

12.p. “Those who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished.

Zephaniah 1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be destroyed. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them; though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.” The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

Revelation 18:14 “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again! The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”

Have you ever put your trust in what you have? Trusting your job or position and the income from it. Trusting in your health. Trusting in the economy. Trusting in the safety of your home. Trusting in your finances. Trusting in your education. Trusting in your experience. What if we were to change the word from pridefully trusting to humbly thankful. There is a difference isn’t there? One, our reliance is on what we have and what we can do. The other is faith, trust, and reliance on Jesus Christ, His plan and purpose, His best for our life, His supplying everything that we need, His steadfast love, grace, and mercy, His promises and…… The difference is all in the intentional choices we make one way or the other in our hearts, minds, and souls. This difference will manifest itself in one of two ways. If we are self-reliant, when things happen, trials, troubles, and chaos, we will find a deep-rooted fear, confusion, and lack of peace and rest. We will complain rather than rejoice. We will despair rather than have joy and hope. We will have fear rather than peace. We will have confusion rather than clarity. We will believe lies rather than truth. If we cling to, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ the opposite will manifest in our lives. Peace and certain steadfast hope that passes all understanding will flow through our entire being. We will not fear tomorrow but rejoice in the Promises of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. We will see new blessings each day. We will have peace at night for our hope and trust is in Him alone. He is our refuge, strength, courage, power, fortress, and the reason we have no fear or confusion. There is much going on today in our cities, nations, and the world. Media outlets are vomiting up narratives of fear and danger. People are buying into these lies because they reject the peace that only Jesus Christ can bring. Oh that Jesus would open their eyes and ears once more to see and hear the truth. Oh that He would soften hearts to the Gospel and would flood our cities and nation with an overpowering understanding of the need for salvation, redemption, and forgiveness. Oh that He would use each of us to bring this Good News, live this Good News, and proclaim this Good News. Oh that He would remove all fear, confusion, and anxiety from His children and allow them to walk in strength, courage, and power of the Holy Spirit.

12.k. “Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Habakkuk 3:2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

Jeremiah 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him. And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the LORD,so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD’s house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the LORD, and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.” And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house. In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’s house. When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials.And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.” So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

And so it is with man. Intentional choices are made to acknowledge or defy God and His awesome wonders, powers, warnings, and promises. We can respond; “His word speaks to me and shows me His glory. His creation reveals His majesty. His grace, mercy, and love give me the reason for faith, hope, and steadfast obedience. His Son gives me redemption, forgiveness, and salvation. His Holy Spirit gives me strength. His promises give me hope, joy, and refuge.” Or, we can respond with pride, self-reliance, self-assurance, defiance, rejection, and no fear/respect for God and what His Holy Word proclaims. Every individual makes an intentional choice in regard to God. Some to eternal life and most to eternal damnation. Habakkuk and David and Jehoiakim, in the scriptures above, reveal their hearts and intentional choice. What choice are you making today?

11.l. “Who can stand before his indignation?”

Nahum 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him

Jeremiah 10:10     But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

Malachi 3:2    But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.

Lamentations 4:11    The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.

Revelation 16:1    Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Human terms cannot give the full meaning of the infinite and sovereign God’s emotional experiences. As his love is infinitely incomprehensible, so are his displeasure, hate, anger, wrath, and vengeance. There is good reason indeed for the writer to the Hebrews to warn sinful people that it “is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. God provided a way for divine redemption—repentance—forgiveness—salvation—which turns His wrath away from the sinner. To reject that perfect plan of restoration is to reject God’s love, mercy, grace, and favor and incur His righteous wrath. The judgment of God has serious eternal consequences for the unrepentant sinner. The one who believes in the Son will not suffer God’s wrath for his sin, because the Son took God’s wrath upon Himself when He died in our place on the cross. Those who do not believe in the Son, who do not receive Him as Savior, will be judged on the day of wrath.

11.k. “For he is a holy God. He is a jealous God”

Nahum 1:2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

Exodus 20:5    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Deuteronomy 4:24    For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Joshua 24:19   But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God;

The Bible clearly teaches that God is a jealous God. Exodus 20:5 states, “You shall not bow down to them [other gods] or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.” How are we to understand God’s jealousy when the Bible also says that jealousy is a sin (Galatians 5:20)? Isn’t this a contradiction? The key is context. God revealed the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. He commanded allegiance and worship to Him alone. He would not tolerate the worship of other gods (a practice common in Egypt and other nations). God was “jealous” in the sense that He expected full devotion, not merely a partial, lukewarm commitment. Worship belongs to God, and He is right to be “jealous” of it. Yes, God is a jealous God. Why? Because He will not share His praise with another: “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” . God carefully maintains and protects what is rightly His. This is divine jealousy, and it is worlds apart from the type of sinful jealousy that causes people to envy, suspect, and resent others.

When God was going to describe Himself, on one occasion He called Himself, “Jealous.” This denotes something of God’s nature. In other translations the word ‘zealous’ is used – these words have the same root, and show God’s character in vigilantly guarding that which is His. God breathed the breath of life into the first man. He breathed this life into every person. God jealously yearns for – desires – this spirit in us. “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?” God does not want our spirits to be consumed by this world or by the god of this world, who is the devil. God wants a relationship with our human spirit. However, the god of this world, the devil, is active as well. He also wants to get a hold of our human spirit, to influence us to do his will. He has come to destroy us, and he speaks to our “flesh.” “The flesh Sin is anything that goes against God’s will and His laws. To commit sin is to transgress or disobey these laws. The lust to sin dwells in human nature. In other words, it is contaminated and motivated by want/lust for the worldly and fleshly. It is in this battle God is a jealous God. He is zealous (jealous) for our spirits. He wants us to be zealous, with “God’s zeal” in this battle. God is “jealous” in the sense that He expected full devotion, not merely a partial, lukewarm commitment. He wants all of our hearts, minds, soul, and strength given to honor, glorify, praise, worship, follow, obey, trust, and rely on Him. He is jealous for us to know and serve Him fully. He is jealous for us to know and experience His precious promises, purpose, grace, mercy, and love. If we are to be fully devoted and surrendered to Him we can not share any part of our lives seeking after that which is worldly and fleshly, nor can we be lukewarm, complacent, or neglectful.

11.j. “People are like fuel for the fire”

Nahum 1:1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

Zechariah 9:1 For the LORD has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel,

Isaiah 9:16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up. Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.

When Jonah preached repentance on the streets of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the people responded and were spared. A century later, sometime between 663 and 612 b.c., Nahum preached in a time when Nineveh would not repent. Nineveh, which had destroyed Israel’s northern kingdom in 722, itself fell to Babylon in 612—just a few years after Nahum’s warning. The Assyrians were notorious for the brutality of their treatment of other nations. Nahum declared, however, that God is sovereign: he punishes whom he will, and they are powerless to stop him. Much of Nahum’s prophecy was directed to the people of Judah, who could rejoice at the good news (1:15) of Nineveh’s impending fall.

9.u. “For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?”

Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it? “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Genesis 50:20    As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Isaiah 14:24-27     The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stan  that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.”

This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.  For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Isaiah 45:7   I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

2 Kings 22:13     “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

God is saying; “Will there be any evil, or calamity inflicted on a wicked city, which does not proceed from me, as the effect of my wrath?” These the examples were intended to convince the people that they had cause for alarm, as their monstrous iniquities called down the vengeance of God to punish them with these calamities. Time after time prophets were sent to warn the Israelites of pending action from God. This warning came with a call to repent and turn away from their sinful ways. I am sure there were those who did take this seriously even while most others did not. Such is the way of mankind when the Word of God is void and humble service, honor, praise, worship, trust, obedience, and reliance no longer are even a thought in their mind. The process of blindly following after that which is not pleasing to God will always start with losing desire, hunger, and thirst for God’s Word. When this happens that void is filled with what the world has to offer. That first day of thinking you are to busy to spend time in God’s Word is a slippery slope of more days to follow. At first, there may be some void that is felt somewhere in your soul but after repeated days this void is no longer felt. It has been replaced by things of this world that we so easily claim bring satisfaction into our life. I heard on the radio that some governors are proclaiming that abortion is not an elective procedure and federal judges are agreeing. I have a friend who needs a triple by-pass and that is deemed elective, some prostate and cancer surgeries, for the most part, are called elective, as well, some knee, hip, and other orthopedic surgeries. Think about this: taking the life of an unborn and healthy child is deemed medically necessary while treating other life-enhancing surgeries not. When has a nation that tolerates pornography (adult entertainment) ever survived judgment coming from God over it? When as a nation that promotes, supports, and tolerates homosexual activity survived coming judgment from God? There has not been any since the creation of the world. Denying God and that He exists does not mean it is true. It does not protect a nation or person from His judgment. “For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our father have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us”

9.g. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger?

Joel 2:10 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

Numbers 24:23    And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?

Nahum 1:6     Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

Malachi 3:2   But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.

Revelation 6:17    for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

How many people right now are walking around with the thought of Christs’ coming wrath? How many tune in their radio to an uplifting station that speaks of grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ, who, living in prosperity, freedom, and without many worries cast their focus on the ease of life. The thought of coming wrath and anger of Jesus Christ is far from their thoughts. He is coming again to claim His own and then the judgment. The problem is we very seldom give thought to the coming judgment because we know we are redeemed, saved, and have our focus on eternity in heaven with Him. If we don’t give thought to coming judgment how are we to have the urgency to tell others of the gospel. It seems as though the gospel has been watered down to prosperity, financial, relational, and health benefits for believing in Jesus Christ. It seems as though calls to come to Christ are not for the redemption of sin and coming wrath and judgment but rather for ease of life cares. We need to speak of sin, judgment, and salvation. This needs to be proclaimed or I fear we will see shallow conversions without root. Our lives this side of eternity are not about ease of life but rather walking through this life of trials and troubles with faith in Jesus Christ knowing that our home is not here but in Heaven. Our redemption and salvation from sin change us from the inside and trust, obedience, and reliance grows through maturing our faith in Christ through His Word. Ever before us is the knowledge of what we have been saved and set free from. The knowledge of being saved from our sin and the coming judgment against sin should propel us to speak boldly of sin, judgment, and salvation.

9.f. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.

Joel 2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near

Isaiah 2:12    For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;

Ezekiel 7:5-7    “Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes.  An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes.  Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains.

Ezekiel 7:10     “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded.

Ezekiel 7:12     The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.

Obadiah 1:15    For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.

Malachi 4:1      “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

1 Thessalonians 5:2     For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night

James 5:8     You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

1 Peter 4:7     The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

Ezekiel 12:23     Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.

There is a difference between “Day of the Lord” and “Coming of the Lord”. “The Coming of the Lord” is the day the Lord comes back like a thief in the night. He is not a thief to those who are expecting His return. He is a thief to those who remain. He comes to take His bride out of the coming of the “Day of the Lord”. We know this as the rapture of all believers, dead or alive, to be changed and bodily be in His presence forever more. These believers are those who came to an understanding of the gospel, their sin and separation from God, confessing and repenting of their sin, repenting and turning away from their sinful nature, and expectantly looking too, trusting in, and relying on salvation through Jesus Christ. This is not just words on their lips but deep in their heart, soul, and mind. They are changed from the inside and live to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, obey, and look for the “Coming of the Lord”.

There are those who reject their sin, sinful nature, and the need for redemption through Jesus Christ. They find all they want in this world and do not look for the coming of the Lord. They do not live to honor Him. They live self-centered, self-reliant, and self-satisfying lives. It is hard for them to see any need of Jesus Christ for their eyes are fixed on what this world offers and makes them happy. Day after day they chase after that which can never satisfy their soul and they jump from one thing to another in hopes of finding inner peace, rest, and joy. Their heart is hard to things of God, His Word, and the need for Jesus Christ. There is no looking for the “Coming of the Lord”. For them is reserved the “Day of the Lord”. This is not going to be a time anyone would want to go through. War, famine, disease, plagues, fires, earthquakes, floods, and the wrath and anger of Jesus Christ. The “Day of the Lord” will surely come and will follow the “Coming of the Lord”.

Now is the time of Lord, the time of grace, mercy, hope, peace, rest, and a life with assurance of eternity in heaven.

9.d. “The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast”

Joel 1:15 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.

Psalms 37:13     but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

Isaiah 13:6-9     Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!  Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.  They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.  Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.

Ezekiel 7:2-12   “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.  Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.  And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD.  “Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes.  An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes.

Zephaniah 1:14-18    The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.

Revelation 6:17    for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The “Day of the Lord” is in contrast to man’s day or Satan’s day. His “Day” is coming. We see glimpses of what He is able to do and what it will be like throughout scripture. We see some of His judgments executed here in Joel. The locust, drought, and fire, but the “Day of the Lord” coming will not be like anything ever seen before. This day will begin right after the rapture of the believers. This day will come like a thief in the night, unexpected. It will come upon the whole earth and is given a great deal of detail in Revelation. We see prophets throughout scripture warning of this “Day”. And yet, people go about living as though it is not coming. How long has it been since you have heard someone say “that man / woman is a “God Fearing” person? Doesn’t is seem like that “God Fearing” is gone? Living in a soft prosperous culture has a way of getting people to take their eyes off God and more on self and what the world has to offer. The time of salvation is now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not when convenient. Nos is the day of salvation but a time is fast approaching when the “the Day of the Lord” will come. Believers expectantly look for this day for they will be ushered into His presence forever and ever more. When God is not given thought, sin is not given thought, redemption and salvation is not given thought, repentance is not given thought, honoring Jesus Christ is not thought, reliance is not thought, obedience is not thought…… Each day we must deny self and intentionally choose to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow, obey, and trust Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, and soul, and strength. The “Day of the Lord” is coming soon and with it the rapture of believers and wrath, anger, and judgment on those who have rejected His call to repentance and belief in and through Jesus Christ.