How exactly is “The Day of THE LORD” different from “The Day of CHRIST”?

The “Day of THE LORD” has long been prophesied to come upon Israel as a “day of trouble” called the “day of the LORD’S Wrath” as seen here in the verses just below.

• Israel’s prophet, Zephaniah, tells us “The Day of The Lord’s Wrath” fulfills Prophecy concerning Israel:

“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,¹⁸Neither 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.” (Zeph. 1:15, 18)

• Peter also writes to Israel Concerning the End of the Tribulation Period in “the day of the Lord”:
• But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works [of men] that are therein shall be burned up. (2Pet. 3:10-11)

The term “the Day of the Lord” appears twenty-six time in the Old Testament as being prophesied of Israel. These scriptures describe “the Day of the Lord” to include the bad and the good – that is the Tribulation Judgments and also Jesus’ 2^nd coming to save Israel’s remnant of believers and set up His long-promised Millennial kingdom on earth (Isa. 2:12-21; Amos 5:18-20; Joel 1:15; 2:1-2, 10-11, 30-31).

No person wants to go through “the Day of the Lord,” the terrible time of the whole 7-year Tribulation period for those who at that time refuse the atoning sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ as Savior.

• The “Day of the Lord,” is terrible, not the “Day of Christ,” for that is the wonderful day of our ‘Rapture’ to heaven.
• The “Day of the Lord” is that day in which the Lord pours out His just judgment upon a rebellious world. This of 2Pet. 3:10-11comes at the end of Daniel’s 70th week, the Tribulation period with certain calamitous judgments at His 2^nd Coming.

So, we may compare “The Day of THE LORD” and “The Day of CHRIST” as follows.

The awful “Day of the LORD” …

• Is a time of Terror, Darkness, and Wrath. It is a “day of visitation” (Isa. 10.3), a “day of the wrath of the Lord” (Eze. 7.19), called the “great day of the Lord” (Zeph. 1.14).
• The “Day of the LORD”; 1) condemns the rejectors of Christ and, 2) it is a day of judgment, and vengeance, and 3) of earthly despair, and 4) to be feared and dreaded.

The wonderful “Day of CHRIST [with the Rapture]” that is soon coming…

• The “Day of CHRIST (the Rapture)” is a uniquely Pauline phrase as seen in Phili. 1:6, 10, 16; 2 Tim 1:18; 2; 4:8; 1 Cor 1:8. It is seen as the “day of Rejoicing,” day of Rewards, and day of our eternal reigning with Christ in “the heavenly places” (cf. 2Tim. 2:12, Eph. 1:3-4. 2Cor. 5:1b).

• “The Day of CHRIST” is 1) for “the Church… the Body of Christ,” 2) a day of Blessing, 3) a heavenly hope (expectation), to be eagerly anticipated.
• Our “blessed hope” is an expression of expectation at “The Day of CHRIST” and it is a “comfort” to us as we await His coming to the clouds to bring us home.

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words [of the Pre-Tib Rapture]. (1 Thes. 4:18, cf. 4:13-18)

True grace believing Christians are not destined to go through the awful 7-year “Day of the LORD.” Paul wrote:

“… being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Rom. 5:9b)

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should (will) live (zao) together with him.” (1 Thes. 5:9-10).

The believers of today’s age of grace will be Raptured at least several years BEFORE the “Day of the Lord and His Wrath.” Those who are not Raptured, if alive at that time, will ultimately face the terrible “Day of the LORD.”  “in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise...” (2Peter 3:10)

Earlier in this study we saw how that the sufferings attributed to ‘The Four Horsemen’ of the first ‘Four Seals’ begin early in the first 3-1/2 years of the Tribulation period. Therefore, we can hardly say that today’s believing Christians would not face the sufferings of the Tribulation Period if the Rapture of “the body of Christ” is to be delayed until the 6^th seal …as the “Pre-Wrath” Rapture people claim it to be.

The 7-year Tribulation period is clearly indicated here in the Prophecy of Daniel 9:27. We should note that Tribulation begins relatively soon after the Rapture of “the body of Christ.” The signal moment will be when Anti-Christ apparently signing on to “confirm the covenant,” that is the 7-year ‘covenant’ of protection for Israel and peace between Israel and other parties (e.g., likely the Arab/Muslim nations surrounding Israel). Today we can see the threat Israel would face if the USA were to largely abandon’s Israel along with the rest of the world as indicated by many UN votes.

• This first portion of Dan. 9:27a, below, reveals the event which starts of the 7-year Tribulation.

“he [Anti-Christ] shall ‘confirm’ the covenant with many [Israel. Antichrist, and the nations around Israel] for one week [7 years] …” (Dan. 9:27a)

• The 2^nd half of verse Dan 27b refers to another signal moment to occur 3-1/2 years later. In “the midst” (middle) of the 7-year Tribulation period. Antichrist will have come to Israel to supposedly rescue her from the threats of nations assembling against her, supposedly in accord with the confirmed Covenant signed 3-1/2 years earlier.

“and in the midst of the week [at 3-1/2 years] he [Antichrist] shall cause the [animal] sacrifice [in the 3^rd Temple in Jerusalem] and the oblation [offerings] to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he [Antichrist] shall make it [the temple] desolate [empty of sacrificial offerings], even until the consummation [end of the Tribulation period], and that [judgment] determined shall be poured upon the desolate [non-believers].” (Dan. 9:27b)

Thus, the Antichrist will then ‘break the confirmed covenant’ with Israel and ‘declare himself to be god,’ sitting in the newly rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. He will then be the worst of the Anti-Semite and also proceed to enslave nearly the whole world.

Paul confirms this here:

“That ye [grace believers] be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by [a fake] letter as from us, as that ‘the day of Christ’ is at hand [already past]. ³ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the Day of the LORD] shall not come, except [Until] There Come A Falling Away First, and that man of sin [Antichrist] be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that He As God Sitteth In The Temple Of God, Shewing Himself That He Is God.” (2 Thes. 2:2-4)

The word rendered “falling away” is the Greek apostasia. Of course, you need no theological degree to see that that term is where our English word “apostasy” originated. “Apostasy” simply means “a defection from truth, falling away, forsaking,” As seen in Strong’s Greek Dictionary: Strongs: G646, pronounced ap-os-tas-ee’-ah, feminine of the same as 647; defection from truth (properly, the state) (“apostasy”): —falling away, forsake.”

As noted above, the word apostasia (Strongs, G646) is the feminine form of apostasion (G647), meaning “separative, i.e. (specially) divorce” or “(writing of) divorcement.” ‘Apostasion’ also appears in Matt. 5:31, 19:7, and Mark 10:4 referring to Moses’ writing of the “bill of divorcement” under “the Law.” The idea here is one party leaving another. Now, carry that concept over into 2 Thes. 2:3, and it becomes clear that one party is leaving another in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The context of 2 Thes. 2:3 refers to Israel during “the Day of the LORD” in the time of the Tribulation. So, it is not “the Body of Christ” leaving earth, as some assume, but rather the Nation Israel leaving Moses and his God-given covenant of “the Law.” The “body of Christ” will have already been Raptured to heaven years earlier.

Israel will then be so far be removed from the divine revelation given to her through Moses that the Jews will have been duped into accepting the Antichrist (“the man of sin, the son of perdition”). They will have embraced the Antichrist and his Baal worship, idolatry, that the Law of Moses repeatedly warned against! Spiritual light rejected (Psa. 119:130) becomes darkness. Israel will have fallen away or left Moses and the Jesus Christ whom he prophesied to come (Deut. 18:15, 18-19; Acts 3:22-23). Israel will have nothing but the Antichrist, the false Messiah; the man Satan will use to doom them with a devilish false religion. Isaiah here refers to Israel’s coming to terms with the realization that they have been so deceived.

“Because ye [Israel] have said, We Have Made A Covenant With Death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have Made Lies Our Refuge, and Under Falsehood Have We Hid Ourselves:” (Isaiah 28:15 (KJV)

It then become clear that the term the “day of the Lord” covers the entire 7-year period of the Tribulation, not just from the 6^th Seal onward, as the Pre-wrath folks assume.

So, yet, the first half of the Tribulation – the first 3-1/2 years, will bring judgments that seem somewhat the norm in that we have always had wars, earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic disasters, war, droughts and famines and death. But of course, these sufferings will be much more Frequent and Severe Than Is Common, killing many.

These disasters will be the result of “The Lamb of God,” the “Lion of Judah, [Jesus Christ]” opening the First Four of The Seven Seals, which summons forth the “Four Horsemen” that ride out on the White, Red, Black, and Pale horses of the Apocalypse. This occurs well BEFORE the Sixth Seal and they bring great death. Again, the Four Horses and their riders are seen as symbolizing 1) Antichrist’s Conquest, 2) War, 3) Famine, and 4) Death, respectively.

Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a Pale Horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with DEATH, and with the beasts of the earth.

The “Pre-Wrath” people say only the 2^nd half of the Tribulation is “the Day of the Lord’s wrath.” Well, certainly these first four seals found in Revelation 6 are DEADLY. These sufferings are God ordained and the timing is such that they are part of the FIRST half of “the day of the Lord” as His “vengeance,” and “the wrath of God” is poured out through ‘the 7 Seal judgements, the 7 Trumpet judgements , and the 7 Bowl judgements.’

A serious sign to occur after the Rapture and just prior to the revelation or revealing of the Anti-Christ, will be the “apostasy” or “falling away” of the Jewish church at large at that time (“the body of Christ” is already in heaven). This time will be marked by “the False Prophet” coming to the fore in support of the Anti-Christ who will be revealed as a ‘good guy’ in that he confirms the 7-year covenant to protect Israel. Of course, all the while… he will be the world’s most evil anti-Semite Again, the already Raptured grace age Bible believing Christians will not see any of this, not the full Jewish apostasy, nor the False Prophet, nor the Antichrist revealed.

The 2^nd half of “the day of the Lord,” called “the Great Tribulation,” brings Extraordinary Judgments upon the whole world [not just 25% of it]; in the form of strange creatures being released form the Tigress and Euphrates rivers, nuclear war, asteroids striking the earth, and the greatest of pestilence and famine, etc.

Daniel 9:27, which we set forth earlier, indicates that the Antichrist’s will “confirm” the 7-yr. covenant with Israel, not a 3-1/2-year covenant, with this the first seemingly natural) judgments begin. These will occur soon AFTER the Rapture of “the body of Christ” after a short gap (1-3 years), this gap is to give time for Antichrist to come to the fore, gather power and be acknowledged as the ‘One World’ Leader. The Rapture of “the body of Christ” will have then with it removed the ‘tempering influence’ of the presence of the Holy Spirit’ from planet earth. Thus, the Rapture thereby permits “the man of sin” to reign as he wills.