THE DAY OF THE LORD by T.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 3, 1898

“THE DAY OF THE LORD.”

By T.

“The day of the Lord” is frequently mentioned in the Bible. The expression is often in the very midst of the sublimest and perhaps it would be proper to say most awe-inspiring passages of the Word of God. Joel fairly thrills us with the words, “Blow ye 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 cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Joel 2:1. Zephaniah fills the mind with emotions of solemn import by his wonderful statement that “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. 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, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 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.” Zeph. 1:14–18.

Sin is now having its day. Crime is allowed to go apparently unpunished. The wealthy man with his gold can blind the eyes of justice. But there is a Judge whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity, and His day, even the “great day of the Lord, is near.” And in that day “neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them.”

One of the crying sins of this time is the corrupting of courts and legislatures by the using of bribes. He who embezzles the savings of widows, and despoils orphans, yes, and that even dares to take the life of his fellow-man, hopes by the use of his “silver” and “gold” to escape the justice that he knows he deserves. This is truly the time when sin and crime, cruel, bold, and wanton, is having its day. It is allowed to pursue its course of blood-curdling criminality for a little while, so that all the universe may see what a hideous monster it is. And surely, when crime is seen in all the phases of its cruelty and injustice, none but the most abandoned and absolutely incorrigible will want to have its day prolonged.

Then there is great hope in the thought of “the day of the Lord,” and also there is joy in knowing that “it is near, and hasteth greatly.” The “mighty man” who “shall cry there bitterly” is he who has resisted every offer of mercy and of the pardon of sin that is now so entreatingly urged upon all. Our Father in heaven loves us, and is seeking in every way that infinite goodness can devise to draw us away from our sins. He knows that there is no happiness in such a life, and so he calls us away from sin because He wants to see us happy. And He is calling all the more urgently now because the day of sin is about ended, and we have only a little time left in which to escape.

While the “day of the Lord” will be filled with solemn import, yet it is a most consoling thought that then the days of injustice will be forever past. The days of crime and the blinding of justice by “silver” and “gold” are gone never to return. Let all who are lovers of justice rejoice. T.