THE DAY OF THE LORD—EVENTS IN ITS BEGINNING.
By M. C. W.
It has been shown in a former article that the "Day of the Lord," the day of Judgment, or the great day of God's wrath, as the period is variously called in the Scriptures, begins at the close of probation, or when the day of salvation ends and man's trial for life is forever closed by the irrevocable decree of the Judge: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; . . . and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11. This decree forever closes all time of repentance and reformation. Our High Priest will then leave his mediatorial throne; the angel of mercy will fold her wings, while the black satyrs of evil will seem to triumph. But not for long. The next verse to the scripture above quoted, reads: "And, behold, I [Jesus] come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Here is a little period covered by the word, "quickly." What occurs during this period? How much time does it embrace? What great events intervene between the beginning of the day of the Lord and the coming of Christ, inclusive? We may certainly inquire concerning this period to the extent that God has revealed it to us. We do not propose to speculate over obscure passages, but to present those which are clear and unambiguous. As God's word is truth, the obscure will be in harmony with the plain, positive testimony. With these objects before us, let us notice some of these great events:— 1. The seven last plagues. As there is no mercy mixed with them, as in them "is filled up the wrath of God" (Rev. 14:11; 15:1), they very properly begin, or usher in, the day of the Lord. The prediction concerning them is found in the sixteenth chapter of the Revelation. That these plagues are literal, we need not argue. To suppose otherwise would make nonsense of the chapter. The plagues of Egypt were literal; these are the same. We have no more right to spiritualize the one than the other. True, symbols are introduced of institutions and powers, but it is done for the purpose of connecting them with previous prophecies from which these symbols may be understood. For instance, the beast represents Papal Rome, and its mark symbolizes one of its vital institutions. Rev. 13 and 14. The great river Euphrates is referred to in chapter 9:14, and refers to the great Mohammedan powers. These plagues, too, fall upon the same generation of men. Those upon whom the fifth plague falls are those suffering from the boils of the first plague. It is not our purpose to describe these plagues, or give an exposition of Rev. 16, interesting as the prophecy is; we merely locate them between the close of probation and the coming of Christ, which occurs immediately after, or in conjunction with, the last plague. For it is under the last plague that the shaking of the powers of heaven takes place, and "then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory" Mark 13:26. Under this plague, the great hail, reserved to the day of trouble (Job 38:22, 23), falls upon men who are still blaspheming God; and the great battle is fought at Jerusalem, in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Zech. 14, and Joel 3. The time occupied in the pouring out of these plagues is evidently a year. In prophetic language, a day symbolizes a year (Eze. 4:4-6; Num. 14:34); and in the prophecy concerning Babylon (Rev. 18), it is stated (verse 8): "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine." Of course, famine could not come in one literal day; we therefore conclude that the time is symbolic, signifying one year. This seems to be referred to by the prophet: "For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion." Isa. 34:8. It ushers in the great day of God, and in it is the most signal manifestation of his just wrath until after the thousand years, namely, the pouring out of the seven last plagues. 2. God's care for his people. From this time of trouble (Dan. 12:1), God's people are delivered. None of the judgments fall upon them. They have made their peace with God; their names are in the book of life; they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Inspiration says of the righteous at that time:— "He [the Lord Jehovah] shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Ps. 91:4-12. The reason of God's protection is given in the ninth verse. The faith of the child of God grasps these promises, and in the midst of boiling seas, falling rocks, and quaking mountains, he triumphantly sings:— "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed [do change, R. V.], and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." Ps. 46:1-3. 3. The death of all the wicked. Many of them die in the battle of the great day which takes place under the seventh plague. "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." Jer. 25:33. Then the fowls of heaven are called to the feast: "Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." Rev. 19:17, 18. The great apostate powers are cast alive into the lake of fire, into which a portion of the earth will be converted. Here they will be "utterly burned." Rev. 18:8. The "remnant," or the men who are left after the great battle, are slain by the sword of the Coming One, who then appears. As Paul expresses it: "Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thess. 2:9. See Dan. 7:10. 4. The righteous dead are raised at Christ's appearing. "For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel [see John 5:25], and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16. The resurrection of the righteous precedes that of the wicked. See John 5:29; Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:4-6. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." Rev. 20:6. From this scripture we learn two important facts: (a) The first resurrection is that of the righteous dead; they are blessed and holy; (b) Those mentioned in the fourth verse are the same as those of the sixth; they both reign with Christ a thousand years; (c) the coming of Christ, the slaying of the wicked, the raising of the righteous dead, mark the beginning of the thousand years of the millennium of the Bible. The preceding verse shows that there is one thousand years between the resurrections of the two classes: "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." This first resurrection of the faithful has been the hope of all past ages. Job, Isaiah, David, Hosea, Jeremiah, in fact, all classes—apostle, prophet, and saint—looked forward to the time when the coming of the Master of life would be the destruction of the grave (Hosea 13:14), and the saints would shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:55. This is the resurrection literally "out from among the dead," of which our Saviour speaks in Luke 20:35, and for which Paul earnestly longed. Phil. 3:11. Glorious day to the worn pilgrims, the faithful toilers, the blessed martyrs, who, all unappreciated by a wicked and tyrannical world, have laid down their lives for the sake of Christ. Great is their reward. Other important events in connection with the coming of Christ will be considered in our next.