"(10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,
in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2
Peter 3:10, NASB95)
For those opposed to God the “day of the Lord” is not a good
thing. This term or terms similar to it are used numerous times in the Old and
New Testaments, and it could refer to either a near future judgment or a far
future judgment or both. But when it is used judgment is included, and those
who stand opposed to God are caught off guard when it comes. Ultimately all of
these judgments will culminate in two remaining judgments. The first is at his return to establish His millennial kingdom and then another at the end when the final judgment is pronounced and evil is ended.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the near
and the far because the cycles of rebellion in Israel were so cyclical that God
intervened more than once to bring both the surrounding nations and His people
into judgment as all of the judgments pointed to a great and final judgment.
The end was not to be lost sight of in bringing about the present. An example
of this can be seen in Isaiah’s pronouncement of the not yet powerful again nation
of Babylon as recorded in chapters 13 and 14. Here are just a few of the
verses:
“The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz
saw. Lift up a standard on the bare hill, raise your voice to them, wave the
hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. I have commanded My
consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting
ones, to execute My anger. A sound of tumult on the mountains, like that of
many people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering the
army for battle. They are coming from a far country, from the farthest
horizons, The Lord and His
instruments of indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the
Lord is near! It will come as destruction
from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart
will melt. They will be terrified, pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor, they will look at one another in
astonishment, their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and
burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its
sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not
flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will
not shed its light. (11) Thus I will punish the world for its evil and the
wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. (12) I will make mortal man scarcer
than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir. (13) Therefore I will make
the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of
the Lord of hosts In the day of
His burning anger.” (Isaiah 13:1–13, NASB95)
Oh, what a day! In 539 B.C. this great nation fell, or at
least changed hands. The problem is that when Babylon fell that it fell quietly
and seemingly overnight. Here is how the events leading up to it transpired
according to the record of Daniel as he interpreted for King Belshazzar the
handwriting on the wall.
“Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ,
MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ “This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God
has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. “ ‘TEKĒL’—you have been
weighed on the scales and found deficient. “ ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been
divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” Then Belshazzar gave orders,
and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck,
and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third
ruler in the kingdom. That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.”
(Daniel 5:25–30, NASB95)
A note in one of my study Bibles describes that night this
way: “One ancient account alleged that Persia’s General Ugbaru had troops dig a
trench to divert and thus lower the waters of the Euphrates River. Since the
river flowed through the city of Babylon, the lowered water enabled besiegers
to unexpectedly invade via the waterway under the thick walls and reach the
palace before the city was aware. The end then came quickly, as guards,
Belshazzar, and others were slain on Oct. 16, 539 B.C.” (The MacArthur Study
Bible)
So, did Isaiah get some bad information or was he speaking
of some other event? Clearly Babylon fell and it eventually disappeared as a
once great nation, but its influence remained as it permeated much of culture.
Babylon has also become symbolic of evil and even the rise of a great nation of
evil (whether eventually real or figurative), and when Christ returns this
great evil will be destroyed seemingly just as quickly as the early Babylon
changed hands. Chapter 14 of Isaiah help to clarify the prophecy when we see
words of Israel’s restoration that resemble other descriptions of that day
following the tribulation period when Christ comes to establish Israel once
again under His personal 1,000 year or Millennial reign.
We see this final judgment pronounced once again in
Revelation as three angels speak from God. “And I saw another angel flying in
midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth,
and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud
voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has
come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of
waters.” And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is
Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the
passion of her immorality.” Then another angel, a third one, followed them,
saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and
receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine
of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger;
and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up
forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast
and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”” (Revelation
14:6–11, NASB95)
Then sure enough, “Then the seventh angel poured out his
bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne,
saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals
of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since
man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of
His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon
men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its
plague was extremely severe.” (Revelation 16:17–21, NASB95)
And then, “After these things I saw another angel coming
down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his
glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean
spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. “For all the nations
have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the
earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the
earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.” I heard another voice
from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not
participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up
as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. “Pay her back even as
she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup
which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. “To the degree that she
glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and
mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit
as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see
mourning.’ “For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and
mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who
judges her is strong. “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of
immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when
they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear
of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city!
For in one hour your judgment has come.’” (Revelation 18:1–10, NASB95)
Then in Revelation 19 we read of our Lord’s return. “And I
saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a
flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on
Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in
blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in
heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white
horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down
the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine
press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His
thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”” (Revelation
19:11–16, NASB95)
What follows in chapter 20 is Christ’s thousand-year reign,
which is followed by His final defeat of Satan, and then the great white throne
judgment—the day when those whose names were not found in the book of life are
cast into the lake of fire.
These are the great days of the Lord which will come upon
those who live with a blatant disregard for God will find come upon them as a
thief. Chapter 21 of Revelation begins with these words, “Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away,
and there is no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1, NASB95)
The mockers will talk to us as if we are fools,
but we know better. Our Lord will return and when He does it will not go well.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1, NASB95)