So we can clearly see from Days of Noah I that when Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah, He’s speaking of His return at the end of the Tribulation. Days of Noah II will attempt to answer the follow-up question of “Well, if they’ll know the Tribulation is exactly seven years, how can they not know the day nor hour of Jesus’ return?”
To give a foundation, I’m going to quote a section from Who’s the Bride that will help us better understand the term ‘Day of the Lord.’
Day of the Lord is still somewhat of a mystery to me. It’s typically mentioned in the OT as ‘in that day’ and yet sometimes ‘in that day’ simply means a then-current event like Leviticus 7:35 and Numbers 32:10. The vast majority of the time, though, it’s that dreaded future period of great darkness that the Jews were told must occur before their Kingdom can begin.
Even then, it seems to me that it’s two things. It’s, I believe, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, which is the second half of the seven-year Tribulation. (Many believe ‘the Day of the Lord’ is the entire Tribulation.) And the second future thing it is is a specific day within that ‘day,’ meaning, the actual date of the Lord’s physical return. Some examples for that could be Joel 2:31; Zephaniah 1:14; Acts 2:20; 1 Thess. 5:2.
For examples of Day of the Lord or ‘in that day’ that I believe refer to the specific actual date of His return, we’ll check out the following passages.
Isaiah 13:6-10 (quoted in Matthew 24:29)
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
Possibly Isaiah 24:21-23
Isaiah 34
Here’s v.4
And all the host of heaven will wear away,
And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
Possibly Joel 2:30-32 (quoted in Acts 2)
Here’s 30 & 31
“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke.
31 “The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”
Amos 8:9
“It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God,
“That I will make the sun go down at noon
And make the earth dark in broad daylight.
Zechariah 14:1-7
Here’s v.6 & 7
6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
Before we discuss those, though, I’ll list some passages that could be the specific actual date of His return OR could be the general conditions of the Day of the Lord ‘window of time.’ It’s hard to be certain.
Amos 5:18-20 (This is a good passage to read because God clarifies to the Jews that the Day of the Lord will be a time of darkness and no light. I only mention that so you can see that whether it’s the ‘window’ or the ‘actual date’, it’s a dreaded time of judgment.)
Jeremiah 4:28
Zephaniah 1
Joel 2 & 3
So now that you’ve read the above passages, I’m sure you’ve noticed the reason why no one knows the day or the hour. Right? If not, please go back and specifically reread Isaiah 13:10, Amos 8:9, Zechariah 14:6-7.
Time has been convoluted, folks. When does one day end and the night begin when there’s no light?
And did you catch Zechariah 14:7? For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
Oh, my goodness. No other verse is even needed!
- 1) known to the Lord (implying no one else)
- 2) neither day nor night
- 3) at evening there will be light
Still unsure?
Let’s check out Revelation.
Though the following sixth seal could be anywhere within the Day of the Lord, or second half of the Tribulation, it sure seems like it’s speaking of the ‘actual date’ due to the severity of the events. Read it as if the entire passage was bolded!
Revelation 6:12-17
12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
And for the icing on the cake:
Revelation 8:12
12 The fourth angel sounded [his trumpet], and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.
Time is out of whack from here on out.
Another point to remember is that you can see this teaching throughout the Bible. And even though the Rapture, too, will occur at an unknown date and time, it is NOT spoken of throughout Scripture, but only to the Church in the Church Age books of 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians. So ‘no man knows the day nor hour’ verses like those found in Matthew 24:36, 25:13, Mark 13:32 all fit within the context they’re written in – OUTSIDE the Church Age!
^^^^^
And lastly, why I think the Day of the Lord ‘window of time’ begins at the midpoint of the Tribulation instead of at the beginning.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
So you can see the antichrist, or man of lawlessness, takes his seat in the temple of God at the midpoint of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27, 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14). Per 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 cited above, the Day of the Lord won’t come until then.
One last thing I forgot to put in Days of Noah I.
Revelation 16:15
15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”)
Right smack dab in the middle of v.13-16 – an Armageddon passage.