The Day of the Lord

At the end of 1 Thess. 4, the Apostle Paul talks about Christ's coming, and then immediately in chapter 5 he speaks of "a thief in the night." In our western culture, of course, his word picture conjures up thoughts of a quiet burglary. The cat burglar comes and goes while people are sleeping, and no one knows what happened until they wake up in the morning and find themselves robbed.

Such is the view of much of the evangelical Church. However, when Paul wrote this, he had no such view in mind. Thieves in the night were robber barons whose cohorts would swoop into an unsuspecting town and plunder it with great violence, before riding off into the night. This was not exactly a picture of a secret rapture. And so, Paul says in verse 3,

"For when they shall say, 'peace and safety,' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that DAY should overtake you as a thief."

Paul is not telling us that Jesus is the "thief in the night." He is telling us that the DAY OF DESTRUCTION is a thief in the night to those who are "in the dark." That is, those who do not know the divine plan or the signs of the times are living in "darkness" and will be taken by surprise. In fact, Paul begins 1 Thess. 5 and introduces this concept by saying in verse 1,

"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for you know fully that the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night."

What is this "day of the Lord" that comes "as a thief in the night"? And why is it important that we know the times and seasons? It is obvious that this is what makes the difference between our being "in the dark" and "in the light." Verse 5 says,

"You are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness."

Yet throughout all my childhood years, I was taught that it was JESUS who would come as a thief in the night, rather than the Day of the Lord. That "day" has to do with timing and the calendar, not with personality.

Isaiah 13 describes this "day of the Lord" more completely. It is a chapter describing the fall of Babylon, and so it applies to Mystery Babylon in our day as well. Beginning in verse 6 we read,

"Howl; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. . . ⁸ And they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails [i.e., is giving birth]. . ."

That is precisely how Paul described it, using the word "destruction" and relating it to a woman in childbirth. Verse 10 says,

"For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."

Paul understood this to mean that most people would be "in the dark," and that this Day would overtake them as a thief (that is, unexpectedly). The children of light know times and seasons. The children of darkness do not.

In this context, verse 13 then says,

"Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger."

This is going to shake all people to their core. Isaiah 2:21 also refers to this, saying, "when He arises to shake terribly the earth." The prophet Haggai mentions it as well in Hag. 2:6 and 7, saying,

"For thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Yet first, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord of hosts."

Isaiah brings out this earthquake theme in the context of the fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13 above). So we know the timing of this shaking. Likewise, John says in Rev. 16:18 that at the time of the seventh bowl of wine poured out upon Babylon, "there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great."

I do believe that we will see a great earthquake (literal) soon, and that it will be a SIGN of the coming political quake that will bring about the collapse of Mystery Babylon. Yet do not confuse the physical with the political. A physical quake itself did not collapse the old city of Babylon; and today Babylon is no longer a mere city, but a world system.

Haggai seems to suggest that this "quake" is the coming of the Lord to fill His temple with glory. I do not think this is the actual "second coming of Christ" but an outpouring of the Spirit. This is what will bring down the Babylonian system--or at least, it will account for part of the "quake."

Back in the year 2000, in the seventh year of the Jubilee Prayer Campaign (1993-2000), the Lord showed us that He would begin to pour out seven bowls (Rev. 16) upon Babylon--one each year--from October of 2000 to October of 2006. He further instructed me to bear witness of this heavenly event by actually pouring out seven cups of wine at the feast of Tabernacles during these years. We are now coming to the seventh bowl of wine in a few months.

But along with this bowl of wine, He said to also pour out a cup of water to signify the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was the positive side of the work. God does not merely destroy and then leave the earth in shambles. He intends to destroy the structure of the Babylonian political and economic system, but He also intends to replace it with the Kingdom of God.

And so, I have done as I was instructed in the presence of many witnesses. We have already seen the results of each bowl throughout these years, but we have been waiting for the year 2006-2007 to see the results of the seventh bowls of wine and water.

As we approach this time, we can look at the world and see how political events are progressing. We see a hot war beginning to be fought in the Middle East to provoke and pick a fight with Iran (Persia). We also see the New Gideon's Army raised up last month to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit.

My instructions are to do all I can to help train this army, and for this reason I have been emboldened to write things online that would normally be reserved for only a few. It is my goal to enlighten you to the times and seasons, so that the Day of the Lord does not overtake you as a thief. If you know what to watch for, how to pray about it, and what the results will be, you will walk in the "light" and not be afraid.

Isaiah 34 approaches this Day of the Lord from a different angle. He tells us in verse 5,

"For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of My curse, to judgment. . . ⁸ For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion."

The controversy of Zion has to do with Idumea, or Esau-Edom's controversy with Jacob over the birthright. It has everything to do with the current Israeli state, which is currently occupied by the descendants of old Idumea, who were conquered and absorbed by Judah in 126 B.C. See my book, The Struggle for the Birthright.

If you continue reading in Isaiah 34, you will see that the whole land is slated for destruction and will no longer be habitable. I believe this will occur through a nuclear strike, as described in Isaiah 29:1-6. If you are a recent reader, please read the past weblogs going back to January.