Pillars are Just Crutches

Introduction

The problem that is faced with the term ‘Day of the LORD’ is that the range of texts in which it is used can imply a range of meanings, from a theological understanding of an historical event, to an imminent consequence through to a prophetic eschatology of a distant future. Each is expressed through out the writing prophets in near uniformity (Everson, 1974, p.331). This causes problems while trying to establish the exact meaning of the term and the theological implications of it. Many scholars view it at the very heart of the prophetic eschatology of the Old Testament that would cumulate into the allusion of YHWH coming in person (von Rad, 1965, p.119). However, the term is not eschatological per se (van Rad, 1965, 224), for example, Sweeney argues that Zephaniah’s use of ‘Day of YHWH’ is most likely non-eschatological because it lacks any reference to the events taking place in the ‘end of days’ and has none of the cosmic references that the apocalyptic writing would present (Sweeney, 1991, p.390) and Lamentations deals strictly with the theological interpretations of the sacking of Jerusalem.

So what is the Day of YHWH? It is the day that YHWH intervenes (Walvoord & Zuck, 1985, p.1412) in history to bring first his covenant people, and secondly, the world, back into divine redemption (Payne, 1973, p.132). This is not just one day in the past or (distant) future, this is a continuing act that is seen throughout the pages of the prophets and will continue until the ultimate day of YHWH.

Origins and Progression

The term the ‘Day of YHWH’ specifically is used 18 times in the Old Testament, although other forms have been commonly accepted like, ‘the day’, or ‘that day’ (such as Zephaniah 3:11).

Much talk has gone on about the exact origins of the Day of YHWH. Most agree that at its origin is an Ancient Near East idea that a mighty warrior king could consummate an entire military campaign in a single day. In the Israelite context it was most likely a description of the swiftness of the Lord’s victory over His enemies (Walvoord & Zuck, 1985, p.1412). More specifically, some Israelites may have made a connection in the book of Judges with the ‘Day of Midean’ and Gideon’s overwhelming victory with so few people (Isaiah 9:4; Judges 7:25), after all, Israel’s God was a God that fought for her, that saved her (Szeles, 1987, p.66).

Israel saw the day of YHWH as a holy war that their God would enter into with them with the same signs that he showed their forefathers, like thunder (1 Samuel 7:10), stones falling from the sky (Joshua 10:11), darkness (Joshua 24:7) and clouds dripping water (Judges 5:4ff) (von Rad, 1965, 120-24).

Von Rad’s interpretation of a holy war concept for day of YHWH has found nearly universal acceptance. However, Weiss contends that the idea was a cultic practice because God uses cultic imagery and tells the people to consecrate themselves, something that is never done during the wars of Israel. However, these times can still included theophonies and disasters (Weiss, 1966, p.30). The weight of the phrase and its consistent implication with war (Isaiah 13:6-8, 34; Ezekiel 30:1ff, 7:7-17; Jeremiah 46:3-12; Joel 2: 1-2; Zephaniah 1:7-18) whether to Israel’s destruction or victory, put this theory into doubt however. The rhetoric of war is heavy.

Although Israel’s view of God’s support during war may have been true in the past in term of Israel’s forefathers it was about to take on a dramatic twist for Israel. God was about to use other nations to judge Israel. This would give good reason to why, in the earliest Biblical use of the phrase, Amos tells the people,
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light; as a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall and a snake bites him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18-20, NASB).

The NASB translates the first word here ‘Alas’ however most translations (NIV, KJV, NKJV, ASV) translate the word to ‘Woe,’ which would better suite the genre. This is a woe oracle (Stuart, 1987, p.353) that was made in order to “criticize particular actions or attitudes of people, and … announce punishment upon them” (Sandy & Giese, 1995, p.163). This announcement of the day of YWHW is the first half, announcing the dismay of God. Amos has, in now uncertain terms, declared that God’s people and God’s enemy are the same group of people. This would have been an utter shock to the Israelites (Stuart, 1987, p.353). They would have expected that they were doing all right. Smelik says:
The ambiguity of the concept lies in the fact that on this day Israel can be delivered from her enemies, but it can also be punished by the Lord who will send a foreign army to destroy his people. By noting this ambiguity Amos v 18-20 becomes clear to us. People longing for the Day of YHWH because they hope to be delivered on that day make a fatal mistake; it will be they who are crushed by the hand of the Lord, not their enemies (Smelik, 1986, 247).

Soon after Amos’ contemporary Isaiah would make similar proclamations (2:12-21; 13:6-13; 34:1-8). Isaiah will make the astrological signs more clear and evident. Instead of relatively vague image that Amos gives: “Will not the day of the Lord be darkness” (Amos 5:20, NASB) Isaiah uses more vivid imagery to say the same thing, “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” (Isaiah 13:10). As well, Isaiah will be one of the first within Biblical prophecy to proclaim the day of YHWH against the foreign nations. This is the intent of Isaiah 13:6-13. In these verses the oracle of judgment is pronounced against Babylon. YHWH calls his “consecrated ones” to fight and the imagery of YHWH himself showing up for the battle is vivid (von Rad, 1965, p.120)! At the end of the judgment the image of total desolation of the empire is clear, “It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation” (Isaiah 13:20).

Jeremiah, over a hundred years later would then use the term in order to describe an historical event, the siege of Jerusalem. In the first two chapters of Lamentations Jeremiah looks back on the fallen state of Judah and Jerusalem and contrasts its wealthy state with its current fallen one. Zion was once great and now has it has become a widow. She was a princess, and now it is a vassal, her precious things are gone and now she only knows affliction and bitterness. She interrupts the funeral dirge in 1:9 and turns to the nations that are unresponsive to her plight (1:12) (Everson, 1974, 331-332). It is clear, she is suffering because of her sins, Lam 1:5 says, “For the Lord has caused her grief because of the multitude of her transgressions; her little ones have gone away.” (NASB)

In the second chapter of Lamentations the day of YHWH is used both in the opening and closing sections of the acrostic. The suffering that is being endured in connection with the people’s sins is now directly connected with the day of the Lord. Lam 2:22 say, “You called as in the day of an appointed feast my terrors on every side; and there was no one who escaped or survived in the day of the Lord’s anger. Those whom I bore and reared, my enemies annihilated them” (NASB). There is no comfort for Jerusalem, there is an emphasis on despair.

Of course this is only one aspect of the day of YHWH. It was not always spoken of in a tone of judgment and wrath. It had positive connotations as well. Amos 9:11-15 tells about a time when “in that day” God will intervene in the history of His people (Smith, 1989, p.280) and restore the fortunes of His people and they would rebuild their ruins, plant vineyards and drink wine. Plant them on their land, and they shall not be rooted up again.

Joel also makes the day of YHWH into a positive event in very similar language. With direct parallels to the references earlier in the book Joel says, “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem…” (Joel 3:1a).

Amos 5:18 has always been considered the key passage on the Day of YHWH. Unfortunately, Amos 5:18 says very little about the subject at hand while the other popular verse that is looked at, Isaiah 2:9, says more about what the results of the day will be than anything else (von Rad, 1965 p.119). The most rounded out and complete look at the Day of YHWH comes from the often overlooked book of Zephaniah.

Why Zephaniah?

King probably states this most clearly while quoting von Rad, “Zephaniah’s prophecy concerning the day of Yahweh is certainly one of the most important sources of material at our disposal for the various concepts connected with this subject [the day of YHWH]” (King, 1995, p.17, parenthesis added)

Although Zephaniah was neither the first nor the last person to use the phrase Day of YHWH it is generally agreed that he gives the most rounded picture of the phrase, almost like a two-sided coin. The other prophets tended to stress one aspect of the day over another; Zephaniah is the most balanced prophet in this regard since both judgment and blessing are given their space (Baker, 1988, p.84). He is also the first to portray Israel as a sacrifice. Isaiah would declare that Edom would be a sacrifice to God (Isaiah 34:6) and Jeremiah would say the same thing about Egypt (Jeremiah 46:27-28) however, Zephaniah, with it’s cultic coloring of Israel’s judgment portrays her in just such a manner (Zephaniah 1:7-13) (Szeles, 1987, p.67).

He was also not the first to stress the urgency and nearness of the Day of YHWH. But we see in Zephaniah a difference in time when the judgments and blessings are compared. Where Judah’s judgment is portrayed as imminent (1:7,14) the blessings that come at the end of the book (3:9-20) are located somewhere in the future (Baker, 1988, p.84).

Lastly, Zephaniah would pronounce more strenuously the universality of his message. The world will see judgment but the world will also see salvation (Zephaniah 3:9-20) (Szeles, 1987, p.67; Kaiser, 1978, p.223). This is drastically different to some books! For example, in Joel 3 the restoration of Israel is portrayed along side the desolation and destruction of other nations.

Zephaniah 1:7-2:3 (A Day of Judgement)

There are two views on the timing of Zephaniah; the one consistent factor is that it came down during the reign of king Josiah (Zeph 1:1). It is whether the prophecy was either given before Josiah made the reforms to turn Israel around (in which case Zephaniah may have been a catalyst in the change) or the prophecy was given after the changes had taken place and ultimately failed (Smith, 1984, p.121-122; Baker, 1988, p.81-82). Either way the message left little hope.

Israel had become rebellious, seditious, and uncooperative towards God. She did not want to perform God’s will even though she was His covenant people. The cultic practices had become all about the show and the priests had profaned their office! In fact, all of Israel had become faithless (Szeles, 1987, p.68-69).

This portion of the book is believed to be made up of smaller judgment oracles, although it is generally agreed upon that Zephaniah probably gave them all at one time. There is also a lack of a call for repentance, which could be meant to show a lack of hope for the people (Smith, 1984, 123). God had made up his mind, he was going to act!

The Day of YHWH is a dominating theme throughout the whole book. Even though the actual term is only used three times in the entire book the word ‘day’ appears 20 times (1:8-10, 18, 3:11 etc…) and is always closely related to the Day of YHWH. Every unit of the book has some connection to the day of YHWH (King, 1995, p.17)!

“Be silent before the Lord God” (Zephaniah 1:7, NASB)

There is first an appeal for silence followed by an announcement that the Day of YHWH is near. The call for silence is strongly linked to Amos’ announcement because of a relatively rare word that is used in both announcements, “hush” (Amos 6:10) (Smith, 1984, p.130-131). YHWH is near and he has prepared a sacrifice. Those who are called to the feast are the very ones to be sacrificed by God (Baker, 1988, 94-95). Certain groups in Jerusalem will make up the LORD’s sacrifice: princes, those who had adopted foreign customs and religions, the indifferent men and those who are filled with violence and deceit (1:8-9, 12).

Zephaniah is trying to get it through their heads that this is really going to happen, the phrase “I will punish” occurs 3 times (1: 8, 9, 12) in the beginning of the oracle (Szeles, 1987, p.68) along with the repeated statements that refer this back to the Day of YHWH. These are sure signs that YHWH is about to intervene within human history because He is about to punish the Israelites who had come to think that God was no longer interested in them. They had developed a phrase that said, “The Lord will not do good or evil!” (1:12, NASB). These people were basically practical atheists that were going to discover first hand that their Creator, Deliverer and Judge was actively involved in their world, whether they saw it or not. This would be a time of divine intervention (King, 1995, p.17, 20)!!

In verse 14 we come across a new description of the day of YHWH. The day is near and coming very fast. Although he is not the first to pronounce the nearness of the day of YHWH (Isaiah was probably the first) it is only after Zephaniah that other prophets start proclaiming it. It is likely that Zephaniah was aware of Amos’ writing because more links to Amos are found in this section (1:15-20) such as, darkness, gloom, and bitter (Smith, 1984, p.132).

Zephaniah 2:1-3 are included into this section because they contain outright statement about the day of YHWH’s wrath and give instructions to the people on what they are to do because of this approaching day. There might be something that they can do. If they get together, seek the Lord, carry out His ordinances, seek righteousness and humility perhaps they “will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger” (2:3) (Szeles, 1987, p.90).

It is evident through these verses that this is not just the blind wrath of God there is a purpose to the Lord’s discipline and anger and that purpose can be seen in 2:3, that his people would, “seek the Lord” and carry out the things that He has called them to. This is a divine intervention in order to bring Israel (and the world) back into His will.

Zephaniah 3:9-20 (A Day of Salvation)

Verse 9 is connected directly to verse 8 because God’s last words are never that of judgment. He doesn’t come to bring death, but life. He is not a God of wrath but a God of love (Achtemier, 1986, p.82). The first section here God addresses the promises salvation of both the peoples and the people of God.

There is the idea present in these first two verses of a reverse of the curse that was given in Genesis 11:1-9 as it seems parallel this. The world’s languages will be restored and the people of God will be able to worship God in unity (Szeles, 1987, 106). Ideas from Isaiah also seem prevalent as God is going to ‘purify’ the lips of the people (Smith, 1984, p.142).

Verse 11 starts out with a strong link to the day of YHWH. It was a day of judgment but now it will be a day of hope (Baker, 1988, p.116). Jerusalem will be purified and it’s pride will be gone, pure worship to God will be restored and as a result the people will live pure lives. There is a direct link to 2:3, in that verse the Lord tells Israel to be humble and seek humility in order to avoid the day of YHWH. Here in 3:11 we are told that there will not be any ‘proud’ and ‘exulting ones’ (NASB) because they have been removed and all that’s left are the ‘humble’ and ‘lowly’ (NASB). Smith in the Word Biblical Commentary takes the words humble and lowly and makes them ‘poor’ and ‘oppressed’. Showing that there was eschatological significance to the poor and oppressed towards the end of the Old Testament canonical period (Smith, 1984, p.142).

Zephaniah 3:14-17 has been compared to a number of scenes. One such scene is the picture of a festival with the people of God belting out their praise to God to each other and dancing with God in their midst rejoicing over them (Achtemier, 1986, p.86; Smith, 1988, p.144). In verse 16 Zephaniah once again focuses the reader back to “that day” or the day of YHWH. Once again, just as in verse 11, it is no longer a day of fear, but of salvation, there is no reason to fear God because he is in the midst of his people. Yes, God was going to wipe the sinners off the face of the earth but he was also going to restore his people! The day of the Lord is not only a time for judgment, it is also a time of restoration!

In some regards this war has yet to be won. Although the people of God are told to rejoice for the things that God has done (past) they are also to rejoice about the things that God has yet to do (future) because God would eventually restore their fortune (Baker, 1988, p.117).

Zephaniah then not only shows that the day of YHWH is for the wrath of God in order to bringing His people (and the world) back to His ways and purposes but also that His wrath ultimately comes out of His love. There is a purpose behind the day of YHWH and that there is ultimately salvation for those who follow God. Zephaniah ends with eschatological hope, “At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the people of the earth, What I restore your fortunes before your eyes.” Says the Lord (NASB, 3:20)

New Testament Implications

The New Testaments outlook on the Day of the Lord is set upon the backdrop of the Old Testament idea which, although traces of salvation can be found, was for the most part, a day of darkness and gloom. For the unbeliever it is a day of terror but to the believer it is a day of great joy (Bromiley, 1979).

The New Testament believers, of course, understood that Jesus Christ was the one who will judge at Parousia. Other terms were used for Day of the Lord such as day of Christ, day of judgment (Martin and Davids, 1997, p.265, 266), and like the Old Testament sometimes it is referred to only as ‘that day’ (Bromiley, 1979).

2 Peter is one of the only books in the New Testament to deal directly with the term. He saw it as coming quickly and without warning, like a thief (2 Peter 3:10) and because of this he encouraged his congregation to remain faithful to God so to avoid His judgment. In Acts 2:17-21 Peter talks directly about the day of YHWH by quoting the book of Joel in the Old Testament scriptures. Again, although the message is positive, “those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved” it hints to Christ as judge, because saving requires being saved from something.

In Revelations the day of the Lord’s judgment of the ungodly will directly result in the liberation and vindication of the righteous (Revelations 6:10; 11:18) (Martin and Davids, 1997, p.265, 266).

The New Testaments understanding of the day of the Lord then is that of judgment at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Although cast upon the scene of suffering and pain the Day of YHWH would and will mean the liberation and salvation of all of God’s people! Not those who think they can do and say all the right things (Amos 5) but those who live out the ordinances of the Lord, who seek God, righteousness and humility (Zephaniah 2). Even for those whom God punishes on that day, the punishment is not for punishments sake but to bring all peoples back to God (Zephaniah 3)

The day of YHWH turns out not to be just one day in the life of the Old Testament or a single day that is looked forward to in the distant future, but the Day of YHWH, we find, is a continuing act. It’s a day that is seen throughout the pages of the writing prophets whether its fulfillment is past, present or future. It is a day that we see comes to fulfillment in the New Testament (Acts 2) and yet it is hoped for, until the ultimate day of YHWH.