"The Day of the Lord" in the Old Testament

[QuietObserver]

What does "The Day of the Lord" mean in the Old Testament? This phrase is found in the prophetic books.
Here are several references:

[bible]Isaiah 13,6-9[/bible]
[bible]Ezekiel 13,5[/bible]
[bible]Joel 1,15[/bible]

And there are many more references: Isaiah 2:12; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 2:1,11,31; 3:14; Amos 5:18,20; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi. 4:5.

Does this refer to God's judgments on Israel in the Old Testament or The Day of Judgement at the end of the world? Heaven and hell are hardly mentioned in the Old Testament.

[Neto]

My understanding of these texts is that the primary meaning is referring to the final judgement, which is exemplified or symbolized in the destruction of Israel. (In a similar fashion to how some of the prophecies which on the face of it appear to be about Solomon the son of David, but are primarily about the Messiah, Jesus, and only partially about Solomon.)

[KingdomBuilder]

[video][/video]

[Bootstrap]

Good question. Good answers.

I really appreciated that video.

[Neto]

I listened to the video yesterday, and have continued to mull this over (especially now during the night, when I couldn't sleep). There are two participants in most court cases, but we still tend to view 'judgement' as punishment. In the Old Testament period of the Judges, those who were called to Israel as judges were in most cases primarily deliverers. Israel had sinned, and fallen under judgement, and were oppressed by other nations. The judge brought about their deliverance, or, Salvation. The Day of Yahweh is like this. It is a time when the 'righteous' will be delivered. (I put the word in quotations because no one is really righteous, or deserving of deliverance.) But it is also a time when destruction will come upon the unrighteous.
I was reminded of the parable Jesus told, as recorded in Luke 18. (The 'Persistent Widow', or the 'Unrighteous Judge'.) I had to look it up in order to see the context. The purpose for Jesus telling this story is given in the opening of the parable - to teach his disciples to pray, and not give up, that God is not like an unrighteous judge who only hears a case after being bugged repeatedly, but one who hears. The preceding text IS, however, about the 'coming of the Kingdom', the day when the Son of Man will be revealed, which I understand to be the same as the Day of the LORD. In the parable, the participants who are oppressing the widow are not really in focus, but it is clear that a righteous judgement that gives relief to the widow will also condemn (or rule against) the oppressors. Perhaps we generally emphasize that side of the coming judgement too much, and do not focus properly on the coming deliverance.
[I also was reminded of a card my older brother received when he graduated from HS (1972). It said "It's not who you know that counts, it's WHOM you know." In the case of the DAY, one could say that "It's not whom you know that counts, it's WHO KNOWS YOU." (The card was of course a sort of cute misquotation of the old saying "It's not whom you know that counts, it's WHAT you know.") A relationship with the Judge is what is important. The parable taught persistence in prayer, and it may be argued that consistent prayer involves a relationship with God.]