When we began this study, we learned that according to some popular sources, the Lord's Day is regarded as Sunday. One source says, "Very early in the history of Christianity, the tradition of Christ's Sunday morning resurrection gave rise to the Christian custom, later to become an obligation, of gathering every Sunday morning to worship the Christian Lord, Jesus hence the name Lord's day.
Then, we examined our Sunday and compared it to the biblical day that would correspond to this. After we checked several records, we quickly found that our Sunday corresponds to the biblical first day of the week. However, everywhere the first day of the week is mentioned in scripture, it's always referred to as the first day of the week and never as Sunday.
So, where did the word Sunday come form and how did it become associated with the Lord's Day? It was the Greek Church fathers who, at the time of their conversion, introduced the word sun-day. This word was used before in their worship of the sun god. To conclude that the first day of the week, which would be Sunday, was called the Lord's Day has no supporting evidence from scriptures. But we still need to answer the question: What is the Lord's Day?
In Part 2 of this teaching we saw that the Lord's Day does not refer to one single day, but rather to a period of time.
II Corinthians 6:1-2 1We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Here we learned that the day of salvation is not talking about a single day, but about a unspecified period of time. It's already been two thousand years.
In Revelation 1:10, the phrase "Lord's Day" is the figure of speech know as synecdoche.
Encarta World English Dictionary notes that the figure synecdoche uses a word for part of something that represents the whole, e.g., "sail" for "boat," or vice versa.
We then tracked the term "Lord's Day" through scripture. As we continue to study the term and also synonymous terms, we will see that the Lord's Day has nothing to do with Sunday and everything to do with the end times a time of vengeance during which the Lord will repay the evil of the earth.
Acts 2:17-20 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
No one knows exactly when this time will come, but scripture promises that is will come.
I Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
No one knows when a thief plans to come and so it is with the Day of the Lord.
II Thessalonians 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Critical Greek texts of the above verse read Lord, not Christ.
Why would the believers be troubled if the day of Christ's return were at hand? The return is a joyful occasion when we will be united with our Lord Jesus to live forevermore.
If the word Christ is left to stand in the above verse, it generates confusion that we need to go through the tribulations (which is itself part of the Lord's Day.) However, scripture teaches we are saved from the wrath to come. The accurate reading in the above verse is Lord, not Christ.
II Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
In addition, the phrases-that day, the day, or the great day-occur more that 75 times in the Old Testament. A study of these phrases reveals the same truth.
Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
The word Lord's in the phrase the Lord's Day is an adjective. If the noun were used for Lord, it would read of the Lord.
Isaiah 13:6 Howl ye: for the day of the LORD.Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand.
Some scholars argue this phrase is not exactly the same as (the Lord's day). In Revelation, we have the lord's day and in the Old Testament we have the day of the Lord. There is no adjective for the word lord<> in Hebrew. The only way one could say the Lord's day is by using two nouns, as in the DAY of the LORD.
In the Greek, there are two ways of saying the Lord's Day: 1) with an adjective (as in Revelations 1:10) or 2) with two nouns (as in I Thessalonians 5:2.)
Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,I Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
If we were to use the adjective to qualify the noun in the phrase the Lord's Day, the emphasis would be placed on the word day. However, if we wanted to place the emphasis on the word Lord, instead of the adjective; the noun would be used in the genitive. This case would cause it to read the LORD'S day.
To further illustrate, let's look at another verse.
Luke 17:22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
The word days; in the phrase days of the son of man is in the genitive; thus placing the emphasis on the son of man.
I Corinthians 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
The word man's means human and it is an adjective in the test. Thus the emphasis would be on the word judgment (day). The apostle said man is doing the judging now. This is the time in which we live. However, there is a day coming when the Lord will be doing the judging, a fair judgment, and no one will escape.
The Day of the Lord would begin with the return of Christ and continue until the new heaven and earth. Some put the beginning of the Day of the Lord at the tribulation.
Whichever understanding is correct, the day of the lord is a lengthy period of time in which the Lord will judge the earth and mankind. It is a time when the wrath of God will be poured out on the earth. It is a period of time when the Lord Jesus will rule the nations with a rod of iron and judgments will be passed. The righteous will be rewarded, and the unrighteous will be punished and thrown into the lake of fire.
It is a time of intense tribulation; a time called "Jacob's trouble." It will conclude with a new heaven and a new earth where we will enter the eternal kingdom.
God bless you. ÿ
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.