One of the fruitful causes of misunderstandings and misconceptions of the scriptural teaching relative to the rapture of the church is a misunderstanding and an incorrect identification of certain terms that are not synonymous. For instance, one noted writer says the terms End, Appearing, Revelation, and Parousia are synonyms. This writer tells us : "One set of terms remains to be examined, namely: those bearing on the day that closes the present world-period and ushers in the Age to Come. One of these terms, 'the Last Day,' was examined in our study of the resurrection in the Gospels; but there are several others that refer to the same day, namely: 'the Day,' "in that Day,' 'Jesus Messiah's Day,' 'Messiah's Day,' 'the Day of the Lord Jesus,' and 'the Day of the Lord.'"

When a person makes a study of these various terms, he sees that the writer who thus delivered himself of such generalities is entirely mistaken.

In the short space allotted for this study, I can only touch briefly on certain ones of these terms.

In the first place let us look at the Old Testament expression, "the Day of Jehovah." In Isaiah 2:12-22, we have a full and clear description of the day of Jehovah of hosts. And examination of this passage shows that the prophet was speaking of the time when God pours out his wrath upon all that is high, exalted, and lifted up, and is considered of value by men. At that time idolatry will be the order of he day; but men will be brought to the point that they will cast away their idols and will hide themselves in the jagged rocks from the terror of Jehovah and the glory of His majesty when He arises to shake mightily the earth. The word "day" in the expression "the Day of Jehovah" cannot be taken literally, but must be applied to the period when God is pouring out his judgment upon the world. An examination of various passages in which the phrase "the Day of Jehovah" occurs shows that the prophet was talking about this period of wrath and indignation when God arises to punish the world and its inhabitants for their sins.

The Great and Terrible Day of Jehovah

Joel, one of the earliest writing prophets, speaks about the great and terrible day of Jehovah. In chapter 2:30-31, God declares, saying, "30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh." According to this passage there will be signs and wonders both in the heavens and upon the earth; at the same time the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood "before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh." Before the time, designated the great and terrible day of Jehovah, arrives there will be a general blackout throughout the universe in connection with which will occur signs and wonders in the heavens and upon the earth. Let us note particularly that these unusual signs are to occur before that day.

Zephaniah speaks of the "great day of Jehovah." In 1:14-18 he speaks of this time as a period of unparalleled trouble. During it, the mighty men will cry out bitterly; because that day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high battlements. This prediction is found in verses 15 and 16. From the facts narrated in this prophecy, it is clear that the word "day" cannot refer to a literal day of twenty-four hours, but to a period of time during which God sends his judgments upon the earth to punish man for his sins.

In That Day

The prophets frequently used the phrase "in that day." The book of Isaiah is rich in this expression. Sometimes it has the ordinary meaning and refers to the time just mentioned by the prophet. But it has also a technical meaning referring to the Tribulation. For instance, in Isaiah, chapter 17, the prophet uses our expression three times (vss. 4,7, and 9). In verses 4-6 it is clear from the context that the prophet was talking about a time when the Jewish population will be reduced to a minimum. When the teaching is examined in the light of related passages, it becomes evident that the prophet was talking about the time which is known by Bible students as the Tribulation, a period of seven years with which this present Christian age is concluded.

In Isaiah 17:7-8 our expression occurs again. In this instance the prophet is talking about the mighty revival which will at that future time take place throughout the world. Man's extremity will be God's opportunity. During the Tribulation, God will send His judgments upon the world and will bring men to their senses. "In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel." According to this prediction more than half of the inhabitants of the world—the greater part of humanity—will turn to the Lord their God and be gloriously saved.

In the same chapter our phrase "in that day" occurs, referring, of course, to the same time, the Tribulation. At that time, the civilization, which Israel is now building up in the land of the fathers, will be completely destroyed, according to verses 9-11.

In certain passages the expression "in that day" is looking at the beginning of the Tribulation; in other instances, it points to the end of it; while in other connections it refers to the period as a unit of time, without emphasis on either the beginning or the end. This point must be noted if we are to avoid the confusion which has beclouded the thinking of the writer, whom I quoted in the beginning of the study.

The Day of Vengeance of Our God

In Isaiah 61:1-3 we have a prediction concerning the redemptive career of King Messiah which consists of His first coming and ministry, and His announcing "the year of Jehovah's favor and the day of vengeance of our God." Messiah, being anointed by the Holy Spirit, not only engages in His public ministry, but also announces these two periods of time just mentioned. He will also comfort all who mourn in Zion, will appoint them to official positions in His government, and crown all those who turn to Him in genuine repentance.

The first of the periods which the Messiah proclaims is called "the year of Jehovah's favor," and the second is "the day of vengeance of our God." The prophets, in speaking of the Tribulation, often thought of this period as a time of judgment and of the pouring out of God's wrath. It is, as stated above a period of seven years with which the present age of grace closes. The first of the periods mentioned in this prophecy is compared to a year. Since it is thought of as a year and the second a day, we have a logical right to believe that a like proportion—at least an approximation of it—exists between these two periods of time which exists between a year and a day. The length of the latter period is seven years; the first, the Day of Grace, has now been running practically nineteen hundred years. During this period of wrath, great and mighty changes will take place. This time of wrath is the transitional period during which the world will pass out of its present condition into that of the glorious millennial reign of our Lord—when the glory of God will encircle the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Jesus Delivers Us From the Wrath to Come

According to I Thessalonians 1:9-10 the believers at Thessalonica had turned away from idols to God to "wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come." According to this promise the Lord Jesus will deliver His people from the wrath to come, from the judgments of the Tribulation which, as we have just seen is called in the Old Testament "the day of Jehovah." This period of wrath is also called "the day of the Lord." In I Thessalonians 5:2 Paul speaks of the day of the coming of the Lord as a thief in night. This period of wrath will creep upon the world as suddenly and as unexpectedly as the coming of a thief in the night. This same period of seven years of God's wrath is referred top in II Thessalonians 2:2, in the clause, "as that the day of the Lord is just at hand…."

Jesus will come to deliver his saints out of the present evil world before the wrath begins to be poured out upon it. At the conclusion of this same period of wrath, he will come all the way to the earth to take the world situation in hand and to establish a reign of righteousness here. Thus the coming of Christ for His saints and His coming with His saints are separated by the brief period of the seven years of wrath.

In the Last Day

In our Lord's discourse on the Bread of life (John, chapter 6) Jesus uses the phrase "at the last day" (vss. 39, 40, 44, and 54). In each of these instances, the Lord is speaking of His raising to life and eternal joy "in the last day" all those who accept him and partake of the Bread of Life. Thus by the class of interpreters of whom I am speaking, this phrase refers to the last day of the Tribulation, the literal day on which Jesus will rend the heavens and come back to earth. Thus to these interpreters Christ will receive His own on the last day of the Tribulation. That we cannot place this interpretation upon our phrase is clear from an examination of the same expression in John 12:48. On a certain occasion Jesus said, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day." It is clear that the Lord Jesus was talking about those who reject Him and are lost. Concerning them He declared that "the same (the word) shall judge him in the last day." It is obvious that our phrase in this connection is not talking about the last day of the Tribulation. On the contrary, it is obvious that Jesus is talking about the time when the lost are judged. When will this great epoch making event take place? An examination of Revelation 20:11-15 shows that the judgment of the great white throne, before which the lost will all be brought, takes place at the end of the Millennium—one thousand years after the Tribulation. We see therefore that the expression "in that day" cannot be understood as referring to a literal day of twenty-four hours—the last day of the Tribulation, the day on which Jesus comes to earth again.

The expression "day," like the term "hour," can refer to a long period of time. In John 5:28-29 we see that there is to be a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the unjust. The former are raised to life everlasting; the latter to everlasting condemnation. In this passage Jesus said that the hour will come in which there will occur two resurrections. Did He mean a literal hour of sixty minutes? When we take the parallel passage, Revelation 20:1-6, we see that the resurrection of the righteous occurs before the millennium and he resurrection of the unjust after the millennium. From these facts we see that the word "hour" is a period of time extending over a thousand years. Since in John, chapter 6, Jesus is talking about salvation and the rewarding of His people in the last day, since in John 12:48 he is also talking about the judging of the lost "in the last day" and since we see that the resurrection and the judgment of the righteous occur before the Tribulation and the resurrection of the lost takes place at the conclusion of the Millennium, we are driven to the conclusion that the phrase "in the last day" covers the entire Millennium-and the time immediately preceding and following it.

The Day of Christ

The Apostle Paul uses the expression "day of Christ" in several passages (I Cor. 1:8; 5:5; II Cor. 1:14 Phil. 1:6,10; and Phil. 2:16). In the first passage the Apostle speaks of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ as occurring in the day of Christ. He is here speaking about Christians' being unreprovable before God "unto the day of Christ," undoubtedly referring to the coming of Christ for His saints before the Tribulation. In Philippians 1:6 he speaks of the day of Christ and of God's perfecting the work, which He begins in the Christian by regenerating the soul, "until the day of Jesus Christ," the day of the rapture.

By a careful study of terms in the light of the context in which they appear, we can avoid much confusion relative to the rapture of the saints, which, as we have seen, occurs before the Tribulation. The same principle applies to all other Biblical doctrines.

The Lord bless this meditation of this most important doctrine is my prayer.