Continuing on from the previous Dispensations video, we will be looking at more meanings of the term ‘day of the Lord’.
What does the day of the Lord mean?
Now, the day of the Lord refers to the burning of Heaven and earth which is long after the tribulation, after the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ.
2 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.”
It is obvious here that it is not referring to the tribulation because there is no mention of people living on the earth during this time, not to mention that God has to judge people and set up His earthly kingdom. Thus, this happens long after the millennium. The following verse also supports a new earth that will replace the one that will be destroyed.
Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:”
Recall the previous verse where the first earth was burned up, thus, a new earth is created.
“for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
When is this new heaven and earth created?
After the tribulation (two chapters prior) and after the 1000 year Millennium reign.
The destroying of heaven and earth is also referred to the day of the Lord. From this, and other definitions for ‘the day of the Lord’ provided in the previous Dispensations study, we know that this phrase means more than just tribulation rapture.
Another example would be that the day of the Lord is connected to B.C. fall of Babylon. We will cover more examples connected to the day of the Lord, and consequently, also where it refers to the tribulation rapture.
Acts 2:20 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come.”
The day of the Lord here is connected to the sun and moon turning dark and connects with the following verse as well.
Matthew 24: 29-30 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.“
These verses show that there is a post-tribulation rapture, which counters the people who are Non-denominational or typical Fundamental Baptists that believe in a pre-tribulation rapture only. This occurs when you only consider one verse and decide the meaning of that verse based on that verse alone. To find the correct meaning, or in this case multiple meanings, you need to compare Scripture with Scripture for the correct interpretation. Dispensationalism is also needed in that it teaches us that there will be both pre and post-tribulation.
Now, it is important that we recall that when God refers to something in the Bible, He can have it mean more than one thing, as we have discussed with the day of the Lord. Another example of this would be the coming of Christ in which Christians take it to mean more than one thing; His first and second coming. Just as we take the coming of Christ to mean two different things it is imperative to keep this mindset concerning other events in the Bible, in this case, the day of the Lord.
Old Covenant
What is the evidence of Satan attacking God’s seed since the beginning?
Now, we will be shifting our focus from the physical kingly line of David to a spiritual one. But before we transition into spiritual, recall that Satan has been trying to interfere with God’s seed ever since the beginning, and what we see in the next verse is no different.
Jeremiah 22:28-30 “Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.”
“Is this man Coniah”
This is a king of Israel.
“a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. “
We can clearly see that Satan has been trying to attack God’s seed. In the beginning, God promised Eve that a seed would come out of her and reign. God put that seed through David through his Kingdom, but it’s blocked by Satan.
Now at the time of the book of Acts, God’s physical dealing of the kingdom is finished, hence why the disciples were looking for it.
Acts 1:6 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”
This is referring to the physical kingdom of Israel that they lost ever since the time of the Babylonian captivity. It won’t be until the Messiah returns that they will recover their physical kingdom.
*Note that Lamentation 5:16 shows that the physical kingdom is gone at the Babylonian captivity. This ties in with the fact that from this captivity all the way to 1948, the nation of Israel had lost its physical nation.
The Genealogies at Matthew 1: 1-17 cf Luke 3: 23-31
Why did Jeconiah’s name change to Coniah?
If we read Matthew 1: 1-17, it gives us Jesus’ genealogy from the son of David, specifically Jeconiah. However, recall the curse God put on Coniah, concerning him not having a reigning Messiah from his line. God removed Je from his name because Je is associated with Jehovah and Coniah was a wicked man. Nonetheless, Jesus came from this line through Joseph. Now, if we’re being specific here, Jesus didn’t come directly from Joseph but from Mary through the virgin birth.
If we read Luke 3:23-31, we see that Mary was the daughter of David’s son Nathan. Through this genealogy, we can see God’s genius plan, when He blocked Jechonias’s seed, and He said he would never prosper. David on the other hand was promised with an everlasting covenant, that he would have a Messiah that would reign in his Kingdom. This was accomplished through his son Nathan’s daughter Mary.
Now, concerning the blocking of Jeconiah’s seed, when God blocks a person’s seed or when He blocks the Jews it is only temporary. Much like with Jeconiah seed, although God had blocked his seed God still kept His everlasting covenant with the Jews through and different source. Thus, the heresy of replacement theology is false because God finds a way to keep His covenant with the Jews. They were never and are not replaced by the Church. Through dispensationalism we see God’s grand scheme to block the Jews temporarily, but at the same time maintaining His everlasting covenant till the Day of The Lord without contradicting Himself.
*Note: Anytime you see a contradiction in Scripture, it shows the genius of God and His plethora of backup plans in case we mess up (and you know we will).
New Covenant
The theme of the New Covenant is divided into two stages: Jews and Gentiles and the Church.
Jews and Gentiles
Primarily, we have seen God deal with the nation of Israel physically. This is different from the Christian Church in that we are dealt with spiritually. Now, we have to ask ourselves why Jesus introduced a lot of spiritual doctrines during His first coming despite dealing with the Jews primarily through physical means. The following verse explains the reason.
Why did the Holy Ghost appear only in the New Testament?
Luke 1:35 “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Notice here that the Holy Ghost was involved with the birth of Jesus Christ, therefore Jesus had the authority to give the Holy Spirit, spiritual dealings and to revive the dead spirit. Recall that ever since Adam, man’s spiritual nature was dead and because of this dead spirit, God could not primarily deal with humankind spiritually.
This is why God used physical dealings, the law of Moses, and physical works for their salvation. With the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, however, all of this changed from physical to spiritual on account of the Holy Spirit taking part in Jesus’ birth.
What is the meaning of “born of the spirit”?
John 3:3-4,6,16 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
This clearly showed the Jews who have been so familiar with the physical dealings of God could not comprehend Jesus’s spiritual doctrines.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh;”
First birth.
“and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Second birth.
Jesus clarifies what He means as the physical Jews cannot understand spiritual doctrine. This is why He can introduce the following spiritual doctrine that stems from faith.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Faith in Jesus Christ and then we receive the spiritual birth.
John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”
Recall that from His birth, He had the authority to give the Holy Spirit.
John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
Jesus will send the Comforter, or the Holy Spirit once He leaves. The Jews have never had their spirit made alive via the Holy Spirit ever since Adam, thus, it is the beginning of the transition from physical to spiritual.
What does it mean to “worship him in spirit and in truth”?
John 4:23-24 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
This indicates that when Jesus was preaching and giving parables, there were a lot of spiritual doctrines connected with them. Thus, the time was coming that the people would worship God based on spiritual dealings and as verse 24 states, in spirit and in truth, because God Himself is a Spirit. Because Jesus is introducing a lot of spiritual dealings and concepts never heard of before, it shows the transition from the physical to the spiritual.
Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Jesus had fulfilled the law for us physically, hence why we do not have to fulfill the law of Moses anymore for our salvation. This is why the physical coming of Jesus was so important, so He could do the physical works of the physical law of Moses so that we wouldn’t have to (not that we could have followed them perfectly anyway).
John 1:16-17 “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”
We receive the fullness of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, which is spiritual.
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
When the law of Moses was in place, the Jews had to follow the physical commandments but Jesus changed this through His grace and truth. This is why a physical salvation of the Jews was changed into a more spiritual one when Jesus came.
Now, recall that Jews had lost their physical kingdom. When Jesus came, he reintroduced their kingdom.
What does it mean “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”?
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.“
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is coming to them, not that they going to heaven. This is a common misconception that can be cleared up by taking into account the phrase ‘at hand’ meaning that heaven is the one coming for them, not the other way around.
This verse also shows that it is not really referring to heaven that is coming to them but will be the establishment of their kingdom on earth. A good example to help explain this is when Catholics say that they are building the kingdom of heaven on earth. They are not talking about literal heaven but their own physical kingdom here on earth.
What does the “kingdom of heaven” refer to?
Another example would be a movie called the Kingdom of Heaven which doesn’t actually refer to heaven but of conquest and conquering the earth in order to build their kingdom. The idea that the kingdom of heaven is a physical kingdom established on earth is encompassed in the following verse.
Matthew 11:12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
This refers to a physical Kingdom on earth that the Jews have to fight for.
We have established that the Kingdom of Heaven is an earthly kingdom so let’s look at the differences between this kingdom and the Kingdom of God. But before that, let’s clear up a few things.
Who is “sermon on the mount” for?
Now, many people believe that the sermon on the mount also known as the beatitudes refers to the Church’s salvation but it is actually referring to God’s physical kingdom, which we know is for the Jews.
Matthew 5-7 is where Jesus gives His famous sermon on the mount as well as the rules or salvation plan needed to go to Heaven for the physical Kingdom of Heaven. We know these verses refer to the physical Kingdom because in chapter 4 Jesus is referring to the gospel of the Kingdom, thus it is for a physical kingdom of Jews on earth.
Now, although Jesus is talking about a physical kingdom for physical Jews, He is also introducing spiritual things, specifically the kingdom of God.
What is the “kingdom of God”?
Luke 17:21 “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Notice that the kingdom of God is not a physical kingdom but a spiritual one. Thus, the difference between the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God is that the physical kingdom is called the kingdom of Heaven while the spiritual kingdom is called the kingdom of God. This dispenses the two kingdoms; one for the Jews and another for us Gentiles.
So we see that spiritual things are beginning to form. Non-dispensationalists, however, will interrelate the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God and assume they are the same. As we have seen thus far, they are not the same in that one of them is physical and one is spiritual.
We also have to note that the kingdom of Heaven was rejected by the Jews so it was taken away while a new spiritual kingdom was being introduced. This is where replace theology claims that the Jews lost their kingdom permanently and were replaced with the Gentiles’ kingdom. This is not so because if you read the Bible, the kingdom of Heaven is momentarily put on hiatus until the tribulation.
Matthew 6:31 “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
All of these things are physical, thus God does not want their focus to be on physical things anymore.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Jesus also warned the Jews to start focusing on the spiritual things of the kingdom of God, not just physical anymore, as it would soon be taken away from them and given away to others, as we will see shortly.
Matthew 21:43 “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”
The kingdom of God is given to the Gentiles.
Are there different types of salvation?
Now, something important to note is that when Jesus was preaching things spiritual, He had not died yet.
As we know, Christian salvation is based on the sacrifice of a suffering Messiah that in turn gave us the Holy Spirit. Taking these things into account, it should be obvious that physical salvation and Old Testament physical things were still very much relevant while Christ was still alive.
Thus, faith and works were still ongoing. Not only that, as Jesus was starting to introduce spiritual things, He was also able to introduce different kinds of salvations including Millennium, Tribulation, and the Christian Church because He had the authority to do so as God.
Yes, there are different types of salvation in different time periods.
John 7:38-39 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
Jesus introduces the Christian gospel for their salvation. Fundamentalists and Covenant of Grace use this verse to say that because Jesus preaches faith alone without works, it must be the only salvation, thus making faith and works as a salvation plan for Old Testament false. What they fail to see is that faith without works is based on verse 39, or the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
“But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Because Jesus had not died during the time of the Old Testament, their salvation plan was based on faith and works.
What does Matthew 24:13 mean “but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”?
Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Many cults use this verse for people to get saved but what they don’t know is that this verse actually refers to salvation during the Tribulation. We know this because of the context provided in verse 3.
Matthew 24:3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?“
The sign of Jesus’ coming coupled with the ‘end of the world’ means that this is during the Tribulation.
Let’s look at another example of a badly applied verse. Matthew 5 refers to the kingdom of Heaven. To start our, ask yourselves when a physical kingdom on earth is possible; only during the Millennium. Thus, the following verse is a salvation plan for the Millennium when the physical kingdom is put in place.
What does Matthew 5:20 mean?
Matthew 5:20 “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Works, again, are the basis for salvation during the Millennium.
Now, recall that in the previous Dispensations study we learned that God gives exceptions even when He puts rules in place. The same can be seen in Luke 7 where Jesus Himself gives an exception to the faith and works salvation plan and forgives a woman because of her faith. This debunks the anti- dispensationalism doctrines, which argue that we are saved by both faith and works but as we have seen in previous verses, the Christian Church is saved through faith alone.
In the Old Testament, however, work was heavily required. The saints needed to follow the commandments of the law given by God in order to be considered saved. We also know that Lot, Samson, and David were the exceptions, as they failed to follow the law, but these exceptions only proved the existence and validity of the law.
Luke 7:47-50 “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
“Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.”
No animal sacrifices were needed for the forgiveness of her sins.
“And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
The woman is saved because of her faith.
The following verse shows us a prime example of a New Testament Christian getting saved; the story of the thief on the cross.
Luke 23:42-43 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. “
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
The thief is a criminal with wicked works that cannot offer an animal sacrifice. However, notice what Jesus says to him.
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.“
The thief was saved because of the grace that was given to him by Jesus.
What do hyper-dispensationalists teach about salvation?
Hyperdispensationalists will argue that salvation through grace was only introduced by Paul which we have seen is false. God’s grace has been carried through the Old Testament into the New Testament even before Jesus had died on the cross and before Paul starting preaching about faith only.
Why do the Jews reject Christ as their Messiah?
Now, let’s revisit the subject of a phrase holding multiple meanings such as is the case with the coming of Christ. We have discussed the possibility of this and other events such as the day of the Lord encompassing various meanings and events of their own. Knowing this, we see that there are two comings of Christ found in Isaiah 61:1-3.
During the Old Testament, the prophets prophesied a lot about the coming of Christ, day of the Lord, etc. The Jews, however, were not aware of all of the implications that were meant when these things were being preached because they didn’t believe in dispensationalism, thus discarding any spiritual meaning of said prophecies.
That being said, they could not understand that Jesus had only fulfilled part of the coming of Christ through His earthly ministry and could not see Him as the Messiah of which the prophets had long foretold them about. Because they were looking for Him to reign, they failed to see His physical life on earth where He was a suffering Messiah.
Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel, And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.”
We see here that Jesus fulfilled only half of his coming in verse 2. Verses 3-4 have yet to happen where He returns the remnant of Israel and reigns on the earth. This is why dispensationalism is important as Christians, because we can recognize that only a part of Jesus’ coming has been fulfilled. If we do not do the same with other events such as the day of the Lord, etc. then we are like the Jews, only acknowledging one part while ignoring the other.
When is Zachariah 9:9 fulfilled?
Zachariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
This part of Scripture was fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming. However, if you keep reading all the way to verse 13, you notice that none of these things have been fulfilled because Jesus has yet to set up His physical kingdom on earth.
Now that we realize that we have to use dispensationalism in regards to the coming of Christ and the day of the Lord, we know that when Jesus was physically among the Jews, His kingdom was for physical Jews in the Tribulation ready for the Tribulation rapture and the Messianic Kingdom.
When is Matthew 24 going to happen?
This differs from the coming of Christ and the day of the Lord that Paul was talking about in relation to the Church, which was for our own rapture among other spiritual events, not concerning the Tribulation.
Matthew 24:15-16,20-21,29-31 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
This is Jewish, not Christian.
“Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:”
Again, this is Jewish, not Christian.
“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:”
Jewish not Christian.
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
This is purely physical not spiritual, therefore, it is for the Jews.
Verses 29-31 are the post-Tribulation rapture. Thus, this passage is for the Tribulation Jews waiting for the Tribulation rapture and Messianic King to set up a physical kingdom on earth. We know this because of the following chapter. That being said, none of this is geared toward the spiritual Christians as some post-Tribulation believers may think.
Matthew 25:31-32 “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:”
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:”
This is referring to Jesus’ physical kingdom that the Jews are expecting and waiting for.
“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:”
Jesus reigns over the world.
Thus, the Jews are waiting for their physical king and Messiah to rule over their physical kingdom. It is what the day of the Lord during the Old Testament was referring to. Replacement theology believes the day of the Lord is spiritual when in reality it is both. Studying the Bible as a whole, not just portions will make it clear that it is composed of more than just purely physical or purely spiritual but a combination of both.