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ART. III.

The Phrase, Day of the Lord, as used in the Old and New Testaments.

This phrase is somewhat marked with the peculiar magnificence of diction common to the Orientals, but unfamiliar to us. On this account, the expression naturally gives us, if not on our guard, too strong an impression, the idea of a much higher sense than it originally conveyed; and our readiness thus to exaggerate its meaning, is favored, likewise, by the towering hyperboles which frequently occur in the context Accordingly, the day of the Lord is supposed by most readers to denote, of course, the consummation of all things; and when they find it sometimes connected with such figures as the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars, and the removing of the earth out of its place, they are confirmed beyond the reach of doubt in such an application. But if we take the only proper method to ascertain its real force, -if we carefully examine the several passages in which it is used, we shall see at once that it actually denoted nothing more than some striking and extensive visitation of divine Providence, and that it was applied indiscriminately to famine, war, or the overthrow of kingdoms, or to any events whatsoever of a similar kind.

A familiar acquaintance with this scriptural usage is very desirable, not only out of respect to

the phrase itself, but also on account of its intimate relation to other important forms of expression; such as the day of the Lord's vengeance, the day of the Lord's wrath, the day of wrath, or, of vengeance, the day of judgment, &c. All these manifestly belong to the same class with that which we have selected; and a full understanding of one, will be of advantage to the correct interpretation of the rest.

We think, therefore, that we shall devote no more than a due proportion of our pages to the subject, if we take room to lay before our readers nearly all the passages in which this phrase occurs, and by means of their respective contexts, point out the particular event referred to in each instance. As we go along, it may be well to avail ourselves also of the repeated opportunities presented, of tracing the bold imagery which the prophets habitually introduced in their predictions, and which so frequently mislead the unwary. Proceeding now to the task proposed, we shall set down the passages in their chronological order, or that in which they were written, paying no regard to the arbitrary and confused arrangement of the several books as they stand in the canon; and although we shall not quote every recurrence of the phrase, yet we shall aim to make such a selection of examples as will be in all respects impartial.

I. 1. The oldest passage in which it is used, is the following in the book of Joel: Alas for the day for the day of the Lord is at hand; and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy

and gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down, for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee will I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee; for the rivers of water are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness: as the morning spread upon the mountains, a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth

before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wildernes: yea, and nothing shall escape them."1

This prophecy is supposed to have been written about 800 years before Christ. Three things are manifest from the passage itself: 1. That the day of the Lord, here announced, was then nigh at hand; 2. That it was to be a time of famine and drought; and 3. That this destruction was to be brought upon the land by a vast multitude of strange invaders. If we now exam

1 Joel i. 15-ii, 3.

ine the context at large, we shall find that these invaders were palmer-worms, canker-worms, caterpillars, and especially clouds of locusts,3 that terrible scourge of the East. Their appearance was to be as the appearance of horses; their noise on the tops of the mountains like that of chariots and a flame of fire; they should climb the wall like men of war, run to and fro in the city, and enter in at the windows like a thief.4

6

This day of the Lord, then, was, plainly speak. ing, a visitation of famine, drought, locusts and other destroying insects, which fell on Judea, either in the days of Joel, or soon afterwards. Yet the prophet proceeds to represent the scene by the following tremendous imagery: The earth shall quake before them; the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining; and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? '5 The army of the Lord, as it is here called, is afterwards explained thus: 'the locusts, the canker-worm, and the catterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.'

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2. Cotemporary with Joel, or rather somewhat later, was the prophet Amos.

Addressing the unto you that what end is it

people of Israel,' he says, 'Woe desire the day of the Lord! to for you? the day of the Lord is darkness and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a

4 ii. 4-9.

5 ii. 10, 11.

2 i. 4, ii. 25. 6 ii. 25.

8 ditto.

7 Amos v. 1, 4.

bear met him; or went into a house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? '8

We are not told whether this day of the Lord was nigh or remote. But what was the scene here alluded to, by that phrase? Evidently, the desolation of the country, and the captivity of the inhabitants; for such is the import of the language which immediately precedes the quotation, and of that which follows it: Wailing shall be in all the streets, and they shall say in all the highways, alas, alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.....Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.'1 This prophecy is thought to have been delivered nearly 790 years before Christ. About sixty years from that date, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, invaded Israel, and laid it under tribute; and soon afterwards he took Samaria, the capital, carried the principal inhabitants, the soldiers and the armorers to the banks of the Tigris, and brought colonists into the kingdom of Israel, from Babylon and other eastern countries. This was probably the day of the Lord which Amos predicted in the passage under consideration.

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2 Jahn's Hebrew Commonwealth. Sect. xl. p. 123, Andover Ed.

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