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Rev. 1: 10 takes us to a future day, when the Lord and not man shall be the judge,
"The day of the Lord" in the O.T. is either Yom Jehovah, or Yom l'Jehovah, "a day for
the Lord." Isa. 13: 6 gives some idea of the day of the Lord.
"Howl ye (referring to Babylon), for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a
destruction from the Almighty."
Verses 9-13 go further and closer to the imagery of the Revelation:--
"Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger. . . . for
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. . . . in the
wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger."
The prophecy of Joel is entirely taken up with that day. "Alas for the day, for the day
of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come" (1: 15).
Chapter 2: 1, 2, and 11 show how terrible will be that day; 3: 14 links that day with the
harvest, and the judgment of the nations. Obadiah 15, 16 speaks of it as a day of
retribution for the heathen in words that are very similar to Rev. 18: 6-8.
Zech. 14: 1-11 tells us that in the day of the Lord the nations will be gathered against
Jerusalem, that He will go forth and His feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives, that
He shall be King over all the earth, and Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
We have endeavoured to bring to the readers' attention in these papers the great
importance of studying the Prophets (all of them, including the "Minor Prophets"). If this
is not done, the Revelation must remain a book of unexplained imagery and intention, but
to a mind already charged with the purpose, language, and symbols of the Prophets who
spoke so much and so often of the day of the Lord, the Revelation will be the great
gathering up of all their threads, the capstone of their united building.
If in Rev. 1: John is taken, in spirit, to the future day of the Lord to see the visions
and to write them in a book, ALL the book that he writes, including chapters 1:, 2: and
3: must be future in their interpretation. There is no part of the prophecy or vision that
is not "in the day of the Lord." That day is the point of time from which all time must be
measured. When John says anything "it is present," or "it shall arise," he speaks from
the standpoint of his vision--the day of the Lord, and not A.D. 96. No vision has been
given to John as far as we have gone in our study. All is preparatory and introductory.
Immediately, however, the prophetic point of time is settled, the visions begin, for as
soon as he "became in spirit in the day of the Lord" he "heard a great voice, as of a
trumpet." This is a reference to Zeph. 1. 14-16 where "the voice of the day of the Lord"
is linked to "a day of the trumpet." The voice said to John:--
"What thou art seeing write in a book, and send it to the seven churches, unto
Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and
unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea."
These places are all found in that part of the earth adjoining the land of Canaan called
by us Asia Minor. The reason why this spot of earth and not another is chosen is for the
simple yet awful fact that it is directly connected with the place of Satan's Throne, for