Skip to main content

The Day of YHWH

It is always interesting to me how different sections of the Bible seem to have common themes that tie the books together, even when they are written by various authors. Paul's letters all focus in one way or another on the importance of faith. The wisdom literature is timeless and focuses on passing down knowledge. Still if there is one group of books where a common theme is most prevalent, it's the prophets.

There is a concept that runs throughout the prophetic books of the Bible that is very important to understand before reading them. When these books were written it was assumed that the recipients already knew what this was. This is the concept of the day of YHWH.


The Day of YHWH

As we go through the prophets we will see this concept pop up again and again. This idea of the day of YHWH is actually very important to the Bible as a whole and even carries over into the New Testament. Before getting into the prophets it is important to understand what this is.

A quick reminder; YHWH is usually translated as LORD in all caps. This comes from the rabbinic tradition of not saying God's name ever to avoid taking it in vain. So when you see the day of the LORD (or day of the Lord in the NT) it is the same thing.

The day of YHWH has two meanings that aren't exclusive to each other. On the one hand it can be seen as a great day of joy and victory for God's people. On the other hand it is a terrifying day of judgment and wrath for those outside of God's covenant. The vast majority of ancient Israel and Judah saw it simply as the positive meaning.

The nations of Israel and Judah had grown lax in their covenant with God, to put it mildly. Sin ran rampant, corruption had taken root, and the Law of God was ignored without a second thought. In spite of all this, the people thought that YHWH God would protect them no matter what. They thought that they were the chosen people no matter what. 

The prophets arrived with a very different message. While most of the people thought the day of YHWH would bring only happiness and comfort, the prophets announced that for most it would be a day of terror and punishment. They warned the people that the day of YHWH was a day not to long for, but to be feared. It would be the day that God brought the nations to answer for their breach of the covenant and punish them accordingly.

What the prophets also mentioned, however, was that for the truly righteous the day of YHWH would be a day of joy and comfort. On that day those who truly followed God would be freed from the sin and corruption around them. For them it was something to pray for and was worth the wait.

The day of YHWH was simultaneously a good day and a bad day. It was the day when God would act decisively. In many instances in the prophets, the day of YHWH meant the arrival of Assyria and Babylon to punish Israel and Judah. These were days where God acted decisively against the evil in his own people. But there are other instances where the day of YHWH was still to come.

Two major instances of this stand out. The first major day of YHWH that was to come was the day when God himself would come down and live among man. This, we now know, was the arrival of Jesus. His death was both a very good day and a very bad day. Good because his sacrifice opened the way to the Father for all of us, but bad because God's wrath was poured out on an innocent man.

The second instance is the ultimate day of YHWH. This is the one that the New Testament points towards as well. This is the end of all things when God destroys evil once and for all. This is the return of Jesus, our conquering king.

Conclusion

The day of YHWH is a very important concept that pops up in pretty much every prophetic book. I hope that this post has helped clarify the different things the Bible means by it. Still this can be a difficult concept for us to swallow. 

In general we don't see the return of Jesus as something to look forward to. We often say we can't wait, but in truth we couldn't be more afraid. We simply aren't confident in our own salvation. We also don't like the idea of people facing judgment. I think studying the prophets will help us both understand the necessity of judgment as well as show us just how confident we can be in God's promises.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Need More Images

What is your favorite way to describe God? Is there a particular name of God in scripture that you are drawn to? What images and pictures come to mind when you think of God? These are questions I don't think we ask often enough. We all have an image of God in our heads that we work with. It may not be a literal picture, though it might be, but ideas and concepts we tend to associate with who God is. Some of those images and associations may come from the Bible, but some may not. These things are influenced by our upbringing, Bible reading habits, personalities, relationships, culture, and more. The way we picture God has a dramatic impact on the way we live our lives. For example, if the primary idea you have of God is "Healer," when you hear or read that you are made in God's image you will likely feel called to heal, be it physical ailments or spiritual wounds. But, if your primary image of God is "Judge," that changes things. You very likely might tend to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving, the day that we are supposed to celebrate all the things we are thankful for. It is a time of family reunions, football, and turkey eating. I sincerely pray that each and every one of you has a good day today. I'll admit that being thankful has not been easy for me this year. As pretty much all of you know, my mother passed away December of last year. Though she had been in the hospital for months, we were not expecting it. In fact I was sure she would be finally able to come home within a matter of weeks. Instead she peacefully passed on into the arms of Jesus, whom she loved more dearly than anyone else. As you can imagine, the entire family was heart broken. After what can easily be described as the worst Christmas ever, I returned to home to Illinois. It was here that I finally broke down. I spent the next months doing everything except being thankful. I cursed God, wept, screamed, begged to have her back, and was generally not the nicest person to be...
3 comments
Read more

The Early Middle Ages: Historical Friday

The next segment of history that we are going to overview is the Early Middle Ages. This dates roughly from AD 450 to AD 1100. This is intended to be a very general overview. There are probably historians that would classify some other time period as the "Early Middle Ages" or a more specific time period. For our purposes this will cover the aforementioned time period. This was a very influential period in the history of Christianity. It saw the formation of what we now call the Roman Catholic Church and its separation from what we would now call the Eastern Orthodox Church. Before this time there was only ONE church. There weren't different denominations or groups. It is hard for us to think about in our modern context, but there was a time when Christianity was visibly unified. Brief History The first major thing to happen during this time period is the remaining three ecumenical councils. We discussed the first four several weeks ago. These councils discussed va...
Post a Comment
Read more