The Day of Destruction

(Isaiah 2:12; 13:6; Amos 5:12; Zephaniah 1:2;7;15)

Jesus described the fear that would grip men’s hearts in the last days: “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”¹Luke 21:25-26

The “Day of the Lord” is the day of destruction. Isaiah said, “The Day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon the proud and lofty … it will come as destruction.”²Isaiah 2:12

When God has completed His salvation plan, He will destroy this world. He will punish those who refuse to repent. Just as the earth had a beginning, it will also have an end, on a day already known to God. On that day, He will punish the nations, the Gentiles, who reject His truth.

After the fifth angel poured out his bowl of wrath on the throne of the beast, the nations “did not repent of their deeds.”³Rev 16:11 Then, the “sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates”⁴Rev 16:12 to call the nations together at Armageddon.

Satan will be released from the abyss and given authority to perform great signs and wonders, to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Joel called the Day of the Lord “a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.”⁵Joel 2:2 The prophet Amos said, “The Day of the Lord will be darkness and not light.”⁶Amos 5;12 And Zephaniah wrote, “The great Day of the Lord is near⁷Zeph 1:7 …. It will utterly consume everything.”⁸Zeph 1:2 “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.”⁹Zeph 1:15

The sixth seal, sixth trumpet, and sixth bowl of wrath all describe the Great Day of God’s wrath: the battle of Armageddon, which ends man’s existence.