Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 3/19/2007

Question
Pastor Don,
  Amos 5:18 says "Woe unto you who desire the day of the Lord,....... the day of the Lord is darkness etc."
  What is The Day of the Lord, and why is it a bad thing and not good?
                                      thanks
                                     Bob

Answer
Hi Bob,

Thanks for this great question.  The Day of the Lord is a time of God's wrath upon the disobedient.  Amos had been preaching to those who were already facing God's judgment.  When they cried out desiring the Day of the Lord, they did not realize that for them it would mean great judgment.

Amos 5:18-20
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Revelation 6:15-17
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

We see here the day of the Lord is the day of the Lord's wrath.  They needed to repent first, before desiring the day of the Lord.

I hope that this helps.

In Christ
Pastor Don