A WOE COMING UPON SOME WHO DESIRE THE DAY OF THE LORD by D. T. Bourdeau

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, June 10, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 24

A WOE COMING UPON SOME WHO DESIRE THE DAY OF THE LORD.

By D. T. Bourdeau

BY ELD. D. T. BOURDEAU.

TEXT: “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. 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. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?” Amos 5:18–20.

WHEN the Lord pronounces a woe, he means a woe, and not prosperity and happiness; and the woes that the Lord sends are terrible, and it is of the highest importance that we escape them. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31) for having slighted his love and proffered mercy, and despised his promises and warnings.

IN OUR text the Lord pronounces a woe against those who desire the day of the Lord. And yet we find in other passages of Scripture that the Lord encourages his people to desire that great day, and to hasten its coming by their desires. (2 Pet. 3:12, French translation.) Can it be that there is a contradiction on this point? By no means. The word of God is not yea and nay, but yea and amen to the glory of Him who cannot lie and deceive his creatures.

It cannot be that in this passage those are intended who desire the day of the Lord, viewing it in the light of Holy Writ, and preparing to meet it. Those are here addressed who desire that day, and yet entertain erroneous views as to its nature,—views which lead them to neglect the necessary preparation to meet it. This is clearly seen from the language of our text. The Lord, having pronounced a woe against some who desire the day in question, immediately asks, “To what end is it for you?” implying that those whom he is addressing are entertaining the hope of receiving advantages which they shall not receive. The Lord continues: “The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.” And to show the importance of this truth, he repeats it: “Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?”

Here, as in other portions of Scripture, darkness represents mourning, distress, and the judgments of God, while light is an emblem of joy and happiness. Speaking of the day of the Lord, Joel says: “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” “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 of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.” Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2.

Describing the same day, Zephaniah says: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the tempest and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zeph. 1:14–18; 2:1–3.

These scriptures show that distress, anguish, and destruction shall be the portion of sinners when that great day shall come; that in view of this fact all the inhabitants of the land are exhorted to tremble; that even the meek, the very best of the earth, are commanded to seek the Lord,—to seek righteousness and meekness. It is not an ordinary work to prepare for that day when it is near. Not only must it be proclaimed as near, but it must also be heralded just as it is described in the Scriptures of truth, as being a day of darkness, distress, and terrible judgments; a day which shall bring destruction to the masses of those then living upon earth, because they shall not have previously striven to forsake their sins and enter in at the strait gate.

But the Lord foresaw and teaches in our text that the day under consideration would be viewed in an entirely different light, as a day of light and glory, of great blessings and spiritual advantages, not only to the just, but also to sinners, who, according to this theory, can be more easily converted in that period than they can at the present time. And is not this precisely what a large number of professed Christians teach in our day? But if God has told the truth (and who will dare deny it), to cherish such a doctrine is “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.” It is preparing the way for a terrible disappointment. It is desiring to be delivered from the lions of the miseries of this life, only to meet that which is a thousand times more painful and more to be dreaded,—the terrible judgments of God, the last plagues of his just and fierce wrath. For how can we be stimulated to prepare for the day of God, if we believe that in that day it will be much easier to seek and serve the Lord than it now is?

Let us hear further from the word of the Lord on the nature of that great day: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13:9. “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver [the idols of his silver, Heb.], and his idols of gold [the idols of his gold, do.], which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Chap. 2:20, 21. See also Eze. 7:19. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” “The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage.” Chap. 24:1, 3, 19, 20. “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.” Jer. 4:23–25. “The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord.” Chap. 25:33–37.

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23. “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Chap. 24:37–39. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:2–4. “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 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; 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; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:14–17. “And the remnant [of the wicked] were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse [Christ at his coming], which sword proceeded out of his mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Chap. 19:21.

This does not look like a converted world meeting Christ at his coming; nor like a glorious reign on the earth commencing with the second advent. Neither will there be a possibility for the conversion of sinners in the day of God; for even the remnant of them shall be destroyed at the opening of that dread day. All the wicked who will then be alive shall be destroyed, and the saints shall be caught up to the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, to reign there with Christ one thousand years. This will be a reign of judgment over the wicked before their resurrection. John 14:1–6; 13:33–36; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 14:1–3; 15:2; 19:1; 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:1–3; Matt. 19:28.

It will be at the end of the thousand years that the conflagration and restoration of the earth shall take place, and that the saints shall return to it. Then, and not till then, shall the glory of the Lord fill the earth. Rev. 20:7–9; 2 Pet. 3:11–13; Rev. 21:1–6; Num. 14:21; Isa. 11:11; 9; Hab. 2:14.

During the thousand years the earth will be in no condition to be inhabited by saint or sinner. At the commencement of the day of God the earth shall be “utterly broken down” and “removed out of its place;” it shall be “without form and void,” the cities, walls and monuments of the nations having fallen, and islands and mountains having been moved out of their places. Surely the earth will then present the aspect of a great deep or abyss (Rev. 20:1, 3; Gen. 1:1, 2), and will be a fit place for Satan, the cause of this disaster, who during the thousand years can reflect on the death that awaits him at their close, in the lake of fire. The chain with which Satan will be bound during the thousand years is a symbol of his inactivity. In this respect he will be like a criminal bound with chains. He will have no one to tempt. His hands will be tied. At the end of the thousand years this chain will be broken by the resurrection of the ungodly, who will again give him occupation.

At the opening of the day of God, the waters are turned into blood (Rev. 16). The great earthquake changes the course of streams and rivers, and other bodies of water, producing great disorder everywhere. Pools and large bodies of blood will be seen on every hand. From these will arise poisonous odors, corrupting the atmosphere. And is this to be the home of the saints during the thousand years? Blood to drink, and a polluted atmosphere to breathe! Never! Surely those who escape the plagues just before Christ’s coming will not drink the vials of God’s wrath at and beyond the second advent!

Again, what shameful inconsistency those are guilty of, who, while admitting that the final conflagration of our earth shall take place at the end of the thousand years, pretend that during that time it will be inhabited by saints and sinners while the latter are being converted. According to their theory, the saints will possess and improve at least a part of the earth during the thousand years, and at the close of the thousand years their possessions and the fruit of their labors during that period will be destroyed! This doctrine is unreasonable, and is unworthy of Him who is too wise to devise a plan involving such inconsistencies. The heritage of the saints shall never be marred; they shall possess it eternally; and the wicked shall never profane it.

Let us not be deceived as to the nature of the day of the Lord, lest we be found saying, “Peace and safety,” when sudden destruction is about to come, and the day of the Lord come upon us as a thief (1 Thess. 5); and lest the woe Jehovah has pronounced in the words of the text fall with crushing weight upon our heads. Let us desire the day of the Lord, just as he has described it in his word, and make suitable preparation to meet it, bearing in mind that not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of the Father who is in Heaven. Matt. 7:21. Let us not be satisfied with a form of godliness, while we are destitute of its power. Having a correct theory of the truth will not save us; and mechanically, tastelessly performing certain external duties will not shelter us from the woe that is coming. Our hearts must be right with God; we must act from right motives; we must connect with God and Heaven, and taste the sweets of communion with God, have a sense of his love, and the powers of the world to come. We must have religion in the closet, in our families, in the church,

and in our relations with the world, else we shall be terribly deceived in the day of God, in having to exchange temporal pains and woes for the venomous, deadly sting of that serpent sin, whose wages is death,—death without a ray of hope,—death without reprieve forever.

Whatever may be our advancement in piety, let us seek the Lord; let us seek righteousness and meekness, and perfect holiness, by keeping more and more perfectly the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, that we may be hid in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger.