Day of Jehovah

The Day of Jehovah, or Day of YHVH, refers to God's judgement day in the End times as prophesied by the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and Jesus the Christ, as well as some of the Apostles.

Judgement day
The day of Jehovah is a period when God acts against his enemies to execute judgment, a day of battle. That fear-inspiring day will likely be a day of celestial phenomena. “Sun and moon themselves will certainly become dark, and the very stars will actually withdraw their brightness.” (Joel 2:2, 11, 30, 31; 3:15; Amos 5:18; 8:9)

As regards the Earth, Micah stated: “The mountains must melt under [YHVH], and the low plains themselves will split apart, like wax because of the fire, like waters being poured down a steep place.” (Micah 1:4) Habakkuk vividly portrayed how God will smash “the eternal mountains” and bring low “the indefinitely lasting hills,” fitting representations of human organizations, which might seem enduring. (Habakkuk 3:6-12) The day of Jehovah “is a day of fury, a day of distress and of anguish, a day of storm and of desolation, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick gloom.”—Zephaniah 1:14-17.

Regarding humans, though, the same prophets pointed to abundant blessings for those who “search for what is good” and thus keep living (Amos 5:14; Joel 3:17, 18; Micah 4:3, 4). Those against God, will receive a scourge upon them, “There will be a rotting away of one’s flesh, while one is standing upon one’s feet; and one’s very eyes will rot away in their sockets, and one’s very tongue will rot away in one’s mouth.” (Zechariah 14:12) Jehovah’s day means destruction for his enemies and deliverance for those who fear and serve him. Micah foretold that nations would stream to the mountain of Jehovah’s house, resulting in worldwide peace and unity (Micah 4:1-4).

The prophets
“THE great day of YHVH is near. It is near, and there is a hurrying of it very much.” (Zephaniah 1:14) God’s prophets time and again warned of the approaching day of Jehovah. Usually, they pointed out how its coming should affect people’s daily life, their morals, and their conduct. Urgency was always attached to their proclamations by the 12 so-called Minor Prophets.

In reading the Twelve prophets, they all directly or indirectly, spoke of the day of Jehovah. Also Isaiah, a contemporary of the first group of these 12 prophets, and Ezekiel, a contemporary of the second group, warned about the day of Jehovah (Isaiah 13:6, 9; Ezekiel 7:19; 13:5).

Six of the prophets directly used that expression or similar terms. Joel graphically described “the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.” (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2, 30-32) Amos told the Israelites to get ready to meet their God, for the day of Jehovah would be one of darkness. (Amos 4:12; 5:18) Later, Zephaniah spoke the words as quoted, “THE great day of YHVH is near". Around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, Obadiah warned: “The day of Jehovah against all the nations is near.”-Obadiah 15. Zechariah told of the day when all nations coming against Jerusalem would be annihilated. He described vividly what would take place on “one day that is known as belonging to Jehovah.” (Zechariah 12:9; 14:7, 12-15) Also, Malachi alerted God’s people to the coming of “the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.”—Malachi 4:1-5.

Great tribulation
Jesus acknowledged the Twelve Prophets of the Hebrew Bible by his description of the End times: “There will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” He then said that “immediately after” the beginning of that great tribulation, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Matthew 24:21, 29) The Scriptures indicate that the great tribulation will destroy “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion. All apostate religion will be destroyed in the initial phase of the great tribulation. In the following “great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah,” her political and commercial lovers will meet their end (Compare Joel 2:31). Then, at the climax of the great tribulation, Jehovah’s day will wipe God’s enemies off the face of the earth (Revelation 17:5, 12-18; 19:11-21).

Pentecost
In Pentecost 33 CE, long after many of those prophecies saw their first fulfillments. On that day, the apostle Peter applied Joel’s prophecy to the pouring out of God’s holy spirit. Then Peter quoted from the book of Joel: “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and illustrious day of YHVH arrives.” (Acts 2:20) This shows further fulfillments of the prophecies concerning the day of Jehovah. Peter admonished Christians to keep “close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah.” The apostle went on to say: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Peter 3:12, 13) Peter's admonition extends to modern day Christians who are living in “critical times”—2 Timothy 3:1.

Source

 * Live with Jehovah's Day in Mind, A Vital Theme, p. 32, 33