Today I was pondering on this phrase in Joel, and realised it can refer to two different events, not just one day.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Joel 2:31, KJV

In Joel, we see the phrase “the day of the Lord” mentioned a few times.

Now, depending on the context, this day either refers to:

• Israel’s impending judgement (mainly the Babylonian) / God punishing the surrounding nations for oppressing Israel
• or an eschatological judgement of the world that happens when Jesus comes again.

For a recap on Israel’s judgment / Babylonian exile and God’s punishment on surrounding nations, please refer to Isa 41 article.

For a recap on eschatological events, please refer to the Pretribulation article.

Let us walk through Joel thoroughly, and take a look at different contexts in which “the day of the Lord” is used.

The first was in Joel 1:15, where in Joel 1:2-12 a locust was described, and Joel 1:13-20 hence calls for repentance of the priests.

Please refer to Joel 2:25 article, for a recap on the locust.

Here, day of the Lord refers to Israel’s impending judgement.

In the next chapter, the locust intensifies as the army is led by God himself against Israel during the day of the Lord (Joel 2:11). How terrifying!

Joel 2:12-17 then continues, calling this time for national repentance.

Here, day of the Lord also refers to Israel’s impending judgement. We get a clue this refers to the Babylonian exile in Joel 2:20, as “northern army” is mentioned (please refer to Isa 41 article).

Moving on, in Joel 2:18-27, we see Yahweh promises to restore all that the locusts have eaten up (please refer to Joel 2:25 article).

And also in Joel 2:28-32, God promises to pour out His Spirit on the whole of Israel (please refer to Joel 2:28 article).

Now in Joel 2:31, the verse we are looking at in this article, the day of the Lord is used again.

This time however, that day refers to an eschatological event where God comes to judge the world.

We get clues from the context: Joel 2:28-32, that all this refer to a more distant future.

Which will take place, when God restores the nation of Israel physically, give them a new heart, and put His Spirit in them (please refer to Joel 2:28 article).

Hence, the sun and moon darkened in this verse we’re looking at, could very much refers to the 7-year tribulation period, possibly extending to Jesus thousand year reign (please refer to the Pretribulation article).

And the sun and moon darkening is not because the overwhelming locusts, or the Babylonian army, as we see in Joel 2:10 a similar passage.

Finally, in the last chapter of Joel, we see God will bring about punishment on the surrounding nations (Joel 3:1-16).

Those nations who oppress Israel like Tyre, Zidon, Palestine (Joel 3:4), and Grecian (Joel 3:6), will be punished.

Please refer to Isa 41 article, for more details on God’s punishment of the nations.

And it is apparent that the day of the Lord in Joel 3:1 refers to something more immediate, not judgment day.

Moving on, in Joel 3:16-21, we see one last occurrence of the day of the Lord in Joel 3:18.

This refers to a more distant future after God has gathered His people, given them a new heart, and His Spirit.

Where the Israelites worship Him in the grand temple described in Ezek 40-48 (please refer to Hos 6:2 article).

We get the clue from this verse, which states that “a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord”.

Hence, this means a river will flow out from the house of the Lord: the temple.

This is described too, in Ezek 47.

But for us now, let us turn to follow Jesus starting from today, before the terrible day of the Lord comes.

The first day of the Lord has already come to pass, where Israel and the pagan nations were judged.

Let us be ready, for the second and final day of the Lord.