“The day of the LORD” is a biblical phrase found repeatedly in some translations that describes any period of divine judgment, such as the judgment of Egypt. It particularly refers to the time of tribulation in the last days when the Lord will punish the nations before He returns to earth to establish His kingdom. Whether this judgment is local, as with Egypt, or global, as in the last days, it is the Lord’s work, and nobody can stop it or control it.

The day of the LORD also refers to the Presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit.  God’s Spirit cannot be stopped or controlled in any way either.  We’ve seen it happen in a profound way this past month!  God’s Holy Spirit stepped in and took control on a college campus during a routine chapel service.  People bowed down in “radical humility” (their testimonies) when His Holy Presence came and remained among those gathered.  God sent others to the place of Presence to be saved and healed.  The crowds grew.  People are in awe, not of the students, but of God! 

Judgment or salvation?  When God steps in, who will be saved?

Ezekiel 30, The Message

Egypt on Fire

^1-5 God, the Master, spoke to me: “Son of man, preach. Give them the Message of God, the Master. Wail:

“‘Doomsday!’
    Time’s up!
    God’s big day of judgment is near.
Thick clouds are rolling in.
    It’s doomsday for the nations.
Death will rain down on Egypt.
    Terror will paralyze Ethiopia
When they see the Egyptians killed,
    their wealth hauled off,
    their foundations demolished,
And Ethiopia, Put, Lud, Arabia, Libya
    —all of Egypt’s old allies—
    killed right along with them.

^6-8 “‘God says:

“‘Egypt’s allies will fall
    and her proud strength will collapse—
From Migdol in the north to Syene in the south,
    a great slaughter in Egypt!
    Decree of God, the Master.
Egypt, most desolate of the desolate,
    her cities wasted beyond wasting,
Will realize that I am God
    when I burn her down
    and her helpers are knocked flat.

⁹ “‘When that happens, I’ll send out messengers by ship to sound the alarm among the easygoing Ethiopians. They’ll be terrorized. Egypt’s doomed! Judgment’s coming!

^10-12 “‘God, the Master, says:

“‘I’ll put a stop to Egypt’s arrogance.
    I’ll use Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to do it.
He and his army, the most brutal of nations,
    shall be used to destroy the country.
They’ll brandish their swords
    and fill Egypt with corpses.
I’ll dry up the Nile
    and sell off the land to a bunch of crooks.
I’ll hire outsiders to come in
    and waste the country, strip it clean.
    I, God, have said so.

^13-19 “‘And now this is what God, the Master, says:

“‘I’ll smash all the no-god idols;
    I’ll topple all those huge statues in Memphis.
The prince of Egypt will be gone for good,
    and in his place I’ll put fear—fear throughout Egypt!
I’ll demolish Pathros,
    burn Zoan to the ground, and punish Thebes,
Pour my wrath on Pelusium, Egypt’s fort,
    and knock Thebes off its proud pedestal.
I’ll set Egypt on fire:
    Pelusium will writhe in pain,
Thebes blown away,
    Memphis raped.
The young warriors of On and Pi-beseth
    will be killed and the cities exiled.
A dark day for Tahpanhes
    when I shatter Egypt,
When I break Egyptian power
    and put an end to her arrogant oppression!
She’ll disappear in a cloud of dust,
    her cities hauled off as exiles.
That’s how I’ll punish Egypt,
    and that’s how she’ll realize that I am God.’”

* * *

²⁰ In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, God’s Message came to me:

²¹ “Son of man, I’ve broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And look! It hasn’t been set. No splint has been put on it so the bones can knit and heal, so he can use a sword again.

^22-26 “Therefore, God, the Master, says, I am dead set against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will go ahead and break his other arm—both arms broken! There’s no way he’ll ever swing a sword again. I’ll scatter Egyptians all over the world. I’ll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong and put my sword in his hand, but I’ll break the arms of Pharaoh and he’ll groan like one who is mortally wounded. I’ll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of Pharaoh shall go limp. The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He’ll wield it against Egypt and I’ll scatter Egyptians all over the world. Then they’ll realize that I am God.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When God steps in, things happen beyond our imaginations!  We are reminded of Peter’s explanation to the curious crowds who gathered to see the responses of men and women when the promised Holy Spirit came, filled and rested on the believers—just as the Lord said.  We have read that in the last days before Jesus returns to earth to claim His own that this would happen.  God is doing it again and again—so the world will know that He is God.

Peter refers to the prophet Joel and told the crowds…

“This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:

“In the Last Days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit
    on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
    also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
    your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
    I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
    and they’ll prophesy.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
    and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
    the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
    the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
    to me, God, will be saved.” –Acts 2:14-21 MSG

A FEW TRUE FACTS

• God is God, the Only God.  We cannot save ourselves.  God sent His Son to save us.  When we call out to God in Jesus Name, we will be saved. 
• When God steps in, He is in control and no one can stop Him. 
• Whoever calls out for help will be saved.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
• Repent, be saved by Jesus, His Son who came not to judge but to save the lost from death.  There will come a day when judgement will come.  Jesus is coming back.

Egypt did not and would not call out to God to be saved.  For Egypt and the surrounding nations, it was too late. 

Don’t let it be too late for you.

Lord,

Come and abide in me. Transform me to be all you created me to be.  I believe.  I repent.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work in me.  I know You have and you will continue until you come back.  And again, I say rejoice.  The day of the LORD is here!

In Jesus Name, Amen