OT3—Study Paper 2007 Brendan Moar

The Day of the Lord in Post Exilic Prophecy

1. Where do the post-exilic prophets get the idea of 'The Day

of the Lord' from?

The 'Day of the Lord' comes from 8th Century prophets. They predicted a time when
YHWH would fight against his own people. He would overthrow enemies outside and
within Israel alike.

Amos 5:18-20 is the first occurrence of the motif in the Bible.

There seems to be a positive pre-existent concept behind the term; the people long for
the day as a day of light. In the Old Testament, light has positive connotations such as
prosperity [Esther 8:16; Isaiah 45:7] and salvation [Isaiah 58:8; Ps 43:3].

1.1. Two Views on the background to Amos' DOTL

Von Rad: YHWH the warrior/fighter is a central idea to the motif. Goes back to
YHWH fighting for Israel against Egypt (Ex 15:3) and the other nations in Judges
(5:4-5).

Mowinkel: Enthronement festival. Thinks Israel borrowed the Canaanite

'enthronement festival' where every year Baal (the warrior god) is paraded through the
streets and proclaimed to be King. Israel replaced Baal with YHWH, and called the
festival 'The Day of the Lord'.
The prophets took this idea and projected it into the future.

Two problems with The Mo

1) The enthronement idea is based ob Babylonian parallels and the evidence is
tenuous and unconvincing.
2) YHWH is pictured as a warrior in Ex 15, which is very widely accepted to
be of early authorship.

1.2. What can we say about the DOTL if the background is

uncertain?
Even though we can't pin down the origins, it's not that important in the end. The
prophets took and shaped an existing idea and made it their own. It's their
presentation that's important.

The big thing is: YHWH will fight Israel. The prophets took the existing idea of the
warrior YHWH fighting for Israel, and inverted it; he will fight against Israel.

E.g. Amos 5: 18 says the day is darkness not light.

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OT3—Study Paper 2007 Brendan Moar

2. Day of the Lord in Haggai

The day of the LORD is imminent (2:6; 2:21). It will be a glorious day for Israel. The
effect on the nations will be that it will utterly convince those who survive that
Yahweh alone is God, and in recognition of this they will come to Jerusalem to
worship him, bringing rich gifts with them (2:7).
Paul Williamson

2.1. Haggai 2:20-23

Haggai looks forward to a positive DOTL. The negative element of the 8th Century
is absent. It will be a day of deliverance when YHWH will establish his universal
rule.

KEY ELEMENTS:

Earthquake v21 Compare with Exodus and the earthquake associated with the
presence of God [Ex 19:18]. Only here, the whole cosmos shakes, not just the
mountain.

Overthrow v22 The term is a technical one: Judgment. It comes from the overthrow
of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:25.

Chariots, horsemen and riders v22 Alludes to the Exodus and the waters of the Red
Sea that closed over the following Egyptian army. Moses' song in Ex 15:1-4
proclaimed this deliverance as coming from YHWH, the mighty warrior. Israel's
enemies will be destroyed on the DOTL as they were in the waters of the Red Sea.

Panic and confusion v22 Panic and confusion is a common motif in the Holy War
traditions. It is a sign of YHWH going into battle before his chosen people.
See Josh 2:22 and Judg 7:22.
messiah to come.

3. Day of the Lord in Zechariah

Zechariah is more ambivalent about what the day of the LORD will bring. In chs 1–8
he says very little about it, but what he does say seems to be in line with the positive
view of Haggai (see 2:6-12; 8:20-23).1 But in chs 9–14 new elements appear which
are more in line with the teaching of the eighth century prophets.
Paul Williamson

Zechariah is not big on the DOTL, but it is there. He is mostly in line with Haggai's
presentation, but does develop it further in ch 9-14.

1
See also Zech 3:9-10.

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OT3—Study Paper 2007 Brendan Moar

3.1. Haggai 9-14: DOTL

Positive
9:16 YHWH will defend Zion and save his people
12:1-9 YHWH will overthrow Israel's enemies
14:3, 12-15 The nations are judged
14:16-19 Nations come and worship YHWH in Jerusalem

Negative
12:10-13:2 Bitter mourning for Israel
13:2-9 Israel experiences purifying judgment

Why the negative?

Ch 9-11 show that Israel will reject the true messiah when he comes.
Also, Zechariah was active over a longer period than Haggai. The idea that Israel
would reject her Shepherd King was already obvious to him.

4. Day of the Lord in Malachi

As a prophet who lived later than both Haggai and Zechariah, he gives us a reflection
on the community 60 yrs after the building of the Temple.

He reflects the terrible Day of Judgment predicted by the earlier prophets:

2
Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?
11
Joel 2:11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and
mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who
can endure it?

He does hold out positive hope for those who are repentant:
-ve
Malachi 4:1-3 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every
evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD
Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them.

+ve
2
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.
3
And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down
the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,"
says the LORD Almighty.

The hope of repentance is firmly grounded in the work of YHWH himself:

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Malachi 4:4-6 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him
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at Horeb for all Israel. "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful
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day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the
hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

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