The book of Joel speaks of the day of Jehovah (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14).
The day of Jehovah in the book of Joel is the day of the Lord in the New Testament (2 Pet. 3:10).
In expressions such as “the day of Jehovah” and “the day of the Lord” the word “day” is used mainly in the sense of the Lord’s judgment for His governmental dealing (Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Zeph. 1:8-9).
Before the Lord comes, it is “man’s day,” in which man judges (1 Cor. 4:3-5). Man will continue to judge until the Lord comes. After the Lord comes, it will be “the day of the Lord,” in which the Lord judges. Man’s day of judgment is the present age. This is in contrast to the Lord’s day, which is the coming age, the kingdom age, in which the judgment will be the Lord’s judgment. Today in the day of man, everyone is a judge. Even children judge their parents, and students judge their teachers. But in the day of the Lord, the Lord will stop all human judging and will give the final word.
The final day of Jehovah (the Lord) will begin at the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17), end at the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15), and comprise various calamities, plagues, and woes for the Lord’s punishing judgments and governmental dealings upon the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, men, Satan, and the demons to clear up the earth and the entire universe, for the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1) to come for His eternal kingdom. The time from the sixth seal to the beginning of the thousand-year kingdom will be a little more than three and a half years. That will be the time mainly of the great tribulation. The judgment of the great white throne will take place after the thousand-year kingdom. Thus, the day of the Lord will last for about one thousand three and a half years.
Let us now briefly consider the calamities, plagues, and woes which the day of the Lord will comprise.
First, there will be the natural calamities of the sixth seal upon the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, and the earth.
Revelation 8:7-12 speaks of the severer calamities of the first four trumpets upon the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars. Actually, the calamities of the sixth seal and the first four trumpets are a cluster related to the judgment of the universe.
The first woe, the fifth trumpet, will be by the locusts from the abyss under Antichrist as their king, who will also come out from the abyss (Rev. 9:1-11).
The second woe, the sixth trumpet, will be by the four angels released from the Euphrates with the two hundred million horsemen (Rev. 9:12-19).