2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 ~ Precursors to the Day of the Lord

The Day of the Lord is an eschatological phrase often used in the Old Testament to refer to any time when God intervenes in history to punish the sinful and rescue the righteous. In the Old Testament, God’s judgment typically came in the form of invasion by a foreign army. All Old Testament fulfillments of the Day of the Lord typify the ultimate Day of the Lord: the Second Coming of Christ. All these events related to the Day of the Lord appear to happen at once: Jesus comes, the church is raptured and the rebellious are destroyed. If there is a seven year gap between the rapture and the Second Coming, or a one thousand year gap between the Second Coming and the Great White Throne Judgment, it is not stated here.