The Biblical Special "Days"

Theme: The Bible in Five Minutes

Obviously

This is one way of summing up the Bible. It’s not the only one, of course.

How It All Began

The very first sentence of the Bible is about God creating the earth.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

What a start! And then?

Who Was Supposed To Take Care Of The Earth?

God goes on to create green plants, the animals of the seas, animals on land, and the birds. Finally, he created human beings. All this happens in Genesis 1, the first chapter of the Bible.

The humans, as distinct from the animals, got a mission, and not just any mission. They were to take care of the earth, God’s creation.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” … And it was so.
Genesis 1:28,30

Unfortunately, problems arose. As soon as two chapters later, the humans want independence from God. Their relationship with God crumbled and went sour. Previously they would talk to God freely. In Genesis 3 they are expelled from the special garden that God had made for them.

However, in spite of everything, God did not revoke their—actually our—mission. We, as human beings, are still in charge of taking care of the earth.

Having man take care of the earth did not imply that God deserted his creation. He remains available.

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV

It does imply, however, that God intervenes globally in the history of the earth only on three special occasions. Those three occasions are what keep this Bible summary together. We will proceed in three analogous sections.

Creation

The first occasion when God globally shapes the history of the earth is, of course, creation. The history of the earth started out in chaos and darkness.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep
Genesis 1:2

God’s first action was to create light.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. … God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Genesis 1:3, 5

God himself calls the light day. Creation is described as a process progressing over six days. The above quote is the first of the creation days. It was the first day ever on Earth.

The six creation days were followed by quality inspection. The product got an OK even by rigorous divine standards.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31

If you read the text carefully, you will notice that the word night does not occur after verse 5. The creation days all end with the phrase And there was evening, and there was morning, but night is never mentioned. Creation was characterised by day.

Creation was an all-out joyful cosmic party with song from angelic choirs. In the book of Proverbs, the wisdom of God, personified, speaks about those days:

Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
Proverbs 8:30-31

Creation is characterised by,

• God being present on Earth in an unusual way,
• Light—called day by God himself,
• Angelic song

It was a marvellous time.

Incarnation

The next special day in the biblical history of the earth is what we call the incarnation. Jesus Christ was born.

There are many calendars in the world, but no one can ignore Anno Domini, the year of the Lord, the way we count years after the birth of Christ. It affected the entire world.

The life of Jesus is described in the New Testament. Angelic song accompanied his birth.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:13-14

Jesus only lived to be around 33 years old. His public ministry probably lasted only three and a half years. Jesus himself likened his time to a day when he spoke publicly.

Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.
John 8:56

Those who heard this were astonished because Abraham had been dead for more than 1500 years.

Jesus was quite conscious of his day being limited.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 9:4

It would be absurd to suggest that his working hours were constrained by a union agreement or anything like that. Jesus had powerful enemies in the religious ruling class. One of his followers (we would perhaps call them trainees) betrayed him to his enemies. Here is a scene from the last supper of Jesus with his trainees. John (who wrote the Gospel of John), we believe, is the one who asks Jesus who would be the one to betray him.

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. …
As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
John 13:26-27, 30

The text of the Bible can be very precise. The words And it was night mean that the day Jesus had spoken about had come to an end. From this moment on, it seems as if darkness gains the upper hand. Jesus is arrested, condemned to death in a mock trial, and executed.

Why is Jesus Christ so important according to the Bible? He is depicted as the opposite of Adam, the first man. Adam ruined the relationship between man and God. Jesus is the one who restores it. Volumes have been written on this topic, but as far as this summary is concerned, we have to leave it at that.

Incarnation highlights, according to the Bible,

• Jesus performed sensational miracles. To many people, this was God present on Earth.
• Jesus referred to himself as the light of the world.
• An angelic choir sang when he was born.

The Day of the Lord

The expression the day of the Lord is found in many places throughout the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes it is abbreviated to just that day. It refers to a future day, a day that terminates the history of the earth.

It is not uncommon to wonder how God the Almighty can tolerate so much evil. A possible answer is that he does not. The day of the Lord is the point in time when he restores order.

The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled)
Isaiah 2:12

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
Malachi 4:1

Despite being called the day of the Lord, it is filled with darkness.

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
Amos 5:20

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is the one that pictures the day of the Lord in the greatest detail. At the beginning of events people exclaim,

For the great day of [God’s] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?
Revelation 6:17

Events then develop over a number of chapters of Revelation. This means the day of the Lord is not a common 24-hour day, but an extended period that perhaps lasts for years. It is a period when God responds with wrath on all evil on the earth.

The period concludes when Jesus Christ returns to the earth for judgement. By the Son of Man, Jesus refers to himself as he describes these events.

For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.
Luke 17:24

Lastly, the history of the earth comes to an end. The heaven and earth created in the first chapter of the Bible disappear and are replaced by a new heaven and a new earth.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Revelation 21:1

Those who have been reconciled with God have nothing to fear from the day of the Lord. In the last chapter of the Bible, in many cases on its last page, Jesus says three times, Look, I am coming soon! Those who belong to him respond,

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22:20

This longing for Jesus is essentially the last words of the Bible.

Notable features of the day of the Lord,

• God intervenes to finalise the history of the earth,
• A time of darkness that ends with an enormous light when Jesus returns,
• There is a lot of singing in Revelation. The Hallelujah chorus from the Messiah oratory by Handel got its text by quoting from the book of Revelation.

Summary

We have travelled from the first page of the Bible to its last, and found three special days when God intervenes globally to transform the history of the earth. The Bible is about the history of the earth. It affirms that God controls the history of the planet. By virtue of walking on this earth, you are part of the storyline of the Bible.

Naturally, a five-minute summary like this omits a lot of things, even important things. It is worth mentioning that there is a fourth biblical day, a bonus day over and above the three we have covered.

For [God] says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2

The day of salvation. This is Paul, the apostle, who first quotes from Isaiah, the prophet. Then he adds that the day of salvation is now. He does not refer to some specific calendar day in around 55 A.D. when he writes this. This is an opportunity, a now moment that still is an open door. There is salvation now.