1This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
and all nations shall flow to it.
3Many peoples shall go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the law shall go out of Zion,
and Yahweh’s word from Jerusalem.
4He will judge between the nations,
and will decide concerning many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
5House of Jacob, come, and let’s walk in the light of Yahweh.
6For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob,
because they are filled from the east,
with those who practice divination like the Philistines,
and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.
7Their land is full of silver and gold,
neither is there any end of their treasures.
Their land also is full of horses,
neither is there any end of their chariots.
8Their land also is full of idols.
They worship the work of their own hands,
that which their own fingers have made.
9Man is brought low,
and mankind is humbled;
therefore don’t forgive them.
10Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust,
from before the terror of Yahweh,
and from the glory of his majesty.
11The lofty looks of man will be brought low,
the arrogance of men will be bowed down,
and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
12For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and arrogant,
and for all that is lifted up,
and it shall be brought low—
13for all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up,
for all the oaks of Bashan,
14for all the high mountains,
for all the hills that are lifted up,
15for every lofty tower,
for every fortified wall,
16for all the ships of Tarshish,
and for all pleasant imagery.
17The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
and the arrogance of men shall be brought low;
and Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.
18The idols shall utterly pass away.
19Men shall go into the caves of the rocks,
and into the holes of the earth,
from before the terror of Yahweh,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
20In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver
and their idols of gold,
which have been made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
21to go into the caverns of the rocks,
and into the clefts of the ragged rocks,
from before the terror of Yahweh,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
22Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils;
for of what account is he?
To the minds of the Hebrew, the day of the Lord was the future day when God would intervene in human history to vindicate Himself and the people of Israel. This concept seems to have appeared during the Conquest when God judged the Canaanites on behalf of His people Israel.
When Amos incorporated the concept of the day of the Lord in his preaching, however, his view was shocking to his people because Amos' understanding of this day was in total contrast to the popular notion of the 8th century B.C. Amos proclaimed that Israel would lament rather than rejoice on that day (Amos 5:16-17) for God was to judge Israel (5:18-20) and the world. On that day, God was going to reject Israel's meaningless religious rituals (5:21-27) and it was to be a day of darkness and woe (6:1-6). The moral corruption of Israel would ultimately usher in Israel's destruction on the day.
Expressing the concept in variant forms such as "by that day" and "on that day," the prophets frequently used this concept in their proclamation of judgment and hope. Zephaniah used it seven times, Isaiah six times, and Joel five times. These are the characteristics of the day of the Lord: 1) It will be a day of judgment (Joel 3:19-21; Amos 5:18) on the enemies of God including Israel and a day of vindication for the faithful; 2) The day of the Lord will be experienced everywhere (Isa 2:12; Zeph 1, 2; Amos 5:18-20); 3) The day of the Lord is near--not far out in the future (Isa 13:6); 4) There will be transformation in nature (Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13), in human relationships (Mic 4:3), and in the relationship between human beings and animals (Isa 11:6-8) which will result in the emergence of a better world; 5) On that day, Jerusalem will be exalted (Zech 14:16); 6) It will be accompanied by cosmic phenomena (Joel 2:28-32; Isa 13:10; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8); 7) There will be a Davidic ruler (Isa 11:10); 8) There will be a re-gathering of God’s people (Isa 11:11). The New Testament equivalent for this is the second coming of Jesus Christ (2 Thess 2:1) and the day of the Lord Paul mentions in 2:2.