Some mistakenly assume that, when the Apostle John wrote he “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10), he was worshipping on Sunday and experienced the vision on that day. But the Bible does not define “Lord’s Day” as the first day of the week. If John was referring to a day of the week, we would have to conclude that John meant the seventh day, since God calls the seventh day Sabbath “the holy day of the LORD” (Isaiah 58:13). Jesus Christ said He was the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28) not some other day of the week.
The Day of the Lord is mentioned directly or indirectly in more than 50 passages in the Old and New Testaments. These terms are not speaking of a specific 24-hour period, but of end-time events surrounding the return of Jesus Christ and His direct intervention in human affairs. It is a time of God’s judgment on those who defy His correction and refuse His commandments.
As The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains: “John’s revelation occurred on the Lord’s Day while he was in the Spirit. Some have indicated that ‘the Lord’s Day’ refers to the first day of the week. However, the word ‘Lord’s’ is an adjective and this expression is never used in the Bible to refer to the first day of the week. Probably John was referring to the day of the Lord, a familiar expression in both Testaments … He was projected forward… in a vision, not bodily, to that future day of the Lord when God will pour out His judgments on the earth” (John Walvoord and Roy Zuck, 1983, p. 930).
Notice the prophet Zephaniah’s description of this time: “The great day of the LORD is near… That day is a day of…trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation… a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men…because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse” (Zephaniah 1:14-17).
The book of Revelation records Christ’s second coming as follows: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11). The prophet Zechariah also graphically described Christ’s return: “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming … I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem … Then the LORD [Jesus, the prophesied Messiah] will go forth and fight against those nations…. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives… And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley” (Zechariah 14:1-4). At the end of this battle “the LORD shall be King over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:9).
After the returning Jesus Christ has conquered the rebellious nations He will institute universal peace, prosperity and cooperation over all the earth, which will never be destroyed or superseded by any other way of life or social order. His true worshippers are represented in Revelation as joyfully singing: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested” (Revelation 15:3-4).
In Revelation 3:12 John quotes Jesus promising His servants: “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God … I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem …”. Later in this book of prophecy an angel is sent with the message: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come …” (Revelation 14:7).
