The Day Of The Lord
Is there any verse that you feel would require that the day of the Lord begin before the 2nd coming?
I believe the day of the Lord will begin at the 2nd coming, and is the day we wait for (1 Corinthians 1:7-8), watch for (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6), and will rejoice in (2 Corinthians 1:14).
"Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:7-8).
"Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night... But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief... let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch" (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4, 6).
"We are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 1:14).
Paul said the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2) and the Lord said he will come as a thief (Matthew 24:43-44), and there's no 3rd coming of the Lord.
I believe the subject of 2 Peter 3:4-10 is the promise of the Lord's 2nd coming: "Where is the promise of his coming?... The Lord is not slack concerning his promise... the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:4, 9, 10).
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"Day Of Christ"
I believe "the day of Christ" and "the day of the Lord" are the same day, "the day of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:7-8), the day he comes to gather us together (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, compare Matthew 24:29-31).
Does Paul call the Father "the Lord?" Doesn't he say "Jesus is the Lord?" (1 Corinthians 12:3)
Is the LORD in the OT always the Father? Will the Father's feet stand on the Mount of Olives? (Zechariah 14:3-4)
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Not A Day Of Destruction For Believers
I believe the day of the Lord that Paul refers to will be a day of destruction against unbelievers only, not believers:
"To you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4).
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Joel 2
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come" (Joel 2:31).
Will the sun be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the tribulation?
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Joel 3
Note that Joel 3:14 refers to the nations being gathered in "the valley of decision" (compare Joel 3:2, 12) right before the day of the Lord (which it says is "near" at that point), and then Joel 3:15-17 shows Israel's deliverance at the 2nd coming, just as Zechariah 14:1-3 shows the nations being gathered right before the day of the Lord/2nd coming.
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Obadiah
Must the rewarding referred to in Obadiah 1:15 and Revelation 18:6 be in the day of the Lord itself, instead of a sign that the day of the Lord (the 2nd coming) is near?
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Zechariah 14
I don't believe Zechariah 14:1-3 requires that the day of the Lord begin before the 2nd coming. Verse 1 states "the day of the LORD cometh," a statement which we can make today without the day of the Lord having to actually come today; verse 2 shows what will happen to Jerusalem before the 2nd coming; and verse 3 shows it actually coming.
It doesn't say Zechariah 14:2 happens at the midst of the week, but shows it happening right before the 2nd coming in Zechariah 14:3.
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Zephaniah 2:2-3 -- Hid In The Day Of The Lord's Anger?
I believe that Zephaniah 2:2 refers to the same day of anger that Zephaniah 3:8 refers to, when the nations will have been gathered together for Jesus to pour out his anger upon them at his 2nd coming (Revelation 16:14-16; 19:15, 19), so that our being "hidden" at the 2nd coming (Zephaniah 2:3) refers to our being raptured up by Christ to be kept close behind him as he descends and slays the gathered nations (Revelation 19:14-21), for the Hebrew word translated as "hidden" in Zephaniah 2:3 can also be translated as "kept close."
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Amos 5:18 -- No Brightness In The Day Of The Lord?
Note that if we take Amos 5:20's reference to there being no brightness in the day of the Lord literally it would prove that the day of the Lord can't be the tribulation, for even during the vials the sun is still scorching men (Revelation 16:8-9), and it's not until "after the tribulation" at the 2nd coming that "the sun shall be darkened" (Matthew 24:29-30), but if we take Amos 5:20 in the symbolic light of Amos 5:18-19, which asks what shall the day of the Lord mean for the expectation of the wicked, we see that even the brightness of the Lord's coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8) will bring dark expectations for the wicked, for they will all "mourn" when they see Jesus come "in his glory" (Matthew 24:30), but at that time we believers will not be mourning, for "when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13).
Note that if we take Amos 5:20's reference to there being no brightness in the day of the Lord as meaning symbolically that there will be no believers (Matthew 5:14) on the earth during the tribulation until the 2nd coming, this would prove that the day of the Lord can't be the tribulation, for believers will still be on the earth during the tribulation (Revelation 13:7-10, 14:12), and will not be taken off the earth and into the air until the 2nd coming (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).
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Revelation 18
Does the use of the word "hour" in Revelation 18 require that the day of the Lord begin before the 2nd coming?
Does every reference to "hour" have to refer to 41.666 years? Did there have to be 20.833 years of silence in heaven because Revelation 8:1 says "when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour"?
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Woman In Travail
How can 1 Thessalonians 5:3 be referring to Jeremiah 30:6-7 when the first says "they shall not escape" and the 2nd says "he shall be saved out of it"?
Must 1 Thessalonians 5:3 be referring to Jeremiah 30:6-7 simply because they both refer to a woman in travail? Must it then also be referring to Jeremiah 49:24; Jeremiah 50:43; Jeremiah 31:8; Psalm 48:6; Isaiah 13:8; Isaiah 42:14; and Galatians 4:19?
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Amos 5:18 -- Woe To You Who Desire The Day Of The Lord?
I believe that Amos 5:18 is addressing the wicked only, "who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth" (Amos 5:7). It can be compared with: "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it" (Isaiah 5:18-19).
Note that 1 Corinthians 1:7-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6; and 2 Corinthians 1:14 are addressing us believers regarding the day of the Lord.
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1 Corinthians 5:5 -- Saved In The Day Of The Lord?
I believe that the salvation in the day of the Lord referred to by 1 Corinthians 5:5 is the same salvation that will be brought to us at the 2nd coming (1 Peter 1:5, 13).
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Day Of The Lord ONLY The 2nd Coming?
The New Testament refers to the day of the Lord as the 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 1:7-8), but also as the thousand-year day of the millennium, after which Christ will destroy heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:8-13, Revelation 20:7-21:1). In the Old Testament the day of the Lord can refer to ancient events as well, such as the defeat of Pharaoh Necho by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish (Jeremiah 46:10).
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Elements Will Melt?
Note that Peter refers to the "day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" as the day the heavens and earth will vanish (2 Peter 3:7-10), just as Revelation 20:11-21:1 says will happen after the millennium at the great white throne judgment of all unbelievers. So he is not referring to only the 2nd coming itself, which is the day of the Lord we are told to wait for (1 Corinthians 1:7-8), but to what will happen at the end of the "thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).
We know that Peter wasn�t referring to only the 2nd coming itself because only the current world system will end at the 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 7:31). The earth itself won�t be destroyed, but instead renewed into Edenic perfection during the millennium (Matthew 19:28; Isaiah 51:3, 30:23-25).
The end of the world will bring the restoration of the earth, for Christ will come to "destroy those who destroy the earth" (Revelation 11:18), and to bring us back into right relation with it (Micah 4:4, Isaiah 32:14-20).
This earth won't pass away until after the millennium and the battle of Gog and Magog, at the white throne judgment (Revelation 20:7-11), after which a new earth will be created (Revelation 21:1).