Each morning, I try to read a passage from the Old Testament followed immediately by one from the New and frequently find that the latter clarifies the former. I am still in Ezekiel, but have now moved on to Galatians.

A few days ago I came to the phrase "the Day of the Lord" and recognized that there are frequent references to it throughout the Bible: 16 in the prophets of the OT, 1 quoting Joel in Acts and another 6 in the NT.

"Weep and wail for that day, for the terrible day is almost here – the day of the Lord! It is a day of clouds and gloom, a day of despair for the nations" (Ez. 30:1-3). Earlier in Ezekiel I had read: "I will spend my fury on them (the people of Israel) … No hope remains … I will unleash my anger against you. I will call you to account … I will turn my eyes away and show no pity. I will repay you for all your detestable sins. Then you will know that I am the Lord … The end has come … Your final doom is waiting … the day of your destruction … your judgment … the day of trouble is near … Soon I will pour out my fury on you" (Ez. 6:12; 7:1-12).

It suddenly dawned on me that for the Christian the day of the Lord took place when Jesus died on the cross. Each believer can say with full assurance: "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).  Jesus said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). And Paul wrote "Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'" (Gal. 3:13).

When Jesus died on the cross, God's "fury" and "anger" was "spent" by being "unleashed" upon Him. The "day of despair" and "no hope" became the day of certain hope and assurance of forgiveness. Rather than you and I being "called to account" for our "detestable sins", Jesus was cursed in our place and paid our debt in full. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

I once attended a service in a traditional church in Downton where we sang the hymn "In Christ alone". The only problem was they had changed the words. Rather than "the wrath of God was satisfied" we were encouraged to sing "the love of God was satisfied". What? Needless to say, I raised my voice when we got to that part and I sang out "wrath" loudly and clearly! To deny this is to deny the Good News. See Isa. 53:4-6.