We have already discussed an overview of the Day of the Lord here: The Day of the Lord.  Now let’s take a look more in-depth, examining some of the many passages which pertain to it!

Scripture References

“The Day of the Lord” is elsewhere referred to as “The Great Day”, “The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”, “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble”, “The Day of God”, and “That Day of Which I Have Spoken”.  Sometimes it is referred to as simply, “That Day” or “The Day”.

Isaiah 24:21-22; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Isaiah 13:4-6,9-11; Jeremiah 46:10; Job 20:28-29; Ezekiel 30:3-4; Isaiah 27:1; Joel 3:12-14; Zephaniah 3:8; Romans 2:16; Revelation 6:15-17; Amos 5:18-20; Isaiah 2:12; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-2; Matthew 7:22-23; John 12:48; Romans 2:5; Jeremiah 30:7-8; Joel 2:23-28; Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 27:12-13; Micah 4:6-7; Matthew 24:30-31; Mark 13:26-27; Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 4:5-6; Isaiah 26:1; Joel 2:32; Joel 3:16-18; Zechariah 9:16-17; Isaiah 4:3-4; Zephaniah 3:11-13; Zechariah 14:20-21; Malachi 4:1-2; Micah 4:8; Micah 5:8-9; Daniel 12:1-2; John 6:40; John 11:24; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:8; Ezekiel 38:14-16; Zechariah 14:2; Revelation 20:8-9; Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:10; Jeremiah 30:9; Hosea 3:5; Amos 9:11; Zechariah 9:9; Zechariah 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; Matthew 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40; Mark 13:32; 2 Peter 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8; Ezekiel 13:5; Zephaniah 2:1-3; Malachi 4:5; 2 Peter 3:11-12; Matthew 24:33; Mark 13:29; Luke 21:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Acts 2:19-20; Joel 2:30-31; Joel 2:10; Luke 21:11; Joel 2:2-4; Amos 5:27; Matthew 24:21; Mark 13:19; Isaiah 11:12-14; Haggai 2:23; Zechariah 3:8… (I’m sure there are more as well!)

Beginning of the Day of the Lord

The Day of the Lord will start suddenly, unexpectedly, and catastrophically.  It is described as coming upon the earth “like a trap”, “as labor pains”, and “as a thief in the night”.  The Day of the Lord starts with an earthquake that becomes global in scope, like nothing the earth has ever experienced before. The beginning of the Day of the Lord has strong connections with the events of Seal 6, the beginning of birth pangs (Olivet Discourse), and the Gog Magog war, and is marked by:

• God rises in judgment and wrath (Mt 24, Rev6, Ez38-39)
• The birth pangs begin  (Mt24, Mk13, Lk21)
• Sudden, unexpected destruction (Mt 24, Rev6, Ez38-39)
• Great war (Mt 24, Rev6, Ez38-39)
• Global earthquake (Mt 24, Rev6, Ez38-39)
• Famine (Mt 24, Rev6)
• Pestilence (Mt 24, Rev6, Ez38-39)
• Wild beasts (Rev6, Ez38-39)
• Dark sun  (Rev6)
• Blood red moon (Rev6)
• Men HIDE in fear (Rev6)

Note the Blood Moon Sign, which is a special key unique to Joel 2, Acts 2, and Revelation 6 and is detailed more in this post:  Precursors to the Day of the Lord. 

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”  Joel 2:30-31 ESV

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood,  before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’  Acts 2:19-21 ESV

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,  and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.  The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.  Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,  calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”  Revelation 6:12-17 ESV

The Blood Moon Sign specifically comes BEFORE the Day of the Lord, but it seems that the inhabitants of the earth recognize that “the great day of wrath” has arrived when it appears.  The blood moon will occur in conjunction with worldwide earthquakes, wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.  This catastrophe on a global scale will certainly be identified as an “act of God”.

Any pause between the blood moon sign and the Day of the Lord officially beginning may be explained by Seal 7’s “about a 1/2 hour of silence”.  During this silence, perhaps satan’s great deception will be revealed or perhaps it is the “great angelic war” of Revelation 12.

Note that Joel introduced us to wonders in the heavens, blood, fire, vapor of smoke (volcanic eruptions), and a great earthquake which moves every mountain and island.  Note other passages which connect these same signs:

“But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger.  For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.  The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.  With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.  So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 38:18-23 ESV)

After this event, Israel burns the weapons of war for 7 years – placing the start of the Day of the Lord approximately 7 years before the end of the Day of the Lord (as fuel sources will not be needed in the Millennial Kingdom; regardless, it is unlikely they would survive the destruction of Jerusalem at the Second Coming anyways).  Isaiah tells us that in the Kingdom Age, weapons will be beaten into ploughshares and pruning hooks (agricultural implements), not burned.  

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and 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 anymore.  Isaiah 2:4 ESV

Ezekiel 38 additionally mentions ALL the people on earth being affected, just as Seal 6 did.  We find ALL the people on earth hiding as the Day of the Lord begins in Isaiah as well:

Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty. The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.  For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord,  and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.  (Isaiah 2:10-12, 19-21 ESV)

Everyone on earth responds in fear at the Beginning of the Day of the Lord. Additionally, the Beginning is marked by “birth pangs” as in “labor”:

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.  Because of this, all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.  See, the day of the Lord is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.   (Isaiah 13:6-9 ESV)

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,  for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 ESV)

These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:  “Thus says the Lord: We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and no peace.  Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor?  Why has every face turned pale?  (Jeremiah 30:4-6 ESV)

The “beginning of birth pains” are defined by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse:

⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24)  8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Mark 13) ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21) 

“All these” groups the birth pains together as they act collectively.  The birth pains are represented by the Seals in Revelation 6 – the time has come for Jesus to unseal the title deed to Earth.  The “scroll” details how the reclamation will occur; the seals detail what is unrestrained/released at the initial opening of the scroll.  The effects of the opened seals will continue on throughout the entire Day of the Lord.

Seals:

1. White horse with a rider, conquering (antichrist, now unrestrained from rising to power)
2. Red horse with a rider, war and murder (unrestrained violence, possibly marked by the Gog/Magog war)
3. Black horse with a rider, scales in hand (unrestrained economic oppression/control; famine)
4. Pale horse ridden by Death, followed by Hades.  1/4 of humanity killed by sword, famine, pestilence, wild beasts (a result from the effects of the other seals)
5. Martyrdom (unrestrained global anti-Christ religion will result in martyred believers in Christ)
6. The third heaven is opened to receive the church (as the church is born, Rev12), resulting in a global earthquake, which in turn causes volcanic eruptions.  The ash and smoke in the atmosphere cause the sun to appear black and the moon to appear red.  Those on earth can see into heaven and hide from God and the Lamb.  Satan and the fallen angels are cast down from heaven onto the earth (stars falling – Rev12); alternately the “stars falling” could be meteors/asteroids.
7. Silence in heaven for “about half an hour”.  After this, peals of thunder, rumblings, lightning, an earthquake.

The only other place a “great sign in heaven” is mentioned, other than Luke 21, is in Revelation 12:1-2.  This is an interesting connection, because this sign occurred in September 2017 (see HERE).

This day, the Day of the Lord, will come like a trap upon those on the earth, but note that there is an escape route prior to the start – the rapture of the church:

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.  For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”  (Luke 21:24-26 ESV)  

Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.  Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.   (Isaiah 26:17-21 ESV)

The passage in Isaiah 26 is particularly interesting in that it connects the dead rising (resurrection), God’s people entering their chambers to hide (rapture), and God coming out of His silence to punish the earth (beginning of wrath).

It appears that God rises up in wrath to supernaturally protect Israel from imminent destruction, and whisks the church out of the way at the same time.  God is fully in charge of the timing of this event – he “hooks the jaws” of Gog to lead him as a horse into position.  Likewise, Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith”, and thus controls when the “fullness of the Gentiles” (Rom 11:25) is complete.  God has a Day of which He has spoken, and this Day will begin exactly at the time He has preordained.

During the Day of the Lord

 

Then the Lord will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle.  His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south.  You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you.”  Zechariah 14:3-5 ESV

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.  Joel 2:32 ESV

After this last-chance escape, everything will go dark:

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ (Matthew 24) ²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (Mark 13) ²⁵ “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Luke 21)

 

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30). 

What is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven?  We are told in Revelation 19:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.  And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.  From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,  to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”  And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.  And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.  And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.  (Revelation 19:11-21 ESV)

Power and great glory indeed!  In the evening, Jesus appears on a white horse with the armies of heaven and defeats His foes with one Word at the Battle of Armageddon (which turns out to be an extremely one-sided “battle”).

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,  I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land”  (Joel 3:1-2 ESV)

Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords,  and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,  and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord. Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened,  and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. (Joel 3:9-16 ESV)

For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise;  the mountains shall flow with their blood.  All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.  Isaiah 34:2-4 ESV (entire chapter 34 is the end of the DoTL)

Just like the beginning of the Day of the Lord, a cataclysmic earthquake will mark the End of the Day of the Lord.  Where the earthquake at the beginning “merely” moved every mountain and island out of place, this earthquake will completely flatten every mountain and every island will disappear.  Not only will the earth be shaken, but the “powers of the heavens” (satan and the horde of fallen angels/demons) will be shaken as well. The end of the Day of the Lord is marked by utter destruction:

Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.  The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word.  The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.  The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders. (Isaiah 24:1,3,5-6, 17-23 ESV)

“I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away man and beast;  I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked.  I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.”  (Zephaniah 1:2-3 ESV)

In Hebrews 12, the author reminds his listeners of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, where God’s voice shook the earth in an earthquake.  He goes on to say “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,  for our God is a consuming fire.”  (Hebrews 12:26-29).  He states that only once more God’s voice will shake the earth – but this time His voice will shake the heavens, too.  In shaking the heavens, He will remove the things that have been made (the fallen angels – Ephesians 6:12).  This will complete the preparations necessary for setting up His kingdom that cannot be shaken, which will begin in the Millennial Kingdom and never end.

Delivery at the End of the Day of the Lord

The birth pangs reached their climax during the Day of the Lord and are now over – the End of the Day of the Lord is marked by “delivery”. At this point, all Israel (the elect) will be saved.  Jerusalem will be restored and raised up above the nations.  God will forever dwell among His people:

Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.  Micah 5:3 ESV

And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)

In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”  Zechariah 13:8-9 ESV

And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.  Zechariah 14:9-11 ESV

 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations.  Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.  And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”  Ezekiel 39:25-29 ESV

And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Romans 11:26-27 ESV

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Further Reading:

Are you CERTAIN of your Salvation, beyond a shadow of a doubt?  Do you KNOW that no matter when the rapture occurs, you will be counted worthy to escape?  If not, please read What Must I do to Be Saved.

The Day of the Lord

A Summary of the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls – Are They Coincident, or Sequential?

7 Trumpets, with 3 Woes

The Woman Flees To A Place Prepared

Who is Mystery Babylon, and What Does She Do?

The Mark of the Beast – The Irreversible 666

God’s 3 Announcing Angels

7 Bowls/Vials of Wrath

The Mount of Olives – Final Escape Route

The Battle of Armageddon

Second Coming of Christ

Sheep and Goats Judgment

The Millennial Kingdom

Daniel’s 70 Weeks

The Day of Christ- BEMA Seat

Part 1 – Tribulation, Great Tribulation, and Wrath

Part 2 – What is the Tribulation?

Part 3 – Spared From Wrath – the 7 Year Key

Studying the Prophetic Keys in 2 Thessalonians 2:

1. Part 1 – That Day Will Not Come Until…
2. Part 2 – The Restrainer and the Restrained in 2 Thessalonians 2
3. Part 3 – The Apostasia [Departure/Falling Away] and the Revealing of the Lawless One

Part 4 – The Wicked Deception – “Aliens”?

Douglas Berner – “When God Intervenes”.

Peter Goodgame – The Day of the Lord: When, How and Why?

Jesus Christ Initiates the Wrath of God – BeginningandEnd

God’s Mosaic – A Whole Scripture Overview of Things To Come

Main Menu – God’s Mosaic Prophecy Model

The Bible is infallible.  I am not.  I am merely challenging traditional models and testing them against Scripture.  I believe that traditional pretribulation teachings provide a solid backbone upon which to lay the musculature of details, some of which I think might need to be adjusted slightly.  I encourage you to consider my thoughts as you also examine the scriptures to see if these things are so!