Ah, hmmm. "The Day of the Lord doesn't immediately precede the Day of the Lords return". I feel I must question the soundness of that sentence, especially in light of what the bible teaches.
Matthew 24:29–31
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 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.
The Olivet Discourse is the most recognized passage about the end times...that is, outside of apocalyptic literature (Revelation), that gives us a decent grasp on events. This passage tells us that after a period of tribulation we can expect cosmic events to immediately precede Christs appearance on the clouds. As he appears, he will send his angels out with a trumpet call to gather his elect to him. As the people of earth see all this, they will mourn.
We can find other passages in scripture to back up these events:
1 Corinthians 15:52
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
2 Thessalonians 2:1–9
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, [who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
We can see, especially in 2 Thess 2, that the 'Day of the Lord', corresponds with the 'coming of the Lord' AND the final judgement of the wicked. And also, in the below passages, the same thing....they speak of Christ's coming and the judgement upon the wicked...even the renewing of the earth!
1 Corinthians 15:23–28
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
2 Peter 3:4–10
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
As far as the judgements in Revelation goes...that's a huge topic that would take an entire post by itself...or even a thread. However...just to let you know where I stand on it...I believe the visions of Revelation are given in the form of recapitulation. In other words, there is a few main points, main visions, then they are shown again and again from different angles...from earth, from heaven, that sort of thing. We see the...ah...ferocity...of them increasing...leading to the crescendo of the book...the destruction of Satan and death and the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. One of the reasons we can know we have recapitulation within the book is because we see, at the end of each of the 'judgements', a theophany. The cataclysmic natural events and fearful responses from the 'peoples of the nations' in the face of God.
Revelation 6:12–17
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 11:15, 19
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”...Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Revelation 16:17–21
The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
We see the description of Christ's return in Chapter 19, but we can see in these previous chapters that the peoples of the earth see his face and the face of the One on the Throne...the anger of their wrath. That the world 'has become' the Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ, forever. And a great announcement from the Throne that it was "done"! And that all these things are accompanied by cosmic disturbances that Jesus tells us in Matthew will announce his return. And, of course, we know from the OT that these things, the lightning, the peals of thunder, were classic signs of a theophany.
So...all that to say....I believe the bible speaks of cosmic events, but they will precede Christs return only by moments. And that when the bible speaks of the Day of the Lord, yes, its speaking of judgement, but its also speaking of the day Christ returns and brings it. It is one and the same.