Psalm 2:1 ¶ Why do the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and
cast away their cords from us. 4 He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his
wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
David is clearly here talking in direct context about the ancient
world in which he lived. The kings of the earth were the enemies of God
supporting pagan, highly sexualized religions and standing against the God who
created them. Notice how Samuel speaks of rebellion.
1Samuel 15:23 For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee
from being king.
Notice the literal statement of David that this is a condemnation
of heathen kings. In this context David would be talking about himself as God’s
king on earth, God’s anointed. In Christendom of the Middle Ages in Europe
before the rise of the modern nation-state where the land and the people of the
land were considered to be property of the king, the king was considered often
to be divinely appointed. He was the special representative of God on earth,
God’s anointed. Here, David is referring to himself as such.
2Samuel 23:1 Now these be
the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was
raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of
Israel, said,
David is God’s king on God’s holy hill of Zion which is Jerusalem.
Psalm 51:18 Do good in thy
good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 10:32 As yet shall
he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the
daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 31:4 For thus hath
the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his
prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be
afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the
LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
David’s prayer leads us right into the future prophetic
fulfillment of this prophecy. In the millennial reign of Christ on earth for a
thousand years the kings of the earth prompted by Satan will rise up against Him
and be destroyed. Let’s start with Revelation, chapter 20.
Revelation 20:1 ¶ And I saw
an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a
great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years, 3 And cast him
into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he
should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them,
and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. 5 But the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him
a thousand years. 7 And when the
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which
are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together
to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth,
and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came
down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast
into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Here we see the fate of the kings of the earth and their king,
Satan, when they stand against the Almighty God. I’m not sure about applying
Ezekiel 39 to this event as it could be talking about the wars around Christ’s
taking control of the kingdoms of the earth as per Revelation 15. But, read
Ezekiel 38 and 39 for yourself.
Applying this passage to us personally now is very easy as it has
always been the case that power on earth has risen its puny hand against God.
We can see in this age in our own country a government that assumes control over
our very bodies, that promotes the massacre of the innocent unborn and every
sort of perversion imaginable practically and engages in all sorts of treachery
around the world. It stands against God in defiance and although aspects of
judgment have been visited on the country as, for instance, the events of
September 11, 2001, the pride and sinful state of the government and the people
it represents is unyielding and even unaware of their peril.
America’s political religion that has so long guided our dealings
with the world has placed the flag, the government, and the country in the
place of God. As the famous Johns Hopkins professor, Richard Ely, mentor to
President Woodrow Wilson, said in that he denied the divine right of kings but
applauded the divine right of the state. Even to Christians, when America does
certain things they are right simply because America does them even though the
same actions on the part of any other country would be regarded as evil and
worthy of punishment. It is God who will have the last laugh.
Psalm 2:7 ¶ I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
David’s understanding of the sonship of Israel would have been
learned from the writings of Moses.
Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt
say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
This idea of the sonship of Israel would be carried on into the words
of Agur, the son of Jakeh given to Ithiel and Ucal;
Proverbs 30:4 Who hath
ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists?
who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of
the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
And the prophet Hosea;
Hosea 11:1 ¶ When Israel
was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
I’ve already referred to the promises to Israel of total victory
over the heathen nations around them if they had obeyed and how the reference
to the earth in ancient writings included typically only the regions with which
they were familiar and not, for instance, South America.
David in his wars, as was Joshua, very brutal. In fact, it was so
that God would not permit him to build the Temple.
1Chronicles 28:2 Then David
the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people:
As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for
the building: 3 But God said unto me,
Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war,
and hast shed blood.
From a prophetic viewpoint this passage is amazing. David has
written here a prophecy of Christ, the Son of God, which is God in the flesh,
understanding that in the ancient world the son of a king came in the name of
the king and with the same authority as the king. As noted in previous studies
in the ancient world also the firstborn son would inherit all that belonged to
the father and all the father had was indeed the son’s even though the father
directed its use in his lifetime. Verse 7 is applied to Christ as follows by
the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul on two occasions.
Acts 13:33 God hath
fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus
again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee.
Hebrews 1:5 For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Verse 8 is linked, I believe to the end when Christ is said to
take over the kingdoms of the earth.
Revelation 11:15 And the
seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;
and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Christ’s absolute authority over the kingdoms of this world is
established, even repeated using this Psalm’s phrasing.
Revelation 2:27 And he
shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be
broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Revelation 12:5 And she
brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and
her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
As a personal application I
see this as comforting in that it tells us that Christ will be triumphant in
the end times and that there is nothing these wicked world leaders with their
global taxes, global vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and business crushing carbon
taxes etc. etc. can do to stand up against Him. We must have faith and
confidence in the Lord God to straighten this mess out.
Psalm 2:10 ¶ Be wise now
therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with
trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be
angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a
little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Here, strictly from David’s context, there is a warning to the
heathen nations of the Ancient Near East of his time of the power of Israel. In
his son’s reign Israel will be a very powerful kingdom in this world. David is
speaking from a position of success and conquest against his enemies and
Solomon’s reign will be verified by Josephus quoting Tyrian court records,
Greek playwright Menander, giving the specific year of King Hiram’s visit to
Solomon, and archaeological evidence.
But we find this passage best fulfilled to us and understandable
to us in prophecy. For battlefield victories over the kings of the earth look
at Ezekiel, chapters 38-39, not taking into consideration a more immediate
context for Ezekiel which would have been after David’s time. Let’s view this
as an end of time prophecy either for the end of the Tribulation or the end of
Christ’s Millennial Reign.
Ezekiel 38: 1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face
against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I
am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into
thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen,
all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with
bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of
them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer,
and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his
bands: and many people with thee. 7 Be
thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are
assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the
latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword,
and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have
been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall
dwell safely all of them. 9 Thou shalt
ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land,
thou, and all thy bands, and many people
with thee. 10 Thus saith
the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things
come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land
of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely,
all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn
thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people
that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that
dwell in the midst of the land. 13
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young
lions
thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast
thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to
take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 ¶ Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto
Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth
safely, shalt thou not know it? 15 And
thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people
with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my
people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days,
and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I
shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. 17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom
I have spoken in old time by my servants
the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years
that I would bring thee against them? 18
And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against
the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of
my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in
the land of Israel; 20 So that the
fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field,
and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are
upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall
be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to
the ground. 21 And I will call for a
sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s
sword shall be against his brother. 22
And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will
rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him,
an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify
myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know
that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 39:1 ¶ Therefore,
thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the
sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and
will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: 3
And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine
arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,
and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of
every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt
fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord
GOD. 6 And I will send a fire on Magog,
and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I
am the LORD. 7 So will I make my holy
name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my
holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One
in Israel.
8 ¶ Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the
Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. 9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel
shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields
and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears,
and they shall burn them with fire seven years: 10 So that they shall take no wood out of the
field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons
with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that
robbed them, saith the Lord GOD. 11 And
it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of
graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the
sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury
Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of
Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury
them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith
the Lord GOD. 14 And they shall sever
out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the
passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after
the end of seven months shall they search. 15
And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the
valley of Hamongog. 16 And also the name
of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the
Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of
the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my
sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the
mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and
drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats,
of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with
horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of
war, saith the Lord GOD. 21
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see
my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know
that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23 ¶ And the heathen shall know that the house of
Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against
me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their
enemies: so fell they all by the sword. 24
According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions
have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I
bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of
Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; 26 After that they have borne their shame, and
all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me,
when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27 When I have brought them again from
the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in
them in the sight of many nations; 28
Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to
be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their
own land, and have left none of them any more there. 29 Neither will I hide my face any more from
them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord
GOD.
Notice also the prophesies in all three chapters of Joel
and then read Zechariah, chapter 12 to 14.
For the end of the Tribulation see Revelation 11:15
and then read Revelation 14:6 onward but paying particular attention to
Revelation 18 and onward to see Christ’s triumph over the world’s kingdoms and
systems.
Also, read this reference from Paul’s writings which
is not 100% clear as to which event it is referring to so it might be combining
both together;
2Thessalonians 1:5 ¶ Which
is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 And to you who are troubled rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ:9 Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power; 10 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.
One might have considered the passage from
2Thessalonians as suggesting these events are one event at the end of the
millennium were it not for the fact of Christ’s physical millennial reign on
earth. For the end of Christ’s millennial reign see;
Revelation 20:7 And when
the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which
are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together
to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth,
and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came
down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
For our own personal interpretation we can easily
apply this, as well, to events today. Remember what David said about a king.
2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel
spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
We don’t have a lack of material when discussing how
our political leadership falls far short of this doctrine.
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