The Rod of Iron

"I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee...Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Ps. 2:7,9)

The book of Psalms consists of individual works revolving around particular aspects of Jewish culture, life and worship. The psalms of ascent, or degrees (120-134), for example, were tied to the annual pilgrimage of Jews to the Temple in Jerusalem. A few psalms were for very particular times or events, such as Psalm 92, which is a "Song for the Sabbath day."

The second psalm falls into the category of Enthronement Psalms. These were originally part of the ceremonies surrounding the coronation of a king. They have, however, found their full meaning through Jesus Christ as the final king in the line of David.

When a king was crowned in Israel, it was said that God had adopted him as His son (Ps 2:7). From that point forward, the king was understood to be working as God's representative as ruler over the house of Israel. When Jesus rose from the baptismal waters of the river Jordan, God declared in the fashion of Psalm 2: "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt 3:17).

In the Revelation of John, the apostle is given a vision of the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. He sees a woman, giving birth to "a man child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron" (Rev 12:5). At the culmination of the events of the apocalypse, we again see this man child, now a victorious king named Faithful and True:

"His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule over them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." (Rev 19:12-15)

This would be marvelous enough fulfillment of the prophetic word of Psalm 2 for Israel's future king Messiah, but Jesus Himself applies that promise not just to Himself, but to believers as well. Listen as Jesus commends believers in Thyatira with the specific words of our text applied to them directly: "But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 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" (Rev 2:25-27). When the True king of Israel adopts us as his own, we truly "are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom 8:37). RST