Psalm 2. The Dominion of Christ

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

    I am currently reading through the Major Prophets in my own personal Bible reading time.  I'm almost to the end of Jeremiah, and it has been striking me how God is communication oracles against nations--the Philistines, Ammon, Babylon, Moab, and a few others.  In some cases they are being punished because of their treatment of Israel.  The Dispensationalist thinker would like you to believe that is the only reason.  The reality is, throughout the Bible, Yahweh declares punishment on many nations merely because they are unrighteous.  Take, for instance, Genesis 15:16, where God tells Abraham that his offspring will not make it into the land for a few more generations because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.  Let us not forget that Yahweh was using Israel as a tool of punishment against these evil nations.  

    Why does this matter?  What's my point?  I'm glad you're asking that.  Let's return to Psalm 2.  David asks the heathen nations why they are not obeying God.  Why are they imagining that they can overthrow Yahweh?  The idea that Israel's God was good for Israel and they had a government run by God's Law, but we shouldn't because, after all, we're New Testament Christians and we just bend over and take it because Jesus loves everybody and we should never disrupt peoples'  lives by telling them that Somebody owns them and has a say in what they should do--even in government--that idea, yeah, it's stupid.  The muslims don't believe that, and neither should we.  Our God declares unilateral ownership of our lives, and that includes education, entertainment, and civil government. 

    We have here in Psalms a Messianic Psalm.  What does that mean, Johnny?  Well, that means that this Psalm is actually a prophecy of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is God's Anointed.  Did you know that Messiah and Christ are the same word in different languages?  Did you also know that they both mean "Anointed"?  I think the translation of Christ (or transliteration, I should say) has hurt our concept of who Christ is.  Christ is the Anointed One, and as such, fulfills three Old Testament types who received anointings--prophet, priest, and most specifically, king.  So, the Jews will say that this is only talking about David.  Well, it may be in an immediate sense of the passage, but we know that often in the Old Testament types have greater prophetic antitypes, and that's usually Jesus. 

    Let's tie in another theme from the Bible.  You know all those prophecies in the Old Testament that David would have a son abiding on the throne of Israel forever?  If you read the Old Testament, you can miss them.  It was a promise given to David at his time of calling (see 2 Samuel 7:12-16).  The promise was claimed by Solomon in 1 Kings 8:25.  It is confirmed in Jeremiah 33:21.  It is repeatedly mentioned in the book of Ezekiel.  It's all over the Old Testament.  It's a theme.  Anyway, Psalm 2 shows us that Yahweh's promise to David was fulfilled.  The Dispensationalist thinker (sorry to pick on you guys) wants to see this fulfilled literally.  Many have developed some pretty strange views based on trying to see this fulfilled literally (British Israelism, for instance).  We need to get over our obsession with Israel.  I know, I know.  God seems pretty obsessed with Israel in the Bible.  But we miss the point when we insist on this woodenly literal hermeneutic.  What does Paul say?  There is not seeds, but one seed--Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham (Romans 4, I think...I might be wrong, and I'm too lazy to check).  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the "seed of the woman" covenant (threat) made with Satan in Genesis 3.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the ceremonial system in the Old Testament, and ultimately, He is the true Israel (Jacob, the apple of God's eye), and the true David.  

    You see, the Dispensationalist insists that God's promises to Israel will be literally fulfilled, by which they mean physically for the race of people known as Jews.  What they miss is that God's promises have been fulfilled in the reality of what Israel was all about--Jesus.  For Ezekiel 34:24 to be fulfilled, David himself would have to come to earth and reign in Jerusalem.  It says, "David" plain and clear.  What about "David"  don't you understand?  Wait, maybe "David" is a symbol of Jesus.  Why have I taken this rabbit trail?  To say this.  "And Jesus came and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me."  This is a fulfillment of Psalm 2.  This is a fulfillment of all those prophecies about David's heirs reigning, and about David himself reigning.  Jesus is the king of the Universe.  Yahweh says so.  So our government should acknowledge Him as such.  Jesus doesn't care if you don't believe in Him--He still is reigning.  We, as the Church, need to proclaim Jesus' rightful authority over our government, and all the governments (whether family, church, or civil) in the world.  Now, therefore, kings, be wise.  This is your warning, rulers of the earth.  Serve Jesus Christ with fear and trembling.  Kiss the Son.  Bow down to Him, or suffer the fate of Moab, and Babylon, and all the other nations that perished for idolatry.  

    God doesn't believe in the secular/religious distintion.  Neither do I.  All of life, even goverments, owe allegiance to the Creator and His Anointed One, Jesus Christ.  Bow to Him.  Obey His Laws.  Then and only then will we find true peace and happiness.