Ruler of Kings
The faithful witness, Jesus, now reigns supreme over the kings of the earth, including his enemies.
Jesus is called
the “ruler of the kings of the earth” in the present tense. His sovereignty over the earth is based on
his death and resurrection, NOT on any hereditary rights, economic control,
or military might. He is the anointed king who now reigns on the messianic
throne.
In the book of Revelation, at times,
the “kings of the earth” are allied with the “Beast” and do the
bidding of the “Dragon.” Nevertheless, the “Lamb” uses their
plots and actions to achieve his purposes.
Even his enemies cannot move against him without
his consent, and by the end of John’s vision, the same group is found in “New
Jerusalem,” and there, they give honor to the “Lamb.”
- “John to the seven churches in Asia: Grace to you and peace from…Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him who loves us and loosed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” - (Revelation 1:4-6).
FAITHFUL WITNESS AND FIRSTBORN
He is the “faithful witness” and the
“firstborn of the dead.” The former designation refers to his death, and
the latter to his resurrection. All three designations - “faithful witness,”
“firstborn of the dead,” and “ruler f the kings of the earth” – allude
to the eighty-ninth psalm:
- (Psalm 89:27, 37) - “I also will make him my first-born, the higher than the kings of the earth… His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.”
His “faithful testimony” was given in
his death; therefore, Yahweh made him the “firstborn” and the “highest
of the kings of the earth.” In the Hebrew text, the Psalm uses the noun ‘elyôn
for “higher,” and it is applied comparatively to denote the sense “supreme,
lofty, highest.”
But Revelation combines this passage
with words from the second Psalm, and the verbal link is the clause “kings of the earth.”
In the Psalm, the “kings” rebel and
conspire against Yahweh’s anointed king. But their plot backfires because God
gave the “nations” to His Son for “his inheritance,” and the “ends
of the earth” for his “possession.” Thus, Jesus “rules over them
with his iron scepter” - (Psalm 2:1-11).
And in the passage, rather than use the
Greek comparative adjective for “highest,” the text calls him the archôn or
“ruler” over the "kings of the earth." The term does
not mean “king,” though kings certainly “rule.” The point is not that he is the
“king” or even a king among kings, but that he holds a far higher rank.
SUPREMACY
The noun archôn often
denotes someone who is a “prince,” “chief magistrate,” or the supreme sovereign, and that is
the sense here. The intent is not to contradict the book’s later declaration
that he is the “King of kings,” but to highlight just how much higher he
is than the political rulers of the present world order.
The extent of his sovereignty is stressed
in the book’s first vision where Jesus calls himself the “living one who was
dead and lives forevermore,” and he now holds the “keys of death and
Hades.”
Hence, not even the realm of the dead is beyond his sovereignty. And like his supremacy over the “kings of the earth,” so, also, his authority over death and Hades is based on his death and resurrection.
And his sovereignty extends over his mortal
enemies. For example, Satan is bound from “deceiving the nations” until
he is “released from the Abyss.” The “Beast from the sea” cannot wage
“war” on the saints until
he is authorized to do so (“and it was given to him to make war against the
saints” – Revelation 13:7, 20:1-3).
But his rule over the earth does not immediately
negate the hostility of the “kings of the earth.” For example, when the
“sixth bowl of wrath” is emptied, the “kings of the earth” are
gathered for the “great day of God Almighty.”
At this final conflagration, the “kings
of the earth” and their “armies” are gathered along with the “Beast”
and the “false prophet” to wage war against the one who is “riding on
a white horse.” But the “Lamb” overcomes them because he is “king
of kings and lord of lords” - (Revelation 16:12-16. 17:10-18, 19:19-21).
At the end of the battle, the “Beast”
and the “False Prophet” are “cast alive into the lake of fire.” But
that is not the fate of the “kings of the earth.” The “rest were
killed with the sword of the one who was riding on the white horse,” and
the vision identifies this “weapon” as the “word of God.” While this image
suggests the “kings of the earth” are put to death at this point, that
is not necessarily the case.
SHEPHERD OF NATIONS
The second Psalm is alluded to again in
three additional passages where the original Hebrew verb for “rule” is changed
to the Greek verb that means “shepherd.” Thus, the messianic “son”
is destined to “shepherd the nations.”
What this means is demonstrated in the vision of the “innumerable multitude” in which Jesus “shepherds” men that have been redeemed from every nation to the “living waters” in New Jerusalem.
And in the vision of the “rider on the
white horse,” the royal figure uses his “iron scepter” to “shepherd
the nations,” not to grind them into dust – (Revelation 2:27, 7:17, 12:5,
19:15).
The change from the image of a conqueror to
that of a benevolent ruler who “shepherds” his flock is unexpected and
paradoxical. While the “Lamb” wields an “iron scepter” and a “great
sword,” he uses them to guide the nations and the “kings of the earth”
to something other than their final destruction.
The idea of a more benevolent fate for the
“kings” is hinted at in the second Psalm. After warning them of dire
consequences if they continue in their rebellion, the Psalmist exhorts them to
fear Yahweh and “kiss His son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way” – (Psalm 2:9-11).
The presentation of Jesus as the
sacrificial “Lamb” who now “shepherds the nations” explains how the
“nations” and the “kings of the earth” are found enjoying the
glories of “New Jerusalem.” And what kind of sovereign and shepherd
would he be if he only led his subjects to their doom?
In the holy city, the “nations walk
amidst its light, the kings of the earth
bring their glory into it.” And in “New Jerusalem,” John sees
the “tree of life” that “heals the nations” and removes the
original “curse” caused by Adam’s disobedience.
And so, the “slain
Lamb” shepherds the nations and the “kings of the earth,” guiding them
to life and salvation in the “new heavens and new earth.”
