The Ruler of Kings

Jesus, the Faithful Witness, now reigns supreme over the Kings of the Earth, and he is shepherding the nations to the Holy City of New Jerusalem.

Jesus is called the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” in the Prologue of Revelation. This declaration is made in the present tense since his sovereignty is based on his Death and Resurrection. He does not rule by hereditary right, economic power, or military might, but because of his redeeming death. The slain “Lamb” is the one who sits on the Throne, and his authority extends even over “Death and Hades.”

The “Kings of the Earth” are allied with the “Beast from the Sea” at times in the Book of Revelation, and they often do the bidding of the “Dragon.” Nevertheless, the “Lamb” uses their plots to achieve his redemptive purposes. This is what it means to reign over the “Kings of the Earth.”

[Photo by Carlos N. Cuatzo Meza on Unsplash]

Even Christ’s enemies cannot move against him without his consent. His authority is absolute. By the end of Revelation, the same group of “kings” is found in the Holy City of New Jerusalem where they give honor to the “Lamb” - (Revelation 1:4-6).

Jesus Christ is the “Faithful Witness” and the “Firstborn of the Dead.” The former refers to his Death, and the latter to his Resurrection. All three labels - “Faithful Witness,” “Firstborn of the Dead,” and “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth,” are from 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 self-sacrificial death; therefore, the God of Israel 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.” It is used comparatively, denoting the sense of “supreme, lofty, highest.”

However, Revelation combines this passage with words from the Second Psalm, and the verbal link for doing so is the clause, “Kings of the Earth.” In this Psalm, the “kings” conspire against God’s Anointed King, but their plot backfires since He gave the “nations” to the Son for “his inheritance” and the “ends of the Earth” for his “possession.” Therefore, Jesus now “rules over them with his iron scepter” - (Psalm 2:1-11).

Rather than use the Greek comparative adjective for “highest” in Revelation, the text calls him the ‘archôn’ or “Ruler” over the "Kings of the Earth." The term does not mean “king,” though kings certainly “rule,” but Christ holds a far higher rank than any king, dictator, prime minister, congressman, member of Parliament, or president.

THE SHEPHERD!

The Greek noun ‘archôn’ often denotes someone who is a “prince,” “chief magistrate,” or supreme sovereign, which is the sense of the passage in Revelation. The intent is not to contradict the Book’s later declaration that Jesus is the “King of Kings,” but to highlight just how much higher he is than any of the political rulers of Earth.

The extent of his sovereignty is stressed in the Book’s first vision. Jesus describes himself as the “Living One who was dead and lives forever.” He holds the “Keys of Death and Hades.” Not even the realm of the dead is beyond his reach.

His reign extends over his mortal enemies. For example, Satan was bound from “deceiving the nations” and could not do so until he was “released from the Abyss.” The “Beast from the Sea” could not wage “war” against the saints until authorized to do so (“It was given to him to make war against the saints” – Revelation 13:7-10).

Christ’s present reign 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 East” are gathered for the final battle against the “Lamb” on the “Great Day of God Almighty” - (Revelation 16:12-16. 17:10-18, 19:19-21).

The Second Psalm is alluded to in three more passages of Revelation where the original Hebrew term for “rule” is replaced by the Greek verb for “shepherd.” Thus, the Messianic “Son” is destined to “shepherd the nations.”

What this means is demonstrated in the vision of the “Innumerable Multitude” when John sees the “Lamb shepherding” the men redeemed from every nation to the “living waters” of New Jerusalem. In the vision of the “Rider on the White Horse,” that royal figure uses his “iron scepter” to “shepherd the nations,” not to pound them to dust – (Revelation 2:27, 7:17, 12:5, 19:15).

The change from the image of the conqueror to the benevolent ruler who “shepherds” his flock is unexpected and paradoxical. It requires us to “think outside the box” of our church traditions and political ideologies. Jesus may still wield an “iron scepter” and a “great sword,” but he uses them to guide the nations and the “Kings of the Earth” to something other than everlasting destruction.

The idea of a more positive fate for his political opponents was hinted at centuries earlier in the Second Psalm. After warning of dire consequences if the “Kings of the Earth” persisted in their rebellion, the Psalmist exhorted them to fear Yahweh and “kiss His son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way.” The Son offered the kings of the Earth peace and salvation by submitting to his Lordship – (Psalm 2:9-11).

The image of the sacrificial “Lamb” who “shepherds the nations” begins to explain how the “nations” and the “Kings of the Earth” find themselves in the Holy City of New Jerusalem by the final vision of the Book of Revelation. What kind of shepherd would Jesus be if he only “shepherded” men and women to their doom? What sort of twisted king destroys his very own subjects?

In the Holy City, the “nations walk amidst its light, the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.” The “Tree of Life” that “heals the nations” and removes the “curse” of Adam’s sin blooms in the center of the city.

Thus, the Supreme Ruler of nations and kings, the “King of kings,” will lead many rulers and nations to life and salvation in the “Holy City, New Jerusalem.” Jesus of Nazareth is a King like no other!

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SEE ALSO:

• The Suffering Servant - (Disciples are summoned to adopt the same mind that Jesus had when he poured out his life unto death for the sake of others – Philippians 2:5-11)

• His Name is Jesus - (Jesus means ‘Yahweh saves.’ In the man from Nazareth, the salvation promised by the God of Israel has arrived in all its glory)

• Shepherding the Nations - (Jesus is the promised King from the line of David who is shepherding the nations to New Jerusalem – Revelation 12:5)

• The Reigning King - (The New Testament applies messianic and royal promises from the Psalms to Christ’s present reign. He alone is, present tense, Lord and Messiah!)