Sit at My Right Hand Until I Make Your Enemies a Footstool!
"Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
Luke 20: 42-43
David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:
" 'The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
Yahweh declared to Adonai that He, the Son, would sit at the right hand of the Father until the enemies of Christ were made a footstool. It was a common practice in biblical times that a conquering King would put his foot on the neck of his surviving enemy leaders, hence the term "footstool". The Son will put His foot on the neck of His enemies until the final enemy (death) is defeated.
Psalm 2: 8-9
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery."
Psalm 2 declares that the Lord will rule from Zion over the nations with a rod of iron. This description parallels with the description of Jesus' return to the earth as found in Revelation.
Revelation 19:15
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."
Death is the final enemy to be defeated.
1 Corinthians 15: 23-26
But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death
Christ is the Firstfruits of the resurrection. He has already been raised in a glorified body. Next, when He comes He will bring the glorified saints to rule and reign with Him on earth. He will reign on earth 1,000 years until The Great White Throne Judgment is completed and death and Hades are cast into the Lake of Fire. When the last enemy is destroyed (death), the elements will melt with a fervent heat and there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth and the son will hand the Kingdom over to the Father.
Daniel 2:34-35
While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Every other kingdom as symbolized in Nebuchadnezzar's dream was literal, earthly kingdoms. The rock that struck and destroyed those evil empires became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Therefore, it is consistent to believe that the Son's kingdom will also be on earth.
Is being born from above-filled with the Holy Spirit the first resurrection? No. Even the unrighteous dead, who have never been born-again, are resurrected.
Daniel 12:2
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
1Corinthian 15:42-43
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
Resurrection is when the disembodied spirit is joined with its new, immortal body. The First Resurrection is the resurrection of the righteous at the rapture before the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
The Second Resurrection takes place after the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth at the White Throne Judgment.
What about the Scripture that states that there were some standing with Jesus that would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of the Son of God come in power ...
Matthew 16:28
I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
Remember, the original manuscripts did not have breaks (chapters, verses or headings). the very next verses are the fulfillment of this promise:
Matthew 17:1-4
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
Why did Peter want to build shelters (booths) for Moses, Elijah and Jesus at the transfiguration? Because Peter understood that he was viewing the promised coming kingdom and associated it with the Feast of Tabernacles
Zechariah 14:16
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
... and the Scripture where Jesus said His kingdom is not of this earth?
John 18:36
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
"But now my kingdom is from another place." At the First Advent, Jesus came as a suffering servant and not as a conquering king. But when He returns:
Revelation 19: 11-13
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
I believe that Scripture can be interpreted to have both a natural and spiritual fulfillment. Unfortunately, many who spiritualize the meaning of prophecy concerning end time events and deny any literal fulfillment do so because they refuse to see the kingdom restored to the Jews. Christian replacement theology is based upon Calvin's assertion that God has finished with the Jews and that the Church is now Israel. These claims fly in the face of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. Paul in Romans 11 makes a clear distinction between Israel and the Church and so should we; especially in interpreting verses relating to the end times.
The very first verse of the Book of Revelation declared to the churches of the first century that something “must soon take place.”
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