| The Royal Marriages, Part 4: The Manchild with the Rod of Iron. The 144,000. continued The authority, power, and rod of the Messiah are most completely described in the famous 2nd Psalm: ...The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against his Messiah, saying, "Let us break their bonds..." The LORD shall have them in derision... "Yet have I set my king on my holy hill of Zion." "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to me, 'You are my Son, Today have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, The ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' " Psalm 2:2-4, 6-9 (Iron here signifies the most invincible elemental force.) In another Messianic passage, we learn what this rod is: [The Messiah] shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:4 � i.e., the rod is the Word of the Lord. Whereas in times past the Word of the Lord has been all-too-easily spurned, in the Day of the Lord it will become an irresistible force. The Manchild with the Rod of Iron In the book of Revelation, Jesus tells us he will share with others this invincible power: And he who overcomes, and keeps my works until the end, to him will I give power over the nations � 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' � as I also have received from my Father. 2:26-27 Revelation 12 tells about the birth and ascendancy of a "manchild" with this very same power and authority: And there appeared a great sign in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another sign in heaven: behold, a great red dragon... [A]nd the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a manchild who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness...[for] 1260 days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon...and his angels, [who] prevailed not... And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan...into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 12:1-9 Now, because Psalms 2 and 110 say the Messiah will rule all nations with a rod of iron, many people believe the above passage refers to Jesus. After all Jesus was 'caught up unto God' 40 days after his Resurrection. Also, speaking of his grievous death and joyous Resurrection, Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper: A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she [has]...joy that a man is born into the world. John 16:21 This verse suggests that Christ fulfilled Revelation 12's manchild in type (that is, as a foreshadowing. However, Christ himself � and many other Old and New Testament prophecies � taught that the End Times will bring a more widespread travail and birthing. For example, while prophesying about "[His] Coming, and the End of the Age," Jesus said that false Christs, wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes would be "the beginning of birth-pangs." Matt. 24: 3-8 This was a well-known theme in Old Testament prophecy: Ask now and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, Like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; It is even the time of Jacob's [Israel's] trouble... Jeremiah 30:6-7 Isaiah 26:17-21 is another such passage, and repeats key themes of Revelation 12: As a woman with child drawing near the time of her delivery is in pain, and cries out in her birth-pangs, so have we been in your sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain. ... We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth... Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise...the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the LORD comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity... [= the period of the Day of the Lord/Wrath of God.] This prophecy shows that the times of the birth-pangs occur during the same period as the resurrection of the dead, the flight of God's people to safety during the Great Tribulation (= "the indignation"), and the subsequent Judgment/ Wrath of God. Continue Previous page Part 1, Royal Marriages b/w Return to Index Return to Index page 2 |