Ruler of Kings

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is called the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth,” a declaration made in the PRESENT TENSE. His present sovereignty over the Earth and its nations is based on his past death and resurrection, NOT on any hereditary rights, economic power, or military might. He sits on God’s Throne as the slain “Lamb” where he reigns over all things as the result of his submission to an unjust death.

In the Book, the “Kings of the Earth” are allied with the “Beast from the Sea” and do the bidding of the “Dragon.” Nevertheless, the “Lamb” uses their plots to achieve his redemptive purposes.

[Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash]

Even his enemies cannot move against him without his consent. By the end of Revelation, the same group of “kings” is found in the city of “New Jerusalem,” giving 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).

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 of the 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 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.” It is used comparatively to denote the sense of “supreme, lofty, highest.”

But the Book of 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 the Psalm, the latter 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).

In Revelation, 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 do “rule.” The point is not that he is the “king,” but that HE HOLDS A FAR HIGHER RANK than any king, dictator, prime minister, or president.

HIS SUPREMACY

The noun archôn often denotes someone who is a “prince,” “chief magistrate,” or the SUPREME sovereign, and that is the sense in the passage. 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 or all of the political rulers of the Earth.

The extent of his sovereignty is stressed in the Book’s first vision where Jesus describes himself as the “Living One who was dead and lives forevermore.” Moreover, he now holds the “Keys of Death and Hades.” Not even the realm of the dead is beyond his reach, and his sovereignty is based on his death and resurrection.

His reign extends even over his mortal enemies. For example, Satan is bound from “deceiving the nations” and cannot do so until he is “released from the Abyss.” The “Beast from the Sea” cannot wage “war” against the saints UNTIL authorized to do so (“and it was given to him to make war against the saints”).

But his present reign does not automatically negate the hostility of the “Kings of the Earth.” For example, when the “Sixth Bowl of Wrath” is emptied, they 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 again in three more passages where the original Hebrew verb for “rule” is changed to the Greek term for “shepherd.” Thus, the messianic “Son” is destined to “SHEPHERD THE NATIONS.”

What this means is demonstrated in the vision of the “innumerable multitude” where the “Lamb shepherds” the men redeemed from every nation to the “living waters” in New Jerusalem. Moreover, in the vision of the “Rider on the White Horse,” that 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 the conqueror to the benevolent ruler who “shepherds” his flock is unexpected and paradoxical. While he still 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 destruction.

The idea of a more benevolent fate for his political opponents was hinted at in the second Psalm. After warning of dire consequences if the “Kings of the Earth” continued their rebellion, the Psalmist exhorted them to fear Yahweh and “kiss His son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way” – (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” will find themselves in “New Jerusalem.” What kind of shepherd would Jesus be if he only “shepherded” men and women 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 it is found the “Tree of Life” that “heals the nations” and removes the “curse” caused by Adam’s sin. Hence, the Supreme Ruler of nations and kings will lead many of them to life and salvation in the coming New Creation.

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