Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Jesus Is the Wrath of God
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Jesus Is the Wrath of God
Messianic Psalms
The psalms are filled with promise—particularly the promise that God will put an end to evil and injustice. The so-called “messianic psalms” are the beating heart of this promise. God promises that, through his messiah, he will overcome the evil of the world (specifically the evil of “the nations” and “the kings of the earth”).
The promised messiah is portrayed in the psalms as the true king of Israel. But almost every messianic psalm moves directly to the global (or even cosmic) nature of the messiah’s kingship.
Listen to Psalm 2:6-10
6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.
8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
And Psalm 110:1-2, 4-6
1 The LORD says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
You can see the movement of the messiah’s kingship extending from Israel (Zion) to the whole earth. The image we are given for how this is accomplished is “a rod of iron” in Psalm 2 and “a mighty scepter” in Psalm 110.
Christians have naturally read these psalms as being about Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all make use of the messianic psalms and suggest that they are fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Rod of Iron, A Mighty Scepter
“I will break them with a rod of iron” (Ps. 2:9) and “The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies’” (Ps. 110:2).
These are harsh images that give violent pictures of wrath, anger, and justice. But they are images. God does not literally have a rod of iron or a mighty scepter—as if he needed them. This is metaphorical language. The images speak of God’s rule, his justice, his authority, and dominion.
But the question lingering is one of identity. Who is the one we are being told holds the iron rod or the scepter? We know what the rod of iron looks like in the hands of Caesar or Herod or Hitler. But Jesus is unlike these rulers. He is the true ruler of Israel—and the entire world—by laying his life down, not lording it over them.
Martin Luther in his lecture on Psalm 2 gives us the typical Christian interpretation of the “rod of iron”:
Rod of Iron is the holy Gospel, which is Christ’s royal scepter in His church and kingdom… It is called a ‘rod’ because it directs, convicts, reproves, and upholds, etc.
St. Augustine (fourth century) interprets the “mighty scepter of power” in Psalm 110 like this:
What has to happen, for [Christ’s] enemies to be subjected beneath his feet? Listen to his own words as he teaches and explains it: And for repentance and forgiveness of sins to be preached in in his name throughout all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Lk 24:47)…From Zion will the Lord send forth your scepter of power because the preaching of his lordship will begin from Jerusalem.
In other words, the power of the scepter by which the Messiah will rule is the power of the word of the gospel. Many will hear this as a softening of the meaning of “the rod of iron” image. This is meant to be a brutal image, an image of force and forcefulness. I agree. The rod of iron does strike and it does kill. But it strikes and kills in the way Jesus strikes and kills. This is the wrath of the lamb, as Revelation 6 puts it. The wrath of Caesar and the wrath of the crucified Jesus are not the same wrath.
As Augustine points out, the mighty scepter of the Messiah extends forth from Zion, or Jerusalem. Why? Because the resurrected Jesus told his disciples that because all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him, they were to go into all nations preaching the gospel and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The “scepter” is the preached word of the gospel and the sacrament of baptism.
The scepter “extends forth from Zion” because Jesus said to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses [beginning in] Jerusalem, and [extending out to] all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
How does the this Messiah subdue the nations? He does so by the power of his mighty scepter, with his rod of iron. But the power of God is Jesus Christ and him crucified. The power of the gospel proclamation moves into all the earth as the rod of iron, subduing all who hear it.
Does the rod of iron kill? Absolutely! But it is the killing of baptism. As Paul says in Romans 6, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
The kings of the earth are conquered the same way you and I are: by the mighty scepter, by the wrath of the lamb, by the word of God, by baptism.
The world is conquered by a Conquered Messiah.
Jesus is the wrath of God, which means that the world is subdued not by being overthrown, but by love.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cameroncombs.substack.com
View all episodes
By Cameron CombsMessianic Psalms
The psalms are filled with promise—particularly the promise that God will put an end to evil and injustice. The so-called “messianic psalms” are the beating heart of this promise. God promises that, through his messiah, he will overcome the evil of the world (specifically the evil of “the nations” and “the kings of the earth”).
The promised messiah is portrayed in the psalms as the true king of Israel. But almost every messianic psalm moves directly to the global (or even cosmic) nature of the messiah’s kingship.
Listen to Psalm 2:6-10
6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.
8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
And Psalm 110:1-2, 4-6
1 The LORD says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
You can see the movement of the messiah’s kingship extending from Israel (Zion) to the whole earth. The image we are given for how this is accomplished is “a rod of iron” in Psalm 2 and “a mighty scepter” in Psalm 110.
Christians have naturally read these psalms as being about Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all make use of the messianic psalms and suggest that they are fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Rod of Iron, A Mighty Scepter
“I will break them with a rod of iron” (Ps. 2:9) and “The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies’” (Ps. 110:2).
These are harsh images that give violent pictures of wrath, anger, and justice. But they are images. God does not literally have a rod of iron or a mighty scepter—as if he needed them. This is metaphorical language. The images speak of God’s rule, his justice, his authority, and dominion.
But the question lingering is one of identity. Who is the one we are being told holds the iron rod or the scepter? We know what the rod of iron looks like in the hands of Caesar or Herod or Hitler. But Jesus is unlike these rulers. He is the true ruler of Israel—and the entire world—by laying his life down, not lording it over them.
Martin Luther in his lecture on Psalm 2 gives us the typical Christian interpretation of the “rod of iron”:
Rod of Iron is the holy Gospel, which is Christ’s royal scepter in His church and kingdom… It is called a ‘rod’ because it directs, convicts, reproves, and upholds, etc.
St. Augustine (fourth century) interprets the “mighty scepter of power” in Psalm 110 like this:
What has to happen, for [Christ’s] enemies to be subjected beneath his feet? Listen to his own words as he teaches and explains it: And for repentance and forgiveness of sins to be preached in in his name throughout all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Lk 24:47)…From Zion will the Lord send forth your scepter of power because the preaching of his lordship will begin from Jerusalem.
In other words, the power of the scepter by which the Messiah will rule is the power of the word of the gospel. Many will hear this as a softening of the meaning of “the rod of iron” image. This is meant to be a brutal image, an image of force and forcefulness. I agree. The rod of iron does strike and it does kill. But it strikes and kills in the way Jesus strikes and kills. This is the wrath of the lamb, as Revelation 6 puts it. The wrath of Caesar and the wrath of the crucified Jesus are not the same wrath.
As Augustine points out, the mighty scepter of the Messiah extends forth from Zion, or Jerusalem. Why? Because the resurrected Jesus told his disciples that because all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him, they were to go into all nations preaching the gospel and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The “scepter” is the preached word of the gospel and the sacrament of baptism.
The scepter “extends forth from Zion” because Jesus said to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses [beginning in] Jerusalem, and [extending out to] all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
How does the this Messiah subdue the nations? He does so by the power of his mighty scepter, with his rod of iron. But the power of God is Jesus Christ and him crucified. The power of the gospel proclamation moves into all the earth as the rod of iron, subduing all who hear it.
Does the rod of iron kill? Absolutely! But it is the killing of baptism. As Paul says in Romans 6, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
The kings of the earth are conquered the same way you and I are: by the mighty scepter, by the wrath of the lamb, by the word of God, by baptism.
The world is conquered by a Conquered Messiah.
Jesus is the wrath of God, which means that the world is subdued not by being overthrown, but by love.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cameroncombs.substack.com