Rev 2:26-27 Rule over the Nations

Rev. 2:26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;

27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces,

as I also have received authority from My Father

Who will Christians have authority over,

why would they need to rule them with a rod of iron, and shatter them as earthen vessels?

Here’s MacArthur:

“And he who overcomes,” and I’m not going to reinterpret that every time, that just means a Christian, 1 John 5:5…1 John 5:5, “He that overcomes is the Christian.” “To the true Christian who overcomes the evil, who overcomes Satan, enduring to the end, John says our faith is that which overcomes, the one who believes is the overcome [sic]…1 John 5:5…and he who keeps My deeds, that means who obeys,” there’s two evidences of saving faith. Saving faith triumphs, it never abandons, you never lose it, you never give it up, you always overcome. No matter what comes against you, you never lose your faith, you continue to believe. Who is the one who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and you overcome by believing, constant faith.

So, the true Christian has an unending faith and has a pattern of obedience. His faith is made manifest in his works. So to the true believer, He says, “I want to give you two things. First, to him I will give authority over the nations.” If you endure in constant faith and a pattern of obedience, to the end whatever end, the end of your life, or the time when Jesus comes, to the end, “I’ll give you authority over the nations.” Wow, what does that mean? I believe that that clearly can be understood one way, you’re going to reign with Christ in an earthly millennial kingdom. If you don’t have a millennium, this promise makes no sense. If you don’t believe in a thousand-year millennial kingdom, what in the world is He talking about? Because this is taken right out of Psalm 2. And Psalm 2 verse 7, “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord, He said to me, `Thou art My son, today I have begotten thee. Ask of Me and I’ll surely give the nations as thine inheritance and the very ends of the earth as thy possession.” You say, “Oh yeah, that’s in heaven, that’s in heaven…when we all get to heaven, when we all get to heaven.”

No it isn’t. The next verse, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt shatter them like earthenware.” And there isn’t going to be any nation full of people getting bashed around with a rod of iron or broken like a pot in heaven. It’s got to be on earth. It has to be a millennial kingdom, there isn’t any other explanation. And the first thing He says to them is, “You’ve had a lot of problem here and you’ve been beaten up, but when you get to the Kingdom you’re going to get to do some of the beating.” That’s what He’s saying. You’ve been hammered so get ready for your time to take your own hammer and sit on a throne and rule with Me.

You say, “Who gets…who gets hit with the rod of iron during the millennial kingdom?” The nations that come against God, the nations that fight against Christ, the rebellious wicked nations, the ones that would attack the sheep. You see, you even have here…you see that word there, “rule,” it’s the word poimaino, from poimen which is a shepherd. And what He is saying is I will shepherd them with a rod of iron. A shepherd has a rod but he always had a wooden rod, but Jesus says when I get to My kingdom My rod is going to be made out of iron. And what did the shepherd use the rod for? Many times the sheep would be being attacked by wolves or whatever wild animals and he would use the rod to smash that animal and fight that animal off who came to attack his sheep. And He says there’s coming a time in the kingdom when the nations of the world are going to move against Me and My people and I’m going to wield a rod of iron and I’m going to use that rod and I’m going to smash them like clay pots and you’re going to be there with Me, you’re going to be ruling with Me, protecting My people in the kingdom, protecting holiness and righteousness.

That’s the first promise, millennial participation. You’re going to be in My kingdom. You’re going to share that great time when the nations of the world are forced to bow the knee to Jesus Christ and He rules as King of kings and Lord and lords, when the whole curse is reversed, when the lion lies down the lamb, and the children can play with the poisonous snakes because they’re not longer poisonous, when the desert blossoms like a rose. In that great time when peace fills the earth and wisdom and knowledge of Christ and whatever rebel raises his ugly head, the rod of iron comes out and you’re going to be there shepherding with Me and using with Me that authority. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know how true Christians are going to do that but we’re going to be there as co-shepherds, in a sense, co-disciplinarians with our Lord.

And He took it right out of Psalm 2, this quote, “I’ll give authority over the nations and He shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father.” Jesus said, you remember, back in John 5 the Father has committed all judgment unto Me and He’s now saying to us…And I’m going to share that judgment with you as together we rule the nations of the world. There is no explanation for that other than a millennial kingdom. And we’ll be there….

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This interpretation cannot stand because the Messianic kingdom has begun already with the ascension of Jesus Christ. Peter on the day of Pentecost proclaimed (Act 2:33-36):

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit

and has poured out what you now see and hear.

34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

"'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."'

36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

This gospel song catches it well:

Majesty, worship his Majesty, Unto Jesus Be all glory honor and praise.

Majesty, kingdom authority flow from His throne unto His own His anthem raise

So exalt lift up on high the Name of Jesus

Magnify come glorify Christ Jesus the King

Majesty worhship his Majesty, Jesus who died, now glorified, the King of all kings!

That after His ascension Jesus sat at the right hand of God was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Ps 110:1, as Peter indicated in Act 2:34-35. Sitting at the right Hand of God means, that Jesus has enthroned to be Messianic King and therefore is now reigning over the universe.

Paul confirms that fact when he said in Eph 1:19-23:

19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,
20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. 

Also Paul said,

He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens,

in order to fill the whole universe (Eph 4:10)

If Jesus is now the King of all kings, then we the Chritians are too since we are united with Him. Therefore Peter announced that we are now royal priesthood:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,

that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1Pet 2:9).

We are united even in His resurrection and in His sitting on the heavenly throne:

5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

If we are committed to the unity of divine revelation in the Bible, then in view of all these references, one can confidently say that we overcoming Christians are now kings over the nations. That is, we reborn believers are participating in the Messianic kingship of Jesus. That is why John says as he did in Rev. 2:26-27

To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations--
27 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery' -

just as I have received authority from my Father.

That is to say, what is promised in Rev. 2:26-27 is not anything of future but of the present kingship of believers in Christ Jesus. The metaphor in v. 27 is taken from Ps. 2:9, which speaks about the Messianic Kingship of Jesus the son of David. In the ancient Egypt there was a customary rite of victory over the nations. In the rite the king shattered a pottery on which all the names of enemy kings. By such a rite they assurend themselves that the foreign enemies would be shattered. The metaphor is a symbolic way of representation of kingly rule of Christians in this world. 

The inaugurated application of Ps. 2 occurs elsewhere in the NT with respect to Christ (Acts 13:33; Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:2, 5; 5:5; 7:28) and his enemies’ rebellion (Acts 4:25–28). If it also has a present application to the “overcomers,” who are said to participate already in the messianic kingdom (Rev. 1:5–6, 9; 5:10), then the “authority” they exercise in beginning to fulfill the Psalm is the witness that they bear through suffering to Christ’s death and resurrection, which becomes salvific protection for some but a basis of destruction for others (note the same dual effect of Paul’s apostolic witness in 2 Cor. 2:15–17 as in Rev. 2:27) (G. K. Beale, Revelation, 268).

At the same time, we are reminded that the Messianic kingship already has begun, but not yet reached its consummation, which will take place at the parousia (second coming) of Jesus. That is why are also suffering afflictions in this world though we are royal figures. We are living now in the period of the already/ not yet tension. We are urged therefore not to be so much ultra-enthusiastic like Corinthians (1 Cor. 4:8 "Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!").  But on the other hand, we are not to be negative about the present realities of the heavenly gifts, which have been granted to the churches since the Apostolic age, such as speaking in tongues, miracles, divine healing, power, casting out demons and prophecy.

Isiah's grand vision has been fulfilling since the days of Jesus and His Apostles:

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor (Matt 11:5) - fulfilling Isiah's grand vision in Isa 35.

With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all (Acts 4:33, 6:8).

Signs, wonders, casting out demons, miracles and glorious things are the very signs of the Messianic kingship now on the earth. 

Finally, in Rev. 20:4-6 we have statements about millennial kingship of the saints with Christ. In this passage, where only the millennial kingship is mentioned, the people who are reigning are enthroned in heaven:

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 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.

This passage is in an Apocalyptic literature, which is to be interpreted not literally but symbolically. The things are seen in visions, which demand symbolic interpretation. Then the 1,000 years refers a perfect period in which God's will and plan is accomplished fully since 10 means perfects as ten fingers suggest. If 10 represents perfection, the 1,000 is intensified form of 10. That means, in the said period, all God's plan toward men are to be completed.

"They came to life and reigned with Christ" - This coming to life is nothing other than the regenerated life in Eph 2:5-6 or John 3. This is the first resurrection, the regeneration. It corresponds to the second death, the spiritual dead in the lake of fire. While the second resurrection is not mention, only implied by the first resurrection, the second one refers to the physical resurrection which will occur at the parousia. Likewise, the first death also refers to the physical death which takes place when we die in our biological body.

If we take together Rev. 20:4-6 with Rev. 2:26-27, 1 Pet 2:9, Acts 2:35ff. and Eph 2:5-6, the clearer image of millennial kingship of the saints will emerge: It is a present reality which now we Christians must exercise in Christ Jesus. We must rule over the nations, by winning souls to Christ and by shattering the sin and Satanic forces.

No need is there whatsoever for the supposed earthly, political, and military rule of Christ Jesus on the earth after His coming since He has accomplished the fundamental salvation of humans, saving them from sin and Satan. The temporal rule is not necessary therefore. Our fundamental evil is removed on the cross. Then it is only natural for Jesus to reign now and forever.

One might object against our line of argument, by pointing out all the Old Testament references where somehow literal description of perfect peace of the natural order and rule of Israel prevail: Isa 2:2-4, ch. 11, 35 etc. These passages are prophecies of messianic kingdom which has begun with Christ's first coming. His kingdom is of developmental nature, that is, progressive in that it starts in insignificant way and develops into great reality as the Kingdom parables of Matt 13 tell us. Also the prophets in the OT have spoken in terms of their own understanding so that their contemporaries could understand what they were preaching. So the prophecies were describes the future with Jewish customs and geogrophy. Prophecies are limited within their times, though the contents of them are about future things. We say this principle of interpretation as "principle of outer covering and core." Outer covering refer to the Jewish customs, core to the things that will unfold in the churches, the New Israel.