Psalms 2:1

PSALM 2

THE REIGN OF JEHOVAH'S ANOINTED

Psalms 2:1

"Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing?"

The picture that surfaces here is one of rebellion and hatred against God's anointed, who can be none other than the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Cross-Reference Bible gives an alternative reading on the first line as, "Why do the nations tumultuously assemble?" and some of the versions render the 2nd line, as "And the peoples imagine a vain thing?"

This is dramatically opposite to the erroneous impression held by many to the effect that, "The reign of Christ on earth will be a time of universal felicity, prosperity, and righteousness." It will be no such thing.

The picture or rebellion and hatred against God's Christ depicted in this prophecy is exactly the same as that which emerges throughout the New Testament. "He shall reign until he has put all enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15;25; Hebrews 10:13), indicating that the reign of Christ will take place during the ages when his enemies actively oppose him, and that His reign shall end when that opposition ceases.

J. R. P. Sclater gives a classical example of the enormous error that mankind has generally received regarding the Reign of Messiah. Noting that the picture here is one of rebellion and opposition to God's Anointed, he actually denied the passage's reference to the Messiah at all, stating that the picture here, "Scarcely comports with the Messianic ideal."[1] Of course, it is true that the prophecy of the reign of Christ in this passage does not indeed "comport" or agree with the wild-eyed "ideal" of Messiah's reign as postulated by the Millennialists and other misled and erroneous groups; but we stoutly affirm that the passage here most certainly does conform in the minutest detail to the picture of the Reign of Christ throughout the ages as given in God's Word.

It should be remembered that the current dispensation IS the Millennium, and the rebellion of whole nations against God's Anointed as seen in this very century is exactly what is foretold right here in this second Psalm. Many scholars, like Sclater are apparently ignorant of the fact that Jesus Christ IS REIGNING NOW, as indicated by Matthew 28:18-20.