Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #19 of Revelation chapter 19 and we are continuing to look at Revelation 19:15:

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

We are presently looking at the phrase, “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron.”  We saw in our last study that God ties the word “rod” with His Word and also with feeding sheep, as we saw, for instance, in Psalm 23: “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  We also went to Micah 7:14:

Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

Here, God says to feed His people “with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage.”  So God speaks of the “rod” as that which feeds His people because the “rod” identifies with the Word of God, the Bible, and the Bible is spiritual nourishment for the people of God. 

As we discussed last time, it is a “rod of iron” due to the fact that it is Judgment Day.  God has shut the door to heaven and ended His salvation program.  In other words, no man can go to the Bible and read it to experience salvation;  in times past, man could go to the Bible and since “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,”  there would be some salvation, but this is no longer the case.  Also, God had encouraged mankind to come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need; God encouraged sinners to approach unto Him.  They must approach humbly, yes, but, nonetheless, they could approach and beseech Him for mercy, crying out, “O, Father, have mercy upon me.”  Like the publican, they could have beaten upon their breast.  But now God is not encouraging that kind of thing and the Bible is not encouraging a sinner to approach God with the expectation that God might save at this time, in the Day of Judgment.  It will not happen and, therefore, it is as though the “heaven is iron and the earth is brass.”  Christ is ruling with the Word of God, the Bible, with a “rod of iron,” holding unsaved mankind guilty of their sins and it is an instrument of wrath, but not of mercy.

Let us look at this statement again in Revelation 19:15:

… and he shall rule them with a rod of iron…

There is no question this speaks of Judgment Day.  The whole chapter is describing the Day of Judgment.  For instance, look at the language of Revelation 19:11, where it says of Christ on His horse that “in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”  This is a statement regarding Judgment Day.   Then we read of His armies and in verse 15 it said He was smiting the nations with the sharp sword that came out of His mouth.  That is language of God’s judgment.  It goes on to say that the beast and the kings of the earth that were gathered together to make war against Him are cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.  That is language that describes Judgment Day.  Revelation 19 is a chapter describing Judgment Day. 

I know I am saying that over and over, but there are people that want to cast off all judgment upon the world and they want to apply these verses to judgment upon the churches.  I have heard this again, and again.  Even in Revelation, chapter 14, where Christ is treading the winepress and the blood comes out by the space of 1,600 furlongs, they say, “Oh, that is related to the churches.”  The people that are saying these things do not happen to be in the churches, so it is really a way of pointing their finger “over there” and getting the judgment of God off them and where they are in the world and placing God’s judgment at a location where they are not.  It is a convenient tool that some have developed to cast off the judgment of God upon them, but the Bible will not allow for that and the content of these chapters will not allow for that.  Revelation, chapter 14 is set in the context of Judgment Day and so, too, is Revelation, chapter 19.

For instance, let us go back and see an Old Testament usage of the phrase “rod of iron,” in Psalm 2:8-9:

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

To “dash in pieces” or to “break them with a rod of iron” is language of judgment.  Remember what God says in Romans, chapter 9 concerning the “vessels unto dishonour.”  It says in Romans 9:21-23:

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Here, it is basically saying that God has “vessels unto dishonour” and, yet, He patiently puts off destroying them until He can rescue or deliver all the “vessels of mercy” that he has chosen unto honour.  What this means is that God will first save all His elect and once He has saved the last one, He will destroy the “vessels of dishonour.”  He will be like the potter that takes the bad pottery and destroys it.  This is the point at which we find ourselves in Judgment Day since May 21, 2011 and the language of Psalm 2:9 applies: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”  This Psalm is quoted in Revelation, chapter 2, where it says in Revelation 2:27:

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron…

Notice how the word “break” was changed here to the word “rule.”  Again, it says in Revelation 2:27:

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Here, it makes mention of the vessels of a potter that are broken to shivers and that tells us it is drawing from Psalm 2 and, yet, God has substituted the word “rule” for the word “break.”  Why did God do that?  Actually, He does it a third time in the Book of Revelation.  The Greek word translated as “rule” is “poimaino” and it is Strong’s #4165.  It is found 11 times in the New Testament and four times it is translated as “rule.”  Seven times it is translated as “feed” or “feeding,” so the majority of time it is translated this way.  Let us look at Luke 17:7:

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

The word “feeding” is the same word translated as “rule.” 

We will look at several of these examples, so we get a good idea of exactly how this word is used.  It says in Acts 20:28:

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Here, the Apostle Paul is being moved to say these words concerning “feeding the flock” of God’s people and it would mean they are being fed with the Word of God.

It says in 1Corinthians 9:7:

Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

Again, it is the word “feedeth.” 

It says in 1Peter 5:2:

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Again, it says, “Feed the flock.”  We read it in 1Corinthians 9:7 and we read it in Acts 20:28, regarding feeding the church and in Luke 17:7, regarding feeding cattle.

Now let us go to Revelation, chapter 7, which is the point at which the great multitude had become saved and have come out of Great Tribulation.  Remember that the great multitude suddenly appeared in heaven and the question is asked in Revelation 7:13:

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Also, notice it references “white robes” and in Revelation 19, the armies in heaven on horses are clothed in fine, white linen and the bride is clothed in fine, white linen.   And, here, the multitude is arrayed in white robes, because they, too, have become saved.

Then it goes on to say in Revelation 7:14:

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

In other words, they have become saved and their sins are washed away through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ and here they are “in heaven,” but we should not think that this image of them is indicating that all the elect have gone to heaven and the world is over.  That is not the case because it says in Revelation 7:15:

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

There is reference to “day and night,” but the Bible says there is no “night” in heaven, so the term “day and night” means they are still on the earth and time is continuing.  It is a time reference that means the “sun, moon and stars” are still operating in the heavens and the world has not yet ended.  Yet, the great multitude has come out of Great Tribulation because the Tribulation ended on May 21, 2011 and all those to become saved have been saved, including the figurative “144,000” saved during the church age and the great multitude that were saved out of the Great Tribulation; they have come together to form the body of Christ and it says that God dwells among them.  He is in the midst of them.  It says in Joel 3 that God dwells in Zion and it is a similar idea in Revelation 7:15 because God indwells everyone that has become saved.

Then it says in Revelation 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

The Lamb (which is in the midst of the throne shall “feed” them or “rule” them.  It is the same Greek word “poimaino” where it said, “He shall rule them with a rod of iron.”  The Lord Jesus is “feeding” them.  Notice He is feeding the great multitude.  He is feeding the flock.  He is leading them unto living fountains of water because He is our Shepherd and He guides us in this life and into the next life in eternity and we will drink for evermore of the living water.  We drink when we are saved and thereafter, for evermore.  So the Lord Jesus is ruling and since these have come out of Great Tribulation, it is “in those days after that tribulation” in which this is taking place.  Revelation 7 and this passage agree with the statement in Revelation 19:15:

…. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron…

So how can we understand this phrase?  We can properly and legitimately understand it as, “And he shall feed them with a rod of iron.”  That is why God made the change in words from Psalm 2, where He said he would “break” them with a rod of iron to where it said He would “feed” them with a rod of iron.  It is because the Word of God is simultaneously “breaking” the dishonorable vessels (the broken pottery) into shivers and “feeding” the vessels of honour or feeding the flock, the great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation.

Let us look at another place the Greek word “poimaino” is found in John, chapter 21.  You probably guessed that we would be heading to this chapter because the topic turned to “feeding sheep.”  But it is the word “poimaino” that led us here; it is not as though I chose to go to John 21, but it is the Greek word “poimaino” that is leading us here and taking us to a passage after the great catch of fish was brought in, just as the word “poimaino” directed us to Revelation 7 after the great multitude appeared before the throne of God, having come out of Great Tribulation.  This is how God wrote the Bible and it is how He directs us, guides us and leads us unto “living waters” by comparing Scripture with Scripture as we follow a particular word in the Bible. 

Here, in John 21, we see the great catch of fish which typify the great multitude saved out of Great Tribulation.   Immediately after the great catch comes in, Jesus began the dialogue with Peter, where Christ asked Peter if he loved Him and then He said, “Feed my sheep.”

Then it said in John 21:16:

He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

The word “poimaino” is the word translated as “feed” in the phrase, “Feed my sheep.”  It is the same word used in Revelation 9:15.  Then Jesus asked Peter the same question a third time.  Only one time of these three times was the word “poimaino” used.  The other two times it is another Greek word, Strong’s #1006, a completely different and unrelated word.  Yet, once God did use the Greek word translated as “rule” in Revelation 9:15, He makes a connection that ties in the “feeding” of sheep after the great catch of fish in John 21 with the “rule” of Jesus Christ in the Day of Judgment over all the nations of the world.  Christ is punishing the wicked while simultaneously feeding His people and this word “poimaino” leads us to that conclusion.

Well, it is really wonderful how God has written the Bible and how He uses a particular word and the way He allowed translators to translate them as different English words, in order to accomplish the Lord’s own purposes in hiding truth.  We sometimes wonder why the translators translated a certain word in a particular way, but all their work was done at the allowance of God; God permitted them to translate the words as they did because it was the Lord’s purpose to seal the Word and hide the truth until it was time for it to be revealed.

So, here, we have a word “poimaino” that identifies with Judgment Day and we can understand Revelation 19 to mean that Christ is ruling the world with a “rod of iron,” as He punishes the wicked and destroys them for evermore.  However, it was not until recently in this time of judgment (after May 21, 2011), we learned that it had always been God’s plan to keep His people alive and remaining on the earth in Judgment Day and to feed His sheep with a “rod of iron.”  It would make no sense if it were only the unsaved that were still in the world and the elect were already in heaven for the Lord to use this particular word that involves “feeding” the flock or “feeding” His sheep.  It is only now that we understand.  It is because the unsaved and the elect are still together in the world and, therefore, that which is a “rod of iron” to one group is an instrument for “feeding” to the other group.