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"The LORD shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: rule Thou IN THE MIDST
OF THINE ENEMIES."
"The Lord at Thy right hand shall STRIKE THROUGH KINGS in the day of His
WRATH" (Psa. 110: 2, 5).
This passage is comparable with Psa. 2: There we have the kings of the earth setting
themselves against the Lord, and against His anointed, but He that sitteth in the heavens
shall have them in derision, and when He speaks to them, it is in His WRATH, saying:
"Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion."
This King whose dominion includes "the uttermost parts of the earth" shall "break
them with a rod of iron" and these kings are enjoined to "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
and ye perish from the way, When His WRATH is kindled but a little" (Psa. 2: 6, 8, 9,
12).
The Millennium follows immediately upon the Coming of Christ (Rev. 19: 21;
20: 1, 2). There is no interval for a Pre-Millennial kingdom in the records of the
Apocalypse except it be the kingdom of the Beast. When Christ comes, He comes to
Zion:
"The Redeemer shall come to Zion . . . . . Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the
glory of the LORD is risen upon thee" (Isa. 59: 20 to 60: 1).
At the selfsame time, namely at the coming of the Lord to Zion "darkness shall cover
the earth, and gross darkness the people . . . . . and Gentiles shall come to thy light, and
kings to the brightness of thy rising . . . . . the nation and the kingdom that will not serve
thee shall perish, yea those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isa. 59: 20; 60: 1, 2, 3, 12).
Again we read in the prophecy of Joel:
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand
. . . . . The LORD also shall roar out of Zion . . . . . and the heavens and the earth shall
shake: but the LORD will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of
Israel . . . . . for the LORD dwelleth in Zion" (Joel 2: 1; 3: 16, 21).
The Millennium opens (1) with the Lord reigning in Zion, or (2) it does not. If it does,
then the Millennium cannot be a kingdom of universal peace, to say so denies the
testimony of Scripture. When the Lord reigns in Zion it is in the midst of enemies.
Wrath is to be feared. Rule will be severe--a rod of IRON. Nations are in danger of
perishing and so are kings, and the nation and the kingdom that refuse to serve Israel
shall perish "Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isa. 60: 12). This will be the day
when Israel shall be named "The Priests of the Lord" and "Ministers of our God", the day
when those that mourn "in Zion" shall have beauty for ashes (Isa. 61: 3, 6).
So we could continue. We must either believe that when the Lord reigns in Zion, it
will be on an earth where enemies still exist, or we can believe one or other of the
theories with which the Millennial kingdom has been invested, but it is impossible to
believe both.