The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.” – Psalm 110:1
Right Hands & Footstools
As we last looked at this passage we mentioned that it is a metaphor, giving us a mental picture of spiritual truths. While it is tempting to look at this passage through the lenses of “spatial” imagery, it is more important to recognize the theological implications.
While Paul does refer to the resurrected Christ as being at the Father’s right hand (Ephesians 1:20), he expounds on the significance of this in his letter to the Philippians,
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11
While Jesus is “seated” in His rightful position of supreme authority interceding on our behalf, the Father is also busy; making a footstool.
Apparently, no seat of authority would be complete without a footstool. But how do you make a footstool for someone so highly exalted?
Raw Materials
When The Father (Yahweh) tells the Son (Adonai) that He is going to make Him a footstool, He says He is going to use Christ’s enemies as the raw materials. Getting back to the imagery, Jesus is to sit at the Father’s right hand until the Father has completed His footstool.
While it is tempting to imagine God the Father turning Satan on a lathe preparing to make him a “leg” for a stool, it is perhaps more helpful to understand the background for this imagery.
In Biblical times, defeated enemies were often ushered in before the throne of the conquering King. Wearing chains, the defeated enemies would be further humbled as they were placed before the King who would proceed to rest his legs on their backs as a sign of victory. It was not uncommon for the conquered to find themselves at the feet of their conquerors (see also Joshua 10:24 & Judges 1:7).
While it delights us to envision Christ’s enemies getting their just deserts, it may prove more beneficial to be reminded of the identity of His enemies.
Lineups
I am confident every generation has had their enemies. When I was young our nation was fighting the war in Vietnam. It was a difficult time for our nation to say the least. The war seemed to be very unpopular and it was hard to distinguish if our enemies were abroad or here in the States.
When the war finally ended, there was no talk of world peace. Instead, the discussion, at least as I remember it, shifted back to our great enemy Russia and the Cold War. But weren’t they an ally in the last World War?
When our Nation fought for its independence, we broke from the “bondage” of England’s “shackles”. Now they are our greatest ally in the fight to maintain freedom around the world.
In an ever-changing world, it is difficult to know who our flesh and blood enemies are. Too often, if our enemies were in a police lineup we would not correctly identify them.
Messiah & Zealots
Since the Fall, the world has been subject to non-stop fighting and death. Unfortunately, war is one of the constants in our ever-changing world. Despite what our mouths speak about peace, our hands are quick to shed blood.
When Jesus came to earth as the long-awaited Messiah, so many people “missed” Him because their expectations had become misguided. Whereas Jesus came offering spiritual liberation, so many wanted political liberation. Years of bondage can have a way of impacting our expectations.
People like the Zealots did not comprehend a suffering servant. They literally wanted to see their flesh and blood enemies, the Romans, chained and brought before the throne of an earthly Messiah. The wanted to see their Messiah literally place his feet on the backs of their Roman oppressors.
How badly their expectations were crushed when Jesus was stripped and led out to Calvary to be crucified on a Roman cross.
Cosmic Powers
Saul may not have been a Zealot, but he was certainly a man of great zeal. Before his conversion, he was wreaking havoc on the Church seeking to arrest or even put to death the followers of Jesus Christ. Like so many others, Saul was to learn that his enemies were not flesh and blood.
On his way to Damascus to further persecute Christians, Saul was knocked to the ground by the Messiah. Jesus confronted Saul not with earthly weapons, but with Truth.
Saul wasn’t just fighting against Christians, he was fighting against Christ. Saul was fighting a losing battle, as the enemies of Christ all do. At the end of the day, they are nothing more than the raw materials for Christ’s footstool.
After his conversion, Paul had a much clearer understanding of his enemies.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12
Know Thine Enemy
Vietnam is ancient history (relatively speaking). The Cold War is no longer a hot topic. Conflicts still dominate the news, but I am now able to understand the truth behind the headlines and soundbites. While enemies carry out their battles in flesh and blood, their marching orders come from the spiritual realm.
As Christians, we need to be careful of the battle lines we draw. We can expend a lot of energy fighting the wrong battles. Our enemies are not those with different nationalities, skin colors or political viewpoints. Rather, our enemies are those forces “in the heavenly places” that work against God and the well being of man.
It is important that we realize the Judases and Pontius Pilates of the world are merely agents for the spiritual forces of evil. And although they may ignorantly play out their roles in God’s redemptive plan, often times appearing to be victorious, the fact of the matter is just the opposite.
Thanks to the victory obtained on the cross, Christ’s enemies are now progressively being destroyed.
Mind Battles
As quoted above, Paul tells us that our battles are not against flesh and blood. Instead, he warns us that our enemies, Christ’s enemies, are those forces which dominate the minds of men and women. These enemies maintain their “power” as long as people believe in them and render their allegiance to them. Hence Paul’s warning to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Thankfully, these enemies are being chained and added to Christ’s footstool every day.
As the minds of men and woman are being liberated by faith in our resurrected Messiah, the bondage imposed by these spiritual forces of evil is dissolved. Held in God’s shackles as they wait to become Christ’s footstool, these forces are exposed for what they really are; “weak and worthless” (Galatians 4:9).
Remember when the enemy had you captured? Remember the days of bondage to the power of sin and the fear of death? Have you forgotten what it was like when you surrendered your allegiance to Christ’s enemies? Did you ever think you could be delivered from the iron grip of the “cosmic powers of this present darkness“? Praise God for heavenly footstools.
Metaphors and figurative language help to paint mental pictures, but can we adequately put into words the joy and peace we experience as Believers because of the inward release from the power of Christ’s enemies?
Destroying Death
As the Father progressively destroys the enemies of Christ, one, in particular, roams the earth in defiance. Death. A respecter of neither man or beast, death has haunted man since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden.
Death resides in every country. Death is spoken in every language. Death was sin’s first child. Death will be Christ’s final enemy. Whether we scan the annals of history or the horizon of the future, death is prominent, boldly riding on his black horse. But death’s time in the saddle is limited.
When Christ rose from the grave, death began to bleed. Death’s wound is mortal, and Satan knows it. Death’s sting is gone, and when Christ’s enemies are lined up in chains to serve as His footstool, death will be at the end of the line.
The rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces, and even death may seem rather imposing, but to our all-powerful God, they are “weak and worthless”. The stuff of which footstools are made.
Kind of makes me glad we are seated with Christ in the Heavenly places at the right hand of the Father (Eph. 2:6). What a joy it will be to see Jesus rest His legs.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. – 1 Cor. 15:25-26