There is a lot of confusion surrounding this passage because certain people interpret it incorrectly, saying the Lord will not return until all His enemies are subdued beforehand. Another verse that is similarly misinterpreted is Matthew 23:39, "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." They would have us to believe that Jesus will not return until the Jewish nation first acknowledges Him as their Messiah. We will consider these Scriptures in the following article.
All Scripture remains harmonious if you interpret these correctly, but because of such misunderstandings the Bible becomes confusing and the prophetic pieces will not fit in agreement with one another. We then run into serious problems when other Scriptures contradict our fallacious interpretations.
In the verses we are examining, it all comes down to how you understand this word, "UNTIL". There are two different ways you can interpret it, though only one is correct:
A. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. = The Jewish nation will not see Jesus again until they meet the condition of saying "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord."
B. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. = The Jewish nation will say "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" when they see Jesus again.
Interpretation B is correct. Consider Matthew 26:29, "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." The day when Christ drinks it anew with His disciples in the Kingdom is not the condition of Him drinking wine again, it is the fulfillment! Otherwise it would sound irrational, like this: "I will not drink wine again until I meet the condition of drinking wine with you in the Kingdom. After that I will drink wine again." That doesn't make sense! No, the act of drinking with them in the Kingdom is the fulfillment of the first part of the verse.
Likewise, their saying "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" is not the condition of them seeing Him again, but the fulfillment! When Israel shall SEE Jesus coming again on the clouds of heaven then shall they say "Blessed is He who comes [is currently coming] in the Name of the Lord." (Zechariah 12:9-10)
So it is with Psalm 110:1. The interpretation of "UNTIL" makes all the difference. We could look at it and say "Christ will sit at the Father's right hand until this condition is met: all His enemies are put under His feet... then He will come." However, this does not comport with the prophetic Scriptures, which say that Jesus Himself returns to earth to DESTROY the enemies... He doesn't wait until after they are destroyed. (ex. 2 Thessalonians 2:8)
The verse and interpretation then goes like this: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." The Father is telling Christ to sit at His right hand until that day when His enemies are made His footstool: when He sends Christ from heaven to earth "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel." It's not the condition for His coming but the fulfillment of His coming. And to further settle the issue, the rest of the Psalm confirms this very fact:
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Psa 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Psa 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psa 110:5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
Psa 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Psa 110:7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
The Holy Spirit couldn't be more clear. Psalm 110 is speaking of the day when Jesus Christ, "the Lord at thy right hand", comes and makes His enemies His footstool.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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