When Jesus ascended to heaven, King David prophetically stated that God said to him, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” (Ps 110.1 NRSV). Both Jews and Christians have believed that this is a messianic text. In fact, it is the most quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. Jesus quoted it to interrogators, asking them what the first part of the verse meant (Matt. 22.43-44). The psalm begins, “The LORD said to my lord.” Jesus then asked them, “If David then calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” (v. 45). They were stumped, had no answer, and “from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions” (v. 46).
But usually, when Ps 110.1 is quoted in the New Testament, it is for the purpose of affirming that the resurrected Jesus ascended to heaven and was greatly exalted there by sitting with God on his throne. And nowhere in the New Testament does it explain what the latter part of this text means, which says, “until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Then, what does it mean? There are some biblical texts that subtly provide an answer to this question.
David, a warrior-king himself, also says of the entimes, “Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed [=messiah], saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill'” (Ps 2.1-6).
The Prophet Joel proclaims on behalf of God, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel. . . . Proclaim war, stir up the warriors. Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up. . . . Let the nations rouse themselves and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the neighboring nations. . . . Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem” (Joel 3.2, 9, 12, 14-16).
The Prophet Isaiah says, “Who is this splendidly robed, marching in his great might?” (Isaiah 63.1) The person answers, “It is I, announcing vindication, mighty to save.” He is asked again, “Why are your robes red, and your garments like theirs who tread the wine press?” (v. 2). He answers, “I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples [Gentiles] no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice [blood] spattered on my garments, and stained my robes. For the day vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeeming work had come. . . . I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth” (vv. 3-6).
And John the Revelator writes, “Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand!” (Revelation 14.14). An angel then commanded another angel who also had a sharp sickle, “‘Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and the blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles” (vv. 18-20).
John adds, “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. . . . And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. . . . he will tread the winepress of the fury of the warth of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords'” (Revelation 19.11, 14-16).
All of these texts are about Jesus at his second coming. The Valley of Jehoshaphat is the Kidron Valley that lies between the foot of the Mount of Olives and the temple mount in Jerusalem. This is where God will gather the bulk of the great mulitude of armies of the nations in the last days as they seek to annihilate the nation of Israel. Thus, they will be Jesus’ footstool as he comes to trod upon them in God’s wine press.
I have some devout Christian friends who are pacifists. So, they do not interpret such texts literally, as I do and most Christian expositors have throughout the history of Christianity. But I think my friends don’t understand what it is going be like in the latter days. Scripture repeatedly says that the final Antichrist will declare war on the saints, and he will be very successful at it (Daniel 7.21; 8.24; 12.7; Revelation 11.7; 13.7). And he will declare himself a god (Daniel 11.36; 2 Thessalonians 2.4). Many millions, and perhaps even billions, of Christians will be beheaded for refusing to worship him and his image (2 Thessalonians 2.4; Revelation 13.15). This, and the effort to complete Hitler’s “final solution,” is going to make God and Jesus, who are in heaven watching this, VERY ANGRY! Need I say more?
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