Acts 2:35

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ Acts 2:35

Peter referred to David in the previous verse, noting that he did not ascend into heaven, but he did prophesy in the 110th Psalm that Messiah would. In this, the Lord said to Him, “Sit at my right hand.” The Lord Jesus ascended to the position of all authority and power in heaven at that time. Peter finishes his quote with the next words, saying, “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

The Greek more precisely reads, “the footstool for your feet.” The Lord Jesus will remain in His heavenly position until the course of human events comes to the right point where Christ will return again and intervene in the stream of time. The enemies of Christ are any who do not accept His offer of peace and reconciliation with God.

This has been, and it continues to be, the normal course of the world. Some have come to Christ while others have rejected Him. The gospel grew immensely at times, but it has also come under great attack in almost all places it has been preached.

In the world today, even the nations who have been most friendly to Christianity are becoming more and more hostile to it. This will increase as the world drums up reasons that Christians are the problem in society. A worldwide targeted agenda against the true faith is in motion as the world continues to devolve into moral perversion and ungodly agendas.

However, and actually, because of this, the world will devolve into being a place of death and destruction. This is clearly outlined in the pages of Revelation. Without faith in God as presented in the Bible, there can only be enmity with God and a life-course that will follow an unsound, even wicked, path. Chaos will be the inevitable result.

Those who do hold to the true faith as presented in Scripture will be harassed and martyred in enormous numbers. But this period of global wickedness will end. It is the time prophesied throughout Scripture, and it is simply defined in David’s words as when the Lord has made the enemies of Christ a footstool for His feet.

The symbolism of this is where the foot is placed upon the neck of one’s enemies, thus indicating total authority over them as they lie in helpless subjugation. It is seen, for example, in Joshua 10 –

“So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, ‘Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.’ And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. 25 Then Joshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.’” Joshua 10:24, 25

This time of Christ reigning in heaven is alluded to by Paul in Ephesians 1 –

“and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Ephesians 1:19-21

It is also quite clearly expressed in 1 Corinthians 15 –

“The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:26-28

Paul’s words do not provide all of the information in the timeline, but they provide a broad brushstroke of how these things are laid out. Without going into all the detail, the anticipated timeline is:

- The church age. This ends at the rapture of the church (may that day be soon!).

- The seven final years of the Law of Moses for Israel (Daniel 9:24-27), also known as the Tribulation Period. This period ends when Israel as a nation calls out to Christ, acknowledging Him as their Messiah (Matthew 23:27-39, and etc.).

- The millennial reign of Christ.

The reason that the rapture is placed in this general timeline before the tribulation period is because that is what the Bible teaches.

Life application: One of the serious deficiencies in replacement theology (well, one of many) is that they believe the world will continue to be evangelized until a state peace is realized. When this occurs, the marvelous time prophesied in the Old Testament will be realized. The church will have overcome the wickedness of the world and the gospel of Christ will be universally known and accepted.

That is not at all what the Bible teaches, nor does it even hint at this. The enemies of Christ will continue until the end. The world will come apart at its seams as wickedness increases. The enemies of the gospel will all but overpower the saints. But Christ will return and slay those who have come against them.

The church will have been removed before the tribulation period, and Israel will become the primary focus of world events. This is not because they will be right with God, but because God is faithful to His covenants. They will eventually come to this realization, they will call out to Him for deliverance through Christ Jesus, and Jesus will respond. The national salvation of Israel is clearly presented in Scripture, and it will come to pass.

This demonstrates the great faithfulness of the Lord to His word. As this is the case, each person who has been saved by the blood of Christ should be perfectly assured that his salvation is secure. Our unfaithfulness to the Lord will never negate His faithfulness to His covenant promises. Israel is a template of this. In His faithfulness to Israel, we can be assured of His faithfulness to us.

Thank God today for His unlimited grace and mercy toward the objects of His covenantal promises. The shed blood of Christ has secured our salvation. Yes, thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord.

How good it is, O Lord, to wait upon You. Though times may get very terrible in the days ahead, we have a sure and blessed promise of eternal joy in Your presence. Whatever happens now is but a light and temporary affliction as we await the glory that is yet ahead. And so, O Lord, how very good it is to wait upon You. Amen.