Psa 2:9 KJV – Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Rev 2:27 KJV – And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 12:5 KJV – And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.

Rev 19:15 KJV – And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Job 10:9 KJV – Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

Job 33:6 KJV – Behold, I [am] according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

Dan 2:34 KJV – Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

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Several promises are made, by the Spirit of Christ speaking, to the individual with an ear to hear. These promises are made to the overcomer, regardless of the individual’s social, political,  national, or religious surroundings or origins. In  Rev 2&3, these promises are spoken in various systems, as if to them confined within the boundaries of a shell of containment. Boundaries of man’s device. Like a chick in an egg, outgrowing it’s environment, exhausting the limited resources that were in the egg, and hearing a voice that speaks from the “other side”, yet hearing it from within the shell. “COME UP HERE”.

Among these promises:

Rev 2:26 KJV – And he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

This power, spoken of in Psalm 2 as to be given to Christ, we find Christ now can and will extend to he/she who has an ear to hear, and a desire to overcome. Studying the term “rod of iron” reveals it to be akin to a shepherd’s rod. It also entails the idea of feeding. The chick in the egg will exhaust it’s limited resources quickly, and be brought to a moment of crisis. Break out or die.

Jesus says, in the course of the promise, that the recipient is to utilize this rod of iron, as Jesus did. He/she is to overcome in the same manner Jesus overcame, and as we read in the second psalm, sat down in the Father’s throne. Jesus, about to be murdered, said these words: “The prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me”. This seemingly simple phrase reveals the ultimate victory he enjoyed after a life time of temptation by the world and everything in it. The victory is comprehended when one realizes Jesus left the world and took none of it with him. He was often tempted to utilize the world’s means and methods in order to accomplish what had been set before him. He never took the bait. He understood perfectly, the situation of being in the world, but not of it. Therefore he is able to help those who follow after him. If you are in Christ by faith, that is not of the world. It is not by flesh, nor blood, nor the will of man. It is of God.

The rod of iron is used to pulverize and drive out of one’s being, everything that is man’s device. The rod is the truth. It may be more than that. I am sure it is. But it is the truth.

When one is conceived of God in faith, in Christ, one must learn to be true to one’s origins. For when once this happens, out of the weeds will pop up everything under the sun that will desire to lay a claim in you, just as Elisha had to endure the gauntlet of the “schools of the prophets” as he journeyed in faith after Elijah. But none of these things are in Christ. None of them will go any farther than flesh.

The simple message of this writing is to convey that the rod of iron employed successfully by Jesus, had little or no outward measure of effect upon the world around him. Sure, things were stirred up. But they quickly settled back to their former estate when he was “gone”. So, where were they dealt with? where was the victory? They were dealt with IN him. They were beaten down to nothingness every time they attempted to rise up in council, from the 40 days and nights of temptation in the wilderness, to Nicodemus’ offering Jesus a place with the Pharisees, to the council from his own disciples, not to do what he was sent to to do. At every presentation of this world and it’s prince’s council, Jesus beat it to shivers and went on. The rod given to the over comer is to be employed as it was with Him.

To any in an environment like those depicted in the assemblies of Revelation 2 and 3, gazing into the future, waiting for Jesus to beat the nations into submission with a rod of iron, I encourage you to consider that, according to Him, he already has.  Now it is your turn.  “We” may not yet see all things under His feet. But “I” can. If seated together in him, in heavenly places, the view is not what it is from elsewhere.