What does it mean and when will it happen that every knee shall bow?

The light thrown upon this scripture by its citation in the New Testament is remarkable. But before we proceed to this, a glance at the context will be both interesting and profitable. In verse 22, following upon the assertion that, in contrast with idols, Jehovah alone is God, that "there is no God beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me," we have the universal invitation of grace, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." Then comes the solemn asseveration, enforced by a divine oath, "That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear;" that is, Jehovah, the Creator — God, has thus decreed. Turning now to Philippians 2, we find that these words are applied to the One who humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. There are, moreover, two notable explanations added — explanations which never could have been discovered, had they not thus been divinely given. The first is, that "every knee" applies to all in heaven, to all in earth, and to all under the earth; i.e. to all intelligences, whether in heaven, or in earth, or in hell; all demons, as well as all angels, saints, and men. Secondly, "every tongue shall swear" is seen to mean the confession to the glory of God the Father that Jesus is Lord, all alike owning the exaltation and the given name, which is above every name, of Jesus as Lord, in virtue of His death on the cross. What an unfolding, both of the glory of the person of our blessed Lord, as well as of God's appreciation of the life and death of Him who was known on earth as Jesus of Nazareth! In Romans 14:10 we find another application. Why, says the apostle, dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.* For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (vv. 10-12.) In this scripture bowing the knee is referred to our accountability to God in judgment; and we are exhorted, because all alike have before them theprospect of the judgment-seat, to desist from judging one another. (Compare 1 Cor. 4:3-5.) We know from another scripture that the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son; and this fact, taken in connection with the statement of the apostle, brings out again the essential and personal glories of Him who will be the Judge of all. These several scriptures, when combined, contain a remarkable revelation of the purpose of God as to the absolute supremacy of His beloved Son, and also of His will to have that supremacy universally owned. Jesus of Nazareth is already, and one day shall be confessed to be, Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father.

It is not merely a question of saints or of Israel, but "every knee shall bow," etc. This takes in angels and saints, and even those who are forever under the judgment of God, for to "under the earth" attaches the worst possible sense. Thus the infernal beings, the lost, come in here; the verse includes those that have rejected salvation, no less than those who confess the Saviour. It is the universal subjection of all to Christ. Jesus has won the title even as man. If unbelievers despised Him as man, as Son of man He will judge them. As man they must bow to Him. The lowly name that was His as Nazarene on the earth must be honoured everywhere; God's glory is concerned in it. In the name of Jesus or in virtue of His name, "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." v. 11.

It is not, again, a question of His being Son (which of course He was from all eternity), but Lord also. We know that the spirit of this is true for the believer now. Every soul that is now born of God bows his knee in virtue of the name of Jesus, and to Jesus. The Christian now confesses by the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ is Lord; but this homage will be made good to an incomparably larger extent by and by. But then it will be too late for salvation. It is now received by faith which finds blessedness and eternal life in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Neither is there any man that confesses Him to be the Lord by the Holy Ghost but a saved person. But there will be more than this by and by. When the day of grace is past and God is not merely gathering out an elect body, the Church, but putting down all opposing authority, then the name of Jesus will be throughout the universe owned even by those who do it by compulsion, and who by that very acknowledgment confess their own eternal misery.

God has ordained it; subjection to the name of Jesus must be universal. In heaven, earth, and hell, every knee must bow, and every tongue must confess to the divine glories of the once lowly Jesus of Nazareth. The faithful, we know, with loud and joyous hallelujahs will confess Him Saviour and Lord; the holy angels will swell the song of the saints on high; but the fallen angels with the lost of every name and age, who are "under the earth," in the regions of woe, must also confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Yes, my dear reader, willingly or unwillingly, thy knee must bow with the rest, and thy tongue must confess. But how awful the thought, to be compelled, however reluctantly, under the iron rod of judgment, to confess the glories of the Saviour in whom thou hast no part, and to bow to Him whom thou didst once reject!

Fourthly, if man will not look to God and be saved, they are warned that the time is coming when, through judgment, they will be compelled to own the rights of God. The word has gone forth from God’s mouth in righteousness, and will not be recalled, “That to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear.”

But to return to a few more objections of our adversaries: they say, "Still it is written that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11), and that all shall be put in subjection under His feet (Heb. 11:6, 9), all things shall be subdued under Him (1 Cor. 15:27), we also read that Christ will reconcile all things unto Himself (Col. 1:20). and that God will gather together all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10); and lastly, we read, 'And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject to him, who hath put all things under him that God may be all in all.' (1 Cor. 15:28.) Do not these passages speak in the most decided terms of a finally universal salvation? Certainly not. If the advocates of this doctrine will draw in their own way upon the word of God to obtain a scriptural groundwork for their system, they cannot thus overturn the truth of God. They certainly have not thought in their quotations of these passages, that they confound two things, viz., "subjection" and "reconciliation." I can be subdued by my adversary without being reconciled to him. Assuredly, all power and might will one day be annihilated, and all things be subdued under the feet of Jesus, and all enemies be brought to the acknowledgment of His lordship, yea, at last even death itself will be done away. Its destruction stands in connection with the resurrection of the wicked, whom the voice of power of Christ calls out of their graves. Christ is clothed with all power and might, even death has lost its dominion over the wicked. He destroys death by raising these last to deliver them for ever "to the second death, the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:14.) But where is reconciliation spoken of here? It is an undeniable truth that in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11); and none will dispute that all creatures that are in heaven and earth and under the earth will one day say, "To him who sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb, blessing and honour, and glory and power, for ever and ever." No creature is excepted; even those under the earth (or, infernal), i.e., hell with Satan and his angels, will be compelled to this homage. But has God therefore reconciled them to Himself? By no means, for when in God's word things reconciled are spoken of there is no mention made of "things under the earth." In Ephesians 1:9-10, we read, "In that he hath made known to us the mystery of his will, namely, to gather together in one all things both which are in the heavens and which are on earth in him." And again in Colossians 1:19-20, "For in him all the fulness was pleased to dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to itself, whether the things on earth or things in the heavens." The things under the earth (or those which stand in connection with hell, the devil and his angels) have no place here. Only those in the heavens and on earth partake in reconciliation. As regards the passage "that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28), we really do not understand how these persons can regard these words as the pinnacle of a system resting on such a rotten foundation.

Not only will the Lord Jesus shine out in the Fathers glory in the coining day, but God has decreed that every knee shall bow at the Name of Jesus, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This shall secure the glory of God the Father. The Father will be glorified in bringing the whole universe to the feet of Him Who in wondrous grace, and with lowly mind, emptied Himself of the form of God and took upon Him the form of a servant. He came from the very pinnacle of fame and glory down to the depths of degradation and shame; but the Father has already given an answer in giving Him a Name that is above every name. While upon earth, the demons called Him Jesus, and Son of God, but never acknowledged Him as Lord: in the coming day, every tongue shall confess Him Lord, earthly, heavenly and infernal beings; and every knee shall bow. The honour of the Son is bound up with the Father's Glory; the Father having determined that all should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father (John 5:23): and the Scriptures tell us that "He that confesses the Son hath the Father also" (1 John 2:23). Men shall bow at the judgment seat if they have not bowed before; the Father being glorified whether it is done now in the day of grace, or in the day of judgment.

As exalted and vested with glory, all are called to "bow the knee" to Joseph and no man is to act independently of him. "Without thee," says Pharaoh, "shall no man lift up his hand in all the land of Egypt." If Joseph is supreme, all are called to submit. And so today, if God has exalted the Lord Jesus and given Him a Name which is above every name, it is "that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow." The Christian delights to bow during the plenteous years of grace; the world will be compelled to bow in the years of famine.

"Every knee should bow." I write in a Moslem land, where all around are those who put the name "Mehommed" above the Name JESUS: nor will they bow to that worthy Name, for they will not acknowledge Him as GOD. But the day is coming when every one of them shall in virtue of the Name JESUS bow his knees. And the Communists, who hate that precious Name, whether dead or living, each one of them will also bow. And those knees that have only bowed to idols will, in the coming day, bow to that Name supreme-above every name. Yes, and the infidels and the scoffers, it matters not how bold they are now: and "the fearful", those who do not now bow for fear of the laugh of a fellow-mortal: each one of these shall surely bow. Notice, it does not bunch them together, and say "all the knees shall bow." It looks at them each individually, "every knee shall bow."

And the Spirit of God divides these into three classes: "The heavenly, the earthly, and the infernal" (or, those under the earth). Angels and demons, Living and dead, Saved and lost will all then publicly (for so the word would intimate) acknowledge Him as LORD. The word "LORD" is in an emphatic position, so the emphasis is on it: "JESUS CHRIST (is) LORD.

The domain of Headship is co-extensive with that of reconciliation and of course with that of Lordship, too. Those who will not have the Lord Jesus and His great salvation will have to bow and own that same Saviour as Lord, to the glory of God, though to their everlasting sorrow. God has decreed that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The Name of Jesus expresses the fame of this lowly Man. It means, as we know, Saviour, and as such it is a Name that is above every name. May we not say it is the one Name that the Lord had to come down from the glory to a cross of shame to secure? Over the cross it was written, "This is JESUS". Men in their scorn said, "Let Him now come down from the cross." Had He done so, He would have left the Name of JESUS behind Him. He would still have been the Creator, the mighty God, but never more would He have been JESUS — the Saviour. Blessed be His Name, His lowly mind led Him to be obedient to the death of the cross, and in result every knee will bow to the Name of Jesus, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.