Yes — their conspiracy fulfilled Psalm 2, which prophesied that Gentile Rome and Israel's rulers would take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed.
Les Feldick points out that Psalm 2:1-2 names both groups: the heathen/Gentiles raging and the people/Jews imagining a vain thing, with their kings and rulers taking counsel together. At the crucifixion, the Jewish leaders demanded Jesus' death, and Rome, the Gentile power, actually carried it out. Far from being an accident, this cooperation was the fulfillment of prophecy and reflected both groups' common rejection of God's rule.
Psalm 2:1-3 — This is the specific passage Les says was fulfilled at the crucifixion, when Gentile Rome and Israel's rulers acted together against God's Anointed.
Psalm 2 asks the question, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" It describes the kings of the earth setting themselves and the rulers taking counsel together, against the LORD and against His anointed. Their declared intent is "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." The psalm then shows God's response: "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." The Scripture itself does not name Rome or the Jewish priests in these verses, but it clearly distinguishes two groups — the heathen and the people — whose kings and rulers are pictured taking counsel together.
Les teaches that Psalm 2 was written as a prophecy of exactly what happened at Christ's crucifixion. The 'heathen' in verse 1 are the non-Jewish nations, and 'the people' are Israel. When verse 2 says 'the kings of the earth set themselves' and 'the rulers take counsel together,' the kings of the earth were the Caesars and rulers of Rome, and the rulers were the religious rulers of Israel. Les stresses the word 'together' — it was not just a Jewish phenomenon and not just a Roman thing; prophecy dictated they would work hand in glove to reject the King. The Jewish leaders demanded His death, but Rome did the actual carrying out. Peter in Acts consistently accuses Israel of killing their Messiah, yet Les says the Scripture in total says Jew and Gentile were guilty of the crucifixion. The rulers' attitude was a refusal to let God rule over them — 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' In God's sovereign plan there was only one way for Christ to die: at the hands of both Jew and Gentile, to fulfill Psalm 2 explicitly. God was not caught by surprise; He knew from eternity past and Jesus told the disciples detail by detail what would happen.
Psalm 2 opens by asking why the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing. It then pictures the kings of the earth and the rulers taking counsel together against the Lord and His anointed, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' Les identifies the heathen as the Gentile nations, the people as Israel, the kings of the earth as the rulers of Rome, and the rulers as the religious rulers of Israel. The key word is 'together.'
The Jewish leaders could have stoned Jesus for a perceived religious infraction, but that was not the death He had to die. In order to fulfill Psalms 2 explicitly, the Gentile had to be involved as well. Les explains that the Jewish leaders demanded the crucifixion and Rome did the dirty work. That is why the Romans, not the Jewish crowd, actually nailed Jesus to the cross.
No. Les emphasizes that Psalm 2 shows God sitting in the heavens laughing at the foolishness of mankind. God was in complete control; it was all in His foreknowledge. Jesus Himself told the Twelve in advance that He would be scourged, beaten, put to death, and raised the third day. He knew it from eternity past.
Why Every Jew Was Meant to Be a Priest — Exodus 19
We're not talking about Israel here. These are the Gentile nations. And they shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts, where? In heaven? Jerusalem, see? In Jerusalem. And to pray before the Lord, or before Jehovah, and that's what the word Lord in the Old Testament is Jehovah.
Psalm 2: Jew and Gentile Guilty Together
Les shows that Psalm 2's 'heathen' are the non-Jews and 'the people' are the Jews, and that their rulers took counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed — meaning Rome and Israel's leaders were both guilty of the crucifixion.
God's Foreknowledge and the Prophesied Conspiracy
Les says the rulers of Israel and the kings of this earth were prophesied to consort together to put the Messiah to death, and God was not caught by surprise — Jesus knew the details from eternity past.
Crucifixion Rather Than Stoning
Les explains that the Jewish leaders demanded Jesus' death but had Rome do the dirty work, because death by stoning would not have fulfilled the prophetic death He had to die.
Heathen and People: Two Groups Prophesied
Les clarifies that in Psalm 2 the heathen are the Gentiles and 'the people' are Israel, and their rulers consulted together — Rome carried it out while Israel demanded it.
Rome and Israel's Rulers Worked Hand in Glove
Les identifies the kings of the earth as Rome's Caesars and the other rulers as Israel's religious rulers, who took counsel together to reject the King.
The Kings' Rejection of God's Rule
Les reads Psalm 2:3 as the human rulers saying 'Let us break their bands, and cast their cords from us' — they rejected God's offer to be their King, and Rome was involved in that rejection.
God's Sovereign Plan Required Both Jew and Gentile
Les says there was only one way for Christ to be put to death, and it had to involve both Jew and Gentile to fulfill Psalm 2 explicitly.
Psalm 2:1: Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
This verse opens the prophecy Les says was fulfilled at the crucifixion, naming the two groups involved.
Psalm 2:2: The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
This describes the Gentile rulers and Israel's rulers taking counsel together against God and His Messiah.
Psalm 2:3: Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
This records the human refusal to submit to God's rule — the 'vain thing' the people imagined.
Psalm 2:4: He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Les mentions this to show God was sovereign and uninjured by the rulers' conspiracy.
According to Les, the sovereign God was in control. Psalm 2 had already prophesied that the Gentile kings and Israel's rulers would take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed. God was not caught by surprise; it was all in His foreknowledge.
Les explains it as being so absorbed in themselves that they wanted nothing to do with a sovereign God. The rulers' words in Psalm 2:3 — 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us' — show they preferred to go their own way rather than let God rule over them.
Peter repeatedly accuses the nation of Israel in Acts, as Les notes. But Les stresses that the Scripture in total shows Jew and Gentile were guilty: the Jewish leaders demanded it and the Romans carried it out, fulfilling Psalm 2.
Watch the Teaching: Why Every Jew Was Meant to Be a Priest — Exodus 19