Revelation Chapter 17
VERSE 17 “For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.”
FOR GOD HAS PUT IT IN THEIR HEARTS: Somehow God will so arrange matters that the desires of men will be so strong toward this confederacy that it will be easy of accomplishment.
TO EXECUTE HIS PURPOSE (MIND) –(See Psa 76:10 KJV) God’s plan WILL be accomplished. The instrumentalities are always there, willing or not.
BY HAVING A COMMON PURPOSE: (Literally - “even to do one mind.”) This, in today’s world is remarkable, indeed! All ten kings agree!
BY GIVING THEIR KINGDOM TO THE BEAST:
Note carefully: the kings of Verse 12 have by Verse 17, received the “kingdom” which they did not earlier have. They will share their federated alliance with the people which have risen up. This, according to this verse, executes God’s purpose.
We KNOW what His purpose is: it is,
1) the burning of the tares,
2) the crushing of the grapes of wrath, and
3) the destruction of Babylon.
Seeing the kings and beast cooperating should be, in a sense, a great joy for all saints who behold it! Unfortunately, (as according to Verse 14) they will also be waging war against the Lamb (the Saints themselves, his true people). It is important to us to remember this TWO-FOLD work of this confederacy:
(1) it is against the spirit-begotten and the spirit-born (Both the Little Flock and the Great Company).
(2) But it is also against Babylon. This same beast in Chapter 11 (during the French Revolution) had the same indiscriminate hatred of all things religious.
UNTIL THE WORDS OF GOD SHOULD BE FULFILLED: The confederacy will not last a moment longer than is necessary.
VERSE 18 “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
AND THE WOMAN WHOM YOU SAW: -- the harlot who had controlled the age.
IS THE GREAT CITY: -- antitypical Babylon, the capital of Christendom.
WHICH REIGNS: (Literally = “has a kingdom”) She is an apostate church. She reigned too early and improperly. It is in the present tense because it is the angel speaking in his day.
OVER THE KINGS OF THE EARTH: -- a church over the state: harlotry.
One Final Receptive Thought
“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls” who came and spoke with John COULD HAVE BEEN introduced earlier in Revelation with some benefit. There seems, however, a very special reason why the introduction was postponed to Chapter 17.
Chapter 17 concentrates on the subject of the judgment of the great harlot. It was through Brother Russell that we learned the enormous particulars of this subject and the great emphasis which Scripture places on it.
The fact is, Chapter 17 opens with this angel because this chapter cannot be interpreted without knowing WHO THIS ANGEL IS and without having had THE BENEFIT OF HIS COUNSEL.
Just as Brother Russell wrote in “THE TIME IS AT HAND”, prophecy has a combination-time lock, like a vault. Until the set time (the “due time”) has arrived, it is useless to try to open the door. The COMBINATION of symbols MAY well have been available before Brother Russell, but the TIME setting (five are fallen, one is, etc.,) can be understood from one standpoint ONLY.
We MUST KNOW when the angel is speaking. To know WHEN, we must also know WHO.
We are blessed, indeed, to be privy to the knowledge of the harvest message which helps us unlock the mysteries of his chapter. We NEED the information contained herein for our soon-to-come experiences.
We are grateful to God for providing it and for opening our eyes so that we can accept the messenger who delivers the information. We do not however in any way wish to be inappropriate in our use of the messenger. (See Rev 19:10; 22:8, 9)
But we DO want to know who he is so that we can receive what he has to deliver. (N.A.N.O.R. Pages 138-141)
