Revelation 17:14; These Shall Make War with the Lamb

Posted on Posted in Devotions Tagged with , ,

Revelation 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 

The angel uses a brief digression to illustrate the enmity of the ten kings toward God and His people. The single-mindedness of the ten is ultimately anti-God in character (Kiddle, Beasley-Murray). In expressing their animosity against the Lamb, they will suffer a crushing defeat. This will be a great boost to the morale of the faithful in the midst of severe trials (Beckwith).

The conflict anticipated in this parenthetical statement is the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Revelation 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 

As the supporters of the beast must wage war with the Lamb as He returns to earth. This is the same battle that Revelation 19:19-21 describes in its chronological setting in the prophecy (Alford, Kiddle).

Revelation 19:19-21  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 

It is the occasion of the rout (any overwhelming defeat) of the beast and his forces, so the ten kings must be among or else identical with “the kings of the earth” in Revelation 19:19 who go down in defeat with him. The future tense predicts that future triumph by the Lamb.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 302]