Kings Making War with the Lamb Revelation 17:14

After showing John the apostle the “great whore” who was sitting upon a “scarlet colored beast” and was “arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls”, the angel asked him, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” In chapter seventeen and verse fourteen of Revelation the angel tells John how the “ten kings” “shall make war with the Lamb” where we read:

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 verse reads, “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:” John began with the words, “these” which refers to “the ten kings” “shall make war” or “will fight and battle” “with the Lamb” which means “with the little lamb which represents Jesus Christ”, “and the Lamb” or “and the little lamb which represents Jesus” “shall overcome them” which means “will conquer, be victorious over and prevail against the ten kings”. The angel informed John how these “ten kings” will fight against the Messiah Jesus but not prevail against Him.

The verse continues, “for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” John added the word, “for” which means “because, since and on account of” “he is Lord” or “Jesus is the one to whom all persons or things belong which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah” “of lords” which means “of those who have a person or thing which belongs to them and about which they have power of deciding; in other words, their master”, “and King” which means “and leader, sovereign, commander and ruler” “of kings” or “of those who are leaders, sovereigns, commanders and rulers” “and they that are with him” which refers to “the believers who are with Jesus” “are called” or “invited to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ”, “and chosen” which means “picked out, selected and elected as the best of its kind or class and preeminent”, “and faithful” or “trusty, worthy of trust, can be relied upon, believing, confiding and convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and author of salvation”. John was informed that the “Lamb” or Jesus is the “master” and “ruler” over all other “masters and rulers” in the world, and He rules over those whom He has “called, chosen and are faithful”.

When we think through John's words in this verse, we see the futility of these “ten kings” who will think they are able to fight and win against the Messiah Jesus. Though they gather themselves together as a unified unit, they shall not prevail against God's Son. God desires to have a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and He “calls” them, “chooses them” and desires to find them “faithful”. Those who are wise shall know that no ruler, master, commander, chief, king or sovereign shall be able to war against Him and win, and desire to be among the “called, chosen and faithful”. Jesus is indeed the “King of kings” and the “Lord of lords”, and He offers “everlasting life” to all who halt their “war” against Him and yield.

Next time the angel shares about “the waters” that John saw, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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