Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #10 of Revelation, chapter 17, and we are going to be reading Revelation 17:12-14:

And the ten horns which thou sawest 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. 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.

I will stop reading there.  In our last study we were looking at the “ten horns,” which God said are “ten kings,” that “receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”  I mentioned that the Great Tribulation period is typified as “one hour.”  That confirms that God is using these ten horns and their periods of rule to identify with the “little season” of the Great Tribulation.  That is why the beast comes up out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns and crowns upon their heads.

Then it says in Revelation 17:13:

These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

The ten horns that will rule as kings for the “one hour,” the duration of the Great Tribulation period, will have “one mind.”  The Greek word translated as “mind” is Strong’s #1106, and it is the Greek word “gnome.”  It is only translated as “mind” two times, but it is not the typical word that is translated as “mind.”  Actually, there are several different Greek words translated as “mind” in the New Testament, but this word is not one of the usual words translated as such.  The only other place it is translated as “mind” is in Philemon, verse 14.  The Greek word “gnome” is also translated as “advice” or “agree” or “judgment.” 

Let us look at a couple of places that this word is found, starting with 2Corinthians 8:10:

And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.

The word “advice” is the same word.

Also, it is used in Revelation 17:17:

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

The word “agree” is this word translated in our verse as “mind.”

There is one other place that I think will be the most helpful to assist us in understanding how it is being used in our verse.  It says in 1Corinthians 1:10:

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Here, the English word “judgment” is a translation of “gnome,” Strong’s#1106.  It is not the word for “mind,” but it has the idea of “agreement” and “unity.”  They are speaking the same thing and there are no divisions among them; they are “joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”  This is the idea in our verse in Revelation 17:13.  These ten horns all have “one mind” or “one judgment” and are in agreement; they are like-minded.  The reason for that is that even though God speaks of “seven heads and ten horns” of the beast, they are all Satan.  They are all speaking of the same evil creature, the fallen angel that fell at the beginning and has existed throughout the history of the world.  At the time of the end his dominion was increased when God permitted it.  It was part of God’s plan that Satan was to be elevated in his rule over the earth and over the churches and congregations.  By saying that the ten horns are in agreement, it is emphasizing that they are not different factions or different evil spirits.  They are all Satan and Satan is unified in his wickedness and evil intent to carry out his evil desires.  That is why it is said: “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”  And who is the beast?  It is Satan and it is a unity of evil within the kingdom of darkness, as Satan rules in that dominion.  There is no dissent.  There is no other ruler that rises and has a different plan.  It is all under the dominion and authority of Satan.

Then it says in Revelation 17:14:

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them…

We need to be careful here.  It is speaking of Satan that is ruling for that “one hour” of the Great Tribulation period and “These shall make war with the Lamb.”  Notice that it says, “And the Lamb shall overcome them,” and this is different than it says in some other places.  For instance, it says of the “two witnesses” who represent the Word of God within the churches and congregations of the world during the church age, in Revelation 11:7:

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Notice that the beast is making war against “them,” the two witnesses.  This would have been Satan’s assault against the churches and congregations, as he comes against the Word of God.  The Spirit of the Lord departed out of the churches and turned them over to Satan, abandoning the corporate churches.  Satan was the conqueror and he was the one that had overcome the churches.  When it says, the “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them,” it does not say it is against “the Lamb,” as it does say in Revelation 17:14.  It is “against them,” the two witnesses that were identified with the churches.  Satan overcame the churches and the two witnesses were killed and lay dead in the streets, because the Spirit of God had left the churches, leaving them Bibles, but they were Bibles that were “lifeless” without God’s power and blessing; the testimony of the witness of God’s Word was dead within the corporate churches.  From May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, Satan was the one that overcame and that is an important distinction because that is not what we are reading in our verse in Revelation 17, verse 14.

Again, we read in Revelation 13 of the beast that comes up out of the sea with his deadly wound healed and they worshipped the dragon that gave power unto the beast and then it says in Revelation 13:7:

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

The saints had been performing their ministry within the corporate churches.  When God turned over the churches, He allowed Satan to overcome and even the presence of some believers in the churches and congregations could not prevent the defeat of the corporate body by Satan, the beast.  Again, “it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”  So, again, this identifies with the Great Tribulation.  Notice that it does not say that it was given to Satan to make war with the Lamb – only with the saints.

If we go back to the Old Testament to Daniel, chapter 7, we will find that it is also speaking of the period of the Great Tribulation.  It says in Daniel 7:21-28:

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Hitherto is the end of the matter…

Here, God is laying out the Great Tribulation period, wherein “the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High.”  The beast was able to wear out the saints of the most high until a certain point, until it said, “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”  On May 21, 2011 it was the end of the Great Tribulation period and Satan’s dominion was taken away; the beast’s rule was taken from him and the Lord Jesus took the kingdom.  Since the saints are “with Him,” we took the kingdom along with Him, as Christ judges the world with His saints.  This is what is in view here. 

Let us to back to Revelation 17:14:

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them...

Notice that this time it says: “the Lamb shall overcome them.”  This means it is the time of the transition of the judgment that began on the house of God to the judgment on the world.  God had used Satan to bring judgment on the churches, just as God had used Babylon to bring judgment on Judah, but at the end of seventy years, God turned around and judged Babylon.  At the end of the Great Tribulation, God turned around and judged the beast and all of his forces for their sins; it is the Day of Judgment upon the world, the kingdom of Satan. 

Yet, because Satan had conquered the corporate church which had the name of Christ, he dared to think that he could overcome Christ himself: “These shall make war with the Lamb.”  Christ, the Lord, is the Lamb and “the Lamb shall overcome them.”  This is a different story.  This is not the same picture as the lifeless, dead church in which professed Christians claimed Christ, but lacked the power of God because they were not true Christians; they were actually within the kingdom of Satan because they had never become saved.  It is quite a different story to overcome the “professed” people of God than to overcome God Almighty, the everlasting God of the Bible and this is who came to the battle on May 21, 2011 to make war with Satan and his forces. 

It is interesting how God does speak of Christ as “the Lamb” in that day of battle.  It says in Revelation 6:16-17:

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

This is speaking of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb and that “great day of his wrath.” 

Also, speaking of the cup of the wrath of God, it says in Revelation 14:10:

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Christ is coming in the Day of Judgment as the wrathful “Lamb of God.”

We read in Revelation 19:7-9:

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The “marriage supper” of the Lamb is Judgment Day.  It is the time when the Lord Jesus Christ goes forth to battle against the forces of Satan and the enemy kingdom, all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth. 

It says in Revelation 19:16-19:

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 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.

This is a similar statement to what we were reading in Revelation 17:14.  They make war against the Lamb and, yet, the Lamb overcomes them.  Here is the beast and the kings of the earth making war “against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.”  The Lamb’s army is the bride of Christ, all those dressed in “fine linen, clean and white.”  That is the wedding garment and it is the “righteousness of saints.”  We are clothed this way because we have been cleansed from all sin and are considered pure and clean; all iniquity has been washed away by the blood of Christ.

Notice what it says back in our verse in Revelation 17:14:

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.

For some reason, some people fail to understand that when God says that He “comes with ten thousands of his saints,” He is referring to all His elect.  They fail to understand 1Corinthians 6:2: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?”  Yet, here it is again.  It is the day of battle and Satan is making war against the Lamb.  What does Revelation 17:14 say about those that are with the Lamb?  It says: “and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”  It is the elect of God, the body of true believers (the bride of Christ) that come with the Lamb.  In Revelation 19:19, when the beast is gathered against Him that sat on the horse and against His army, it is this same army that is mentioned in Joel, chapter 2.  It is the mighty army of God’s people and He utilizes them to bring destruction in the Day of Judgment.  It is the army of “locusts” described in Revelation, chapter 9.  It is the army of “200 million” that were loosed from Babylon and the bondage of this world.  They also go forth on horses in Revelation, chapter 9.  This is the army that Satan battled against, but it says in Revelation 19:20:

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.

Satan was cast alive into the lake of fire on May 21, 2011.  He will continue to exist throughout this period of Judgment Day.  It is a prolonged Judgment Day that will, very likely, be 1,600 days in length and it will be as though Satan is “burning” throughout this day of wrath. 

Then it goes on to say in Revelation 19:21:

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.

This is a picture of the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”  God has saved His bride.  She has made herself ready through the sending forth of the Gospel when God saved the last of His elect, completing the “bride of Christ.”  She is clothed with the fine, white linen of the marriage garment and she goes to war in the day of the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”  The destruction and death of the wicked is what is provided for that marriage feast.