Those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.

Revelation 17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls, holding in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸ “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will come. ⁹ Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. ¹¹ The beast which was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. ¹² The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. ¹³ These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴ These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Today’s text says: And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will come. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.   Many people have studied the scriptures in an attempt to determine who the seven kingdoms and the ten kingdoms might be. Many have speculated as to the identity of the beast. Nearly every evil and powerful leader that has risen up since the time of John’s vision have been thought to be part of the puzzle. The great prostitute is not a person, but rather a spiritual power. The text says: I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.”   Surely today, our culture and society have become drunk with immorality. Many of the “kings” and the kingdoms of the earth have committed acts of immorality, even teaching immorality to our children.

The text continues: These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”   Rather than focusing on and attempting to identify the kingdoms and the beast, we should focus on the victorious Lamb, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.  We ourselves can choose to be chosen. We can be faithful to Him. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”  Believing in Christ supersedes knowing the identity of the beast. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness exceeds identifying the ten or seven evil kingdoms. In John 3:17-21 Jesus continues after saying everyone who believe will not perish, saying: “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”  Even when Christ returns as righteous judge, it will be the judgment that people themselves have chosen.

In Psalm 37:1-9, the psalmist says: Do not get upset because of evildoers, Do not be envious of wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass, And decay like the green plants. Trust in the Lord and do good; Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring out your righteousness as the light, And your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not get upset because of one who is successful in his way, Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and abandon wrath; Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be eliminated, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.  Amen. I delight in You. I choose light over darkness that I would be Your chosen. I choose to cultivate faithfulness that I would be called faithful by You. More than hoping to know the answers to the mysteries, I choose to know You, the answer to every mystery.  Amen.