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Revelation 17:14
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Revelation 17:14 Meaning and Commentary
These shall make war with the Lamb
The Lord Jesus Christ, so often spoken of in this book under this character, ( Revelation 5:6 Revelation 5:12 ) ( 6:1 ) ( 7:10 ) ( 14:1 ) . And this war is not to be understood of a war with him personally, or of that last and decisive, battle at Armageddon, in which will be the kings of the earth; but of a war with his members, of their persecuting of the saints, and faithful witnesses of Christ in all ages, within their jurisdictions, being instigated to it by the beast, under whose influence they are:
and the Lamb shall overcome them:
partly through the constancy of his people, who will not love their lives to the death, but freely lay them down for him; nor can anything separate them from the love of Christ, or prevail upon them to desert him, his truths and ordinances, cause and interest, but are more than conquerors through him, and so he overcomes in them; and partly through a reformation which he effects, as in some of those kingdoms already, as Sweden, Denmark, England, Scotland, and Ireland, and others, and will do in others hereafter; see ( Revelation 17:16 )
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings;
he is so by nature, as God and Creator, to whom the kingdom of nature and providence belongs; and by office, as Mediator, being made higher than the kings of the earth; hence he is more than a match for them, they cannot stand before him; this is a reason why he overcomes them, and it cannot be thought it should be otherwise: this Lamb is the lion of the tribe of Judah, and when he rouses himself, and stirs up his wrath, and exerts his power, kings and great men flee from him; see ( Revelation 6:15-17 ) ( Psalms 2:6 Psalms 2:9-12 ) . This is a proof of Christ's proper deity, the same titles being given to him, the Word and Son of God, as to God himself, ( Revelation 19:16 ) ( 1 Timothy 6:15 1 Timothy 6:16 ) .
And they that are with him:
his servants and his soldiers, that fight under him, and abide by him,
are called, and chosen, and faithful;
they are chosen in Christ from all eternity, to grace here, and glory hereafter, and so stand opposed to the admirers of the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life, ( Revelation 17:8 ) for this is to be understood of their eternal election, and not of their separation by the effectual calling in time, for that is expressed by their being "called"; and though their calling is here set before election, as in ( 2 Peter 1:10 ) yet it does not precede it; the Arabic version reads, "chosen, called, faithful"; first "chosen" by God the Father, then "called", not with the bare external call by the ministry of the word, for, so, many are called, and not chosen; but by special grace to special benefits, and with an holy and heavenly calling, and which is irresistible, and without repentance; and being called they remain "faithful": the meaning is, either that they have faith, or are believers in Christ; which faith they have bestowed on them in the effectual calling, as a fruit of electing grace; and by this they overcome the world: or else, that they are persons of integrity and uprightness, that are on the side of Christ; they are the faithful in the Lord, and are made so by him; and they are faithful to him, and abide by his Gospel and ordinances, and in his cause and interest, even unto death; and so this character is expressive of the perseverance of those who are chosen and called, even unto the end.
