Revelation 17:13-18

(Rev 17:13 KJV)
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

These ten kings are shown to be of one mind with the beast and that they are servants of the beast in that they give their power and authority to the beast. They are all willing enemies of the body of Christ and have been those who worked out the evil plans to come against the Kingdom of God. This shows a united front at this point in the kingdom of Satan as it wars against God.

(Rev 17:14 KJV)
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.

This verse jumps ahead to chapter 19 when the Lamb of God comes back in final triumph over the beast system. The ten kings of the beast system will make war against the Lamb but that war will be futile and it will end up with the beast being sent into perdition as had been prophesied in verse 11. The Lord Jesus Christ returns with His army and that army is the army of true believers. They are known as the called, chosen, and faithful.

(Rom 8:30 KJV) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

(Eph 1:4 KJV) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

(Eph 1:1 KJV) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

(Rev 17:15 KJV)
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

John is now told that the whore is not just a small local area but instead that it is world wide in scope. (Jer 51:13 KJV) O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. Jeremiah saw the vastness of the great city of Babylon as one that sits on many waters which is a synonym for the entire world. Jeremiah is also prophesying in this verse that the end of Babylon has come. He prophesied the end of the earthly kingdom of Babylon but God widened that interpretation by attaching its meaning to the entire world. Throughout all of recorded time, the nations of the world with its citizens have all been influenced by the beast system especially in the area of false religions and there will be no end until the last day.

(Rev 17:16 KJV)
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

As before we saw a unified mindset in the kingdom of Satan, here we are seeing internal strife which will lead to the destruction of the whore. The ten kings will hate the whore and will attempt to destroy her. Verse 17, tells us that this is God’s program for there to be a civil war within the kingdom of Satan. God has used this tactic with the nation of Israel.

(2 Chr 20:22-23 KJV) And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. {23} For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

Jehoshaphat had prayed to the Lord for deliverance from the kings which had arrayed themselves in a military alliance for the purpose of destroying Judah. God had answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer by telling him to send a choir instead of an army. When the choir began to sing the praises unto the Lord, the Lord sent confusion into the camp of the enemy and they began to slay one another which resulted in a victory for Judah without any casualties.

The scene in Revelation 17:16 has its roots in Ezekiel 23 when God was pronouncing a judgment upon Aholibah which was a symbolic name for Judah. (Ezek 23:22 KJV) Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side; Since Judah did not learn from Israel going into captivity, God Himself was going to raise up the enemies which were once their lovers. Judah had played the harlot with the surrounding nations but now instead of them being her lovers, they are going to be her destroyers. This is the same situation that is happening to the whore who rode the beast. The ten kings will destroy her by the command of God just as Judah went into captivity for seventy years by the command of God. What was once the lovers of Judah had now become the enemy. The whore and the ten kings had one mind to serve the beast but now there is dissension and the whore will be destroyed by the ten kings.

Make her desolate
(Ezek 23:32 KJV) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.

And naked
(Ezek 23:29 KJV) And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

Eat her flesh
(Ezek 23:10 KJV) These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

Burn her with fire
(Ezek 23:25 KJV) And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

(Rev 17:17 KJV)
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.

This verse takes us back to 17:1 where we are told that we will see the judgment of the great whore. It is God who is setting the stage for the final judgment and this Scripture is showing us that God has the authority to position the enemy and will continue to direct all of the activities until the end finally comes. We also saw that God was directing the final forces in the battle of Armageddon as He gathered the kings of the east to the great final conflict. This verse is very important since it shows us that the kingdom of Satan serves the purpose of God and has no authority over the Kingdom of God. Throughout the ages, God had allowed the kingdom of Satan to harass the Kingdom of God but Satan never had any true victory over God’s people.

(Rev 17:18 KJV)
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The woman is specifically identified with the great city which is Mystery Babylon, which is the kingdom of Satan that has rule over all the unbelievers in the world. There is no middle ground, either a person belongs to God’s Kingdom or they belong to Satan’s kingdom.