Revelation 17 - Called, Chosen and Faithful

Introduction

In the opening chapters of J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic story, The Lord of The Rings, Gandalf the wizard is explaining the origin of the One Ring of Power to Frodo Baggins, the Hobbit who was destined to carry the Ring to Mordor to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it. As Gandalf describes the growing shadow of evil that is spreading over Middle Earth (and even threatening the quiet countryside of the Shire), Frodo says,

"'I wish it need not have happened in my time'... 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'" Tolkien, J. (2012). The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings (1) (Illustrated ed.). Mariner Books.

Has that thought crossed your mind these days? As you see the growing and spreading shadow of wickedness that is engulfing our nation—the class warfare of race riots, the perversions of the sexual revolution, the mendacity and corruption of government leaders at every level, the gutting of First Amendment religious liberties and increasing attacks on Christian churches and institutions—do you ever feel, like Frodo, that you wish all these things “need not have happened in your time”? The growing shadow of persecution and hatred of Christians is not going to be contained to the big liberal cities; even our little Shire here in Sykesville will not escape.

And it feels easy to sympathize with Frodo, as he says to Gandalf— “I am not made for perilous quests!… Why was I chosen?” (ibid.) Surely the same cry came to the lips of the seven churches of Asia Minor who received this letter of Revelation from John—they were beginning to suffer persecutions from the Roman Empire under Nero, just as Christians had been suffering persecution from the apostate Jews in Jerusalem for decades. The New Testament is packed with accounts of the persecutions of the Christians from Jewish opponents—from the Sanhedrin who stoned Stephen to death in Acts 7, to the Jewish authorities who used the resources and might of the Roman Empire to try to have Paul executed in Acts 22.

The churches of Asia Minor were well-acquainted with suffering under the persecutions of religious apostates who attacked them with false teaching as well as a secular government that had declared open season on them for their beliefs (Nero blamed the Christians’ refusal to participate in the worship of the Roman gods for the fire that had destroyed a great part of the city a couple of years earlier). And here in Chapter 17 John describes the downfall of both Jerusalem (the “great prostitute” of verses 1-6) and Rome (the “beast with seven heads and ten horns” of verses 7-13) at the hands of the conquering Lamb and His people. And what I aim to show you this morning is that, when you wish that you had not lived to see such times, and you feel like you are the wrong person for this fight, see in God’s Word that

You are the right warrior for this fight because you belong to the conquering Lamb.

The Book of Revelation, as we have been maintaining, was written to encourage and strengthen the churches of the Roman province of Asia Minor by describing the coming judgment on the city of Jerusalem for that generation’s murder of the Messiah—that destruction took place in A.D. 70 as the Roman Empire besieged and eventually levelled the city (as we saw in Chapter 16). Chapter 17 picks up right after the final judgment—the bombardment of the city by Roman catapults, described in Revelation 16:21 as one hundred-pound hailstones that fell from the sky.

I said a moment ago that Chapter 17 describes the downfall of Jerusalem and the defeat of Rome at the hands of the conquering Lamb, Jesus Christ. I want us to meditate particularly on verse 14 this morning, but in order to place it in its context we need to identify the figures in this passage. Remember, we are basing our understanding of Revelation on John’s repeated statements that the events of the book were to happen “soon” (Rev. 1:1, 3), and the judgments and plagues that are described fit the historical and theological framework of judgment on Jerusalem, as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Here in the first six verses one of the angels tells John to come and see “the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the land have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers in the land have become drunk” (Rev. 17:2).

In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (Chapter 16), Jerusalem is described as a prostitute who committed adultery against YHWH with the other gods of the nations—that same imagery is carried forward by John to describe Jerusalem’s spiritual adultery in her rejection of her King—the Messiah—and her worship of Rome (“We have no king but Caesar” - John 19:15). In verse 6 we see that she is “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”—which fits with Jesus’ assessment of the bloodthirsty nature of Jerusalem in Luke 13:

Luke 13:33–34 ESV

Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

In verse 5, Jerusalem is called “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes, and the land’s abominations”. Earlier in Revelation Jerusalem is called by the names of other idolatrous nations “Sodom and Egypt” (Rev. 11:8), and here she is called “Babylon” as another indication that she has become just like the idolatrous, violent and immoral nations around her. And John “marvels” at the great mystery of how YHWH’s precious bride, Jerusalem, could become such a miserable, violent, drunken whore.

In verses 7-13 we see that Jerusalem is depicted as riding on the back of the beast with seven heads and ten horns—we saw earlier that this beast represented the Roman Empire generally, and Nero’s reign specifically. The seven heads represent seven hills (v. 9)—Rome was the “seven-hilled city” for John’s original readers the way Chicago is the “Windy City” for us. And the seven heads also represent seven “kings” (v. 10): “five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while”. Five Roman emperors had come and gone: Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius had “fallen”, and the sixth, Nero “now is”. After Nero’s suicide in A.D. 69, the entire empire fell into such turmoil that it seemed that it would die altogether—the next three Emperors, Galba, Otho and Vitellus, each reigned only a few months (“remained only a little while”). As we read in Chapter 13 it looked as though Nero’s suicide dealt a “mortal wound” to the entire Empire, and that Rome would collapse. It wasn’t until Vespasian left the siege of Jerusalem to his son Titus and returned to Rome to assume the throne that the Empire was able to regain its stability.

Verses 15-18 describe the destruction of the “prostitute” of Jerusalem at the hands of the “beast” of Rome:

Revelation 17:16 ESV

And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,

The “ten horns” may represent the ten regions of Imperial provinces of the Roman Empire, which are depicted as joining in with Rome’s hatred for and destruction of Jerusalem. John notes that all of this takes place

Revelation 17:17 ESV

for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

All of the Satanically-driven powers of the enemies of God unite, and Jerusalem is destroyed. But notice that Jerusalem is not destroyed because of the overwhelming power of the beast—she is destroyed because her destruction fulfills the words of God!

This is important because of what we see earlier in verse 13—another place where the beast and the ten kings unite to destroy an enemy—they are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast in order to make war on the Lamb.

But what happens when the Beast of Rome turns all of its Satanically-imbued power on Christ? What happens when the princes of the world unite to rebel against the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Jesus Christ?

Revelation 17:14 ESV

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Look at what John tells the struggling, persecuted churches of Asia Minor—the combined forces of Satan’s kingdom all unite to wage war on Christ, but to no avail—He conquers them, “for He is Lord of lords and King of kings”. They cannot overthrow the Lamb, because “all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). This much we have seen throughout the Book of Revelation.

But that’s not all, is it? There is another reason why the combined Satanic forces of this world cannot overthrow the Lamb: He will conquer them because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings AND because “those who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful!” Christ conquers because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and because those who are with Him—the members of His Body, the Church—are called and chosen and faithful.

Christian, you are the right warrior for this battle because you belong to the conquering Lamb! If you are united with Jesus Christ by faith, you belong to Him, and that means that you are the right warrior for this fight. Notice that belonging to the Lamb means first that

I. You have received God’s CALLING

Yes, Christian, you are in a war—a warfare that is not physical but spiritual—the same Devil that energized the Beast of the Roman Empire to try to destroy the Church in the first century is prowling about today, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). But the Dragon cannot defeat the people of the Lamb, because He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so

This war can only DO you GOOD (Romans 8:28, 30)

As Paul tells us in Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

No matter what difficulties may lie in the way of a Christian, no matter what suffering a believer may experience for the sake of standing for Christ in a hostile world, all of those things will redound to your good, and not evil! Satan may intend it for evil, but God will unfailingly turn all of that evil against you for good. It was true for the persecuted churches of Asia Minor in the First Century, and it is true of the Church in the 21st Century!

The phrase “to be called according to His purpose” in Romans 8:28 refers to God’s act of calling His people out of the darkness of their sin and into faith in Christ. That is the flow of Paul’s argument down in verse 30:

Romans 8:30 ESV

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

To be “called” by God in this context means to be saved—to be rescued from the wrath of God that you deserve because of your sin against Him by placing your faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to pay your penalty before God. And so when you have received God’s calling, it means that

This war cannot THREATEN your ETERNITY (Romans 8:38-39)

Christian, if you have been called by God, then there is nothing in this world that will ever jeopardize your eternal life in Heaven with Christ! Paul writes in Romans 8:

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The combined forces of Satan’s kingdoms can throw everything they have at you, but nothing will ever separate you from Christ! Satan may try to make your life Hell on earth for your commitment to Christ, but he is the one who is doomed to Hell, not you! The worst the devil can do is cause you to lose your life for your faith—but all that does is open the gates of your eternal joy in Heaven!

Christian, when you look around and wonder why you are living through these dark and trying days, look here at the victory of the Lamb in Revelation 17:14 and see that you are the right warrior for this fight because you have received God’s calling!

The Lamb conquers the combined forces of Satan in Revelation 17—He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings—and you are the right warrior for this war because

II. You have been CHOSEN by God

And when you think about it—this is a great encouragement, isn’t it? No, you did not choose to live through all of this hatred and turmoil and opposition—but God has chosen you to live through these times! Christian, consider from this verse that

You have been HAND - PICKED for this fight (Esther 4:14)

When Queen Esther in the Old Testament was afraid to go before King Ahasuerus to plead for the life of her people, Mordechai her cousin reminded her that she was there for a purpose, and that if she remained silent that God would deliver the people in another way—but, he said, “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

In Acts 10:40-41 the Apostle Peter says that the disciples were “chosen” to be witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection—they were just twelve ordinary men—fallible, weak, stubborn, slow men—but nevertheless, because God chose them to carry the Good News of the Resurrection of Christ, they turned the world upside down! You are the right warrior for this battle because you have been hand-picked by Christ Himself for this fight!

But you may be saying to yourself right now, “There’s no way God would hand-pick me for this fight! Do you know how messed up my past is? Do you know the things that I’ve done? I can’t even count the ways I’ve screwed up in the past! I’m no warrior—I belong on a stretcher, maybe, but I’m too broken to be of any use to God in the battle that is looming ahead of us!”

There is a story told toward the end of the Book of Judges about the civil war in Israel, when the tribe of Benjamin went out to fight for their survival against the rest of the tribes. And among the soldiers who went out to fight, we read that

Judges 20:16 ESV

Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

The phrase “left-handed” is literally translated “restricted in the right hand”; in other words, these men were broken men—whether through injury or birth, they were unable to use their right hand. So they had learned to throw a sling with their left hand, which made them very valuable for this fight—their opponents’ reflexes weren’t trained to defend against left-handed attacks.

When you wish these things weren’t happening in your day, and that your failures and difficulties and handicaps mean that you aren’t up to this fight, consider that God has chosen you—and that even

Your HARDSHIPS have PREPARED you for this fight (Judges 20:16)

God has chosen you to live through these days, Christian, because He has prepared you for this! Every difficulty you’ve endured, every loss you’ve suffered, every heartbreak and disappointment and failure have been perfectly orchestrated in your life to make you exactly the warrior suited for this battle! Rest in the fact that you have been chosen by God for this hour!

You are the right warrior for this battle because you belong to the Lamb—you have received God’s calling, you have been chosen by God, and

III. You will be FAITHFUL to God

Here in this chapter John writes of how the Conquering Lamb, Jesus Christ, defeats the combined forces of Satan’s kingdoms that rise up against Him. But that victory wasn’t won on the battlefield of Armageddon—by the time Satan’s combined forces appear here in Revelation 17, they had already been defeated—Jesus Christ conquered Satan and His forces on the Cross! Paul writes in Colossians that when Jesus died,

Colossians 2:15 ESV

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

And His victory over Satan on the Cross was won by His faithfulness—Jesus endured the Cross, despising its shame, and now is seated in all power and authority in Heaven (Hebrews 12:2). You see, you can endure the suffering of persecution and Satanic opposition here in these days because

Jesus SAVED YOU by His endurance (Hebrews 12:2)

He knows the suffering that His people endure in persecution and trials, because He endured the most horrifying suffering of all, as He died under the wrath of God for your sin—and so He has sworn that He will never leave you or forsake you in your hour of trial (Heb. 13:5). Christian, your salvation was accomplished because Jesus was faithful to endure the Cross—and so that means that you have that faithfulness in you! When the church in Smyrna received this letter, Jesus promised them that He would reward them for enduring the suffering that was coming upon them:

Revelation 2:10 ESV

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Christian, you are called to faithfulness by the One Who was faithful to save you—and not only does He promise to reward you for your faithfulness in this fight, but

Jesus GIVES YOU His endurance (Heb. 4:14)

We read in Hebrews 4:

Hebrews 4:14 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Christian, you can hold fast to Christ because He holds fast to you! You will not abandon your post, you will not break and flee, you will not cower and hide when the storm breaks, because you are held fast by the One Who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One Who faithfully endured the worst that the combined forces of Satan and all his kingdoms could throw at Him, the One Who has sworn with an unbreakable oath that nothing will pluck you out of His hand, who has sealed you on the right hand and forehead with His sanctifying blood!

You have received God’s calling—this war can only do you good because all things work together for good for those who are the called according to His purpose! This war cannot threaten your eternity—even though Satan will try to make your life Hell on earth for your commitment to Christ, he is the only one who will ever see Hell! You may not have chosen to live through these days, but God Himself chose you—hand-picked and prepared for these days!

Don’t look at the storm clouds on the horizon with fear and trembling—understand that you were born for this! As the Word of God through the pen of Isaiah promises:

Isaiah 54:17 ESV

no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

The Lamb conquers because He is LORD of lords and King of kings—and you conquer because you belong to Him! So you go from here and conquer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony! Declare this Gospel this week, stand and call this nation to repentance with the promise that there is forgiveness and restoration and cleansing and hope for everyone who believes! Don’t look to the days ahead with frustration and bitterness and anger and fear, but look at the days coming and say, “I was called to these days, I am chosen for these days, and I can be faithful in these days because God is faithful to me!”

He has already conquered by His endurance, He has promised you a crown of life for your faithfulness, and He has sworn to hold you fast through every trial and tribulation coming your way! You have nothing to fear from the devil’s schemes because He died to deliver you from fear! You have nothing to lose because He has purchased eternal life for you that cannot be taken away by any of Satan’s attacks! So go from here and conquer as you declare the Good News of salvation through faith in the Conquering Lamb, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Read through Ezekiel 16. What are some of the similarities between the way Israel’s faithlessness is described there and the way John describes the prostitute of Revelation 17? How does John’s description of the seven “kings” in Revelation 17:10 align with the succession of Caesars from Julius Caesar to Nero? Regardless of the specific identities of the prostitute and the beast in this chapter, what does John show us here about Satan’s attempts to overthrow Jesus Christ and His reign?

Romans 8:28-30 teaches that God’s “call” to us is a call that effectively brings us to salvation. Have you experienced that call in your life? How does being “called according to His purpose” give you confidence about the trials and opposition you may face for your faith?

One of the applications of this passage is the truth that you may not have chosen to live through these trying times, but God has chosen you to live through them. How do these verses encourage you to look ahead to the days to come without fear or anger or bitterness?