Revelation 17:14-18 - Homilies By D. Thomas

The great moral campaign.

"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," etc. To our mind these verses seem to adumbrate the greatest of all the campaigns this world has ever witnessed or ever will. In every department of sentient being there seems to be an arena of conflict, and physical wars in human life have been rife in every part of the world, from the first periods to the present hour. But the great moral campaign is the most universal, unremitting, and momentous. The words serve to bring to our notice two subjects in relation to this campaign—

I. THE CONTENDING FORCES . "These shall make war," etc. ( Revelation 17:14 ). What are these? Truth and falsehood, selfishness and benevolence, right and wrong,—these are the battling powers. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Each of these contending forces has its own leader or general.

1 . The one is represented as a "beast." The beast is the emblem of the mighty aggregate of wrong in all its elements and operations; wrong in theories and in institutions; wrong in sentiments, ideas, and habits; wrong as imposing as seven mountains, as majestic as kings and empires; wrong sitting as empress over all "nations, and peoples, and tongues." Wrong is the greatest thing in this world at present; it is the mighty Colossus with the "head of gold, breast and arms of silver, his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay."

2 . The other is represented as a "Lamb." "These shall make war with [shall war against] the Lamb" ( Revelation 17:14 ). The Lamb is the emblem of innocence, mildness, and purity. In Daniel's vision wrong was a colossal figure, and right a little stone. Here wrong is a terrible "beast," and right a tender "Lamb." Here are the two great generals in this mighty campaign.

II. THE MARVELLOUS CONQUEST . Observe:

1 . The Conqueror. "The Lamb shall overcome them" (verse 14). The Lamb, not the beast, is the Conqueror. Power is not to be estimated by size or form. The little stone shivered the image; the Lamb strikes the beast into the dust. The Lamb, though not a bellicose existence, is:

2 . The conquered. "These shall hate the whore," etc. (verses 16-18).