Revelation 17:14 Commentary and Bible Study

This is one of several passages in the book which indicates that the church will be suffering persecution at the time when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. As Augustine concluded, ‘Truly Jesus himself shall extinguish by his presence that last persecution which is to be made by antichrist. For so it is written, that “He shall slay him with the breath of his mouth, and empty him with the brightness of his presence”’ (City of God 18:53). In this passage the prophecy quickly passes over the details of her trials to the assured victory of the Lamb. The Lamb must prevail, there can be no other outcome. This victory may seem to be in doubt prior to the Lord’s visible return. The saints will be reduced to such an extremity. They will have all power taken away from them and will seem unable to resist the might and sophistication of the beast. But things are not what they appear to be. They overcome even though they lose their lives. Hence the oft repeated words at the beginning of the book, ‘to him that overcomes…’.And what is the reason that the Lamb must overcome? It is that he is who he is, and cannot therefore fail. Once he returns, nothing is said about a battle. There is no description of a prolonged struggle here. Elsewhere the Scripture attributes an effortless victory to the Son of God, ‘And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming’ (2 Thessalonians 2:8). It will be a word which ‘shall quickly slay him’, and by the brightness or glory of his coming. Before him all enemies shall melt away. The mere appearance of the Lord will be enough to convince his most obdurate foes that resistance is futile. Their boasts will die in their throats. He is Lord of lords and none can challenge his authority. He is King of kings and even those kings who are allied to the beast will realise that he is their rightful King. How great will be the contrast with his first coming. Then he came in meekness, concealing his glory from the eyes of men, not using any force to persuade them to believe in him. But now he comes with devastating power. He always had this power, but chose at first in his wisdom not to show it.This is true of all the history of the gospel age. Time after time, one power after another which is against Christ will fall. So there will be a continual series of victories. There will be victory in that the saints will be upheld even in the darkest times, but there will be the final victory when Christ returns.