749. 17:17 "For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose, and to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast." This symbolizes a judgment among Protestants from the Lord that they should utterly repudiate and renounce the Roman Catholic religion and expunge and eradicate it in themselves, and a unanimous judgment that they should acknowledge the Word and found the church on it.

Since the harlot symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, and the ten horns that will hate the harlot symbolize Protestants, as in nos. 746-748 above, it is apparent that carrying out God's purpose means symbolically that they judged and concluded that they should utterly repudiated and renounce the Roman Catholic religion and expunge and eradicate it in themselves, as in no. 748 above. And it is apparent as well that to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast means, symbolically, to unanimously judge and conclude that they should acknowledge the Word and found the church on it. The beast symbolizes the Word, as it has everywhere before (see no. 723), and their kingdom symbolizes the church and government over it, about which we will say more here below. That God put it into their hearts means symbolically that their judgments came from the Lord.

[2] That a kingdom symbolizes the church can be seen from the following passages:

The children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. (Matthew 8:12)

...the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom... (Matthew 13:38)

Someone who hears the Word of the kingdom, and does not heed it... (Matthew 13:19)

...the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. (Matthew 21:43)

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

Jesus, John the Baptist, and the disciples preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7, Luke 10:11; 16:16), and they preached also the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14, Luke 8:1).

If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)

And so on in many other passages where the kingdom of God is mentioned.

So, too, in the following:

...if you will... obey My voice and keep My covenant... you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests... (Exodus 19:5-6)

You, O tower of the flock, the ascent of the daughter of Zion, to you shall return... the former kingdom..., the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:8)

The saints... shall (afterward) receive the kingdom, and establish the kingdom..., even forever... (Daniel 7:18, cf. 7:22)

The kingdom and dominion, and the majesty of the kingdoms under all the heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints...(whose) kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall worship and obey Him. (Daniel 7:27)

To (the Son of Man) was given... a kingdom (which shall not be destroyed), and all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship Him. (Daniel 7:14)

And so on elsewhere.

A kingdom symbolizes the church because the Lord's kingdom exists in heaven and on earth, and His kingdom on earth is the church. That, too, is why the Lord is called King of kings.

8938. 'In every place where I shall put the memory of My name' means the state of faith [in the Lord] with each individual person. This is clear from the meaning of 'place' as state, dealt with in 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 3404, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381, so that 'every place' is the state of each individual or with each individual person. The reason why the state of faith is meant is that 'the name of Jehovah' means everything in its entirety through which the Lord is worshipped, thus all aspects of faith and charity, 2724, 3006, 6674. Consequently 'putting the memory of the name of Jehovah God' means [that state in] the person with whom - that is, in whose heart - charity and faith that come from the Lord are present. The meaning in the literal sense is that they were to sacrifice burnt offerings and eucharistic offerings, thus their flocks and herds, in Jerusalem, this being the place chosen by the Lord for them in which to worship Him, and so in which 'He put the memory of His name'. A place is not meant however in the internal sense, but each individual person with whom charity and faith are present; for 'place' does not mean place in the internal sense but state, and 'name' does not mean name but faith and worship, so that a person who has attained a state in which faith is being received from the Lord is meant. In Jerusalem furthermore, the place in which the Lord was worshipped through the burnt offerings and eucharistic offerings, all things of the Church were represented. This is why 'Jerusalem' in the Word, and 'the New Jerusalem' in the Book of Revelation, means the Lord's Church; and the Lord's Church exists with each individual person in a state in which charity and faith received from the Lord are present. For a person is in himself the Church, and the many with whom the Church exists compose the Church collectively. From all this it is also evident that 'in every place in which I shall put the memory of My name' means the state of faith with each individual person.