Apocalypse Revealed＃749
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.
1 Samuel 17:23-51
23
As he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them.
24
All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were terrified.
25
The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. It shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel."
26
David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
27
The people answered him in this way, saying, "So shall it be done to the man who kills him."
28
Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, "Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle."
29
David said, "What have I now done? Is there not a cause?"
30
He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way.
31
When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.
32
David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
33
Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."
34
David said to Saul, "Your servant was keeping his father's sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock,
35
I went out after him, and struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him.
36
Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God."
37
David said, "Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go; and Yahweh shall be with you."
38
Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of brass on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail.
39
David strapped his sword on his clothing, and he tried to move; for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, "I can't go with these; for I have not tested them." David took them off.
40
He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his wallet. His sling was in his hand; and he drew near to the Philistine.
41
The Philistine came on and drew near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him.
42
When the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair face.
43
The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44
The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field."
45
Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46
Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
47
and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn't save with sword and spear: for the battle is Yahweh's, and he will give you into our hand."
48
It happened, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49
David put his hand in his bag, took a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
50
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51
Then David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head therewith. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
