The Victory of the Lamb

The allied kings make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb triumphs because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, accompanied by His called, chosen, and faithful ones. The angel explains that the prostitute's waters represent the mass of the nations, and then reveals the shocking reversal that the beast and the ten horns will hate and devastate the prostitute, leaving her desolate and consumed by fire. Even this treachery fulfills God's own purpose until His words are accomplished. The woman is finally identified as the great city ruling over the kings of the earth. The paragraph closes the chapter by showing that Babylon's apparent sovereignty is temporary, the Lamb's victory is certain, and evil ultimately devours itself under God's sovereign rule.

T¹⁴hey will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.” ¹⁵Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. ¹⁶And the ten horns and the beast that you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”