Revelation 17:17

For God did put it into their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.

For God did put it into their hearts ... The God of heaven will direct evil men to do his will, as often exemplified in the Old Testament. It should be noted in connection with this that it is the will of God for the harlot-beast to continue on the earth until all of God's words are accomplished. She does not exist a single day without God's permission.

And to come to one mind ... Here the prophecy is more specific. The hatred and plundering of the worldwide Apostate Church foretold in this passage is not limited to isolated instances in France, Russia, China, or anywhere else. All the kingdoms came to "one mind," not merely in the period of their aiding and supporting the harlot-beast, but also at the time of their turning their fury and hatred against her. One may prayerfully hope that Catholic scholars themselves will believe this prophecy and accommodate to the eventualities revealed in it. She, along with many daughters, still rides the beast, but all are headed inevitably for an unbelievable disaster. Her true interests still lie within the area of the sacred truth which she has forgotten, perverted, and denied.

And to give their kingdoms to the beast ... This is the eighth and final beast, the throne of the "Lawless One"; and, if there is any such thing in the New Testament as "THE Antichrist," this eighth beast is he. He is the incarnation of lawlessness, the ruthless hater of God and of everything supernatural. He is MAN worshipping himself, having no more regard for Apostate Religion than for the True, the self-glorified impresario of that final orchestration and acceleration of all the evil on earth culminating in his sudden overthrow and destruction by the personal appearance of the Son of God in his Second Advent. See our "Excursus on The Man of Sin," my Commentary on 2Thessalonians, pp. 106-117. In the light of the truth of this chapter, it would appear that he does not arise from within the apostasy, but independently of it, and as an enemy of the apostate form of Christianity, no less than of true Christianity.