Questions From Readers
What “thought” will Jehovah put into the hearts of the nations in the near future?
Regarding the start of the great tribulation, Revelation 17:16, 17 says: “The ten horns that you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her devastated and naked, and they will eat up her flesh and completely burn her with fire. For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought, yes, to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast.” In the past, our publications have said that the “thought” that Jehovah will put into the hearts of the nations is to destroy false religion.
However, an adjustment is needed. The “thought” that Jehovah will put into the hearts of the nations is for them to give “their kingdom to the wild beast.” To understand how this will be fulfilled, consider the following questions.
Who are the main characters in the prophecy? “The prostitute” is also called “Babylon the Great”; she represents the world empire of false religion. The “scarlet-colored wild beast” is a symbol of the peace organization that began to function in 1919 as the League of Nations and is now the United Nations. (Rev. 17:3-5) “The ten horns” represent all the governmental powers that support the wild beast.
What is the relationship between the prostitute and the scarlet-colored wild beast? The prostitute has been “sitting on” the wild beast, giving that beast her blessing and trying to influence, even dominate, it.
What will happen to the prostitute? The wild beast, along with the ten horns that support it, “will hate the prostitute.” Venting their hatred, they will plunder her wealth and expose her wickedness. And they will carry out Jehovah’s judgment respecting her, namely, that she be completely destroyed. (Rev. 17:1; 18:8) That will be the end of false religious institutions. However, before that happens, Jehovah will cause the nations to do something that is unprecedented in the history of human rulership.
What will Jehovah cause the nations to do? He will put into the hearts of the ten horns “his thought,” namely, that “they give their power and authority to the [scarlet-colored] wild beast”—the United Nations. (Rev. 17:13) Think what that means. Will human governments simply decide on their own to hand over their power and authority to the wild beast? No! The prophecy shows that God himself will influence them to follow that course. (Prov. 21:1; compare Isaiah 44:28.) Will this be a gradual shift in power? No! Evidently it will be a sudden, decisive change. Then the newly empowered wild beast will execute Jehovah’s judgment on false religious organizations by removing them once and for all.
What, then, may we expect? We need not look for news reports that governments are slowly becoming more supportive of the United Nations. What we can expect is this: With startling suddenness, Jehovah will put it into the hearts of the nations to hand over their power to the wild beast. When that happens, we will know that the great tribulation is about to begin. Meanwhile, “let us stay awake and keep our senses” because sudden changes are soon to come!—1 Thess. 5:6.