17:17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled.
"For God has put it in their hearts
Even in judgment, God’s plan will always be carried out. Humans may believe they control a “kingdom” (Psalm 75:6-8), but at best, they can only make individual choices for themselves. This is especially true in spiritual matters. The purity and righteousness of God does not even allow for the concept of "spiritual power of attorney" or "spiritual collective action."
Compare how Paul describes this as a 'powerful delusion' (2 Thessalonians 2:1-11-12).
This phrase echoes verse 13.
The transfer is complete. In verse 13, just their power and authority were given. But now these 10 horns give their KINGDOM (singular, implying they were only governors in a larger KINGDOM) to the BEAST.
until God’s words are fulfilled.
While these WORDS may be taken to refer only to those spoken here in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, in a broader sense, they are those spoken throughout eternity (that we know about through the Bible). They would include the creation (Genesis 1:3-5 through Genesis 3:22-24), and correlate with the redemption process (Revelation 5:1). Before the "sin curse" was placed on the earth, God spoke and saw that "it (the earth) was GOOD" (physically and spiritually). God now is using evil leadership to separate evil from good or the weeds from the seeds (Matthew 13:24-30). Once the weeds are burned, the earth can be returned to its "GOOD" status. Interestingly, it doesn't matter what status in life a person has attained. Whether primitive native or sophisticated socialite, politician or common citizen, highly educated or intellectually challenged, a person always struggles with spiritual/moral values. See the list in Revelation 21:8 of those persons who choose the wrong values.
From a prophetic viewpoint, this verse will confirm Revelation 14:8, Jeremiah 25:8-14, and Zechariah 14:1-9.