THE BEAST THAT WAS AND IS
NOT
12-12-2014
Editors Note: This article, originally posted on 12/12/2014, has
been edited and mostly trashed on 7/12/2018 to reflect my current views since I
no longer accept the dispensational, the unfulfilled 70th week of Daniel, and the
Revelation as a roadmap of the so-called period of tribulation
misunderstanding.
More relevant and
similar articles may be found at the following links:
The Composite Beast
Who Is The Antichrist
Zionists, Jews, New World
Order
Antichrist, Little Horn, 2nd
Coming
The Earth Beast
The Beast From The Sea
Text From Original Post
Revelation 17:8-12 KJV The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that
dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and
is not, and yet is. (9) And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The
seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (10)
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not
yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. (11)
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven,
and goeth into perdition. (12) And the ten horns which thou sawest
are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings
one hour with the beast.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (Revelation 12:3 KJV)
The
composite beast of Revelation 12 has 7 crowns on its 7 heads whereas the beast
in chapter 12 has 10 crowns on its 10 horns. This beast is symbolic of Satan,
but the image is symbolic of Satan’s 7 historical empires that has attempted to
destroy and deny the blood line of the Messiah and later, the birth and then
the life of Jesus, the Messiah.
It
is also important to note that the beast “shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit (abyss)”. We generally refer to the beast as the
antichrist or a person inspired or perhaps possessed by Satan. Therefore
the beast is a kingdom and a person, actually only the heads are persons as we
will discuss later. This is important because empires/nations/kingdoms do
not ascend out of the bottomless pit, only dead people can perhaps be given
that opportunity.
Verse
9 states that the seven heads are seven mountains (the
seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth), and
verse 10 states the seven heads are also seven kings (They are also seven kings NET). Again, it will be pointed
out that only the KJV says, “There are seven kings” while the majority of
versions state, “They are seven kings.” The actually Greek text should
translate as “they are” and not “There are” which has created somewhat of a
problem in eschatological writings.
And
there (they) are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other
is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the
beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and
goeth into perdition. (Revelation 17:10-11 KJV)
BIBLICAL
ILLUSTRATOR:
The Greek term translated “delusion” is literally “the in-working of error.”
The expression is a very important one, and shows the source and mode of
operation of the error. The whole thing is internal, and is opposed to the
in-working of the Holy Spirit. Men pursue an evil course until they come to
believe it to be right.
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