The beast of Revelation 17

Three parts:

1. The scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemy, which is, is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And the people will "wonder" (be amazed by) this beast when he ascends. He is the "eighth" or sum total of all the heads.

2. The seven heads on the beast which are seven mountains/seven kings. The woman sits on these.

3. Ten horns which are seven kings that receive their kingdom for one hour with the beast. They give their power to the beast but hate the woman.


Then there is also the woman -- Babylon -- a great city.
Reigning over the kings of the earth.
Fornicates with the kings of the earth.
Makes them drunk with the wine of her fornication
Sells merchandize to them and is very rich
In her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.



It's the last sentence that suggest a huge time frame.
The language suggest that the woman and the beast on which she sits as queen are world embracing symbols that cover the history of the reign of sin. Babylon is held responsible for the persecution and martyrdom of prophets, saints and all that were slain upon the earth.
This takes us back all the way to the time of Nimrod who created the beginning of Babylon with his wife. Babylon traces it's history as the counterfeit of the true plan of salvation all through history.

Regarding the eighth being the sum of the seven, the language points to a succession because the seventh for example is said to only last a short space followed by the eighth being the last of the seven. The eighth is the final manifestation of the anti-christ and it may begin with a human vice regent but it will end with Lucifer in the guise of an angel of light impersonating Christ. This is why the eighth is not of the seven - it is purely demonic at the end with no human element.





Do you mean "Ten horns which are ten kings" rather than "seven kings"?

The context points to an end time application of the entire picture which starts with the instruction: "Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great whore". Then the prophet is lead into the wilderness where he sees her judgement. It begins when the mortal wound is healed and she mounts the beast and ends with her being unseated by the 10 kings. During this period the three angel's messages are given in latter rain power because judgment hour has come, not only for the great whore but also for humanity. Multitudes will be in the valley of decision during the "hour of His judgment". Shortly after the the beast is also thrown along with the false prophet into the lake of fire. But if you look carefully it's evident that the great whore comes to her end before both the beast and the false prophet meet theirs.

I agree that the eighth is the final manifestation of the beast -- he was hiding behind the seven heads previous, but now reveals himself for what he is.

However, the text says He is of the seven.

And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.



Yes, ten "horn" kings on the beast.
These ten seem to be some "last hour" powers that receive kingship at the end, and give power to the beast.

The seven "head" kings seem to be consecutive not contemporary with each other, and largely past leading up to and acting as guide points to point us to the identity of ten kings at the end.


True, especially chapter 18 speaks of the judgment to befall Babylon in the end of time. However, I still believe it shows that Babylon has been in operation all through history. And we should look for her origin, and trace that through history to find the meaning of her last day exaltation to the top of the world, followed by her destruction.

It is also interesting that the "harlot" is destroyed while merchants are still active, and crying that their economic benefactor has been destroyed. She is destroyed before the beast is destroyed. Indeed the horns on the beast destroy her.

One question that has puzzled me.

The beast of Revelation 17 comes up out of the bottomless pit.

None of the beastly critters of Rev. 12-13 come up from the bottomless pit. The Leopard like beast arises from the sea.
The two horned beast arises out of the earth.

However, if you go back to Revelation 11, you will find another beast coming up out of the bottomless pit.



Rev. 11:7 And when they (the two witnesses) shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Who is this beast, and is it connected with the Rev. 17 beast?

Good question. I'd say that the principle of repeat and expand is at work here. The beast in Rev 11 and the first beast in Rev 13 pictures the conditions of the world when the mortal wound is healed so the number of heads and horns are the same on both beasts in Rev 13 and 17 but the beast in Rev 17 shows the final stages when Satan is released from his former restrain and allowed to transform himself into and angel of light. He's never been permitted to do this before on the global stage. His masterpiece of deception is restrained until the end when he is released from the bottomless pit and given free rein to exercise his deceptive power. It behooves us given that this is coming soon to watch and pray so we're accounted worthy to escape his delusion and stand before the son of man.

I copied some of the key passages below to help anyone who wants to study the topic.

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?


Rev 17:8 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.
Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Notice above that the final battle is between the Lamb and the 10 king-beast alliance. It is not between the Lamb and the great whore. Since we're clearly told who the 10 kings are we ought to take this to heart and gird up our minds to face the grim reality - Armageddon will come to its climax in the battle between the Lamb and apostate Protestantism. These are the churches that slay the two witnesses, the word of God.

Notice also these two parallel admonitions:




The Lord is wanting us to clearly understand the identity of the beast, his mark - 666, and the political and religious powers behind it. Let's claim the promise of Christ, "Whoso readeth (Daniel's prophecies) let him understand." This is the only prophecy that Christ admonished us to pay particular attention to - the prophecy of the abomination of desolation that will be released from the bottomless pit. Our Father want us to be forewarned. And more importantly, like the Boy Scouts motto says, Christ also says, "Be prepared".

Hopefully, this is on topic. I have heard both of these views expounded, what are your opinions? Is Armageddon a physical, or a spiritual battle? Does apostate Protestantism engage in physical war with the Lamb via faithful Christian surrogates, or will it be a battle of biblical doctrine and pseudo-biblical doctrine vying for the soul of humanity? Perhaps, Armageddon is a combination of both?

Uriah Smith says the "bottomless pit" of Rev 11:7, is atheism. While there is some dispute over the accuracy His Daniel and the Revelation, Ellen White did say it "should be read by everyone" and "contained the truth that all should read." Is atheism the correct interpretation of bottomless pit?

If this is the case, could it be connected to the sabbath controversy and the rapidly spreading belief among Protestant churches that theistic (or outright Darwinian) evolution is true? Since both sabbath denial and evolution deny the power of the Creator, they could be considered forms of atheism, hence: "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit".

This interpretation appears to explain how the beast of Rev 13:1 could "rise up out of the sea"; and in Rev 17:8 "ascend out of the bottomless pit" or ábyssos: Strong’s #G12-"the abyss", may be used as ‘the deep’ sea.

Could the beast with ten horns be supported by theistic believers in its initial iteration, then be grounded on the baseless foundation of what are effectively atheistic followers during its final incarnation?

It is interesting to note that Pope Francis has come out against Benedict XVI’s apparent support for 'intelligent design, and declared that evolution and Big Bang theory are real.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...ic-9822514.html

It looks to me like there is a strong connection between theistic evolution and the bottomless pit. Pope John Paul II was the first pope to teach that evolution and the Bible account of creation are not incompatible. The papacy can see that this advances its agenda to elevate human tradition to the level of scripture and in the process this buttresses its claim to possessing the authority to change times and laws. So, yes this lays the groundwork for the final deception promoted by Satan transformed into an angel of light that the law is no longer binding, the Sabbath is invalid today and in transgression of it "ye shall not surely die". Genesis 3:4.

This is the spirit of anti-Christ and of atheism because whoever denies the Son denies the Father also. This is how churches that were once faithful become anti-Christ - they deny the blood of Christ that redeemed them from the curse of the law. And so "they go out from us because they were not of us."