Revelation Chapter 17

Now a second look at our subject from another perspective, one which when rightfully grasps seems just as plausible as the first.

VERSE 8 continued “The beast that thou saw WAS, and IS NOT; and IS ABOUT TO COME up out of the abyss…”

“All students of Revelation know the enormous complexities of Verses 8-13. These verses will remain complex no matter what we do to simplify them. Nevertheless, it is important to try to identify the players in this saga as clearly as possible, and the Revelator supplies enough clues to make certain conclusions secure. By identifying the players, a great deal of the difficulty of interpretation is eliminated.”

Before going any further it is important here to remember that the Beast consist of four parts,

(1) THE RIDER: (the “Woman”) the apostate Roman Catholic Church, which has, indeed, by harlotry controlled the direction of the beast.

(2) THE BODY of the beast: The People who either have nominally supported, or have by coercion been functionally a part of the arrangement.

(3) THE HORNS: The supportive powers (nations) which, throughout the age, have fluctuated in identity.

(4) THE HEADS: The forms of authority, which have acted as kinds of umbrella philosophies over this complex entity.

Take the following slowly, applying your God given ability to reason for yourself and you should be able to comprehend what is being said.

In Verse 8 we are introduced to a BEAST, which we were told we “Saw” earlier.

Point # 1: The Beast here spoken of is NOT the ENTIRE 7-headed, 10-horned beast spoken of in Verse 7.

How do we know this?

Because Verse 8 says that THIS “beast” (which we saw) IS NOT, (read the Verse again carefully) …

Verse 8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

…While (at the same time in history) we learn from Verse 10 that the WHOLE beast IS that is, it EXISTS at this same time WITH ONE HEAD (the 6th) which it CLEARLY STATES “IS” (in existence).

Verse 10 “There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.”

THEREFORE: This beast IS (Verse 10) and IS NOT (Verse 8) AT THE SAME TIME!

This seems like double-talk, but it is not. The expansion of POINT #1 is this:

SOME FUNCTION (some characteristic, some form, some aberration, some historic identity or peculiarity) of the beast USED TO EXIST, but does not (now) CURRENTLY exist –

EVEN THOUGH THE BEAST AS A WHOLE DOES CURRENTLY EXIST. By currently, we mean at the time of this angel’s ministry, (Thus you see the reason why in our first post we needed to establish who the particular angel or messenger was who spoke to John.)

Verse 8 gives a further clue. When it says “The beast that you saw,” it clearly refers back to Verses 3-5 — the “wilderness” period (A.D. 539-1799).

Verse 3 “So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness…”

THEREFORE, whatever aberration of the beast we are looking for should be found DURING THAT TIME.

NOTE: There WAS one particular and peculiar (and scripturally noted) instance during that period (A.D. 539-1799) when the BODY of the beast had an UPRISING. During the French Republic, the PEOPLE (the body of the beast) rose up against head, horns, and harlot rider.

This is when 1/10th of the “city” fell.

Revelation Chapter 11 Verse 13 “In the same hour there was a great earthquake (The French Revolution), and a tenth of the city (Great Babylon) fell…”

Apparently, this beast (NOT a WHOLE beast, but only the people constituting its body) will ONCE MORE appear for the destruction of the other 9/10ths of the “city.”

(See Verses 8, 11-13, 16, 17, Consider Rev 11:7-13 CAREFULLY)

NOTE ALSO: The French Republic WAS NOT A HEAD!

It DID NOT work with or under the Roman Catholic Church (which all the heads do; thus she “rides” or controls them.) It was contemporaneous with the yet-existing Holy Roman Empire, which was the contemporary head. Napoleon’s overthrow of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) created the NEXT head — the Napoleonic Empire, which was the 5th head, which DID work with Papacy.

In our next post we will consider two more valid points.