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The Beast – Once Was, Now is Not

Revelation 17:8 – “The Beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction.”

I’m including my own personal theory as one possible explanation.  This is strictly a hypothesis:

“once was”: the Beast ‘once was’ one of Satan’s principalities and powers (after all the Dragon does give the Beast his power and his throne and great authority) – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” – Ephesians 6:12

“now is not”: Revelation 13:3 – “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed” and in Revelation 13:14 – “the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.”  I would suggest that the Beast sustained that fatal head wound in the ‘War in Heaven’ – a spiritual war -against Michael and his angels.  Angels presumably still fight with swords.  The Beast, being Satan’s principal demon, would certainly be at this epic war.  And the Beast is wounded ‘by the sword’.  Revelation 12:7-8 – “The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.“  It continues: “he (Satan) was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” – Revelation 12:9.  It reads Satan was thrown down to the earth, and the angels were ‘thrown down with him’, but scripture doesn’t specify where exactly the demonic angels went.  Maybe the demons – and that includes the Beast – were thrown down into the abyss (which will be unlocked shortly afterwards by the Dragon, at the 5th Trumpet, when he’s given its key).  That is when the phrase “now is not” is applied – he’s temporarily ‘not present’ because he’s locked up in the abyss.  That would also explain how the Beast was there in the first place to come up out of the abyss.  Notice that the angel goes to the trouble to tell John where the Beast  will reappear from – the abyss.  The ‘locusts’ that come out of the abyss are actually demons, presenting themselves as locusts.  Also, after Armageddon, Satan is locked in the abyss for a 1,000 years, so you could say that during that 1,000 years he’s “now is not”.  Revelation 20:3 – “so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed”.  Technically, that will be Satan’s fate as well – once was, now is not (during the 1,000 years), will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction.

“will come up out of the abyss” : The ‘War in Heaven’, with Michael, was at the end of the first half of the Tribulation.  The Dragon was cast down to the earth consequently and pursued the Israelites, who fled into the desert.  Then with the sounding of the 5th Trumpet, the Dragon is handed the key to open the abyss for the emergence of the ‘locusts’ and the Beast.  “They had as king over them the angel of the abyss” – Revelation 9:11. This is all at the mid-point of the Tribulation now.  “When they (the two witnesses) have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them” – Revelation 11:7 – mid-point.  The Beast, with his healed head wound, was given “authority to act for 42 months.” – Revelation 13:5 – mid-point.

“go to his destruction”: Revelation 19:20 – “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet … these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone”, near the end of the Tribulation.

This would suggest that even though the angel was speaking to John in Revelation 17:8, at the destruction of the ‘Great Whore’, near the end of the Tribulation, saying: ‘The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction.’ the angel was speaking in past, present and future terms, similar to Revelation 12:1-5.  Another way to look at it, how can the angel say the beast who ‘now is not’ if the ‘Great Whore’ is actively ‘riding’ it.

Or is it all a deception: “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound.” – Revelation 13:3.  After all, “Satan, who deceives the whole world.” – Revelation 12:9.

scripture: The Great Prostitute – Revelation 17