Have you ever climbed a mountain? If you climb from one side, you get one view. If you climb it on another side, you get a different view. It’s the same mountain, you’re just seeing it from another angle.
The difference between the seven headed beasts of Revelation chapters thirteen and seventeen is that in chapter thirteen the focus is on the Antichrist, and in chapter seventeen the focus is on Babylon the Whore.
Both beast represent a one world empire, but the scripture’s focus is different.
Chapter thirteen first focuses on the Antichrist and then on the false prophet.
Chapter seventeen focuses on Babylon the Whore and her relationship to building the one world empire. The same theme of Babylon the Whore continues in chapters eighteen and nineteen with her destruction, and also the destruction of the beast.
The beast of chapter seventeen:
- “Was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit”, and
- “Was, and is not, and yet is.”
Confusing — “is not, and yet is.” During the Apostle John’s life, there were previous world empires and the current Roman Empire.
The “Was”
Throughout history the dragon kept reinventing the beast: Babylon, Persia, and Greek empires for example. The dragon is always working for world domination.
The “Yet Is”
The Roman Empire was “alive” during John’s life.
The “Is Not”
The “is not” refers to the ending of the Roman Empire. God is “calling those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). You’ll notice since Jesus came, there’s never been a successful Empire like Rome’s. Many have tried, but none have succeeded. God hasn’t allowed a one world empire since then. There will be one more that “will ascend out of the bottomless pit.”
“And Will Ascend Out Of The Bottomless Pit”
This is the beast of chapters thirteen and seventeen that reinvents itself in modern time and among modern entities. But this beast can’t dominate until the “appointed time” (Daniel 8:19).
Stay strong and prepared.
A Journal of Edification and Exhortation 