Revelation 17:1-18 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the *lo** of the saints, and with the *lo** of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
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.
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.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (KJV)
Sometimes prophecy students and commentators will try to associate popular or well-known secular emblems with the prophetic symbols in the scriptural passages they are reading. For example, if a symbolic eagle is encountered in prophetic scriptures, then they will interpret the eagle as a representation of the United States even though other modern countries also use a representation of an eagle as their national emblem. Likewise when a symbolic bear is encountered in a scripture, it is interpreted as a representation of the Russian bear. However, it is always best to allow the Bible itself to interpret the meaning of the symbols it uses. If the immediate scriptural context does not provide the information needed for ascertaining the correct meaning of a symbol, then scriptural passages elsewhere will. Thus, when we try, for example, to decipher the meaning of the symbolism associated with the beast in Revelation 13, we find that the prophecies in Daniel give us much information that is essential to our understanding of the symbolism portrayed in Revelation 13.
Accordingly, in the biblical passage above, verse 15 stipulates that water in this scripture symbolizes the masses of humanity. Therefore, common-sense logic dictates that both the beast and the evil woman dominate humanity because they are pictured as standing or sitting dominantly on the symbolic water which represents humanity. Likewise, there are scriptural clues which help us to identify the beast in the above biblical passage. Please note verse 8, which reads as follows: The beast that... shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. Obviously there is ONLY one such individual mentioned in the Bible who meets every one of these scriptural requirements, and that personage is none other than Satan:
Revelation 20:1-3, 7, 10 1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (KJV)
Therefore, Satan is the only personage portrayed in the Bible who goes into perdition after ascending out of the bottomless pit (immediately after the Millennial Reign of Christ Jesus is over). Although II Thessalonians 2:3, in reference to the Antichrist, uses the expression, the son of perdition (i.e., the son of Satan, or the son of destruction), the Antichrist is never called the man of perdition, nor does he ever ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. Instead, the Antichrist literally is killed during the Battle of Armageddon, then immediately resurrected as part of the Second Resurrection and thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire.
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the *lo** of the saints, and with the *lo** of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
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.
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.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (KJV)
Sometimes prophecy students and commentators will try to associate popular or well-known secular emblems with the prophetic symbols in the scriptural passages they are reading. For example, if a symbolic eagle is encountered in prophetic scriptures, then they will interpret the eagle as a representation of the United States even though other modern countries also use a representation of an eagle as their national emblem. Likewise when a symbolic bear is encountered in a scripture, it is interpreted as a representation of the Russian bear. However, it is always best to allow the Bible itself to interpret the meaning of the symbols it uses. If the immediate scriptural context does not provide the information needed for ascertaining the correct meaning of a symbol, then scriptural passages elsewhere will. Thus, when we try, for example, to decipher the meaning of the symbolism associated with the beast in Revelation 13, we find that the prophecies in Daniel give us much information that is essential to our understanding of the symbolism portrayed in Revelation 13.
Accordingly, in the biblical passage above, verse 15 stipulates that water in this scripture symbolizes the masses of humanity. Therefore, common-sense logic dictates that both the beast and the evil woman dominate humanity because they are pictured as standing or sitting dominantly on the symbolic water which represents humanity. Likewise, there are scriptural clues which help us to identify the beast in the above biblical passage. Please note verse 8, which reads as follows: The beast that... shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. Obviously there is ONLY one such individual mentioned in the Bible who meets every one of these scriptural requirements, and that personage is none other than Satan:
Revelation 20:1-3, 7, 10
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (KJV)
Therefore, Satan is the only personage portrayed in the Bible who goes into perdition after ascending out of the bottomless pit (immediately after the Millennial Reign of Christ Jesus is over). Although II Thessalonians 2:3, in reference to the Antichrist, uses the expression, the son of perdition (i.e., the son of Satan, or the son of destruction), the Antichrist is never called the man of perdition, nor does he ever ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. Instead, the Antichrist literally is killed during the Battle of Armageddon, then immediately resurrected as part of the Second Resurrection and thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire.