The first appearance of the “beast” was at its ascent from the “Abyss,” when it arrived to make “war” on the “two witnesses” – Revelation 11:7.
In the
vision of the “two witnesses,” John saw the “beast ascend” from
the “Abyss” to attack and “slay” both “witnesses.” But it
was only able to do so after they had “completed their testimony.”
- (Revelation 11:4-7) – “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man desires to hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if any man desires to hurt them, in this manner he must be killed... And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.”
The passage identifies the “two witnesses” as
“two lampstands,” and elsewhere in the book, “lampstands”
represent churches. And if its symbolism is
consistent, then the “two witnesses” symbolize churches in some capacity
– (Revelation 1:19-20).
After the “witnesses” completed their “testimony,”
the “beast ascended from the Abyss” to wage “war
on them, and to slay them.” This last clause echoes the passage from
Daniel’s vision of the “four beasts that ascended from
the sea.” When the malevolent “little horn” grew out of the “fourth
beast,” it persecuted and conquered the “saints of the Most-High” (Daniel
7:21).
In
Revelation, each time something evil “ascends” from
a dark place, it uses the same Greek verb or anabainô to
describe the event. For example, in chapter 13, John saw the “beast ascending from
the sea.” At the end of the “thousand years,” Satan led the nations
to “ascend over the earth” to attack the “camp
of the saints” – (Revelation 9:1, 11:7, 13:1, 17:8, 20:8-9).
But
the “beast” was not able to “ascend from the Abyss” to slay the “two
witnesses” until after they had finished
their “testimony.” Thus, it could not overcome them until authorized to
do so by some external force. Prior to its “ascent,” attempts were made
by the “inhabitants of the earth” to kill the “two witnesses,”
but each time they failed (“If anyone desires to hurt them, fire proceeds
out of their mouth and devours their enemies”).
The
same “beast” appears again when John saw it “ascending from the
sea.” The “sea” represents the same dark reality as the “Abyss.”
As before, the “beast ascends” in order to prosecute the
Dragon’s war against the “saints.” Both visions use the same language
from Daniel - “The horn made war with the
saints, and prevailed against them” - (Daniel 7:21, Revelation
13:1-10).
To
reiterate, the “two witnesses” represent “lampstands” or
churches. Just as the “beast” ascended from the “Abyss” to “wage
war and kill” them, so it likewise “ascended from the sea” to attack
the “saints”:
- (Revelation 13:7) – “And it was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to it authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.”
After
the “Beast” killed the “two witnesses,” the “peoples and
tribes and tongues and nations” refused to bury their corpses, and the “inhabitants
of the earth” rejoiced over their deaths. Similarly, when the “Beast
from the sea” killed the “saints,” it was granted authority over “every
tribe and people and tongue and nation,” and the “inhabitants
of the earth” rendered homage to it and to its image.
Thus,
the “Beast
from the Abyss” and the “beast from the sea” are one and the same, and the “war” against the
"two witnesses" represents the same reality as the “war” of the “beast from the sea” on the “saints.” In either
case, the “beast” cannot prosecute its war against the church until
authorized to do so - (“it was given to it…”).
No comments:
Post a Comment