7 But the angel said to me, Why do you wonder? I will explain to you the [secret symbolic meaning of the] mystery of the woman, as well as of the beast having the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
8 The beast that you saw [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is going to come up out of the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and proceed to go to perdition. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been recorded in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they look at the beast, because he [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is [yet] to come.
Before I begin with this verse, notice that our names were written or not written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Paul wrote that our Father called him before he was born, Galatians 1:15. King David wrote that all of his days were recorded before the world was, Psalm 139:16. Many are called, but only a few are chosen, and we were chosen to be the Bride of Christ before the world ever was! The Truth sets us free! Our Father knew exactly who He was going to have serve with Jesus for all of eternity.
The Pope once was the most powerful man on Earth, from 538-1798, then our Father empowered Napoleon to end the Catholic churches reign in 1798. But here we are shown that during the last days, the Pope will come back into being the most powerful ruler on the earth. And it will astonish the world. Just think if right now, the Pope, became the leader of the world, and the President of the United States was second to him. The world would be greatly astonished!
Notice something here that is very neat as well, Jesus tells us that the beast is loosed from the Abyss. Let me ask you a question, does the Word of our Father tell us that the anti-christ will actually be a man? We have seen that he has a number of a man, 666, but the Word does not tell us that he is a man. Now we see that he is loosed from the Abyss. The Bible teaches us that we can entertain angels unaware, Hebrews 13:2. I have always wondered why Jesus told John that the anti-christ would have the number of a man? Why would Jesus need to say this, was there a doubt that the anti-christ would be a man? It always just stuck out to me.
Later we will study about the Lake of Fire and it will further bring this point up, that the Bible seems to show us that the anti-christ will be a spiritual being posing as a man. Don’t freak out about this, because it really doesn’t matter all of that much if the anti-christ is a man or a spiritual being. The Truth is that he will be allowed by our Father to attempt to destroy the earth, he will be a vessel of our Father’s wrath on the ungodly. The Truth is that he will exist and that he will come into power.
The lost will marvel at how this Pope, the anti-christ, seems to unite the world, even the muslim world. They will marvel at how religion seemed so passe and unrefined in the Western World, yet this Pope is the answer and has come into power. Think of how in America right now, that the President is placing in power and bringing in laws that are angering the Catholic Church. Then think of the Pope being the more powerful leader, the lost will marvel at it all. And as the lost have always done, they will follow after who they believe is the most powerful, bragging about how wise they are.
Notice that we are also shown in verse 8 that the inhabitants of the earth, not the people of the earth marvel at the anti-christ. We were shown in Revelation 12:13 that satan and those angels that followed him were cast to the earth. Clearly these fallen angels names are not in the Book of Life and clearly they would marvel if satan once again seemed to have power on the earth after Jesus took it all away from him at the Cross. Satan was powerful, then Jesus came and he wasn’t, then he will be again.
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