The Beast Demon of the Abyss A study by Gavin Finley MD endtimepilgrim.org July 2006

The image above is from the movie, 'The Abyss'".

THE MONSTROUS
AND ABOMINABLE
BEAST DEMON
OF THE ABYSS,
(OR BOTTOMLESS PIT).

This sounds like a riddle.
But it is quite possible to put the pieces together.
All four of the pieces of the puzzle are readily available from the scriptures.

Revelation 17:8
"The beast that you saw
A. was,
B. and is not,
C. and will ascend out of the bottomless pit
D. and go to perdition".

And those who dwell on the earth will marvel,
whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world,
when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

In Revelation 17:8 we read about
"the beast that was, but is not".
(The thing was not in John’s time.)
But apparently he had been seen in a time earlier.
When was that? And what was that all about?

A. THE BEAST THAT WAS.

Here we have a personage who lived in a time era before John.
And John, of course, was living in Roman times.
Who was this "beast that was"?
And when was he manifest in the history of God's people?

We could go to the history books and take a look. But instead let's start with the holy scriptures. Let's take a look at the Book of Daniel, chapter 11. The angel Gabriel, during the first year of the reign of Darius, in 538 B.C., is telling Daniel something extraordinary. The angel starts out by telling in incredibly accurate detail the future history of a coming Seleucid ruler.

So did he finally turn up? Oh yes. He emerged into history in 168 B.C. This monstrous ruler was named Antiochus Epiphanes. Then as the narrative continues Gabriel is talking of another abominable beastly ruler, the end time Antichrist.

28 While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
29 At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter.
30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.

31 And forces shall be mustered by him,
and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress;
then they shall take away the daily sacrifices,
and place there the abomination of desolation.

32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.
34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help;
but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35 And some of those of understanding shall fall,
to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end;
because it is still for the appointed time.
36 "Then the king shall do according to his own will:
he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god,
shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods,
and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished;
for what has been determined shall be done.
37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women,
nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.
38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses;
and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver,
with precious stones and pleasant things.
39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god,
which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory;
and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.

This is remarkable. Remember, Daniel gets this prophecy in 538 B.C..
Antiochus, the subject of this prophecy, was not seen in history until 168 B.C.
This was 370 years later!

From the scripture above it seems that there was a monstrous blaspheming ruler back in the days of the Greek Empire. This beast was alive on the earth and possessing a man back in the time of the Seleucid Greeks. He was named Antiochus Epiphanes. Here we have evidence that this demon spirit, a hideously evil spirit capable of possessing a man, entered into Antiochus, the Greek ruler, in 168 B.C., the time of the Maccabees. The demon turned the Seleucid ruler into an blaspheming antichrist or anti-messiah. This wicked demon caused him to commit acts of abomination.

Do we have historical records of this? Oh yes.
The history books of that time including the history of the Jews records this staggering history. This was a level of blasphemy against the God of Israel that had not been seen before. Nor has it been seen since. Antiochus Epiphanes was in a demonic rage. He entered the temple in Jerusalem, and committed heinous outrages against the God of Israel, His holy temple, and His holy people. He tore down the city walls. He slaughtered a great many of the Jews. Then, on Hannukah, the 24th of Cheshvan, 168 BC, Antiochus stopped the daily sacrifices. Then he offered a pig to Zeus on the altar of God.

These were abominable acts. The Syrian Greek ruler desecrated the place of God’s Presence and defiled the place of His worship. All this was fortold and prophesied in 538 B.C.. Gabriel gave the prophecy to Daniel over 370 years before the fact!

The year of this abomination and desolation was 168 B.C.
The beast that "was" manifested himself in history 250 years before the time of John.
Let's look at this scripture one more time.

Gabriel told Daniel that the Seleucid Greek ruler would enter the temple and,

"1. he will defile the sanctuary fortress;
 2. then they shall take away the daily sacrifices,
 3. and place there the abomination of desolation".

What do we notice?
These three things describe the acts of Antiochus back in 163 B.C..
And they are the very same acts of abomination that the end time Antichrist will do.
See Dan. 9:27, Dan. 12:11, & Rev.13:1-7
Jesus Himself referred to Daniel's prophecy of the end time abomination of desolation. (Mat.24:15)
Are Antiochus and the end time Antichrist possessed by the same spirit of abomination?
Is it possible that they are possessed by the very same demon?
Both are expressing the same obscene spirit of blasphemy.

As we know, spirit beings, unlike human beings, are immortal.
They can act in the lives of different human beings.
And they can possess those men in different time slots separated by thousands of years.
That is, if they are free to do so.

The narrative in Daniel 11 seems to run on across two millennia.
The account crosses over, sometimes imperceptibly, from Antiochus to the Antichrist.
And sometimes the passage applies to both Antiochus and Antichrist.

Here is an interesting possibility.
Is the Holy Spirit outlining the spiritual expression of the beast demon in two world rulers?
Is He telling the story of one demon as he emerges in two men and in two histories?
Here we have two abominable tryrant rulers, Antiochus Epiphanes, and Antichrist in his beast role.
Could it be that both rulers, in their time, are possessed by the very same beast demon of the Abyss?!

B. THE BEAST "WAS NOT" (IN JOHN'S TIME).

We are told that the beast "was not" in John's day.
This would be the time period of the late first century.
So just where was the monstrous thing in those Roman times?

Well if we look at the scripture above it seems that the beast demon was incarcerated.
Because John said that the beast spirit would "ascend out of this bottomless pit".
So the Bible is telling us here exactly where that place of imprisonment for demons is located.
The beast demon is contained or held in the bottomless pit (or Abyss).

So who is it that is holding or restraining this hideous beast demon down in the pit?
Who is the restrainer of this abominable antichrist demon?

THE RESTRAINER OF THE BEAST DEMON
OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, (OR ABYSS)

It is our Apostle Paul who comes through for us here.
He has the next piece of the puzzle.
And Paul actually tells us a lot about the restrainer of the antichrist.
He also tells us that the restrainer will be taken out of the way at a certain time.
"He who restrains" will be taken out of the way we are told.

This has to be a very important moment in history.
Is this when the Kraken wakes?
Is this when the beast demon of the Abyss is released by the angel?
And will this then allow the beast demon to ascend out of the bottomless pit?

THE RESTRAINER
OF 2 THESSALONIANS 2

He Imprisons The Beast
Demon of the Antichrist
in the Bottomless Pit.

The Archangel Michael restraining evil principalities.

Art used by permission of Shelli Baker Visit her studio

This loosing of the beast demon of the Abyss will be an epic moment in future history.
It will allow this blasphemous "man of sin" to be possessed and therefore "revealed".
Who is this restrainer of the Antichrist beast demon?
He cannot be human or governmental or ecclesiastical.
He cannot be the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. (Psalm 139)
"He who restrains" has to be an angel.
And if that is the case, then who is this angel?

For a fuller discussion of the restrainer see this article.

Here is our scripture on the subject of the restrainer.

2 Thessalonians 2
3 Let no one deceive you by any means;
for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first,
and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;
only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume
with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan,
with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion,
they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

THE BEAST WHO IS TO COME;
C. WHO WILL ASCEND UP OUT OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, (THE ABYSS).

Antichrist will be a peacemaker during the first half of the 70th Week. Apparently he will get along with the harlot pretty well for these first 3.5 years. He will be her consort. When this beast demon possesses the Antichrist he changes all that. He brings to Antichrist the monstrous spirit and character of the beast. Once again the demon will be expressing himself through a man. And once again history will see an abominable blasphemer against God and heaven.

Revelation 17
3 "So the angel took me in spirit into the wilderness.
There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast
that had seven heads and ten horns,
written all over with blasphemies against God.

This beast with seven heads and ten horns will be the end time manifestation of the beast demon from the Abyss. The Antichrist will be a blaspheming person even in the first half of the 70th Week. He will be nasty before he is possessed and given over entirely to this beast demon of the Abyss. But the harlot will believe that she can control him.

This will be an impossible dream on her part. The hideous thing will be on the verge of breaking loose of all restraint both here in world politics and down in the bottomless pit where he is held by the angel with the key to the Abyss. (Dan.12:1) This conclusive takeover will finally occur. It will happen half way through the 7 years of Daniel's 70th Week. (Dan.9:27b) This will be that key waypoint spoken of by Daniel in Dan. 9:27and Jesus in the Olivet Discourse. It will result in the "abomination that makes desolate".

So the "beast that was" will come up out of the bottomless pit or Abyss. And he will be inside a world leader again. He will be up to his old tricks just as in the days of the Seleucid Greeks. Nearly 2200 years will have passed by. But the demon spirit will be downloading the same abominable spiritual software into the soul of a world leader as he did on that previous occasion. During the Great Tribulation period, the last 3.5 years of this age he will be doing the very same abominable things he did back in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes.

The beast demon emerges midway through the 70th Week. (Dan.9:27b) This is half way through the final seven years of this age. The beast Antichrist is "revealed" by this trademark acts of sacrilege.

Earlier, the peacemaking Antichrist, moderated in his behavior by his harlot consort, had been somewhat tolerant towards God's covenant city and God's covenant people. He had allowed the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. But halfway through the seven years he breaks the covenant he had made with Israel, (and perhaps the G-7/G-8 nations). He stops the Jewish sacrifices which had ressumed on the temple mount in Jerusalem. And he commits the abomination of desolation.

What is seen at the abomination of desolation is an unbridled obscene blaspheming of God. The Antichrist becomes a beast at that point. He is then an enemy of the holy city, Jerusalem, and an enemy of the holy people, the covenant congregation of God.

So the Antichrist is destined to be possessed by this beast demon when he breaks the covenant half way through the 7 years. When that happens, (and we know precisely when it will happen), Antichrist will be transformed. He will no longer be "Mr. Niceguy". He will take on the character of a malignant blaspheming desecrator of all that is holy. There will be no more peace deals. Just a tyrannical 666 economic system and a continuous stream of acts of desecration and abomination.

At this time his consort, the harlot, the ultimate wangler and manipulator, will be in a state of shock and disbelief. She will no longer be riding and controlling the beast. Quite the contrary. She will have been dismounted rather forcefully. Then she will be in for some very serious trouble. She will eventually be burned with fire. (Rev. 17:16)

The "abomination that makes desolate" begins the 1260 day reign of the Antichrist. (Rev.13:5)
This also initiates the trampling of Jerusalem for 42 biblical months. (Rev.11:2)
This is the very same period of Great Tribulation referred to in Daniel.
He spoke of "the scattering of the power of the holy people).
The Great Tribulation will last for 3.5 years. (Dan.12:7)
It will be the final 3.5 years of this age.

The midweek possession of the Antichrist by the beast demon of the Abyss brings the obscene character of this evil spirit into focus. Thus the Antichrist is transformed into the ultimate evil as the blasphemer, the "man of sin" or "son of perdition", the (son of Hell). Here we see the ultimate possession of a man by an evil spirit. This possession, catapults the Antichrist into his final epic role. When the peacemaking phase 1 Antichrist is possessed his character will change dramatically, and for the worse.

D. THE BEAST THAT "GOES TO PERDITION", OR INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.

The Apostle John had prophesied the final end of the beast demon of the Abyss.
He said that he would "go to perdition. (John 17:8)
Later in Rev.19:19-20 we get a short but final message from John.
It concerns the final doom of the Beast of the Abyss.
John said,

Revelation 19:19-20
19. And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
20. Then the beast was captured,
and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence,
by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast
and those who worshiped his image.
These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Surely our God, the Shepherd of Israel, is in control of world history.
He will be regathering all His lost people,
even on a dark and cloudy day. (Ezek.34:12)

Grace and shalom to all who love His appearing.

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