Revelation 13 - 1-part2 - The Beast that did rise up out of the sea

Revelation 13:1:

1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy . {name: or, names}

In our last study, we looked at the first part of this verse, which states, And I stood upon the sand of the sea. More literally, And I was stood upon the sand of the sea. In this verse, we learned that the Apostle John, being an Apostle, represents all the elect. And so, when we read that [he] was stood upon the sand of the sea, he is a picture of all the elect, including John himself, who were stood upon the sand of the sea. That is, the elect did not stand themselves upon the sand of the sea, but they were all made to stand upon the sand of the sea by someone or something else. And since we learned that the sand of the sea is symbolic of the peoples of the world, for the sand symbolizes the unsaved people, and the sea symbolizes the world, we know that it was the atoning work of Christ on the cross which had made all the elect, which includes the Apostle John, to stand upon the unsaved peoples of the world; not literally, of course, but to have been stood upon the peoples of the world is figurative language to mean that all the elect were made conquerors or victors over the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, there is much more being said in this sentence than what meets the eye. When the Apostle John says, And I was stood upon the sand of the sea, virtually all commentators completely miss the meaning because they use

a wrong method of interpretation. Instead of letting the Bible be its own dictionary and commentator; looking up each word everywhere it takes place in the Bible to see how God defines His own terms, it is much easier to simply take things literally because to do things the right way can require a lot of work, and who wants to work? Not many, which is one of the reasons why people can get so misled. Instead of doing the work and letting God define His own terms in the Bible itself, most simply use their own minds and define terms in the Bible according to the way they define them in the world. This is especially true when it comes to prophecy and endtime things. They read verses in the Bible and then look outwardly to find what they think is the closest match instead of looking inwardly into the Bible, comparing scripture with scripture, and letting the Bible be its own dictionary and commentary (see First Principles of Bible Study ).

But let's now return our focus onto our verse and ask the question, why does God want us to know right up front that we, the elect as represented by the Apostle John, were stood upon the sand of the sea; that is, that we were made to be victorious over the world of the unsaved through the atoning work of Christ on our behalf. Why would God want us to know this to begin Revelation, Chapter 13? Well, as we shall see, Revelation 13 is all about the Great Tribulation period which we know took place from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 according to the Biblical Timeline of History . It was the time when Satan was given complete rule over the world as well as all the Christian churches and congregations around the world as judgment against them; and it was a time when eternal salvation came to an end in all the churches and congregations in the

world, and Satan was allowed to completely overcome and wear out the Saints of the Most High and spiritually kill them in the churches. Satan was also permitted to spiritually destroy all the churches and congregations worldwide by being seated to rule in them as the counterfeit Christ, THE ANTICHRIST who was prophesied to come, the Man of Sin or Son of Perdition. Satan destroyed all the churches and congregations worldwide by flooding them with false prophets, false Christians, false teachings, and false gospels or Christs without them even knowing it, except for the elect who obeyed Christ's command to depart out from them all to escape the strong delusion that God was feeding them and still is even to this day (see Why leave all churches? and listen to 2Thessalonians 2:1-11 ).

So, since Revelation 13 is all about the overcoming of God's people by Satan during the Great Tribulation, can you now see why God begins the chapter by making it clear that God's people, the elect who are represented by the Apostle John, already conquered the world and Satan through the sacrifice of Christ by telling us upfront that the Apostle John was stood upon the sand of the sea? Why it is to make it clear that although Satan would be allowed a time in which he would overcome God's people in the Great Tribulation; nevertheless, God's people had already conquered Satan and his world through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, fear not! Although Satan would be permitted to overcome God's true people during the short 23-year period of the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, in Christ, the elect had already overcome the world and Satan at the cross for all eternity.

So, it is like God is encouraging us, the elect, right upfront before we learn that we will be overcome for a time by saying, don't let yourselves be discouraged by what you will learn in the rest of Revelation 13 about Satan overcoming you, for his time is but for a season, but your time, the elect's time, is forever through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This, I believe, is what God is revealing to His elect by the first sentence in Revelation 13:1, which reads, And I was stood upon the sand of the sea.

Now, let's continue with verse 1 of Revelation 13. It next states, and [I] saw a beast rise up out of the sea. We had learned in our previous study that the sea can symbolize the world or unsaved people of the world; thus, we are being told that this beast did rise up out of the unsaved people of the world. That is, this rising beast is a picture of Satan working through his unsaved people in the world to reveal his kingdom, which is a kingdom consisting of all his unsaved people and his fallen angels each doing Satan's bidding.

We should also remember from our previous study that the sea can also symbolize hell itself. The sea, you see, not only symbolizes the unsaved of the world, which can simply be called the world, but the world, or unsaved of the world, is identified very closely to being hell itself because it is the world or unsaved of the world who will finally be cast into the Lake of Fire on the Last Day to be burned up and annihilated forever in hell; never to be remembered again. Thus, our verse not only pictures Satan rising or ascending out of the world or unsaved of the world, but also ascending out of hell itself.

Now, it is of great significance that the beast (the kingdom of Satan) is said to rise out of the sea (out of hell). In the bible, hell is synonymous with the abyss or bottomless pit. For instance, we read in Luke 8 about the demoniac from whom Jesus cast out the demons into the pigs. It says,

Lu 8:31 And they [the demons] besought him [Jesus] that he would not command them to go out into the deep .

This term the deep is the same word translated as bottomless pit in other verses, and it is synonymous with hell because the story of the demoniac is a picture of Judgment Day when Christ will cast the demons into the deep, namely hell itself. Hell is not a place of eternal suffering as most of those in the churches incorrectly believe, but it is the Lake of Fire in which the unsaved will be cast to be burned up and annihilated forever, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23); it is not eternal suffering. In fact, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the clearest examples of what it means to suffer eternal hell. We read,

Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire . {strange: Gr. other }

So, suffering eternal fire does not mean to suffer eternally, but it means to be burned up and annihilated forever by death just as what

happened to the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah who are given as the example of what it means to suffer eternal fire or hell. O yes, by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), for instance, many have concluded that hell is an eternal place of suffering. But we must remember that this is just a parable. It is not meant to be taken the way it appears at first glance, but it is meant to teach deeper truths than what appears on the surface of things. We must be extremely careful, therefore, to not make more of a parable than it is, which unfortunately, many have done to come up with wrong conclusions like that hell is a place of eternal suffering. What kind of God would torture people forever? What kind of a God would make people suffer and so blaspheme His name with their tongues forever? No, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and the vast majority of scripture reveals the same. But that is for another study!

So, we can get into more detail about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus at another time, but for now, let's look at another verse to support hell being synonymous with the bottomless pit. We read,

Romans 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above :)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead .)

Notice that in this context, the deep is where Christ went to pay for our sins when He died

saw a beast [the kingdom of Satan] rise up out of the sea [out of the bottomless pit or hell], we know that this took place at the end of the Church Age on May 21, 1988 when judgment began with the house of God and the Great Tribulation began by the Holy Spirit being removed from all the churches and congregations worldwide to be given over to THE ANTICHRIST , the counterfeit Christ, Satan himself, as judgment against them (Listen to 2Thessalonians 2:1-11 and Why leave all churches? ). Therefore, we should expect Revelation 13 to be about the Great Tribulation when God brought judgment upon His own house, namely all the churches and congregations worldwide from May 21, 1988 to when Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011, and the same spiritual wrath of no more eternal salvation possible in or thru any of the churches came upon the entire world as well so that ever since Judgment Day began, the entire world has also had no possibility for eternal salvation. Indeed, the Great Tribulation which first came upon all the churches has now come upon the entire world as well ever since May 21, 2011 with no more possibility for eternal life to anyone who was not already eternally saved in Jesus Christ. Babylon the Great (the world and all churches) has fallen!

But now, let's briefly look at a couple other verses which also speak about the time when the beast rises or ascends out of the bottomless pit or hell. We read in Revelation 17,

Re 17:8 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 [or marvel], 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 .

In this verse, the beast (Satan and his kingdom) is described as that which was, and is not, and yet is. That the beast was refers to Satan and his kingdom before the cross when Satan could roam freely in heaven and on earth, and he had total rule over the entire world. That the beast is not refers to after the cross when Satan was cast down from heaven to the earth to be bound in the bottomless pit in the sense that he was no longer able to frustrate the gospel from going out to the entire world as he was able to do before the cross during the Old Testament period. No, he wasn't bound so that he could not go about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour and causing all sorts of terrible things, but he was spiritually bound at the cross so that he could not frustrate God's plan to get the gospel to and save all His elect in every nation - Satan no longer had supreme rule over the world after the cross, but Christ did. So, it was that Satan and his kingdom, the beast, was considered as is not after the cross. But then, on May 21, 1988 at the end of the Church Age, Satan was released from the bottomless pit for him and his kingdom to bring judgment against all the churches and congregations worldwide as Satan came as THE ANTICHRIST, the counterfeit Christ, to rule over all the churches and congregations worldwide and bring into them

false gospels, false prophets, false Christians, and false teachings to spiritually destroy them. During this time the beast (Satan and his kingdom) is considered as yet is. Indeed, the beast (Satan and his kingdom) was once again ruling over the entire world, even what were once the very churches of God, but then all the churches became Babylon the Great because Satan, the king of Babylon, began ruling over them as God's judgment against them for all their sin, for judgment [had to] begin with the house of God (1Peter 4:17). Thus, in this way, the beast yet is. And then, ever since Judgment Day came to the entire world on May 21, 2011, and Satan was dethroned; nevertheless, Christ is still permitting Satan to rule and bring havoc to the world as judgment against them all. Thus, even today, it still appears that the beast yet is, but actually he is not, for on May 21, 2011 when Judgment Day began, Satan was deposed and dethroned, and Christ is now ruling with a rod of iron, but He is using the beast (Satan and his kingdom of fallen angels and the unsaved) to bring judgment against all the churches and congregations, and even the entire world.

Another verse which speaks about Satan being released out of the bottomless pit is in Revelation 20 . There we read,

Re 20: 1 And I saw an angel [Christ] 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 .

Here, we have another description of what happened to Satan after the cross: An angel, who with deeper study we would find to be Christ Himself (see Revelation 20 ), came down from heaven and bound Satan in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years. This 1,000 years is not to be taken literally as so many have done without searching the Bible to see how God defines it. In fact, it is difficult to think of any number in the book of Revelation that should be taken literally because when you let the Bible be its own interpreter for each number in the book of Revelation, for instance, by looking up the number 1,000 everywhere in the Bible, nowhere is it used literally; nor is any other number, but it is always used symbolically to refer to the completeness of whatever is in view without reference to the actual number of years (see Revelation 20:2 and Bible Number 1,000 ). Therefore, when we are told that Christ bound Satan for 1,000 years, it does not mean he was bound for a literal thousand years, but he was bound for the completeness of years, however many years that may be. And since we know that Satan was bound at the cross in 33 AD (see Revelation 20 ) when Christ conquered Satan, the bottomless pit, hell, death, and the deep by rising from the dead, we know that this is when the completeness of years began, namely on Passover of 33 AD when Christ was sacrificed, and He said, It is finished (John 19:30)!

We also know when the completeness of years, which is symbolized by the literal 1,000 years, ended because we are told that Christ cast [Satan] into the bottomless pit ... till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And we know that this little season was the Great Tribulation period which began on May 21, 1988 when God's judgment began with the house of God and the Church Age ended (see Revelation 20:3 ). Therefore, the literal 1,000 years in which Satan was bound symbolizes the completeness of years from Passover of 33 AD when Christ was crucified to May 21, 1988. Do you now see why one must look up words and terms everywhere in the Bible to see how God defines them before one can come to accurate conclusions? Most Theologians don't do this, which is one of the major reasons why they come up with so many false interpretations. It must be recognized that the Bible cannot be read like it is just another book. It requires great and proper study, prayer, and a lot of patience, which is something few want to or are able to do, and one of the reasons why only a few have been called to be teachers of God's Word.

Okay, so getting back to your main verse of study, my main point in all this is that when we read in Revelation 13:1 that the Apostle John saw a beast rising up out of the sea, the sea can symbolize hell, and hell is synonymous with the bottomless pit that Satan was bound in at the cross and was loosed from to begin judgment against all the churches and congregations at the end of the Church Age on May 21, 1988. And

so, this beast rising up out of the sea symbolizes Satan rising up out of the bottomless pit on May 21, 1988 to bring God's judgment against all the churches and congregations worldwide during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to when Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011. So now, we can know that Revelation 13 will be teaching us about this period of the Great Tribulation which already took place. This Final or Great Tribulation is not yet to come, but it already came, and its nature was completely spiritual with the removal of any possibility for eternal salvation in or thru any church and the bringing of judgment against all the churches and congregations by the use of Satan, THE ANTICHRIST who was prophesied to come , the counterfeit Christ and his kingdom, the beast, to spiritually destroy the entire house of God; that is, all the churches and congregations worldwide because of their sin,

1Pe 4:17 For the time [had to come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first [began] at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God ?

Well now, we are next told that this beast (Satan and his kingdom) rising up out of the sea, which is symbolic of Satan ascending out of the bottomless pit in which he was first bound at the cross, has 7 heads and 10 horns. This is the same amount of heads and horns that the great red dragon had in Revelation 12:3 where we found that the great red dragon was describing Satan at the end of the Old Testament period when he could still freely roam in heaven, and his 7 heads symbolized his perfect rulership or authority at that time while his 10 horns symbolized his completeness of power or

strength at that time before he was cast from heaven to the earth at the cross. Therefore, by saying that this beast (Satan and his kingdom) who rose up out of the sea (the bottomless pit) on May 21, 1988 has 7 heads and 10 horns just like the dragon (Satan) had near the end of the Old Testament period when he had perfection of rule and completeness of strength, it means that once again this beast of Satan has the perfection of rule and completeness of strength to bring judgment against and overcome all the churches and congregations worldwide beginning on May 21, 1988 by spiritually destroying them with false prophets, false believers, false teachings, and false gospels similar to what the dragon (Satan) did to the nation of Israel by the end of the Old Testament period so that virtually all of the nation of Israel could not even recognize their own Messiah, but instead crucified Him (see Revelation 12:4 ). Likewise, the churches and congregations around the world spiritually crucified the true Christ during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 and replaced Him with a counterfeit Christ, THE ANTICHRIST, Satan Himself who rose from the bottomless pit with the perfection of rule and the completeness of power to destroy and deceive all that were once God's churches and congregations in the world until Satan took them all over.

Now, let's pay careful attention to the 10 horns on the beast. Our verse once again reads,

Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy . {name: or, names }

Notice that on the beast's 10 horns are 10 crowns. Crowns are what kings wear! Therefore, since the 10 horns symbolize the completeness of power or strength that the beast has, and the 10 crowns on the 10 horns symbolize the completeness of kingship that the beast's strength or power (horns) bring, this beast (Satan and his kingdom) arises up out of the sea (the bottomless pit) on May 21, 1988 with the completeness of power or strength to have kingship over all the churches and congregations worldwide as well as the entire world itself. So, May 21, 1988 begins the Great Tribulation of Satan and his kingdom (the beast) because now Satan begins to rule all the churches and congregations worldwide with no more possibility of true eternal salvation in or thru any of them ever again. And from May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994, the first part of the Great Tribulation, there was no possibility for eternal salvation for anyone in the world either. This is why it was a Great Tribulation like the world had never seen; nor again would ever see because in God's eyes, the end came on May 21, 2011 by everyone's destiny being then set in stone. Everyone who was not eternally saved in Jesus Christ by May 21, 2011, including all those who had already passed on, and every baby conceived after May 21, 2011, are now all guaranteed to be cast into the Lake of Fire for their sin on the relatively soon to come Last Day of Judgment Day that we are now in. And all those who were eternally saved in Christ by May 21, 2011, including all those who were saved but had already passed on by then, will all be brought forth on the relatively soon to come Last

Day of Judgment Day that we are now in to be given new incorruptible and eternal bodies to live in the newly created heaven and earth forever. There will no longer be any suffering, sadness, pain, nor death, but glory and joy through the Holy Spirit, amen.

Now finally, our verse says, upon his heads the name of blasphemy. We already mentioned that the beast's 7 heads represent his perfection of rule and authority. Now we are being told that associated with his perfection of rule and authority is the name of blasphemy. What is blasphemy? We can say that blasphemy is evil speaking such as slander, detraction, lies, speech injuries to one's good name, or impious or reproachful speech injuries to the majesty of God. For instance, we read,

Re 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan .

In this case, those who said they were Jews (that is, they were saying that they were saved), and were not, but were a synagogue of Satan is an example of blasphemy because what they said was a lie even though they probably thought they were speaking the truth.

Another example of blasphemy is given in John 10 where Jesus says,

30 I and my Father are one .
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him .

32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me ?
33 The Jews answered him [Jesus], saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God .

In this verse, they thought that Jesus, a man, was making Himself to be God by having said, I and my Father are one, which He was, and they thought that it was blasphemy for a man to make Himself God. So, once again, they thought that Jesus spoke against the truth, for how could an infinite God be a finite man? It seemed to them, and even many to this day, that what Jesus said was a big absurd lie against the obvious truth (see The Mystery of the Incarnation ). So, they were going to stone Him.

As one more example of blasphemy, we read in Mark 3,

28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme :
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation :
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit .

Here, we discover what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit: it is to say that Jesus had an unclean spirit (a demon, fallen angel, or evil

spirit). So, anyone who believed in their heart that Jesus had a demon could not have been forgiven of their sin, and this was blasphemy because it was a big lie completely contrary to truth.

We see, then, that blasphemy are lies against the truth so that when we are told that this beast (Satan and his kingdom) did rise up out of the sea (out of the bottomless pit from which he was bound at the cross) had upon his heads the name of blasphemy; first, the word translated as name is plural and so should be translated as names. Thus, we read that this beast had upon his heads the names of blasphemy, and since these names of blasphemy are on his 7 heads, which heads we already learned symbolize the perfection of the beast's authority or rule, we are being taught that the authority or rule of this beast (Satan and his kingdom) is a complete lie, a complete deception ... blasphemy. And when we realize that this beast who is Satan and his kingdom first came to bring God's judgment of the Great Tribulation against all the churches in the world to spiritually destroy them by ruling over them without them even knowing it as the counterfeit Christ, THE ANTICHRIST , Satan himself, beginning on May 21, 1988, and also ruling over the entire world so that everyone was deceived into worshipping him as their God whether they knew it or not, we can immediately understand why this beast's authority or rule was a complete huge lie and deception, the perfection of blasphemy (blasphemy on 7 heads is 7 blasphemies, which symbolizes the perfection or totality of blasphemy - see Bible Number 7 ).

CONCLUSION

First of all, we learned that the beast in Revelation 13:1 is Satan and his kingdom. And that this beast did rise up out of the sea symbolizes that Satan and his kingdom did ascend out of the bottomless pit that he was bound in at the cross to bring God's judgment against all the churches and congregations worldwide (the house of God) beginning on May 21, 1988 at the end of the Church Age. At this time, God began to remove the Holy Spirit from the churches and congregations so that the counterfeit Christ, THE ANTICHRIST, Satan himself could take up rule in them and completely and spiritually destroy them by infiltrating them with counterfeit prophets, counterfeit Christians, counterfeit teaching, and counterfeit gospels even to this day to completely deceive them so that they think they are following Christ and worshipping Him, when they are actually following and worshipping the counterfeit Christ, THE ANTICHRIST who came in fulfillment of Holy Scripture, Satan himself.

In that this beast (Satan and his kingdom) had 7 heads and 10 horns symbolized its perfection of rule or authority and its completeness of strength or power, respectively, and in that its 10 horns were each crowned emphasizes that its complete kingship over all the churches and congregations worldwide and even the entire world came about by its completeness of strength or power (its 10 horns). And, finally, in that the beast's 7 heads had on them the name of blasphemy, symbolized that Satan and his kingdom's perfection of rule or authority came

about by great lies or deception against the truth. Indeed, Satan deceived all the churches and congregations, and the entire world, that he is God even to this day, except, of course, the elect who were written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world. To God be all the glory, amen.

Now, until the next time, may Yahweh bless thee, and keep thee: Yahweh make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Yahweh lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

on the cross, which can also be called hell, for Christ had to go to hell in our place to pay for what we, the elect, deserve for our sins. And, as stated before, this word the deep can just as well be translated as the bottomless pit. So, all three words, the deep, hell, and the bottomless pit are really all synonymous or represent the same place. But why is it important to see that the deep, hell, and the bottomless pit all refer to the same place? Well, because when Revelation 13:1 says that the Apostle John saw the beast [Satan and his kingdom] rise up out of the sea [out of hell], we can also say that the beast (Satan and his kingdom) did rise up out of the bottomless pit, for hell and the bottomless pit both refer to the same place. And, in that the Apostle John saw the beast rise up out of the bottomless pit, this must be describing the same event that took place in Revelation 11 where we read,

Re 11:7 And when they [the two witnesses who are the elect] shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them .

And since this verse says that it was when the Two Witnesses had finished their testimony that the beast did ascend out of the bottomless pit, and we know that the Two Witnesses (the elect) finished their testimony of the gospel to the world at the end of the Church Age on May 21, 1988 according to the well-proven Biblical Timeline of History , the beast must also have risen up out of the bottomless pit on May 21, 1988 so that when we read in Revelation 13:1 that the Apostle John