Revelation 17
And one of the seven angels having the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot sitting on the many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the ones inhabiting the earth became drunk from the wine of her fornication.And he carried me away into a desert, by the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast,filled with names of blasphemy, possessing seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and being gilded with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and unclean things of her fornication.And on her forehead was a name having been written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth. And I saw the woman being drunk from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And I marveled, seeing her, with a great marveling. And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of thewoman, and of The Beast supporting her, the one possessing the seven heads and the ten horns. The Beast which you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss, and goes to perdition.And those dwelling on the earth will marvel, the ones whose names have not been written on the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, seeing The Beast, that it was a thing, and is not, yet will be.Here is the mind having wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman sits on them. And the kings are seven. The five fell, and the one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he does come, he must remain a little.AndThe Beast which was, and is not,even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to perdition.And the ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive authority as kings one hour with The Beast.These have one mind, and their power and authority they shall give up to The Beast.These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and the ones with Him are the called and elect and faithful ones. And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.And the ten horns which you saw andThe Beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolated and naked. And they will eat her flesh, and will burn her down with fire.For God gave into their hearts to do His mind, and to act in one mind, and to give their kingdom to The Beast,until the Words of God shall be fulfilled.And the woman whom you saw is the city,the great, the having a kingdomoverthe kings of the earth.
Indicators that ‘The Beast’ of Rev 17 is Satan:
· The events described lead up to Judgment (Rev 17.1)
· Mankind (i.e. referred to as the woman, the great harlot, Babylon the great, the great city, etc) is stated to have been seated upon The Beast (17.3, 17.7)
· The Beast’s color is described as scarlet (Rev 17.3)
· The Beast that carried mankind was, and is not (because he is bound), and will come out of the abyss (future tense) and go to perdition (Rev 17.8, 17.11).
· The Beast is shown to be separate from the seven heads and the ten horns via the usage of articular nouns (Rev 17.7)
· Only The Beast is mentioned to have gone away and then to return in the future (Rev 17.8, 17.11)
· When The Beast comes out of the abyss, the ten horns will unite with him for a very short period of time (Rev 17.12 – 13)
· The Beast and his army wage war on The Lamb and His army – but the Lamb is victorious (Rev 17.14)