Revelation 17:8; The Beast that Thou Sawest Was, and Is Not…

Revelation 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, 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 explaining the beast, the angel uses several details from chapters 11 and 13 and adds new information – 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, 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 each of his appearances in this book, the beast is either an empire or the ruler of that empire. Each head of the beast is a partial incarnation of satanic power that rules for a given period, so the beast can exist on earth without interruption in the form of seven consecutive kingdoms, but he can also be non-existent at a given moment in the form of one of an empire’s kings. The nonexistent beast in v8 must therefore be a temporarily absent king over the empire that will exist in the future [Moffatt, Kiddle).

The designation of the beast as one who “was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit” ties him to the beast with the death-wound who was healed in Revelation 13:3, 12, 14.

Revelation 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 

Revelation 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 

Revelation 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 

Both there and here the earth-dwellers express amazement (Johnson). The words “is not” refers to the beast’s death, and his ascent from the bottomless pit means he will come to life again (Revelation 13:14).

This is the same as his reappearance as an eighth king in Revelation 17:11.

Revelation 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 

His departure to perdition is his future assignment to the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). (Lenski)

Revelation 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

An understanding of the past-present-future description of the beast requires the establishing of a point of reference for the designation. When is “now,” the point of the beast’s “not being”?

It is better to locate the “is not” state of the beast entirely in the future and make that point of reference for the total description. That state must coincide with the death wound of the beast in Revelation 13:3, 12, 14. This is his career midpoint, i.e., a time at the very beginning of chapter 13 when he comes out of the sea (Bullinger, Smith Ladd).

This is most probably a point at the very middle of the seventh week, between the beast’s human and superhuman careers (Walvoord). Whenever it is, it must have a relationship to the period just before Christ’s return in order to be relevant to the last of the seven last plagues to which this intercalation attaches. How the reference point for “is-not” can differ from that in Revelation 17:10 where the sixth kingdom that “is” dates during John’s lifetime is a legitimate question to raise. Verse 8 is a part of the chapter that is purely prophetic, but v9-11 are an injected explanation to help in understanding the prophecy.

Revelation 17:9-11  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 

All these considerations lead to the conclusion that the perspective of this description of the beast is entirely future, at a point just before the beast from the sea begins his three and a half year reign.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody Press, 1995, 292-293]