Revelation 17:7-8

‘And the angel said to me, “Why did you wonder? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast who carries her, who has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast which you saw was and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and to go into perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, the one whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast how he was, and is not and shall come.'

The angel promises to reveal the mystery of both the woman and the Beast who carries her. He will first reveal the mystery of the Beast. The mystery of the woman will be revealed in the next chapter. ‘The beast --- was, and is not and will come.' He apes God, the One spoken of in Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8, and he fills the world with wonder. ‘He was' because he has been present throughout history, in the Garden of Eden, in the activities of Cain, in the founding of Babel, in the great empires that fought against God and His people. ‘He is not' because he is in the abyss. This again reminds us of Satan and his followers who are seen as chained in the abyss (Revelation 9:1; Revelation 9:11; Revelation 20:2). This could not be said of Rome, nor does the scarlet beast represent emperors for the emperors are represented by his heads. It represents empire (and possibly the last ‘emperor'). Indeed it is important to remember that this is a manifestation of the monster of chapter 12, the essential beast, not the clone of chapter 13. It is a more real manifestation of Satan, and has existed almost from the beginning of time. The beast is first the embodiment of Satanically ruled empire, going back to the beginning, and secondly the great Satanically inspired ruler who will spring from this and vie for world leadership and control. But the woman is Rome, and yet she is more than Rome, for she has sat on the beast from the beginning, she is what Rome epitomised. She is ever the great idolatress, whether of religion or secularism, at the head of empires.

And Satan also will yet enjoy a final period of freedom from restraint before finally being sent to destruction, for the beast is a personification of Satan. Satan also ‘was, and is not (he is bound) and will come'. He is revealed through the beast.

The New Testament portrays Satan in two ways, it portrays him as active (e.g. Ephesians 6:16; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 11:14) yet bound (Matthew 12:28), powerful (1 Peter 5:8; Jude 1:9) yet restrained (2 Thessalonians 2:6; James 4:7), in the air (Ephesians 2:2) but fallen from heaven (Luke 10:18). He is limited in what he can do but is nevertheless like a roaring lion looking for those victims he is permitted to devour (1 Peter 5:8 compare 2 Timothy 4:17). All these pictures are in human terms. However Satan is not human, nor confined to a human form, but is spirit, so we must not press the figures too literally. What is important is to realise that he is continually seen as acting, and yet acting under restraint. There is a limit beyond which he is not permitted to go.

Those ‘whose names are written in the book of life from the foundation of the world' see him for what he is, but to those who dwell on earth (non-Christians) he is mysterious and powerful, attractive because of the mysteries of his ways, and very intriguing.

‘The one whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.' This is the one who believes in and follows the Beast. But the corollary is that the names of true Christians have been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. As Ephesians 1:4 says, ‘according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world'. Here is where the confidence of God's people lies, that each one of them has been chosen by God before the foundation of the world with their names recorded in the Lamb's book of life (compare Revelation 13:8). Each one of them has been ‘foreknown' by Him, that is, He has entered into relationship with them from the beginning (Romans 8:29).