What is the beast from the bottomless pit?
(Daniel 11:35-39; Revelation 3:1-6; 11:1-18) Blog May. 05-11, 2024
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: PresentTruthLRI@gmail.com
REVIEW: We live in a world of conflict. Strife springs from within our hearts and can only be controlled by God’s Holy Spirit. Those who accept God’s salvation are the special objects of Satan’s attacks. During the Middle Ages this led to severe persecution by the predominant church.
For our video on the church of Sardis visit:
The Church of Sardis
1. When, with the sword of the Spirit, the Protestant Reformation dealt a deadly wound to the Papacy in the Middle Ages dividing Protestantism and Catholicism, what does Revelation call the period of church history that followed? Revelation refers to the post-Reformation church as Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6; See also Preface to KJV Par. 3).
2. For what is the church of Sardis known? The church of Sardis is known for having a good name but lacking corresponding piety (Rev. 3:1-2).
3. How does the description of the church of Sardis correspond to the post-Reformation church? The post-Reformation church was heavy on correct doctrine but grew lax on Christian living just as Jesus said that the works of Sardis were not perfect before God. Orthodoxy swallowed piety (Rev. 3:2).
4. How does Daniel 11 describe the anti-God power that arose at the end of Papal supremacy? Daniel 11 describes the post-Papal power as one that magnifies itself above every god, speaks against the true God, & gives no regard for Jesus (the Desire of women). It trusts in force & human reason rather than divine revelation (Dan. 11:36-39).
5. What does Revelation 11 call the power that rose when the Papacy was wounded? Revelation 11 calls the post-Papal power “the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit” (Rev. 11:7).
6. How does Revelation 17 describe the power that rose when the Papacy was wounded? Revelation 17 depicts the post-Papal power as the sixth world power (head or kingdom) on which the woman (false church) rides (Rev. 17:10).
For our video on the Daniel 11 part B visit:
For our video on the Revelation 17 visit:
The Two Witnesses
7. What does Revelation 11 say that the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will do to God’s two witnesses? Revelation 11 says that that beast will war against, overcome, & kill God’s two witnesses (Rev. 11:7).
8. Who are God’s two witnesses? God established that two witnesses are required to confirm a matter, Isaiah wrote that the law & the testimony were these two witnesses, Moses who brought the law & Elijah the prophet are portrayed in Revelation 11, & Zechariah tells us that God’s Spirit comes to us from two olive trees that supply the golden oil for our lamps. These all picture the law & the prophets as the two witnesses & since the prophets give the testimony of Jesus, they can also refer to the Old & New Testament (Deut. 19:15; Isa. 8:20; Zech. 4:1-14; Rev. 11:3-6).
9. What had God’s two witnesses been doing before they were attacked by the beast from the bottomless pit? For a long period of time God’s two witnesses (Bible – OT & NT) have been preaching in obscurity yet powerfully (Rev. 11:3-6).
10. How are we to understand the time periods recorded in Revelation eleven? In Bible prophecy a day is a symbol for a year & a “time” is a year of 360 days. So, God’s true church was trodden under by unbelievers for 1260 years while the two witnesses prophesied in obscurity. This was the period of Papal supremacy recorded also in Daniel seven & Revelation twelve (Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6; Dan. 7:25; Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6, 14).
11. How is the book of Revelation organized? Revelation in organized following the sanctuary pattern given to Moses. First it contains three parallel prophecies covering the Christian Era (Rev. 1-11 – the Holy Place). Then it concentrates on those involved in the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 12-19 – the Most Holy Place) & ends with the Christ’s second coming, the Millennium, & the new earth (Rev. 19-22 – the Sabbatical Year & Jubilee) (Rev. 1-22).
12. After covering the sixth trumpet where does Revelation turn? Between the sixth & seventh trumpets there is a parenthesis giving more detail to the experience of God’s people following the deadly wound received by the Papacy (Rev. 10-11).
For our video on the Two Witnesses visit:
The Parenthesis
13. What does Revelation picture as taking place between the sixth & seventh trumpets? Revelation ten portrays God’s people intently studying the “little book” that Jesus opened (Daniel), mistakenly expecting that the marriage was Christ’s second coming. The account of their disappointment was followed by a command to measure God’s sanctuary & the story of the two witnesses (Rev. 10:1-11:12).
14. Knowing that the seven trumpets portray the power of prayer during the Christian Era and that the sixth trumpet frees the angel that announces the hour of God’s final judgment, what time period are we in when “the beast from the bottomless pit” attacks the two witnesses? We are after the time of Moslem torment & near the end of the 1260 years of Papal supremacy (Dan. 11:35-36. Rev. 10:13-16; 11:7).
15. What atheistic revolution near the end of Papal dominance attacked God’s Word and for three-and one-half years stomped on it? The French Revolution abolished religion, Bibles were burned, & bloodshed was rampant from November of 1793 until June of 1797. (Rev. 11:8-10).
16. What happened to God’s Word after 1797? Thousands of copies of the Bible were published & missionaries carried its message to the far corners of the earth, just as Jesus predicted (Rev. 11:11-12).
17. What does the Bible say would take place at the end of the trumpet parenthesis? Revelation says that between the sixth & seventh trumpets God’s final judgment (great earthquake) would begin (Rev. 11:13).18. When God’s people blow the seventh trumpet what is the result? The blowing of seventh trumpet ushers in Christ’s reign which brings the seven last plagues, the judgment of the wicked, & the rewards of the righteous (Rev. 11:15-18).