Revelation 17:9
"The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present."
Key Reflection
The beast in Revelation 17:9 refers to a powerful political figure or empire that was once dominant but is now in decline and will soon face destruction—a concept familiar to first-century audiences through the rise and fall of empires like Rome. The original audience would have understood this verse as a warning about the transient nature of earthly power, emphasizing that only those whose names are written in the book of life from the foundation of the world—true believers—are secure and immune to such temporal decline.
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