When Will The Beast Rise

Articles 2005

When Will the Beast Rise?

The book of Revelation teaches that there will be a kingdom upon Earth which it refers to as a beast with ten horns and seven heads of Rev. 13. The Antichrist will rule this kingdom for 42 months. The common belief among many Christians is that all the events described in the book of Revelation from the first seal onwards, takes place during those 42 months; however, Revelation itself tells us when the beast rises within the framework of the seals and trumpets.

You are about to learn when the beast will rise, within the events that take place in Revelation. Notice what chapter 11 says about the beast:

Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. (Rev. 11:7)

Notice that the beast is said to come up out of the Abyss. This is stated again in chapter 17:

The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. (17:8)

So there can be no doubt that the beast will RISE UP OUT OF THE ABYSS. At the present time the Abyss is closed and locked. We are told that the Abyss will be opened in Rev. 9:

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth…. (Rev. 9:1)

The wording of this passage suggests that John sees a star that had already fallen, which would refer back to the third trumpet, which is an asteroid impact. This is also seen in the orginal Greek and most translations.

The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. (Rev. 9:1-2)

This asteroid opens the Abyss, symbolically speaking. It means the events that take place after the fifth trumpet, take place as a result of the asteroid impact. Fourth trumpet is darkness over one-third of the earth, therefore, it is caused by the asteroid impact. The darkness will cause crop failures and famine, which has always been the cause of war, and will be again.

So it should be no surprise that the 6th trumpet brings a global war that will kill 1/3rd of the world’s population. And contrary to most teaching on the beast, it will not rule the world, but it will try. Its purpose is to “make war” (13:4, 7).

Here we have learned that the beast rises up out of the abyss with the 5th trumpet. This proves that the Antichrist is NOT the rider of the white horse of the 1st seal. It also destroys one of the major foundational points of the pre-tribulation Rapture theory.

The beast with ten horns will exist for only 42 months (Rev.13), so the events of the seals and first 4 trumpets take place before the beast comes to power.