And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The book of Revelation was written by a man named John during a time of intense persecution of early Christians, likely under the Roman Empire near the end of the first century. It uses a coded, symbolic style of writing called "apocalyptic literature" — common in that era — designed to encourage believers while obscuring its political critiques from Roman authorities. The "beast" is a recurring symbolic figure representing corrupt, godless power — many scholars connect it to Rome or its emperors. The phrase "who once was, and now is not" deliberately mirrors language used of God elsewhere in Revelation, who "was, and is, and is to come" — suggesting this beast is a dark parody of divine power. The verse's core point: no matter how evil reinvents or reasserts itself, its final destination is destruction.
God, I am tired of watching evil seem to win. Give me eyes to see what you already see — that its end is already written. Strengthen me to resist it today, not just wait for tomorrow. Amen.
Evil has a way of reinventing itself. It adapts, rebrands, comes back under a new name with a different face. History is full of oppressive systems that fell, only to resurface in a new form — the machinery of cruelty is disturbingly persistent. John is writing to people who know this exhaustion firsthand. They've watched empire after empire, cruel ruler after cruel ruler, and the beast keeps returning. But John is not writing a horror story. He is writing a spoiler. The spoiler is in the last four words: "going to his destruction." For people reading this letter while hiding, while grieving, while afraid — those four words were the whole sermon. Evil's story ends. Not in an eternal cycle. Not in triumph. In destruction. You may be watching something unjust seem to win right now — in the headlines, in your workplace, in your own family. This verse doesn't explain why it's allowed to happen. But it insists, with the full weight of prophecy, that it does not get the last word.
Why do you think John uses language that mirrors descriptions of God to describe the beast — and what does that deliberate echo communicate about the nature of corrupt power?
When you watch something unjust persist, or come back in a new form after seeming to be defeated, what does your honest emotional response look like — anger, despair, numbness?
Is it really possible to hold genuine hope for ultimate justice while also grieving present injustice, or does one tend to cancel out the other in your experience?
How does believing that evil is ultimately destined for destruction change — or honestly, not change — how you respond to people who seem to embody it?
What is one specific injustice you feel called to actively resist or name aloud, rather than simply waiting for God to eventually deal with it?
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 13:12
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2 Thessalonians 2:3
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.
Revelation 17:8
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:39
And the beast that [once] was but is not, is himself also an eighth king and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction (perdition).
AMP
As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
ESV
'The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is [one] of the seven, and he goes to destruction.
NASB
The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
NIV
The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
NKJV
“The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, is headed for destruction.
NLT
The Beast that once was and is no longer is both an eighth and one of the seven—and headed for Hell.
MSG