And no wonder. For several times in the first chapters of Genesis, speaking of the creation of Adam it says;

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. In the image of God, made he man… So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him…” Gen 1:27

At one point Jesus states, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” In other words, He looks like his Father. Even though God is spirit, apparently He has an image and it is that of a man. In Revelation it speaks of the Lamb sitting on the right hand of the Throne of God and this throne is surrounded by 24 other thrones occupied by 24 elders. So when it says “let us make man in our image,” perhaps these are the personages it is referring to.

I know some will say that God is Spirit, and that he hath no form or comeliness. But we have deduced that angels are spirits and that they look like men and are indeed called men many times. So we can say with a certainty that angels are men. Not human as we are. But men nevertheless but of a spirit nature.

For any who wish to argue that we humans do not look like our creator, there are several verses in the NT that states that we do. I will present just one here.

“For a man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:7

So who are these men that inhabit the bottomless pit? When it prophesies that the “Beast which you saw once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction,” who is this Beast? When it refers to this being as a beast, I do not believe that this term provides us with a clue to his identity. I reckon “beast” is a figure of speech in the same was as Lamb of God or the Lion of the tribe of Judah are figures referring to the person of Jesus.

He is neither a lamb nor a lion. But these are characteristics of His personality insofar as He is as meek as a lamb but can also be as strong and brave as a lion when the need arises. By the same token, twice in Revelation it speaks of “ the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan.” The terms dragon and serpent are figures of speech to describe the arch enemy of God. A serpent is a cunning, sly, often poisonous creature that is as cold as ice that can sneak up on you without a sound and strike with deathly results (have you ever looked into the eyes of a snake?). And a dragon is a fierce monster that devours all that it encounters.

Again these are descriptions of the evil personified in the Devil as opposed to those of the Messiah. So when it talks of the Beast from the Abyss, this word is describing the personality of the being. He is a wild beast.

Revelation 9 provides us with the emergence of this being and gives us another important clue as to his bearing.

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.”

Click here for Part VI.

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