Quote:
Rev 17:8 -- 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.
The Watchtower says that "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is" referred to in this verse is the United Nations. It was the League of Nations which disappeared, only to once again rise as the UN. (See Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy, p. 269)
I agree.
As of the 1984 book Revelation, It's Grand Climax at Hand, the beast of Rev 13:1ff was the entire system of world governments over the rebellion of humankind, and the seven heads were seven great kingdoms opposed to God. In particular, the seventh head was the Anglo-American empire, supposed struck a near-fatal blow in WWI, only to re-emerge as a superpower after WWII. The UN is the the image of the beast (Rev 13:14-15), aka the scarlet-colored beast of 17:3ff.
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"Come now, and let us reason together"
"Come now, and let us reason together"
