In Revelation 17 the beast is described as "one was, now is not and yet will come" what does that mean?
Addressing the OP only,
JESUS is KING, and he’s the EIGHT.
Teaching Scriptures: Revelation 17:9 -11 "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 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 is a symbolic book, but it can be propertly understood, when led by the Holy Spirit, God himself.
So to get an understand of these verses, we need to take this by steps.
Step #1. read the book of Haggi for Jesus comes and start the building, and this is he who come and leave, and will return.
Step #2. To understand this King, we need to go to Genesis chapter 15 first, and then chapter 17. we'll make it short as possable, without details.
God called out a man name Abram, (later Abraham), and told him that he is giving him some land, and it would be for an inheritance to his descendant as well. which at that time he was childless. but this man Abram believe God that what he have promise he would do, and God changed his name to Abraham, because he will be the father of many nations, not just one, but many, as to all who will believe as Abraham did. and God made a covenant with this man. but this covenant take effect and a few thing would happen to his descendants, both physical, (seed), and Spiritual, (seed). and these two things are found in Genesis chapter 15, (read it at your leisure)
Now unto the eighth King. we see that the Church is persecuted, from within and from without. Revelation 17:7 "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 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".
(Now The interpretation of the seven heads)
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads
are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth, (
Jerusalem). 10
And there are seven kings:
five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh,
he must continue a short space, (JESUS, 3 1/2 years). 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The angel said, I will show you the mystery,
but you must have a mind of wisdom. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. this is God mind, this is how God showed me the mystery.
Revelation 17:10 "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space".
in this scripture is the identity of the Eighth King, (JESUS) the kingdom, (earthly) had 7 at the time of John. there was a young man, who name was Daniel. and while in exile, under the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream. and he gave 3 of the kingdom,
and this is the result of the dream.
#1. Its head was of fine gold, Babylonian empire, the lion
#2. its breast and its arms of silver, Medo-Persian empire, Bear
#3. its belly and its thighs of brass, Greek empire, Leopard
but two empires have already come, and gone during Daniel time of his dream, they are Egypt, and the Assyrian empires, (who took away the northern 10 tribes), why was these two former oppressor not mention in King Nebuchadnezzar dream. #1. the Egyptians didn't oppress God people in their promise land, but in their own land. and #2. the Assyrian didn't take away the true Jews, but only the ones who called themselves Jew today,
but are not. so from John's point of view, 5 empires have fallen already, that affected the children of God as a Whole.
now the revelation. of the, "Eighth King".
Five kingdom has already fallen, and one is, (at John's time the Roman Empire) which is the sixth kingdom.
the Seventh is the Church kingdom, which our Lord laid the foundation of, being the cornerstone of which he and his chosen apostles they preached his Gospel. he was killed, ("and when he cometh, he must continue a short space", 3 1/2 years), this is he who is "born KING". but he is now gone away, yet to return. and upon that return he will set up his Kingdom here on earth and rule from Jerusalem.
so the key to Revelation 17:11 is this, "And the beast that was, and is not,
even he is the eighth, and
is of the seven, and goeth into perdition". notice that word, "
even", it refers back to the
he in verse 10. so knowing that it will read like this, "the beast that was, and is not, and goeth into perdition, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven". there's the wisdom of God to reveal the Eighth King.
how do we know that this is the Eight King, JESUS. as said back to Abraham, "the covenant was made on what DAY?". the Eighth, scripture, Genesis 17:12 "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed".
and what day was our Lord circumcise on? lets see, Luke 2:21 "And when
eight days were accomplished for
the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb".
now John who is the witness to the Light/covenant, what day was he circumcise on?
Luke 1:59 "And it came to pass, that on the
eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father".
ther are your two witness.
the eighth day