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Monday, March 8 2010
The Greek word pronounced ab-oos-oh-sos means depthless - a paradoxical definition whereby something is so deep that it has no depth. It's less of a seeming contradiction if one states it as something is so deep that it has no measureable depth. The English word "abyss" originated from that Greek word.
Most later English-language translations of the Holy Scriptures use "abyss" to convey how the original word that was written in the Scriptures sounded, while the King James Version uses "bottomless pit" to express, not merely the sound, but the meaning of the original word. People may wonder what "abyss" means, while "bottomless pit" is quite plain.
"He opened the bottomless pit"
The fifth trumpet of the seventh seal (see The Seven Seals) will involve an angel of the LORD who will be given "the key of the bottomless pit" - with which the bottomless pit will be opened to release, upon humanity, all of the evil that humanity has created for itself.
"9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 9:2 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. 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." (Revelation 9:1-11 KJV)
When their ministry has been completed (see the Fact Finder question below to understand the timing), the LORD's "two witnesses" will be martyred by that "beast" i.e. "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."
"11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them." (Revelation 11:7-12 KJV)
The Church of Rome is the evil "woman" who rides that beast (i.e. exerts political control). The Church of Rome will be responsible for the murder of the two witnesses, and by means of the Satanic miracles that will dazzle the world at that time, the papacy will cause the nations of the world to attempt to "make war" with (just as it "made war" with the two witnesses - see Revelation 11:7 above) Christ as He returns i.e. "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them."
"17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
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. 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.
17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 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. 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." (Revelation 17:3-14 KJV)
During the 1,000 year period after Christ's return to earth, Satan will be held in "the bottomless pit."
"20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." (Revelation 20:1-3 KJV)
Fact Finder: How long will the end-time rampage of the "beast" out of the "bottomless pit" last?
See How Long Will 'The End Time' Last?
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This Day In History, March 8
1618: Johann Kepler discovered the third Law of Planetary Motion.
1702: Queen Ann became the English monarch after the death of King William III in a riding accident.
1765: One-quarter of Montreal was destroyed by fire.
1790: George Washington delivered the first U.S. State of the Union address.
1801: During the Napoleonic Wars, the British under Ralph Abercromby captured Aboukir Bay from the French. Over 1,100 British were killed, including Abercromby himself.
1862: The Confederate ironclad Merrimack was launched.
1917: Riots and strikes in St. Petersburg marked the start of the "February Revolution" in Russia.
1920: Abdullah was proclaimed king of Iraq, but he declined the throne which was later given to his brother Faysal I. Abdullah later became the king of Jordan when it became independent in 1946.
1921: Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato was assassinated in Madrid.
1942: During the Second World War, Japanese forces entered Rangoon, Burma, the day after British forces evacuated.
1948: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious teaching in public schools violated the constitution.
1965: 4,000 marines arrived at Da Nang in South Vietnam to become the first U.S. combat troops in the Vietnam quagmire. Vietnam has many quagmires (soft, wet areas of ground that sink under and trap those who tread upon it), but the term eventually came to be symbolically used for the Vietnam war itself.
1973: "Irish Republican Army" terrorist car bombs exploded outside the Old Bailey courthouse and Scotland Yard police headquarters in London, killing one person and injuring 238. On the same day a referendum in Northern Ireland favored maintaining ties with the United Kingdom.
