The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

THE UNHOLY TRINITY 1
Chapter 12 of the book of Revelation introduces us to the great red
dragon (Rev 12:3). We are later told that the great dragon is none
other than "that old serpent the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the
whole world" (Rev 12:9). We are also told that at the time of the
end the Dragon will be cast out from heaven. That means he will be
no longer allowed to appear before God to accuse God's children.
(Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Rev 12:10, Zech 3:1)
When Satan loses his position as accuser (the word Satan literally
means accuser) having been cast into the earth, he starts the final
phase of his career as persecutor of the children of God. Revelation
12: 13-16 tells us that the children of God will escape this by fleeing
into the wilderness where God will protect and nourish them for the
duration of the Great Tribulation, i.e., the time period that starts
with the casting out of Satan from heaven into earth and ends with
the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus to take His children to
Heaven as He promised.
When Satan is cast into the earth, the Great Tribulation starts
and thus commences the Reign of the Antichrist (also known as the
Abomination of Desolation). The coming of Satan to earth is also
the time when he is “loosed” for a little season (Rev 20:3).
Revelation 13 resumes the story started in Revelation 12. As soon
as Satan was cast into earth, St. John saw a "beast rise out of the
Sea." That beast is none other than the Abomination of Desolation,
also known as Antichrist, the Man of Sin, the little horn ...
The beast comes out of the sea, for the sea in apocalyptic
literature symbolizes sin and chaos. It is for this reason that the new
heaven and the new earth which St. John saw (Rev 21:1) had no sea.
THE SEVEN HEADS:
The beast that St. John saw had seven heads and ten horns.
Revelation 17:10 tells us that the seven heads symbolize seven kings;
1 Published: December, 1999