SABBATH THOUGHT 2026-06-06—THE ABYSS
May God bless you on His Sabbath day!
The New Testament mentions the Abyss (G0012 = abussos), also called the Bottomless Pit, only a few times. The first is when Jesus encounters the man possessed by demons named Legion:
LUKE 8:26-31 Then they [Jesus and His disciples] sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he [the man] was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. 30 Jesus asked him [the main demon], saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss [G12 = abussos = Bottomless Pit].
An abyss brings to mind an immeasurably deep pit that is void of everything, including light and sound. Spirit beings cannot be physically tortured but the demons called Legion were terrified of being imprisoned in it so even they can be tormented in the isolation and darkness of the abyss. Currently, the Abyss is where exceptionally wicked demons are imprisoned:
REVELATION 9:1-6, 10-11 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I [John] saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit [G12 = abussos]. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit [G12 = abussos], and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. … 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon [G0003 = total Destroyer], but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [G0623 = Destroyer].
When the Fifth Trumpet sounds, King Abaddon and his demons are released and told by God to torture mankind for five months. But the Abyss is where another evil being is being held—a beast that ascends out of it[1]:
REVELATION 17:8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit [G12 = abussos] and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
The beast who “was, and is not, and yet is” refers to the Beast From the Sea also called the First Beast[2]:
REVELATION 13:1-8, 12 Then I [John] stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. … 12 And he [the Beast of the Earth] exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast [Beast From the Sea], whose deadly wound was healed.
The Beast From the Sea kills the saints and will also execute the Two Witnesses:
REVELATION 11:7 When they [the Two Witnesses] finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit [G12 = abussos] will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
The Abyss has existed for a very long time, likely since the rebellion of Satan and one third of the angels[3]. Obviously, Satan and his demons are not in the Abyss so why are only some of them imprisoned in it? The Bible only hints at the answer:
[NET2.1+] JUDE 1:6 You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain [principality] but abandoned their own place of residence, He [God] has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day.
The demons in the Abyss refused to obey God’s command to stay confined to a specified domain. Perhaps this was the Earth itself or national boundaries[4] but it could also be somewhere else. Instead, they left their “place of residence.” For their disobedience, God confined them in the Abyss where they are chained up. The fact that the demons named Legion gave their human host unprecedented physical strength to break the chains put upon him could be the result of their fear of being bound with unbreakable chains in the Abyss. These are likely the same demons mentioned by Peter:
2 PETER 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell [G5020 = tartaroo = cast into Tartarus] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Some have made a distinction between the Greek words abussos and tartaroo but the former is a noun and the latter is a verb. In other words, tartaroo is not a place; it means to cast into Tartarus. Tartarus is a deep and dark abyss in Greek mythology, located beneath the underworld of Hades that served as a dungeon for defeated Titans and a place of torment for the wicked. Rather than referring to a unique place, tartaroo is the casting of the “angels who sinned” into an abyss, the same one mentioned in Luke and Revelation.
While all demons sinned against God, not all demons are currently confined in the Abyss—only those who refused to stay in their assigned place of residence. Satan and his demons are not bound in the Abyss presumably because they stay where God commands them, spending their time deceiving the world[5]:
REVELATION 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth [presumably his assigned “residence”], and his angels were cast out with him.
Deception destroys the mind and soul. God allows Satan and his demons to deceive the world so that He can call people into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ[6]. They then live their lives warring against the deceit of Satan. This is how the ekklesia are tested and proven worthy of salvation[7].
The demons in the Abyss, however, differ from Satan and his demons. Instead of trying to deceive mankind, all indications are that they would torment and destroy mankind if given the opportunity. King Abaddon and his demons are released to torment mankind for five months and they are so vicious that God will specifically command them not to harm the earth or kill people[8]. Their torture is so brutal that “men will seek death and will not find it.”[9] The Beast From the Sea, however, will be directly responsible for killing saints, executing the Two Witnesses, and murdering, through his proxy the Beast From the Earth, all those who refuse to worship him:
REVELATION 13:14-15 And he [the Beast From the Earth] deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the [first] beast [Beast From the Sea], telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
It is clear that if the demons who are currently imprisoned in the Abyss were allowed to roam free, they would try to kill every human being. That would be an obvious problem for God’s plan of salvation.
Finally, the Abyss is where Satan will be imprisoned during the millennial rule of Jesus Christ:
REVELATION 20:1-3 Then I [John] saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
While this only mentions Satan, it likely includes all his demons as well. When Jesus cast out the demons from the two men in Gergesenes they asked, “Have You come here to torment us before the time?”[10] It seems they were expecting to be cast into the Abyss. It also only makes sense that the exceedingly wicked Beast From the Sea, King Abaddon, and his demons are imprisoned there as well; otherwise, they would continue to destroy and kill. There is some uncertainty, but it seems that ALL demons, those on the Earth and those currently in the Abyss will spend 1,000 years chained up and tormented in silence and darkness.
Summarizing, the Abyss is:
· An immeasurably deep void that is empty of everything, including light;
· A place where demons are restrained by unbreakable chains;
· A place where demons are tormented;
· Currently a prison for King Abaddon and his demons and the Beast From the Sea. Unlike Satan and his demons, these demons entirely refuse to obey God.
· Will be the prison for Satan and his demons, and likely all other demons, during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ.
· By analogy, the same place referred to as mythological Tartarus in the Greek.
May God’s grace and peace be upon you!
Steven Greene
https://sabbathreflections.org