Well, remember the scarlet-colored, seven-headed wild beast that “was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss.” (Revelation 17:8) While in the abyss, it ‘was not.’ It was nonfunctioning, immobilized, to all intents and purposes dead. Likewise, speaking of Jesus, the apostle Paul said: “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.” (Romans 10:7) While in that abyss, Jesus was dead.a