“The Seven Heads, Part 2”
As mentioned in our study of Revelation Chapter 13, Part 3 many Bible Students vary in their opinion as to whom the seven heads are, in our previous post we presented two of the common ones. We would now like to present another one which as we had stated we believe more accurately fits the picture; it is taken from the New Albany Notes on Revelation.
The following list is based on the assumptions that:
(A) The woman did not really sit on the beast until Justinian gave leave to do so (533-39 A.D.) This thus negates the first three “heads” suggested by Brother Shallieu.
(B) The horns which the "little horn" overcame to bring itself to power, and the "little horn" itself, cannot be heads, but must remain horns.
(C) The beasts, all representing Rome or "Holy Rome," or politico-ecclesiastical Rome, should have heads which are clearly recognized as being part of those empires or their remnants.
(D) The woman should (to varying degrees) be identifiable historically as exerting religious control over each of these heads.
And so our lists is thus,
1) Justinian's Rome which first gives the Bishop of Rome the title of Pontifex Maximus.
2) Charlemagne’s Empire which first allows the Papacy to crown the emperor.
3) The Holy Roman Empire, founded by Otto the Great in 962, which lasts (in some fashion) until 1806.
“In 962 A.D. Otto the Great became Emperor and named the empire “The Holy Roman Empire.” This third head continued until, as Rev 13:3 [NASB] puts it, “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.” This wound began with the great schism, when two and eventually three popes fought a forty-year war against each other for control of the church. It continued with the Reformation upheaval by Martin Luther which divided the empire into nations favoring Catholicism against those favoring Protestantism. A thirty-year war resulted, ending in 1648 with the “Peace of Westphalia.” The Roman Church reorganized and the fourth head came into being. The head “that was wounded as if slain” was healed when a new fourth head appeared.” (The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom Nov/Dec 2004, “Seven Heads, Ten Horns”)
4) The New Holy Roman Empire which began at the time of the Reformation. A few supportive facts will be helpful:
The Reformation caused great upheavals in the Holy Roman Empire. Some powers (horns) were lost to Protestantism. The whole concept of Divine Right via the Pope's sanction came into question. Charles V began changes to the Empire which continued through the reign of Ferdinand III during whose reign the Peace of Westphalia was concluded.”
“It was this third head, the Holy Roman Empire, which was “slain” (mortally wounded), by the Reformation. Historians confidently claim that the harm done to the Holy Roman Empire by the Reformation was so great as to constitute “… the virtual dissolution of the empire.”
5) Napoleonic France.
6) The Victor Emmanuel Dynasty.
“This is the one described as “one [head] is,” in Rev 17:10 that is, was in existence during the time of the seventh messenger and lasted until 1929. (Victor Emmanuel conquered all of Italy, took away the Papal States, but made Roman Catholicism the state religion, and gave other guarantees to the Vatican.)” “Seven Heads, Ten Horns”
7) The Nazi-Fascist Empire. “1929 to 1945. In the time of the seventh messenger this head was “yet to come.” It began when Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty with the Vatican in 1929. In return for the surrender of papal claims to Italian territory, the treaty granted the pope a large sum of money and complete sovereignty over Vatican City. The Catholic religion was given a privileged status and became the state religion. Other treaties were later signed between the Vatican and Hitler’s political party, paving the way for Hitler coming to power.” (“Seven Heads, Ten Horns”)
