What does EGW write about...
Adventistische Schriften über: "What do the seven heads of the beast from the sea represent?"
Answer
According to Adventist interpretation, the seven heads of the beast from the sea have a dual meaning: literally they refer to the seven hills on which the city of Rome was built, while symbolically they represent seven successive forms of government of the Roman Empire. Since these forms of government appear sequentially and not simultaneously like the horns, they mark different phases of civil power within the empire. Protestant commentators often identify them as kings, consuls, decemvirs, tribunes, dictators, and emperors.
The dual meaning of the seven heads
The seven heads have a dual meaning: first, they literally refer to the seven hills on which the city of Rome was built; and second, they symbolically refer to the seven forms of Roman government.
These [the heads] all belong to a beast or a great earthly power, and because they are successive and not simultaneous like the horns, they cannot denote seven different and separate kingdoms, but must refer to seven phases that appear in the governance of the beast. As we have seen, seven different forms of government ruled the Roman state one after another.
The seven heads are seven forms of civil power that exercise rule sequentially. ... It is evident that the heads are successive forms of its power, each one reigning for a time and then giving way to another.
The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings. Thus one sees that the angel depicts the heads as mountains and then explains the mountains as seven successive kings.
The sea represents the western Gentiles; the beast a god‑serving, tyrannical empire; its horns are the kingdoms that make up this empire; its heads are seven successive forms of government that rule over the empire.
- Seven forms of government of Rome
- Seven hills of Rome prophecy
- Beast from the sea Revelation 13
Original Sources (English)
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