That's interesting. I didn't know this, but picked up on it. Guess they marketed the choice of name well!



I wonder if they see the "Queen of All" reminding them of this:

Jer 7:18,19 "The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger." Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the LORD. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?"

The Rev 17 beast has seven heads that are seven kings and seven mountains - the kings are political entities or nations, the mountains are religious entities. It isn't outside the realm of possibility that we'll have two parallel organizations - A UN of Nations and a UN of religions united at the top by a moral authority figure of global stature. In the UN, the Security Counsel is the final authority in terms of global management of peace and war. How many nations with veto power comprise the Security Counsel of the UN? Five at the moment but Germany and Japan are front running candidates for the same powers as the original five. How many religions will comprise the parallel Security Counsel of the UN of religions?

(This is just an observation to store in the back of your memory for future reference. I don't mean it as a topic for debate but feel free to comment.)

Revelation 17 expands and explains Revelation 13.

What does the prophecy say?

"one of his heads as it were wounded to death" (13:3)

Spirit of prophecy explains that a head on the beast in Rev 13 is a pope.

"We looked upon the bust of Pius VI. The marble statue beneath the bust contained the heart of the pope. This is the pope specified in prophecy" {5MR 318.1}

Revelation 17 clearly states that it is a prophecy regarding "kings"

"there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." (17:10).

With prophecy being so clear, it is baffling to see so many attempt to take that which is plain and clear and try to change it into something that it is not. This is not of God. And such un-biblical speculation can only lead away from truth rather than to truth.

If the seven heads are seven mountains, religious organizations, one that is wounded to death is Rome. Taking the heads as individual Popes doesn't harmonize as well with the inspired statements in scripture and the SOP that mountains are religions and kings equate with kingdoms as in Daniel's prophecies. The beasts in Daniel point to kingdoms rather than individual kings so we'd need clear evidence that there is a different rule in Rev 13 and 17.

I haven't been following here, but this post caught my eye. What would be the seven religions? Something like this?

Catholicism
Judaism
Islam
Apostate Protestantism
Buddhism
Atheism
God's True Remnant

Of course, there are other religions out there...but this seems to catch the major ones.

I've never heard of the mountains representing different religious entities before. To me, they always represented leaders or powers.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Hinduism is a big one. I'm not sure about atheism although it is a religion.

One of the reasons for viewing the mountain aspect as religions is that the beast combines church and state. If the heads are kings or kingdoms the mountains are something else. Mt. Zion, Mt Olympus and many pagan religions employed mountains or high places (the pyramids) as places of worship.

Again His Child, if you aren't going to read it correctly, you just as well say The marble statue is the pope specified in prophecy!

Are you saying the marble statue is going to live again with it's heart?

Mark,
Symbolism can have different meaning in different context. Sister White stated that the heads were popes, so with such a definite explanation of the meaning, why would we need to focus on "mountains" which are less understood.

In this passage Mountain is a symbol---Re 8:8 "And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;"

Would you propose that Re 8:8 is referring to a nation or a political power? I think not. Nor would I think it is a king.

But a word study of "mountain" explains its meaning.

3735 ὄρος oros or’-os

probably from an obsolete oro (to rise or "rear," perhaps akin to 142, cf 3733); n n; TDNT-5:475,732; { See TDNT 566 }

Thus the symbol mountain is to rise or rear
To be elevated /\ and to come down \/

mountain is AKIN to #142
which is defined:

1) to raise up, elevate, lift up
1a) to raise from the ground, take up: stones
1b) to raise upwards, elevate, lift up: the hand

3) to bear away what has been raised, carry off
3a) to move from its place
3b) to take off or away what is attached to anything
3c) to remove
3d) to carry off, carry away with one

The popes arose to power
and they received the deadly wound - their power was removed

There is no reason to take a specific reference to a king and turn it into a kingdom. In some instances that may be appropriate, but it is not necessary in every instance of prophecy and is adding to Revelation that which is not commanded in the context.

Not really. She said, "This is the pope specified in prophecy, which received the deadly wound". Nothing about heads.


Let's try a different approach.

Suppose that Pius VI was the fifth head. Who would be the first pope and how does that fit with the rising of the beast (assuming the beast is the papacy which contains the heads) from the sea?

A different approach won't change the facts.

Pius VI was not the 5th head, he was the head that received the deadly wound.

When Pius VI received the deadly wound: "The infliction of the deadly wound points to the downfall of the papacy in 1798."{DD 27.1}

EGW's statements are clear. When a specific pope received the deadly wound, the papacy (beast) received the wound.

And the prophecy is clear: "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast" Revelation 13:3

The wound was inflicted on one of the heads, i.e., the pope who heads the papacy. The prophetic chain is clear. But not all are to understand. Yet rightly dividing the word of truth is a salvation issue and will have eternal consequences.

Truth is not a matter of one's own opinion. God will never ask you what His child Henry believed, but "what do you believe?" And your answer will be a thus saith the LORD as impressed on your heart by the holy Spirit or your own opinion.