The query:

Why are there “seven crowns” on the heads of the beast in Revelation 12:3, and yet on the horns of the beast in 13:1 there are ten?  Associated with these is the question as to why there are NO crowns on the beast either on the heads or the horns in Revelation 17:3?  (There are no crowns in Daniel 7 because the rise of the “little horn” is the subject of that prophecy, not world dominance.)

 

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Let’s look at the queried verses:

Revelation 12:3:

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.   

Revelation 13:1:

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.   

Revelation 17:3:

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns [and no crowns].   

When John first saw the red dragon “in heaven” in a vision it was obviously a symbol of the devil and his kingdoms (Revelation 12:9), which is why the crowns were on the seven heads, its major source of strength.  In this particular prophecy it was the Pagan Roman head that tried to kill the baby Jesus. 

{DA 65.3} 

Herod in Jerusalem impatiently awaited the return of the wise men. As time passed, and they did not appear, his suspicions were roused. The unwillingness of the rabbis to point out the Messiah's birthplace seemed to indicate that they had penetrated his design, and that the magi had purposely avoided him. He was maddened at the thought. Craft had failed, but there was left the resort to force. He would make an example of this child-king. Those haughty Jews should see what they might expect in their attempts to place a monarch on the throne. 

The iron beast was the fourth creature in Daniel’s vision, and the horns on its heads (the smaller powers in politics) represented the nations in the Roman Empire as in Daniel 7:23-24.  

However, when we look at the prophecy of Revelation 13 where the beast rises again, the crowns are on the horns and they are obviously now in charge of the world!  That would have to mean that the heads were no longer the important rulers! 

The major powers (the heads) will be side-lined by the smaller powers (the horns)!

As we have seen in the explanation of query one, the time setting of this vision is in the future, and the positioning of the crowns leads to the knowledge that the smaller groups will become more powerful in world affairs.  So the question arises, what do those horns represent?  Not the nations of Europe as in Daniel 7:23 because three of those were pulled up “by the roots” and ceased to exist just before the rise of the Papacy.  In the last days only seven of those nations exist.

To find the answer to this problem we need to look at the third part of the query.

Revelation 17:3:

So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns [and no crowns].  

When and where was John shown the beast without power? 

As to where, we are told that he was taken into the wilderness to view the scarlet-coloured (not just red) beast with the Papacy riding on its back. The wilderness is a place where few men dwell, and the absence of the crowns tells us that neither the devil nor his “heads” have any real power at this time – they are in the background of world affairs.  

As to when, that time has been since the fifth head (the Papacy) received its deadly wound and lost its grip on the nations.  That time is now, and has been with us since 1798, for since then the Industrial Age of Materialism has been the ruling factor in the world.  However, as the news keeps on showing us, there are religious forces at work all over the world and religion is now fast becoming a major factor in worldly politics.  We are seeing this mainly in the Middle East right now, but it is soon to arise in another place as a result of some conflicts between East and West, but there will be no major confrontation until near the end. 

A little further on in Revelation 17 it is written:

Revelation 17:10-14:

And there are seven kings [heads]: five are fallen [had their political power removed], and one is [in power now], and the other [the 7th] is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space.   

And the beast that was [in power once], and is not [right now], even he is the eighth [head], and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.

And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings [kingdoms], which have received no kingdom as yet [they are newcomers]; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast [for a short period at the end of time].

These have one mind [are in full agreement], and shall give their power and strength to the beast [by a union with their states]. These shall make war with the Lamb [through religious persecutions], and the Lamb shall overcome them [but only after it looks like He has failed]: for He is LORD of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.   

So who are these ten horns?

{7BC 983.3}

In the seventeenth of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches who corrupt themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the papacy, those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication [her false doctrines]. (Revelation 17:1-4 quoted.) 

These smaller powers will eventually have power totally outside of their normal, because the devil has at last realised that an amalgamation of church and state is much more effective than just a political group on its own.  To control the minds as well as the bodies of the people is very satisfying and he will work to this end.

But such a union will not last, for clay and iron cannot stay together.  They will separate, and then the stone will destroy them.  “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.  Forasmuch as [the proof is] you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain [of God’s church] without hands [by the Spirit], and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold [right back to its roots]; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure”.  Daniel 2:44-45.

 Revelation 17:15-17:

And he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the whore sits [she was on the beast in verse 3], are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues [for they are the beast]. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall [eventually] hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the beast, [only] until the words of God shall be fulfilled”.    

 {7BC 983.5} 

What is it that gives its kingdom to this power?  Protestantism [one of the horns], a power which, while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon [and will be the first to amalgamate]. It is moved by a power from beneath (Letter 232, 1899). 

 {7BC 975.3} 

Here is a striking figure of the rise and growth of our own nation. And the lamblike horns, emblems of innocence and gentleness, well represent the [professed] character of our government, as expressed in its two fundamental principles, republicanism and Protestantism (4SP 277). 

 {7BC 975.5-6} 

Prophecy represents Protestantism as having lamblike horns, but speaking like a dragon. Already we are beginning to hear the voice of the dragon [written in 1889]. There is a satanic force propelling the Sunday movement, but it is concealed.  Even the men who are engaged in the work, are themselves blinded to the results which will follow their movement. 

 Let not the commandment-keeping people of God be silent at this time, as though we gracefully accepted the situation. There is the prospect before us of waging a continuous war, at the risk of imprisonment, of losing property and even life itself, to defend the law of God, which is being made void by the laws of men (RH Jan. 1, 1889).   

 {7BC 976.4} 

When the Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion [a union of church and state], for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution; when the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions of the church -- then will Protestant America have formed an image to the papacy, and there will be a national apostasy which will end only in national ruin (ST March 22, 1910). 

 {7BC 983.6-7}

“These have one mind.” There will be a universal bond of union, [the iron and the clay, all the religions of the world] one great harmony, a confederacy of [all of] Satan's forces. “And shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism.

 In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God's people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah [all the religions of the world]. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth (MS 24, 1891).  

 {7BC 975.7}

Religious powers, allied to heaven by profession and claiming to have the characteristics of a lamb, will show by their acts that they have the heart of a dragon, and that they are instigated and controlled by Satan. The time is coming when God's people will feel the hand of persecution because they keep holy the seventh day [not just because they resist Sunday]. Satan has caused the change of the Sabbath in the hope of carrying out his purpose for the defeat of God's plans. He seeks to make the commands of God of less force in the world than human laws. 

 

 To sum up:

Satan had control of the world until 1798: he lost it at that time, and has been working steadily since then to get it back: but this next time it will be by an immense merger of all his weapons and armies in his final attempt to win the controversy.                                                 

{7BC 984.7} 

I have no specific time of which to speak when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will take place -- when the mighty angel will come down from heaven, and unite with the third angel in closing up the work for this world; my message is that our only safety is in being ready for the heavenly refreshing, having our lamps trimmed and burning (RH March 29, 1892). 

 

oooOooo

 

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Who wants to add (or subtract!) from these thoughts? I won't argue as I have stated,

but I will publish your Scriptures so that we may review all the words of God on the subject.

 

Next query. To be discussed from May 1st 2015.

 

Next query:

"Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name: bring an offering, and come before Him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness". 1 Chronicles 16:29.

I was asked recently "Where should I worship?  Because there are so many faulty churches".  

The questioner is a Sabbath observer so the answer is directed at existing Sabbath-keepers, although the principles are relevant to those who worship other gods.

 

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