This podcast explains the symbolic images used by John in Revelation 13:3 to describe the end of the Imperial Roman Empire that fell with Rome in 476 AD, and the rise of papal power in the Holy Roman Empire over the course of hundreds of years. John describes these historical events in symbolic terms, saying: “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.” (Rev 13:3) There are many and diverse views about the meaning of this verse.

One of the seven heads on the symbolic First Beast was mortally wounded by the sword when Germanic tribesmen from the north conquered Rome. The Roman Empire then began to divide into the modern nations of Europe represented by the 10 horns and 10 crowns on the head of the First Beast that died. However, that same head reviv ...