Ways of Christ

The other two negative powers also appear in this vision. Firstly the one directed towards desires and thoughtlessness (Revelation 13, 1-10; cf. our chapter "The temptations" and Matthew.4, 5-11). The seven heads are later interpreted in the revelation itself as "seven mountains, on which the whore 'Babylon' sits" and the mountains in turn as "seven kings". The revelation itself explains the ten horns as "ten kings", which share the same opinion and give their power to this beast.

Among other things because of the "seven mountains", which might remind us of Rome as the "city of the seven hills", there are Christian free churches who interpret the "whore Babylon" as the papacy. But that seems to be a little far-fetched and not covered by the other parts of the symbolism, in spite of the historical problems of the Catholic church. Rev. 18:11-23 is related to world trade. See later the chapter "The 7 bowls of wrath, the end of Babylon...". The "image" of this beast - cf. the next chapter Rev. 14 - might be related to false "images" (imaginations) of Jesus. There may be a relation to a dependency of multimedia devices, which is sometimes like an addiction or a cult.

The underlying tempting powers of this "beast" can be transformed, particularly by that power described in our chapter "The whipping" - John 19,1.