I
Irishmen10
Guest
Rome is known as the city of “Seven Hills”. I personally have never been to Rome and don’t know what these “hills” look like or the locations of them. I was talking with a friend a few days ago and he mentioned to me that Rome (the city of seven hills) was the prophesy of John in Revelation 17:9.
9 'This calls for shrewdness. The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman is sitting.
Obviously we need to look at the entire context first to fully understand the importance of this statement.
Revelation 17: 4-14
4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and glittered with gold and jewels and pearls, and she was holding a gold winecup filled with the disgusting filth of her prostitution;
5 on her forehead was written a name, a cryptic name: ‘Babylon the Great, the mother of all the prostitutes and all the filthy practices on the earth.’
6 I saw that she was drunk, drunk with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I was completely mystified.
7 The angel said to me, 'Do you not understand? I will tell you the meaning of this woman, and of the beast she is riding, with the seven heads and the ten horns.
8 'The beast you have seen was once alive and is alive no longer; it is yet to come up from the Abyss, but only to go to its destruction. And the people of the world, whose names have not been written since the beginning of the world in the book of life, will be astonished when they see how the beast was once alive and is alive no longer, and is still to come.
9 'This calls for shrewdness. The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman is sitting.
10 The seven heads are also seven emperors. Five of them have already gone, one is here now, and one is yet to come; once here, he must stay for a short while.
11 The beast, who was alive and is alive no longer, is at the same time the eighth and one of the seven, and he is going to his destruction.
12 ‘The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet been given their royal power but will have royal authority only for a single hour and in association with the beast.
13 They are all of one mind in putting their strength and their powers at the beast’s disposal,
14 and they will go to war against the Lamb; but because the Lamb is Lord of lords and King of kings, he will defeat them, he and his followers, the called, the chosen, the trustworthy.’
And so, my friend claims that because the Catholic Church is the Church of Rome and Rome is the city of Seven Hills, that the Catholic Church is the women described in the revelation. I would like to hear the point of view of Catholics and non-Catholics alike in their explanation of this passage. I myself am not saying that my friend is right or wrong, but I have contemplated this theory for a while and am wondering if there are any answers out there.
God Bless!
9 'This calls for shrewdness. The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman is sitting.
Obviously we need to look at the entire context first to fully understand the importance of this statement.
Revelation 17: 4-14
4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and glittered with gold and jewels and pearls, and she was holding a gold winecup filled with the disgusting filth of her prostitution;
5 on her forehead was written a name, a cryptic name: ‘Babylon the Great, the mother of all the prostitutes and all the filthy practices on the earth.’
6 I saw that she was drunk, drunk with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I was completely mystified.
7 The angel said to me, 'Do you not understand? I will tell you the meaning of this woman, and of the beast she is riding, with the seven heads and the ten horns.
8 'The beast you have seen was once alive and is alive no longer; it is yet to come up from the Abyss, but only to go to its destruction. And the people of the world, whose names have not been written since the beginning of the world in the book of life, will be astonished when they see how the beast was once alive and is alive no longer, and is still to come.
9 'This calls for shrewdness. The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman is sitting.
10 The seven heads are also seven emperors. Five of them have already gone, one is here now, and one is yet to come; once here, he must stay for a short while.
11 The beast, who was alive and is alive no longer, is at the same time the eighth and one of the seven, and he is going to his destruction.
12 ‘The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet been given their royal power but will have royal authority only for a single hour and in association with the beast.
13 They are all of one mind in putting their strength and their powers at the beast’s disposal,
14 and they will go to war against the Lamb; but because the Lamb is Lord of lords and King of kings, he will defeat them, he and his followers, the called, the chosen, the trustworthy.’
And so, my friend claims that because the Catholic Church is the Church of Rome and Rome is the city of Seven Hills, that the Catholic Church is the women described in the revelation. I would like to hear the point of view of Catholics and non-Catholics alike in their explanation of this passage. I myself am not saying that my friend is right or wrong, but I have contemplated this theory for a while and am wondering if there are any answers out there.
God Bless!
