Incorrect These interpretations are part of the reason Paul wrote so strongly against gnosticism/todays new age,like this poster,they spiritualise the clear meanings away and replace it with thier "spin" to make it say what they need it to say
The description of the woman and the beast upon which she sits in Revelation 17:7–14 is one of the most difficult passages in the book of Revelation.
As John marvels at the vision, an angel says,
“I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her” (Rev. 17:7).
The angel tells John that the beast he saw “was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction” (Rev. 17:8)
The angel then says to John:
This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. (Rev. 17:9–11)
This text is important not only in the context of John’s vision, but also because it is potentially relevant to the question of the date of the book.
I will put off discussion of verse 8until we get to verse 11.
In verse 9, the angel says that the seven heads “are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.”
The reference to Rome as the city built on seven hills was widely used during the first century.
It would have been familiar to John’s audience.
There is no reason, then, to suppose that John meant anything other than Rome by the use of this description.
In verse 10, the angel tells John that the seven heads also symbolize seven kings, “five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.”
