Revelation 13:3

3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

A. Some commentators have tried to identify each of the seven heads as individual kings. Then they try to ascertain which one was wounded.

B. If the heads represent individual kings, then you have an evil, persecuting king, being killed and resurrected to life again. I do not believe Christians can accept or even imagine such an event occurring.

C. Here is my view. The civil Roman Empire was dealt a fatal blow and the empire was destroyed in 476. It was dead until Christmas day in the year 800. This is when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as emperor. This marks the new beginning of the Holy Roman Empire. Just go to your history books or to any encyclopedia and look up “Holy Roman Empire,” “Papal Inquisition,” “Spanish Inquisition,” and “Middle Ages.”

D. This also matches the rest of this chapter as you meet the second beast in verses 11-16.