The purpose of this article is to discuss the prophecy of the "deadly wound" in Revelation.


  Rev 13:1-- And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw
  a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten
         horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his 
         heads the name of blasphemy.
         Rev 13:2-- And the beast which I saw was like unto a
         leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his 
         mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his
         power, and his seat, and great authority.
         Rev 13:3-- And 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 13:4-- And they worshipped the dragon which gave
         power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast,
         saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
         Rev 13:5-- And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and 
         blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

                 Revelation 13:3 speaks of a wound to one of the heads of the beast.  Revelation
        13: 5 speaks of how long the beast would have its power initially.  It says 42 months,
        which equals 1260 prophetic years.  200 years ago, these prophecies began to greatly 
        interest the Protestant Reformers of the day.
                 The actual event that triggered the Reformer's interest was the French Revolution,
        which began in 1789.  The Revolution threw off religion in general and, more specifically, 
        Catholicism.  Below is an excerpt from chapter 34 of The PROPHETIC FAITH OF
        OUR FATHERS, by Le Roy Edwin Froom:

I. Papal Government Supplanted and Pontiff Banished

                     The immediate problem is to trace the overthrow of the Papacy in Italy in 1798.
        One of the most interesting accounts, as well as a very trustworthy one, of the overthrow 
        of the papal government is by Richard Duppa,[1] in A Brief Account of the Subversion
        of the Papal Government, 1798.[2] Of this work Duppa says, "It was written with the
        strictest attention to truth; the facts were recorded by one who was witness to the
        events." And he adds, "After a lapse of nine years, no part has been invalidated."[3]
    
        1. NAPOLEON'S GOAL WAS FREEING OF ROME.—In 1796 Napoleon 
        Bonaparte, on his way to overthrow the pope, incited his soldiers with one of his 
        fiery speeches to the effect that they still had one offense to avenge. The hour of
        vengeance had struck. To restore the Capitol, to awaken the people of Rome, blunted
        from centuries of slavery, were to be the fruits of their victories; they would mark
        an epoch in history. Hearing of this, Pius VI (1775-1798)—born in 1717 as Giovanni 
        Angelico Braschi, and died in 1799—attempted to fortify his position and neglected
        nothing that might prevent the great catastrophe. Meantime he sent an emissary to
        Napoleon at Milan and proposed an armistice, offering heavy reparations and the 
        surrender of Ancona, Bologna, and Ferrara—the northern portion of the papal territory.
        The French Directory demanded that the Papacy revoke, retract, and disannul all bulls,
        briefs, rescripts, and decrees affecting ecclesiastical affairs in France issued since
        the beginning of the Revolution in 1787. This Pius VI refused, declaring he would 
        oppose it with force, and broke off the parley. Napoleon took Imola, the Romagna, the
        duchy of Urbino, routed the papal army, and made new overtures to the pope.

                 Le Roy Edwin Froom goes on for many more pages describing the downfall of the 
     papacy.  But, eventually, the key point to its downfall occurred.  One of Napolean's
     general's, Berthier, was ordered to Rome to set up a Roman republic on January 1st,
     1798.  Finally, Berthier captured the pope and ordered him into exile.  One year later in
     1799, Pius VI died.  The papacy's power was crushed.  It had received its "deadly wound."
     Remember, however, that the wound wasn't fatal.

  Rev 13:3-- And 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.

                 The papal wound was healed at the Lateran Concordat of 1929, when the papacy
      regained much of its power.  Ever since, the papacy has grown more and more powerful
      and is the most powerful religio-political organization in the world. To read
      more about the Lateran Concordat, follow this link--
                                        Michael Scheifler's Bible Light Homepage