724. Having seven heads and ten horns. This symbolizes their intelligence gained from the Word, at first reverent, later abandoned, and at last irrational, and their continued great power drawn from the Word.

The head symbolizes intelligence and wisdom when the subject is the Lord and the Word, and in an opposite sense irrationality and stupidity, as may be seen in nos. 538, 576 above. The number seven does not symbolically mean seven, but all of something, and is predicated of something holy (nos. 10, 390). A horn symbolizes power (no. 270) and ten horns symbolize much power (no. 539). That the seven heads symbolize intelligence at first reverent, later abandoned, and at last irrational, is apparent from verses 9 and 10 in this chapter, in which the angel says what the seven heads symbolize, which we will take up below.

It is apparent from this that the beast having seven heads and ten horns symbolizes intelligence from the Word, at first reverent, later abandoned, and at last irrational, and their continued great power drawn from the Word.

Imagine having your mother touch your cheek. Then imagine having your spouse or someone you love romantically touch your cheek. Then imagine having a baby touch your cheek. Then imagine having someone you hate and fear touch your cheek. They're very different feelings, aren't they? They all involve the same nerve endings, stimulated in basically the same ways, but with emotional content that varies to every point of the compass. This is because the sense of touch communicates and actually conveys emotion, communicates and conveys love (both good and bad) between people. That's why the Lord so often touched people as a way of healing them; through touch he could convey His love, which is life itself, to the people he touched. It's also why the people of Israel were not to touch the Ark of the Covenant -- their base loves would be conveyed to the holiness represented by the Ark.