The Dragon

 

The dragon is a main character in Revelation 12, along with a woman and her child. The dragon first appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden (cf. Rev 12:9), and He has played a dominant role throughout the history of mankind. The dragon is identified as Satan (v. 9); that is very clear. Satan was a created angel of God, probably an archangel, similar to Michael. He became full of pride and wanted to usurp the place of God (Isa 14:12-15). He was hurled out of heaven to the earth (Rev 12:9), where he set about to lead the world astray and subvert God’s plan to redeem mankind. In the end, the dragon will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternal judgment (Rev 20:10).

Revelation 12 opens with an interesting reference to the birth of Jesus, the nemesis of the dragon. A sign in the heavens confirmed the birth of Jesus -- when the sun’s transit crossed the constellation, Virgo (in August or September), and when the moon was at her feet (narrowing it down even more precisely, almost to the day), the child would be born. This is a fascinating identification, using astrology and astronomy as a sign, to identify the birth date of the child whom the Dragon was seeking to devour the moment it was born. Herod’s decree to kill all the babies in Bethlehem surely is to be correlated with Satan’s attempt to kill the Christ-child. Satan tried again to destroy the Christ, inciting the disbelieving Jews to crucify Him. Along with all his demonic minions, Satan’s glee turned to horror when the stone started creaking, then rolled back from the tomb, and Jesus arose from death. After triumphing over Satan’s ploys, Jesus was “snatched up to God”, ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of his Father’s throne (Rev 12:5).

The dragon appears in verse three, having seven heads and ten horns. The dragon is so closely entwined with the beast (see Revelation 13; 17), giving to the beast its power, throne and authority (Rev 13:2), that they are envisioned similarly. One of the hallmarks of the seven beast nations, not just that it is a world-ruling empire, is that it oppresses the saints. That was true of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Rome, quite noticeably. In fact, the dragon used Rome to destroy Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD, killing nearly a million Jews in the process, and scattering the survivors around the world for a 2000-year diaspora (Rev 12:6). Failing to devour the male-child, the dragon pursued the woman (Israel), seeking to destroy her. And then the dragon set his sights on the other offspring of the woman, Christians, waging war against those who hold fast to Jesus. The dragon will once again empower the seventh beast nation, America, to oppress the saints and wage war against them (Dan 7:21; Rev 13:7). And finally, the dragon will empower the eighth beast to invade Israel, initiating the Battle of Armageddon. Their motivation, instilled by the dragon, will be to annihilate the Jews (whom Islam refers to as “infidels”), and wage war against the returning Messiah (Rev 17:12-14).

Satan wants to gain the worship of mankind (Rev 13:4). Not overt worship (e.g., seances and blood rituals), but rather covert worship. Satan disguises worship under the guise of self-autonomy. He does not actually ask us to serve him, but rather to turn our back on God and serve our own self-interests, self-righteousness, or evil desires. Satan failed at trying to subvert God’s plan of redeeming mankind from the sin which he, himself, so cunningly instituted at the garden of Eden. So, he sets about to turn men’s heart and allegiance away from God. Here is a scary thought. Satan will in fact have his own kingdom, with an abundance of loyal followers. But it will not be in the heavens above the throne of God, it will be in the lake of fire. My advice – make absolutely sure, in your heart and mind, which kingdom you belong to.