The Dragon of Revelation
“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (Revelation 12:3).
A dragon is referred to by name in twelve Revelation scriptures. Though interpretations of the dragon exist, it seems that the symbol’s definition is often changed to fit the preferred interpretation: one time it is religious pagan Rome, then non-religious government, then Satan himself. The objective of this article is to suggest a scripturally supported, historically verified, and consistent interpretation of the dragon.1
Revelation 12:17 depicts the dragon starting to make war with the “remnant” saints of God. Many understand that verses 15 and 16 represent the enlightenment and French Revolution, and that position will be assumed here, but little consideration is given to how this conflict propagates after the French Revolution. In fact, this is the only attack upon the saints stated in scripture that occurs after the French Revolution and the ending of the 1260 year period of Papal lease of power.2 Therefore, a clear understanding of what the dragon represents should be of considerable interest for us today.
SETTING THE STAGE
Great changes occurred in the world just before and following Christ’s First Advent. Greek written language and philosophical exercise, coupled with Roman infrastructure, paved the way for the expansion of the Gospels throughout the Mediterranean world, along with freedoms and general literacy which expanded with it. Superstitions were abandoned, and an understanding of the character and existence of Satan was revealed. There is a parallel found in Christ’s Second Advent, which was also preceded by philosophical expression and infrastructure advancement.
In addition, a parallel exists with the success of Satan in setting up false systems of righteousness in both cases, even in context with all the advancements in Western civilization. Satan was, and still is, “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Therefore, he continues to use the organs of established political power and information dissemination to filter vital truths from the common discourse. An important part of this evaluation will be the introduction of history from a non-filtered perspective.
FIRST PRINCIPLE: THE DRAGON IS NOT THE BEAST
John reports what he sees. When he saw a “red” dragon he recorded it as such; when a “scarlet” beast, it was recorded as a beast.3 As simple as it sounds, it is a concept often overlooked. The dragon and beast are not the same symbols, thus they have their own meanings. When the harlot, a well-known symbol of the Catholic Church, is described riding upon a beast,4 it is the beast, not the dragon, that is the civilization 5 supporting her. Christendom is the society that supported the Catholic Church; therefore, the beast is easily identified as Christendom. As for the dragon of Revelation 12:3, it is universally recognized as representing pagan Roman civilization. Thus the beast and dragon are as different as Christian society and pagan society. The color “red” given to both the beast and dragon may confuse the two to be the same, but the Greek word for “red” is different in each case.6
The two can be differentiated by their actions as well. The woman, within whom the righteous seed dwelt,7 was in some manner protected from the serpent (incipient dragon),8 while the beast was given the power to overcome them in Revelation 13:7 during the same 1260 years.9 We also see the dragon giving something to the beast in Revelation 13:2. It is reasonable to conclude that one does not give something to one’s self, so again it is apparent that the description illustrates two separate entities. Note also, the beast is destroyed separately from the dragon at the end of Revelation 19.
It follows, then, that the dragon maintains its own identity, not to be confused with that of the beast. It is unnecessary to change its original identification from the form of its introduction: a pagan-religious power. (Further consideration of how a pagan social/political power can exist up to our day will be discussed later.)
SECOND PRINCIPLE: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS NOT THE BEAST
The woman riding upon the beast of Revelation 17, is commonly understood to represent the Catholic Church. Therefore, it stands to reason that the beast represents the society that supported the Catholic Church, including the monarchies, civil governments, and the culture in general, that is, Christendom. Furthermore, Revelation 19 separates the two when, in its beginning, the Catholic Church is obviously spoken of as destroyed before the beast’s destruction at the end of the chapter. Consider, also, that the little horn (Papal dynasty) rose out of the beast;10 thus the beast supplied incubation and support for the Papacy and Catholic Church.
A dragon with seven heads and ten horns
Therefore, when Revelation speaks of the beast, it does not refer to the Catholic Church, but rather to the civil governments, as well as all society, that cooperated with her while she lived, and will survive her for a short period after her demise. The beast is of a Christian world, not a pagan or secular one. That is, the Catholic Church was supported by a “Christian” civil government during the 1260 years.11 This means that the pagan dragon had no part in supporting the Catholic Church; in fact, it has been in opposition to her ever since their conflict was first introduced at the beginning of Revelation 12.
DRAGON: THE DEVIL’S ATTRIBUTE OF POWER
Many understand that the four positive attributes of God — power, wisdom, justice, and love — are mirrored by four negative attributes of Satan as used in the four names he is given: dragon, old serpent, Satan, Devil.12 The dragon is the power attribute of the Adversary,13 so when the dragon is mentioned, it is meant to indicate the power of Satan, even the direct power of Satan. We suggest that the millennia-old conflict between the dragon and false Christianity is but Satan trying to cast out a sort of “rule-by-proxy” system veneered with truths he would sooner discard. He would prefer a direct worship of his personage as paganism more closely approximates.
How is this power exercised upon mankind? First, we must realize that Satan is the god of this world,14 being as much self-evident today as ever. Government, educational systems, and cultural influences are undermining the Scripture’s voice at every turn, and dramatically increasing since the time of Bro. Charles T. Russell. The power to do so is not coming from flesh and blood, but from spiritual wickedness in high places.15 The corruption of society is more a top down than bottom up process. The power of the establishment to promote darkness over light and evil over righteousness is all around us. To use Jesus’ analogy, if we can discern the coming storm by dark clouds on the horizon, why cannot we discern Satan’s powerful influence today by observing the increasing wickedness promoted by the institutions of power and influence?
THE DRAGON: A COMBINATION OF POWER AND SUBTLE DECEPTION
Unlike the popular image of a flying dinosaur, the ancient and Biblical form of a dragon is that of a serpent.16 In essence, a dragon is but “a serpent on steroids.” It combines power with subtle deception. It can control people by either the threat of harm or by creating a false reality through which it can mold their wills. And unlike the cave-dwelling flying dragon of the Middle Ages, the dragon is actually a water-dwelling creature.17 Dragon traditions are common in the myths of the ancient world, but “one definable aspect (exists) among them — association with and control over water.”18 This aspect implies that the dragon can be hidden at will (as submerging in water). Waters are also a symbol of peoples and truth.19 Taking these symbolisms as a whole, the dragon dwells invisibly among mankind while manipulating truth at will. Water comes out of the mouth of the serpent first, then out of the mouth of the dragon, at the end of Revelation 12. “Truth” is used as a weapon through agencies unknown to the people via humanistic philosophies. (The meaning for the transition from the serpent to the dragon in this passage will be addressed later.)
THE DRAGON BECOMING “CIVIL”
To understand the dragon, one must understand an important construct of historical pagan religion. The pagan religion was comprised of two components: (1) the religion held by the populace, i.e. the myths, sacrifices, festivals, and superstitions society participated in, and (2) the mystery religions, that is, secret religious societies made up of a specially-selected few.20 The latter was made up of men from all classes, but generally, those of ability. They were so secretive that ancient scholars could not — or would not — reveal much more detail beyond their existence.
Combine this duality of nature with the casting of the dragon out of heaven in Revelation 12:9, and a reasonable interpretation of how paganism can exist today becomes apparent. The dragon being cast out of heaven illustrates its loss of religious recognition among the masses, but its hidden religious component remains intact. Note how it is “cast into earth”21 In this sense pagan worship continues hidden, undetected by the masses. Note also the danger to society this situation represents: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and sea (stable and unstable elements of society)!” (Revelation 12:12).22
Freemasonry is a reasonable candidate for such an organization operating under the earth (earth meaning stable society) and influencing the unstable elements of society (the sea). Its revolutionary influence can be traced from early 16th century England23 and imported to France through the early 17th century, resulting in the “Age of Enlightenment.”24 As the 1260 years of Papal power closed, its adversary, the dragon, re-emerged to reclaim political power. But, the “Enlightenment” was still within the 1260 years of Papal lease of power, so it first began “enlightening” (casting out water from its mouth) as a serpent, since during the 1260 years paganism had no political power, thus could not be represented as the dragon. The serpent became a dragon during the last 10 years of Papal power when the Revolutionaries seized power and continued to “enlighten” the masses with a flood of turbulent, muddy water. The object of the intended destruction was primarily the purging of all Christianity,25 both true and false, and to supplant it with a secular government (secular meaning the absence of any Christian influence). In this sense, the dragon became a secular civil power from the world’s view while maintaining a pagan core.
DRAGON’S ACTIVITY POST FRENCH REVOLUTION
We know from the last verse of Revelation 12 that the dragon would continue its activity beyond 1799, marking the end of the 1260 years and the French Revolution. The dragon now focusses its attack upon the righteous seed of the woman, rather than the unrighteous seed, the Man of Sin. Since the 1260 years period was distinctly described as being a period in which physical persecution of the saints would be allowed, we can conclude that such direct persecution would cease, to a large degree, after 1799.26 This is well supported by the last 200 years’ history. Therefore, the dragon’s persecution could be viewed as an undermining of their values, an ever-increasing process of marginalization and eventual demonization of their beliefs and activities. This, in fact, we can see happening today, using the same process the devil used to “enlighten” the masses of 18th century France, the same process he used as “an angel of light” to create the great Apostate Church. Satan is not limited by light, but easily distorts it, “muddies the waters” with regard to his own objectives.27
Woman fleeing as with two wings of a great eagle
DRAGON’S UNCLEAN SPIRIT
Revelation says a croaking,28 unclean spirit comes out of the mouth of the dragon. Out of the mouth (through its communications, spoken or written) comes a monotonous repetition (in the manner of a frog’s croaking) of lies that are substantiated only by their oft repeating; much like the “Big Lie” technique, where beliefs are created without significant proof but rather by being repeated over and over and over again. Fundamental to this unclean spirit is the manufacture of a set of morals and ethics not specifically found in the Bible, being a sort of secular morality emanating through secular powers.
The only rights of man are those which are God- given; yet the loudest proponents of human rights have come from secular, anti-Biblical sources starting with the “philosophers” of the age of “enlightenment” to the humanists and progressives of today (with the notable exception of the abolition of slavery, with much credit for that given to 18th century Christians). “Liberty” was the watchword of the French Revolution, but the peasants of Vendee and citizens of Lyon were treated very harshly when they wished to be liberated from the Revolution. And so the spirit has continued on with the advent of secular Communism (religion an “opiate of the people”), Socialism, and many other “isms” that use secular morality to justify their authoritarian control, justifying their actions with creeds foreign to scripture.
Space only permits the example of one unclean spirit: Darwinism. Evolution has never been proven in a manner to satisfy the rigors of exacting science, that is, it has never been demonstrated in a controlled experiment. An extensive effort over many decades with fruit fly experimentation has failed to demonstrate evolution’s fundamental principle29 — which failure would in most cases falsify any other hypothesis. Yet, the idea is presented over and over and over again throughout society as an established fact, and efforts to open up competing considerations are quashed by the establishment.
DRAGON’S DEMISE
The dragon’s destruction is distinct from that of the beast and false prophet in Revelation 20:1-3. The angel (Jesus) comes down from heaven (the apokalupsis or full revealing of Christ to the world) and personally ends the dragon’s influence upon mankind.30 This suggests the chameleon-like ability of the dragon who has survived the societal turmoil that brought down the beast, false prophet, and kings of the earth, to continue to deceive mankind. This is stopped by the direct intervention of Christ. That is the last we hear from the dragon, because Satan’s political power will cease to exist at this point.
Voltaire, the French spokesman for “Enlightenment”
SUMMATION
Satan has not lost his tactic of bending light through the prism of human failings. This tactic is apparent from the early expansion of Christianity, through the Age of Enlightenment, to the present use of various “humanitarian” forms of political and social power. There was, and is, some system of false altruism always being presented that stands separate from, and is combative towards, the Word of God. The Lord has given us the symbol of the dragon so that we may not be fooled by the wiles of the devil in his attempts to destabilize society and to establish the dragon’s kingdom.
1 John 4:1 is as true today as it was in John’s day: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets [demagogues] are gone out into the world.”
— Br. Robert Davis
Editor’s Note: The deep thinking in this article reflects careful thought over a long period of time, and is well worth our attention. Satan continues his opposition to the Church, and his influence in otherwise Christian society to foster pagan concepts appears unabated, as this article brings to light. As to the specific details of Revelation 12, here are two comments that are supplementary, perhaps in some nuances, distinct.
(1) Footnote number two mentions the suggestion that the flood of waters spewed from the mouth of the dragon were at the outset of the 1260 years, an effort to sweep away the Church as it was escaping into the wilderness (R55, R307). In this case, Revelation 12:17 would cover the animosity of our adversary against the saints through much of the age, pursuing them through the power of the state as he was able.
(2) The leopard beast of Revelation 13 (Papacy), and the scarlet beast of Revelation 17 (the peoples and governments that supported the Roman Catholic Church), though related, are distinguished from each other. They are described differently, and introduced at different times in the narrative. We think that the seven heads of the leopard beast are Babylon, Persia, four parts of Greece, and Rome. That the seven heads of the scarlet beast are seven governments from Justinian through Victor Emmanuel that have cooperated with the Roman Catholic Church. The beast of Daniel 7:8 is different still, though related. That beast is the Roman Empire, out of which Papacy arose.
— Br. David Rice
(1) Occam’s Razor, a theory of effectively arriving at the proper understanding with given facts, in essence states that the most straight forward interpretation of all alternatives is the most accurate one.
(2) Some interpret Revelation 17:12 as a future event in which saints will see persecution. But scripture states that the saints are overcome by the Papacy (Daniel 7:21,25) and the beast (Revelation 13:7) only during anti-Christ’s 1260 year lease of power. (Editor’s note: in addition, the Beauties of the Truth, February 2014 article on Revelation 12 expressed the thought that the flood of water was at the beginning of the 1260 years of Papal dominion. On this issue the editorial board does not speak with one voice.)
(3) A dragon was a well-known image at John’s time; however, the beast he saw was a new type. See Daniel 7:7.
(4) Revelation 17:3.
(5) Supporting society is comprised of many elements, such as civil government, armed forces, general culture, and the commercial world. These can be distinguished by the parts of the symbolic animal such as the horns being ruling dynasties, heads as central governments, bodies as the general culture (see Revelation 13:2 where the Greek leopard is the beast’s body implying Rome owed its culture to Greece), teeth and claws as armed agencies.
(6) For the “red” dragon of Revelation 12:3, G4450 (purrhos), fire-like, flame colored. For the “scarlet” beast of Revelation 17:3, G2847 (kokkinos), crimson. According to Hislop the first pagan apostasy involved the worship of fire and the serpent: Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Second US edition, Neptune, New Jersey (1959) page 225.
(7) See Revelation 12:17.
(8) Revelation 12:14. The serpent is the dragon minus political power. During the 1260 years power was given to Papacy and the beast, therefore paganism had no power in the Holy Roman Empire other than deception.
(9) Time, times, and ½ time in Revelation 12:14 and 42 months in Revelation 13:5.
(10) Daniel 7:8. Note that it rose from one head that represents the capital city of Rome.
(11) See “Divine Right of Kings,” Wikipedia. (Editor’s note: one question that needs to be explored further, Does not the dragon give its power to the beast? Revelation 13:2.)
(12) Revelation 12:9, 20:2 — These scriptures are in context with the Adversary’s fall from a position of influence. We suggest they represent mankind’s fuller understanding of his character at these points. The first citation comes when Christianity brought to light his existence, the second at the apokalupsis when the depth of his duplicitous involvement in earth’s affairs is unmasked.
(13) See Isaiah 27:1, where leviathan is called the dragon and a crooked serpent. Job 41 extols the power of leviathan.
(14) 2 Corinthians 4:4. Our Lord calls him “the prince of this world” in John 12:31, 16:11. Satan tempted Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world; how could this be a temptation if he did not have control of them? Matthew 4:8-9.
(15) Ephesians 6:12.
(16) Isaiah 27:1. See, op. cit. Hislop, The Two Babylons, pages 225- 226.
(17) Isaiah 27:1, Ezekiel 29:3, Psalm 104:26.
(18) Ingersoll, Ernest, Dragons and Dragon Lore, Payton and Clark (1928), page 15.
(19) Revelation 17:15, Isaiah 11:9.
(20) See, op. cit. Hislop, The Two Babylons, page 7.
(21) Note: KJV and Wilson Diaglott translate the preposition “into” and not “on.” The concept of being hidden in the earth is a possible interpretation. The preposition (eis), “in,” as defined in Thayer’s #1519, has a broad interpretation, but his first definition (1a) is of particular interest: “it stands before nouns (in this case earth) designating an open place, a hollow thing, or one in which an object can be hidden” (emphasis added). The same Greek preposition is used in the sense of Matthew 13:33 where the leaven is hidden in the bread. Compare Jeremiah 28:17.
(22) So what modern entity cast in the mold of ancient mystery religions and exercising great political power would be suggested? Freemasonry. Not that all Freemasons are fully aware of the objectives of the Masonic inner sanctums, but they are a highly secretive group composed of men at the highest levels of power and influence who even claim an ancestry derived from ancient cultic religion. The Egyptian obelisk (called the Washington Monument, being heavily influenced by the Masonic Order) resides in full view of the White House and the U.S. Capitol building. Symbolism like this is readily apparent and should not go unnoticed.
(23) “Three years later (1733) Jacobite refugees from England founded in Paris the first French Freemasonry lodge. It served as a refuge for deists and as a center of political intrigue; it became a channel of English influence, and prepared the way for the philosophies” Durant, The Story of Civilization IX (1965) pages 294-295. This is how the Two-Horned Beast “spoke as a dragon” in Revelation 13:11.
(24) Durant, Will and Ariel, The Story of Civilization IX, Published by Simon & Schuster, NY (1965), pages 938-939. Robinson, John, Proofs of a Conspiracy — Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, George Forman (1798), page 223 — at the time Robinson was a Professor of natural philosophy and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
(25) “I am weary,” he (Voltaire) would say, “of hearing people repeat that twelve men were sufficient to establish Christianity, and I will prove that one may suffice to overthrow it.” The British Critic — A New Review, January-June 1797. In 2016 this was available on-line through Google Books.
(26) Christians in general have seen considerable physical persecution from Communism and Islam, and due respect is paid for those willing to suffer in Christ’s name even though many have not been blessed with the Present Truth.
(27) Truth is water that is “clear as crystal,” Revelation 22:1.
(28) Revelation 16:13. Most Bible Students would agree that this takes place after the French Revolution.
(29) An increased complexity of an organism’s physical structure resulting from genetic mutation that offers superior survivability.
(30) “Laid hold on,” G2902 (krateo), usages: Matthew 14:3, 18:28, 21:46, 22:6. In the sense of sudden apprehension, sometimes grab, often to hold strongly. Apprehended first before being bound, see Mark 6:17.