As there appears to be some question regarding the identity of the dragon of Revelation 20, the following is offered as a summary of the position that it represents primarily the civil power as a tool of the adversary.

Dragon appears in the New Testament only in the book of Revelation. There it appears only in chapters 12, 13, 16 and 20. The 12th chapter is explained in detail by Bro. Russell in which he clearly shows the dragon as pagan Rome as the enemy of both the true and the apostate churches. It is not an unsafe generalization to say that in this chapter Bro. Russell equates the dragon with civil power. In the 13th chapter he does likewise, and in the 16th chapter likewise. It should not, therefore, be inconsistent or surprising to claim that the final mention of the dragon in Rev. 20 is also representative of civil power. Some, however, seriously questions this position.

On R4609 Bro. Russell stresses that while the devil of Rev. 20 includes the actual being (the personal devil), the term is much broader than that and represents a system. Care must be taken with this quote. Note that Bro. Russell says “religious system.” Note also that he specifies verses 7-9 dealing with war in heaven. Because the dragon was pagan it was religious in a pagan sense only. But as such it did control the heaven of its day. The result of the battle, however, is that the dragon is cast out of heaven to which it never returns. After this point it is an exclusively civil entity-a thought which we believe is consistent with all of Bro. Russell’s writings on the matter and which accounts for his interpretation of dragon in chapters 13 and 16.

The internal evidence from the book of Revelation seems to support the conclusion that the dragon of chapter 20 is the civil power heretofore discussed. We believe this evidence is strongest in the following three references:

1. In Revelation 12: 9 this dragon is named with its multiple names: dragon, serpent, devil and Satan. Only in one other place does this occur: Rev. 20: 2. It is not unreasonable to think that this is so because the Lord wished to stress to the careful observer that the identity of the entity in 20: 2 is the same as that which was cast out of heaven in Rev. 12: 9 – i.e., the civil power.
2. In Rev. 16: 13 is introduced a trinity of enemies: beast, dragon, and false The Revelator follows these enemies until their destruction. Two of them, the beast and false prophet, are destroyed in the lake of fire in 19: 20. But the dragon is not. Thus the 20th chapter is set aside as a detailed description of the destruction of the same dragon introduced in 16: 13 – the civil power.

Some have suggested that the dragon is represented in chapter 19:19 under the words “kings of the earth.” We do not believe this to be true because “kings of the earth” are also listed in 16:14 as the ones affected by the pronouncements issuing from beast, dragon, and false prophet. Therefore, a distinction must be made between dragon and kings of the earth. They are not the same.

Additionally, note that the kings of the earth are not destroyed in the lake of fire in 19:20 with the beast and false prophet so that if the kings of the earth were synonymous with the dragon, their destruction would even so of necessity be reserved for a later text than chapter 19.

3. 20:10 shows us that finally, at the end of the little season, the dragon has joined the beast and false prophet in the lake of fire. There would be no need to mention the beast and false prophet in this verse except to draw our attention to the fact that all three enemies of 16:13 are finally accounted for-the third having its demise 1000 years later than the first two-and its identity yet the same: civil power.

In summary it would be wise to stress again that the personal devil must not be excluded from Rev. 20. His personal binding as shown by Jesus in the Gospels is to be an accomplished fact.

However, chapter 20 is not primarily dealing with the personal devil, but rather with the binding and ultimate destruction of his long-cherished tool: civil government. It seems to have been our Pastor’s expectation that the deception of the little season would be in the form of a civil government- a coup to displace or challenge the ancient worthies. This concept is in harmony with the loosing of civil government and its master, Satan. Perhaps the terms Gog and Magog also give us the same clue. These names in the gospel harvest we do not connect with a religious power nor with the personal devil solely, but rather with some civil invading force. A similar interpretation at the little season is consistent.

In short, there seems to be no particular argument against the dragon of Rev. 20 being representative of civil power, and there seems to be strong, consistent, contextual argument for it. Let the Lord enlighten us further as need be.

— Contributed

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