The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

---

The word dragon (drakon in Greek) appears fourteen times in thirteen verses in the CSB New Testament – all of them in the Book of Revelation. Other English translations, such as the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible, sometimes translate the Hebrew tanniyn as “dragon,” “serpent,” or “monster” (e.g., Neh. 2:13; Isa. 27:1; 51:9; Ezek. 29:3; 32:2). The CSB renders tanniyn “serpent” or “monster” in these same verses, but “dragon” never appears in the CSB Old Testament.

In the Septuagint, which includes various Greek translations of the Old Testament, drakon translates a number of Hebrew words for a variety of animals, including the lion (Job 4:10; 38:39), snake and asp (Job 26:13; Amos 9:3), and the jackal (Jer. 9:11; Lam. 4:3; Mic. 1:8). It is also used for the great monster Leviathan (Job 40:20; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Isa. 27:1). In the Septuagint version of Esther, an apocalyptic battle between Mordecai and Haman is depicted as dragons locked in mortal combat. This is similar to the battle between Marduk and Tiamat in the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story. According to Peter Bolt, the same myth may lie behind the Septuagint addition to Daniel, the story known as Bel and the Dragon.

The apostle John uses drakon exclusively in Revelation as a symbolic representation of Satan. Further, he links “dragon” and “serpent” to identify this creature as the ancient tempter in the garden of Eden. The dragon is explicitly identified as “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9; cf. Rev. 20:2). 

This depiction also associates him with the Old Testament “sea monster” that represents the enemies of God’s people. For example, in Psalm 74:13-14, Asaph uses the language of Canaanite myths – “you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water; you crushed the heads of Leviathan” – to affirm the sovereignty of God. The names “Leviathan” and “sea monsters” are a pagan way of deifying the uncontrollable forces of nature in the sea. “But God defeated the sea at the exodus (Ps. 114:3; Isa. 51:9-10), meaning he controlled the sea to destroy the Egyptian army. In defeating Egypt, and later Assyria and Babylon, he also defeated the gods they worshiped,” according to the Apologetics Study Bible.

In Revelation, the dragon is the chief enemy of Christ and his church. The dragon uses human and demonic forces to advance his purposes on earth. Let’s briefly examine each reference to the dragon and the serpent in Revelation. We close this chapter (Chapter 2 of the book) with a look at the woman, the child, and the dragon (Rev. 12:1-6); the dragon thrown out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-12); and the dragon and the persecuted woman (Rev. 12:13-17). 

In Chapter 3, excerpted in future posts, we pick up with the dragon and the beast from the sea (Rev. 12:18 – 13:10); the dragon and the beast from the earth (Rev. 13:11-18); the dragon and the sixth bowl (Rev. 16:12-16); the dragon bound (Rev. 20:1-3); and the dragon defeated (Rev. 20:7-10).

The woman, the child, and the dragon (Rev. 12:1-6)

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragonhaving seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child. She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there for 1,260 days (emphasis added).

Revelation 12:1-6

Evangelical commentators essentially agree about the elements in this vision: The woman clothed with the sun is the nation of Israel; the Son is Jesus; the fiery red dragon is Satan; and the wilderness is a place of protection for God’s people during intense persecution. There are other views, to be sure, especially with regard to the woman – some argue she is the virgin Mary; others, the church – and to the location of the wilderness into which the woman flees. Even so, there’s little disagreement about the identity of the dragon. Since he is central to our study, let’s focus on his place in this vision.

As we’ve already seen, the Jewish reader in John’s day would be quite familiar with the dragon. Old Testament authors tell us about Leviathan, Rahab, and the dragon or sea monster, with an emphasis on God’s power to conquer him (Job 26:12-13; Ps. 74:13-14; 89:9-10). Leviathan means “twisting one” and refers either to a sea serpent or dragon associated with the chaos of creation, according to ancient Near Eastern myths. Rahab means “boisterous one” and is used in the same sense that Leviathan is used. 

Scripture sometimes uses Rahab to describe Egypt (Isa. 51:9-10). Ezekiel depicts Egypt and her pharaohs as monsters of the seas (Ezek. 29:3-5; 32:2-8). Jeremiah compares the king of Babylon to a sea monster (Jer. 51:34). But nowhere is the dragon image more fully developed than in Revelation. As one resource notes:

The dragon represents evil, chaos, and ancient opposition to God. Revelation explicitly identifies the dragon with Satan, the archenemy of God and his people. As God defeated the beast from the sea in Daniel and the dragon of Egypt through the Exodus, so he will defeat Satan. In the new heaven and earth there will no longer be a sea or an ancient sea dragon to threaten God’s new creation.

Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times

Let’s look more closely at this great fiery red dragon.

Fiery red dragon

The dragon’s color is red, which could refer to the bloodshed he brings to earth (compare the fiery red horse of Rev. 6:4), or more specifically to persecution he unleashes on the saints (Rev. 6:9-10; 17:3-6). He is, after all, “the accuser of our brothers and sisters” and “has come down … with great fury” (Rev. 12:10, 12). The color red is associated with death (Rev. 6:4), and the murderous Satan always has had blood on his hands (John 8:44). 

Seven heads and ten horns

John describes the dragon as having seven heads and ten horns. On his heads are seven diadema, or kingly crowns, as opposed to stephanos, laurel wreaths that signify victory, honor, or a prize. The number seven appears nearly four hundred times in Scripture and often is associated with God. So, the seven heads and seven crowns may symbolize the dragon’s boastful claims to divine sovereignty, especially when we note the many diadema upon the head of Jesus as he returns triumphantly in Revelation 19:12. Satan is the supreme counterfeit, and seven is the number of divine perfection. 

The dragon’s ten horns take us back to Daniel 7, where the prophet sees a terrifying beast with ten horns, which represent ten kings. In Revelation 13, a beast emerges from the sea with seven heads and ten horns. While commentators differ as to the meaning of all this, one truth is clear: Satan is in the midst of human affairs, a self-crowned monarch doing his best to keep a doomed kingdom intact.

In Matthew 12, Jesus refers to Satan as a king with a kingdom. Three times in the Gospel of John, our Lord refers to Satan as the prince of this world. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul calls Satan the god of this age. And in Ephesians 2, Paul refers to him as the ruler of the power of the air. In the temptation of Jesus, Satan takes our Lord to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, claiming authority over them. And in 1 John 5:19, we are told the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one.

Worldly kings and kingdoms rise. Behind his puppet kings, the fiery red dragon pulls the strings. Earth is his kingdom until the sounding of the seventh trumpet, when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, who reigns forever and ever (Rev. 11:15). 

A tail that sweeps away

The dragon’s tail sweeps away a third of the stars in heaven and hurls them to the earth. This activity is a source of much debate. Do the stars represent an apostate church, which Satan has inspired fallen men and angels to lead? Is John giving us a brief glimpse into Satan’s original rebellion against God in which, it is assumed, he led countless other angels to cast their lots with him? Or is this simply a picture of Satan’s broad powers, with his tail – that is, his influence and power – stretching from the gates of heaven to the depths of the sea?

Robert Utley offers a much-needed word of caution:

At this point it may be helpful to remember that although this issue is interesting, it probably was not the author’s intent in this context to discuss the origin of the demonic or the fall of Satan or an angelic rebellion in heaven. In apocalyptic literature the central theme of the vision is crucial, but the literalness of the presentation, the details and the images are dramatic, symbolic, fictional…. Be careful of pushing the details; apocalyptic literature is often true theology presented in an imaginative frame-work. It is true, but symbolically presented.¹⁶

Hope in Hard Times – The Final Curtain: Revelation

At the very least, we may see the dragon’s cosmic influence pictured in his tail. From his role as one-time accuser of the saints before the throne in heaven, to his battleground in the spiritual realm, to his prowling the earth like a roaring lion, the evil one’s scope of influence is unmatched among God’s creatures.

The dragon stood in front of the woman

Satan’s long-running animosity toward Israel reaches its boiling point at the birth of Christ, the promised seed of woman who crushes the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). The Messiah defeats Satan through his incarnation (John 1:14), sinless life (2 Cor. 5:21), and finished work on the cross (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Through all this, Jesus defeats the work of the evil one (1 John 3:8). 

No doubt, in Old Testament times Satan tries to thwart God’s plan and destroy God’s people. Whether it is through Abraham’s impatience in seeking Ishmael as his heir; Pharaoh’s brutality against God’s people and his stubborn resistance to their freedom; the Israelites’ intermarriage with pagan peoples in and around the Promised Land; or Haman’s scheming to exterminate the Jews – the evil one works aggressively to prevent the people of God from fulfilling their divine purpose.

All efforts having failed, Satan now positions himself in such a way that when Mary delivers Jesus – a vulnerable child in the hands of a poor Jewish couple – he might devour the Son of God as he takes his first breath. The most obvious act is his stirring of King Herod’s heart to have all male children in and around Bethlehem killed. This “massacre of the innocents” is foretold in Jeremiah 31:15 and, as always, God is at least one step ahead of Satan. He dispatches an angel to warn Joseph of Herod’s plot. Joseph escapes with Mary and Jesus to Egypt (Matt. 2:13-20).

Foiled but unbowed, Satan maintains his pursuit of the Savior – in the wilderness temptations, for example – but the Son of Man emerges victorious. The male child knows his purpose in coming to earth. He comes to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10); to die on the cross (John 12:27); and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). 

In essence, Jesus and Satan have diametrically opposed purposes, and yet they share a common means to these purposes: death. Satan seeks to kill Jesus and thus devour him. Jesus seeks to be killed in order to deliver sinful people from the wages of sin: death and hell. Jesus does in fact die. But he does so on his terms, in the Father’s perfect timing, and by the Spirit’s power. 

Next: Satan as the dragon – continued