The Red
Dragon
Rev. 12:3
"And there appeared a great wonder in
heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelves
stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered. 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.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast
them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born....
And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Rev. 12:1-4, 9.) The dragon was seen in heaven and being
"cast out," it is obvious that the symbol is of heavenly origin. Of him it is said: "That old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan." Note
that the dragon is a symbol of Satan, even as the Lamb having "seven horns
and seven eyes" is a symbol of Christ.
(Rev. 5:6.)
Since the numerous beasts form an
unbreakable chain of the world empires, the dragon cannot intersect between the
links as the symbol of a separate earthly system; thus he represents just what
the Scripture says: "The Devil, and Satan." The figure is given to reveal Satan's scheme
at a certain time in our world's history.
The "woman clothed with the sun"
is understood to be God's church. The
child to which she gave birth was Christ.
The twelve stars that comprise the woman's crown were originally symbols
of the twelve patriarchs. This will be
made plain in another study. Therefore,
we shall endeavor to make clear the time of the dragon and his work. It will be noticed that the dragon stood
ready to devour the child (Christ) as soon as He was born. It is evident, that the old serpent armed
himself with seven heads and ten horns prior to the birth of Christ.
"And
his tail drew a third part of the stars of Heaven." The Scripture is self explanatory as to
who the symbolical stars are, for Inspiration says: "He was cast out into
the earth, and his Angels were cast out with him."
Therefore, the "third part of the
stars" represent the angels who were deceived by
Satan's controversy. Quoting
"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. 3, p. 115: "Satan, in his
rebellion,
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took a third part of the angels. They turned from the Father and from His Son,
and united with the instigator of rebellion." The question may arise: Why draw them with
his tail and not some other
way? The symbol is perfectly capable of
indicating the manner in which Satan drew them to the earth. Had it been done with claws, it would denote
that Satan defeated Michael (Christ), and by force dragged out a third of the
angels. But since he drew them with his
tail, the significance is that a third part of the angels joined him in
rebellion against Michael. For when the
dragon was cast out naturally he was coming head first, and as he drew them
with his tail, it reveals that they voluntarily followed him. Thus Christ could do nothing for them.
War In Heaven
"And there was war in heaven: Michael
and His angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was there place found any
more in heaven." (Rev. 12:7, 8.)
The conflict was in heaven. The
name "Michael' means who is like
God; hence it is one of the many titles of Christ. Daniel calls Him "Michael the Great Prince which standeth
for the children of thy people." (Dan. 12:1.) Christ has numerous titles, each bearing a
definition of a certain phase, or character of His work. The angel said to Joseph, "and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for he shall save His people
from their sins." He is also called
"Emmanuel," meaning, "God with us." etc.
Time Cast Out
Satan could not have been cast out of heaven
immediately after he sinned, or when he deceived Adam and Eve, for in Job 1:6,
7, we read: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down
in it." "The sons of God"
are the representatives of unfallen worlds equal to
Adam before he sinned, created by the hand of God, and representatives in the
same capacity as Adam could have been had he not fallen from his throne by
sin. Quoting from The Spirit of
Prophecy: "The commanders of the angel hosts, the sons of God the
representatives of the unfallen worlds, are
assembled. The heavenly council before
which Lucifer had accused God and His Son, the representatives of those sinless realms over which
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Satan had thought to
establish his dominion." -- "The Desire of
Ages," p. 834.
Satan still had access to heaven in Job's
time. Therefore, he must have been cast
out at a later date. Says John:
"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted
the woman which brought forth the man child."
(Rev. 12:13.) The next necessary step is
to find when the dragon first persecuted the "woman" (Christian
Church); we shall then have the truth of the time Satan was cast out. That time of persecution is recorded in The
Acts 8:1, "And Saul was consenting unto his [Stephen's] death. And at that time there was a great
persecution against the church which was at
"All are there to welcome the
Redeemer. They are eager to celebrate
His triumph and to glorify their King.... He presents to God the wave-sheaf,
those raised with Him as representatives of that great multitude who shall come
forth from the grave at His second coming.... The voice of God is heard
proclaiming that justice is satisfied.
Satan is vanquished. Christ's toiling, struggling ones on earth
are 'accepted in the Beloved.' Before
the heavenly angels and the representatives of unfallen
worlds, they are declared justified.
"Satan saw that his disguise was torn
away. His administration was laid open
before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly
universe. He had revealed himself as a
murderer. By shedding the blood of the
Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly
beings. Henceforth his work was
restricted. Whatever attitude he might
assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly
courts, and before them accuse Christ's brethren of being clothed with the
garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and
the heavenly world was broken." -- "The Desire of
Ages," pp. 833, 834, 761.
The time he drew a third part of the stars
(angels) from heaven, and the time of the war in heaven, were two distinct
occasions. He drew the angels when they
followed him from heaven to earth and sought to devour Christ. "And when the dragon saw that he was
cast out into the earth;" that is, after Christ was crucified, Satan at
his return to heaven was forbidden
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an entrance.
Thus he "saw" --
understood that he was cast out. Then he persecuted the church.
The Dragon's Horns and Heads
The only possible time for the application
of the symbolical horns, heads, and crowns would be with the closing of the old dispensation, and at the
commencement of the New. For the dragon appeared in that form when Christ was to be born. The horns represent the same as they do on
any symbolical beast. Being ten in number the symbol denotes that
the effect of his scheme was universally felt.
It also signifies that Satan had obtained full control of the nations
which were symbolized by the ten
horns of the non-descript beast of Daniel 7;
and thus he moved upon Herod to kill the children at the birth of Christ
with the hope of destroying the Saviour -- devouring
the "Child."
Let us not overlook the fact that all the
horns, heads, and crowns, were present when he stood ready "to devour her
Child." Consequently, whatever the meaning by these symbols, all must be
in existence at the same time. Had this
not been so, the symbols of heads and horns would have so indicated by coming
up one after another like the beasts, and also like the horns of the ram and of
the goat of Daniel 8. The same is true
with the non-descript beast of Daniel 7:7, from which three of the ten horns were "plucked up by the
roots." Where systems and
governments do not all exist at the same time, the symbols appear one after
another in their correct order. Thus we
see that Inspiration is perfect in every respect, and faultless in revealing
the truth intended. Therefore, it would
be inconsistent for one to conclude that the "horns" as well as the
"heads" could represent a consecutive order of systems as long as
they all appear in a group, and in oneness with the beast that carries them.
It is also impossible that both horns and
heads could represent civil governments, or kings. If the horns stand for political systems,
then the heads cannot. If the wounded
head on the leopard-like beast of Revelation 13:1-3 represents a religious
organization, then all the heads must stand for religious systems. However, there is an exception with the
four-headed leopard of Daniel 7:6, for he is without horns and his heads are
proven to be civil by the four horns of the goat. It is an unmistakable fact that the symbols
are intended to reveal the civil and religious phases during the period
represented by the non-descript beast in both his stages -- imperial and papal
As crowns denote civil authority and as they
appear on the heads instead of on the horns, it is evident that the church in
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that period was using civil dictatorial power to
propagate her dogmas. Thus the lessons
embodied in these symbols are far greater than we can comprehend in a
moment. As the facts brought forth
regarding the nature of the symbols cannot be questioned, we have a positive
foundation for their application.
The dragon with his seven heads and ten
horns, with the crowns on the heads, appeared at the birth of Christ as previously
explained, and occupies the period parallel with the non-descript beast. The heads are represented by the Biblical
number seven," meaning "completeness," and embrace every
religious system in the days of Christ.
As the dragon represents the devil who controls
the heads, the symbol unmistakably denotes a complete apostasy. It is not intended to reveal that the pagan
system of worship was headed by the devil, for it has never been otherwise. It was the Jewish church that had
apostatized, and that is what made the Biblical number "seven
heads." Just such an apostasy had
gripped the world in the days of Noah; and its wickedness made the continuation
of the world impossible. Therefore,
necessity, for the good of mankind, brought about the flood. The terrible apostasy of the Jews made
unavoidable another disaster similar to the dreadful deluge. As God could not overthrow the world by water
the second time, and yet keep His never failing promise to his faithful servant
Noah, He sent His Son to die in the world's stead. Therefore, the world perished not because of
the supreme sacrifice of the Son of God; and the world exists today because
Christ arose from the dead.
The Dragon's Crowns
Next we note the crowns and their
significance. It has been explained that
the crowns denote civil authority. The
heads being crowned, it reveals that the churches of that time employed the
civil arm of the state. Had this not
been true, the Jews could not have crucified the Lord of glory; neither could
they have stoned Stephen, or beheaded and killed the others. It was the civil arm of
The Accuser of the Brethren
After the dragon was cast down from heaven
according to the vision says John: "And I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and
the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night." (Rev. 12:10.) "Satan's accusations against those who
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seek the Lord are not prompted by displeasure at their
sin. He exults in their defective
characters; for he knows that only through their transgression of God's law can
he obtain power over them." -- Prophets and Kings, pp. 585, 586. When the Spirit of God prompts to reprove, He
will reveal sin and rebuke the sinner.
But Satan, encourages the sinner to unconsciously commit himself in
transgression, then he accuses him before the great Judge in Heaven, as "being clothed with the garments of blackness
and the defilement of sin," to secure his condemnation. God's people must learn to detect the voice
of the Spirit of Christ, as well as the spirit of Satan. When the two clash,
the One will strive for obedience to God's Word, but the other will excuse the
sin and sympathize with the sinner. In
this way Satan gains ground, for the sinner loves his sin.
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