Unveiling the Red Dragon: Satan's Symbolism in Revelation

So tonight we're looking at the dragon. Y'all probably remember,

this is where we left off. This will be in chapter 12, verses three and four.

We're focusing on to start with tonight.

It says, then another sign appeared in heaven and behold, a great red dragon

having seven heads and 10 horns.

And on his heads were seven diadems and his tail swept away a third of the stars

of heaven and threw them to the earth.

And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when

she gave birth, he might devour her child.

So if you remember, with the second sign, a new character emerges on the scene.

That's the woman's mortal enemy.

And that is dramatically portrayed by another sign that appeared in heaven.

In verse 9, clearly identifies the great red dragon as who?

Satan, right? And Satan, of course, is not an actual dragon,

so to speak, any more than Israel is an actual woman.

Fallen angel, in other words, the symbolic language used to describe him pictures

the reality of his person, his character, if you will.

Only in the book of Revelation is Satan referred to as a dragon.

Before that, he's called, among other things, think of a few of them,

you could probably say them out loud, a serpent, right? And so that was in Genesis

3 and 2 Corinthians 11, 3 also.

A dragon is a far more terrifying symbol, I would think, right?

And so in the Old Testament, the same Hebrew word translated dragon,

you can look back in Isaiah 27, verse 1, and Isaiah 51, verse 9,

Isaiah 27:1 Isaiah 51:9

is also translated monster or sea monster.

And in Genesis chapter 1, in Job 7, et cetera, in the Old Testament.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

But it pictures a large, ferocious, terrifying animal, so to speak.

It read, the color of fiery destruction, the color of bloodshed, right?

It further stresses Satan's vicious, deadly, destructive nature.

And so in the words of Jesus, John 8, 44, you might remember this passage quite

vividly. Jesus said he was a murderer from the beginning.

And so the Hebrew word again for serpent used in Genesis 3.1 is used interchangeably

in some texts with the Hebrew word for dragon.

And so the animal Satan used in the Garden of Eden was a reptile, right?

But one yet not cast down to its belly, so to speak, at the time of Genesis 3.14.

So likely it was more upright, a dragon standing up on two legs,

so to speak, cursed to walk on four legs close to the ground,

those type things, or slither like a snake, right?

Slither like a snake. So red is a fitting color for the dragon here.

And since he attacks who? He attacks both the woman and who else?

Her child, right? Ezekiel 29, verses 1-5, which really describes Pharaoh as

Ezekiel 29:1–5

the enemy, if you remember, of God.

And it captures this essence of this frightening imagery, I think,

used to describe Satan. So let's take a look at that really quick.

It says, In the tenth year, in the tenth month, and the twelfth of the month,

the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh,

king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

Speak and say, thus says the Lord God.

Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great monster that lies

in the midst of his rivers, that has said, my now is mine, and I myself have made it.

I shall put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your rivers cling to your

scales, and I shall bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,

and all the fish of your rivers will cling to your scales.

I shall abandon you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers.

You will fall on the open field. You will not be brought together or gathered.

I have given you for food to the beast of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

Man, what a passage, right? I mean, the dragon is further described as having

what in this passage? How many heads?

Seven heads. How many horns?

Ten horns. And on his head were seven diadems.

And he's depicted as a seven-headed monster that rules the world.

Satan has been allowed by God to rule the world since the fall and will continue

to do so here until the seventh trumpet sounds, which we just passed,

right, in chapter 11, verse 15.

The seven heads, think about this for a moment tonight,

the seven heads with their seven diadems, those royal crowns symbolizing power

and authority, represent seven consecutive world empires running their course

under Satan's dominion.

And if we sit back tonight and we think about these and we look at scripture,

we've got Egypt, we've got Assyria, we've got Babylon, we've got Medo-Persia,

we have Greece, we have Rome, and Antichrist's future empire.

It talks about, as we'll see down the road a little bit in chapter 17, verses 9 and 10.

So the final kingdom ruled by Antichrist will be a ten-nation confederacy.

And the ten horns represent the

kings who will rule under antichrist now this is referred to back in prophecy

we'll want just a little bit i mentioned chapter 17 we'll see that verse 12

and 13 we'll see it as well the next chapter but also daniel chapter 7 verses

Daniel 7:23–25

23 through 25 refer to this as well.

So the shifting of the diadems from the dragon's heads to the beast horns in

chapter 13, verse 1, which we're getting to.

It also reveals the shift in power from the seven consecutive world empowers

that we just talked about to the 10 kings that are under the final antichrist.

And so Satan's pervasive evil influence is not limited to the human realm, right?

But extended first into where? The angelic realm.

And if we stop and we think about this and this vision that John has,

it's very picturesque language of John's, the dragon's tail,

what does it say in this passage, swept away how many of the stars of heaven?

A third and threw them to the earth.

And that references to the dragon's angels in verses 7 and 9.

It indicates that the stars of heaven here it's talking about are angels.

Now, how many of the angels fell with Satan?

Okay. And so when you look at this, and when we even look at the way that it's

structured in the language here, this genitive case, it offers further support

for that interpretation, by the way.

These are stars belonging to heaven.

That is their proper abode. Angels are depicted symbolically as stars elsewhere in Scripture as well.

We saw that back, excuse me, in chapter 9, verse 1.

If you look in Job chapter 38, verse 7-ish in that area, you'll see that as well.

Job 38:7

So when Satan fell, in fact, you can read about this in the Old Testament in

Isaiah 14, verses 12 through 15. You can read about it in Ezekiel chapter 28, verses 12 through 17.

Isaiah 14:12–15 Ezekiel 28:12–17

He swept away, as Brother Thomas just mentioned to us again,

a third of the angelic host with him.

And along with their defeated leader, those evil angels were cast from heaven to where?

The earth, the earth.

And it should be noted that although he was cast from his dwelling in heaven,

Satan in this present age has access to God's presence.

And we'll see that in chapter, verse 10 here of the same chapter in Job chapter

one, chapter two, that ought to, you remember the book of Job, go back there.

And we even talked a little bit about this on our discussion here that we will

have here in chapter 12 with this.

We'll talk about it some more, but he's going to be permanently barred from

heaven after his defeat by Michael and the holy angels during the tribulation.

And so the number of angels who joined Satan in his rebellion,

it's not revealed as far as a number. We see the third, but what is a third, right?

But it is a vast number. And Revelation 5, verse 11, if you remember,

Revelation 5:11

says that the number of the angels around God's throne numbered myriads of myriads

and thousands of thousands.

So we're talking big numbers. and Myriad does not represent an exact number

either, but it was the highest number that the Greeks expressed in a word.

And so since one third of the angels fell and chapter nine, verse 16,

I believe, reveals that 200 million demons will be released from captivity near the Euphrates River.

There must be at least 400 million holy angels.

Now we don't know that exactly, but I mean, we just try to put a little bit

together. We don't know the exact number.

But in other words, uncounted thousands of other demons will have already been

released from the abyss earlier in the tribulation.

And we've seen some of this back in chapter 9, verses 1 through 3.

But in addition to those two groups of bound demons that we've looked at,

there are millions of others who are currently free to roam where? Where are they at?

The earth, right, and the heavenly realm.

It talks about this in Ephesians 6, verse 12, Colossians 2, verse 15.

Ephesians 6:12 Colossians 2:15

They, along with evil men under his control, assist Satan in his unholy war against God.

And so adding that unrevealed number of these unbound demons to the calculations

that we gave you, just think about it for a minute.

That increases the numbers of both the holy angels and the demons, right? Both of them.

And so we're talking about, like I said, just almost an innumerable host, right?

And so, but the next event and this vision with it unfolded,

John noted in the scripture here that the dragon, what did he do?

He stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, you.

He might devour her child. Now, this is pretty hateful, right?

This is serious business.

And so throughout history, Satan has bent all of his efforts,

y'all, toward persecuting the people of God.

Satan is not your friend. He is our adversary. And so Abel, if you remember,

was a righteous, obedient man.

And Satan prompted Cain to what?

To kill him, right? And in his first epistle, John wrote this.

He said, Cain was of the evil one and slew his brother.

And for what reason did he slay him?

Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous.

That's what it says in 1 John 3, verse 12. So you think about this.

1 John 3:12

Satan sent demons.

Okay, he was seeking here. In fact, when it talks about, I mentioned 1 John

1 John 3:12

3, verse 12, seeking to produce a mongrel, if you will.

It's kind of like a half-human, half-demon, and thus unredeemable.

Do you get that? Unredeemable race of men.

Satan sent demons or called sons of God.

That same Hebrew phrase refers to angels in Job 1 and 2 and Psalm,

etc. But to cohabit with women, with human women, it talks about this in Genesis 6, verses 1-4.

Genesis 6:1–4

So Satan has always been at war. Satan's always been trying to tear down,

always been trying to devour and to crush and destroy everything against God, right?

Because they were the chosen people here, Israel, talking about through whom

the Messiah was to come and by whom the good news of forgiveness was to be proclaimed.

Satan reserved his special hatred for who?

Israel. Because remember, the woman represents Israel here. So he had a special hatred for Israel.

And after Joseph's death, the Israelites actually became slaves in Egypt, if you remember.

And in that place, the fates of both of the nation and of its human deliverer

hung by just a little thread.

Listen to this story here. I'm going to read some of this. It says,

now a new king arose over Egypt. I think it's important for us to hear this.

Who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, Behold, the people of the sons

of Israel are more and mightier than we.

Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shephra,

and the other was named Pua.

And he said, When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them

upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death.

But if it's a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God and

did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.

So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them,

why have you done this thing? And let the boys live.

And the midwives said to Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian

women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.

And so God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very mighty.

It came about because the midwives feared God that he established households for them.

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, Every son who is born you are

to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you're to keep alive.

And now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi,

and the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was beautiful,

she hid him for three months.

But when she could no longer hide him, she got him in a wicker basket and covered

it over with tar and pitch.

Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.

His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, and with her maidens

walking alongside the Nile, when she saw the basket among the reeds and sent

her maid, and she brought it to her.

When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying,

and she had pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call the nurse for

you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go ahead. So the girl went and called the child's mother.

Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child away and nurse him for

me, and I shall give you your wages.

So the woman took the child and nursed him. The child grew, and she brought

him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son, and she named him Moses and

said, because I drew him out of the water.

So that's in Exodus chapter 1, verses 8 and 9, and verse 15,

Exodus 1:8

and then chapter 2, verse 10.

But from a human perspective, think about this tonight.

Pharaoh here attempted to destroy

the Israelites because he believed them to be a threat to his power.

And so, but in reality, in reality, Pharaoh was an operative of who?

Saint, who sought to wipe out the people from whom the Messiah would come.

This has been all the way back in Genesis, y'all. This has been happening.

I mean, all the way back. And so it's also true to say that Satan was acting

within the purposes of God for Israel.

You remember we did a study a while back on the attributes of God,

and we talked about the sovereignty of God.

God even uses the choices that we make to accomplish his purposes, right?

And so God was sovereign over all this.

In fact, the courage here of the Hebrew midwives that we see in this passage

and God's sovereign protection of Moses, just think about it,

whom he would later use to do what for Israel?

Yeah, to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage actually thwarted Satan's schemes here. Wow.

You talk about God's sovereignty. During the period of the judges,

if you remember, Satan actually used Israel's pagan neighbors in an attempt to destroy them.

And yet God preserved his people through all of those assaults.

Just think back for a moment, raising up judges to rescue them from their oppressors,

all the way through the book of Judges.

And later, though, Satan tried to use Saul, if you remember, to murder who?

David, and thus eliminate the Messianic line.

That's in 1 Samuel 18. And so during the days of that divided kingdom,

the Messianic line twice dwindled, get this, twice, y'all, dwindled to one fragile child.

2 Chronicles 21, verse 17, chapter 22, verse 10 through 12.

2 Chronicles 21:17

But still later, still later,

Satan inspired Haman, if you remember, to undertake his genocidal mission against

the Jewish people and Esther. We read about that story.

But God, I want y'all to know this. Y'all probably already are thinking this,

but God used Esther to save her people from disaster.

And throughout their history, the devil just incited the Israelites to murder

their own children as sacrifices to idols.

Look at the Old Testament. I can't name every passage, but Leviticus 18,

2 Kings 16, 2 Chronicles 28, etc.

But having failed to wipe out the people of God.

And the Messianic line, Satan actually desperately attempted to murder the Messiah

himself before he could do his saving work.

It's amazing what's been going on, y'all. It's amazing when we look at the scriptures

and we see how God has been working all along and what's been happening.

But you remember that John saw that the dragon stood before the woman here who

was about to give birth, like we said, so that when she gave birth,

he might devour her child, which is Jesus Christ, right?

And Satan attacked Jesus as we go back first through Herod, right?

Who attempted to kill the baby Jesus.

Y'all remember this passage? I know an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until

I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.

And then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi,

he became very enraged and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem

and all of its vicinity from two years old and under,

according to the time which he had determined from the Magi.

So we got to look at this in perspective, church.

At the outset of our Lord's earthly ministry, Satan tempted him to mistrust God, did he not?

All the way back, Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

But the devil's efforts to get Jesus to abandon his mission didn't succeed, did they?

Satan tried to use the people of Nazareth to kill Jesus even. Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Go back and read that passage, verse 28 through 30. But their enraged attempt

to throw him down the cliff, it talks about in verse 29 of that passage,

ended in failure when he just calmly, the scripture said, what does it say?

He passed through their midst and went his way.

I mean, that was in verse 30. I mean, talk about that. That's the ultimate hallelujah.

I mean, you know what I'm saying? I mean, he just, we're just,

we're not told how the world this happened. I mean, you've got this mob of people

coming to kill you, and you're right there in the middle of them,

and all of a sudden, you're just as calm.

Jesus is just as calm, and he just passes through. How did he get through?

He's God. That's all I can say. You know, God Almighty took him through.

And the reason for that, we see this, that as he went his way,

that Satan's other attempts to cut short Jesus' earthly ministry also ended

in failure, hallelujah, because why did they end in failure?

I mean, if Jesus came to die after all, I mean, why did they end in failure?

Well, John 7, verse 30 and 8, verse 20 tells us, because his hour had not yet come.

John 7:30

See, God had a plan. God had a mission here.

Jesus had a mission. And even the devil's seeming victory at the cross,

church, was in reality his ultimate defeat.

His ultimate defeat. If Satan had realized what God's plan was,

I mean, he would have done everything in his power to have gotten Jesus down off that cross.

But he thought it was his greatest victory, right?

But can you imagine? But then God's accomplishing his greatest plan of all.

And so he's defeated. He is utterly defeated at the cross.

And I am so, so grateful for that.