A Great Red Dragon
An Untold Christmas Story: War In The Heavens!
A Great Red Dragon
Revelation 12:3-4
A favorite theme of Star Trek and others space programs is the idea that there are parallel worlds, or even parallel universes. This idea is not just the active imagination of screen writers, but it is actually taken from reality, a reality that we seldom hear about or consider. The reality that I am talking about is Christmas. Please hang with me for a little while!
We all know the Christmas story. It is depicted in a manger scene that involves the Christ-Child, Mary and Joseph, barnyard animals, and heavenly portents or omens. But, above this early scene—in another unseen world—is a parallel scene and story that we seldom hear about. Well, this Christmas, we want to tell the untold Christmas Story. It is the story of a parallel world, i.e. a parallel, spiritual world. There is the material world that we know, live in, and are familiar with, and there is the parallel, spiritual world that we seldom consider—because of our American mindsets.
The Christmas story is not just the story of the Christ-Child, Mary, Joseph, barnyard animals, and heavenly portents; it is also the story of angelic conflict in the parallel, spiritual world. It is a story of war in the heavens! A war that was being fought right above the manger in Bethlehem. The story of this warfare is related to us in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, verses 1-12.
Last week we began a short four-message series entitled: “An Untold Story: War In The Heavens!” In these four messages, we are wrestling with the parallel, spiritual universe and the warfare that was going on in the untold Christmas story.
In the first message of this series, we identified the first major character in this story: the pregnant woman who is in labor. There are quite a few thoughts concerning whom this woman might represent, but for this short series of messages, we have chosen to see this woman as Mary, the mother of Jesus.
(Today, we come to the second major character in this untold story of Christmas: a great red dragon. Would you turn with me to the book of The Revelation, chapter 12, verses 1-4? Let me read these verses aloud for us, as you follow along silently.)
We are centering our thoughts on this great red dragon in verses three through four.
Before we talk about this great red dragon, please notice the fact that this is another sign that closely follows and is probably inseparable from the first sign. Although there are other, possibly deeper ramifications of these signs, perhaps they simply represent another reality.
That is how we will deal with these signs, because neither time nor expedience inclines me to deal with them any further.
(Okay! Let’s run on to deal with this great red dragon.)
There are two Hebrew words translated “dragon.” The first one has to do with a mammal inhabiting the desert. That one is not used here, but the second Hebrew word. The second Hebrew word is variously translated as
1. a great sea monster;
2. a snake;
3. a crocodile which is used as a symbol of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon or the Egyptian Pharaoh; and
4. a mythological sea monster symbolic of the forces of chaos and evil in opposition to God’s creative and redemptive work. Leviathan and Rehab are used as parallel terms.
Here, in Revelation 12, the writer develops this fourth sense of that Hebrew word that is translated dragon… describing the dragon as a great, red monster with seven heads and ten horns. This dragon is clearly identified with Satan (the Devil) and later is termed the deceiver and the accuser of the saints (Holman Computer Bible Dictionary).
When you read through the Bible, it is not hard to discern the fact that the metaphor of a dragon represents Satan. This is seen over and over again in this enigmatic book of The Revelation. The symbol of the dragon implies gigantic power, craftiness, and malignity, i.e. intense hatred and the strong desire to harm others.
In Christian art, the dragon is usually a large winged crocodile (New Unger’s Bible Dictionary).
(The fact that this great red dragon is the devil is further corroborated by its description.)
If the woman in this narrative is Israel or Mary, i.e. the biological mother of Jesus, who is the protagonist or hero of this revelation, then the fact that the dragon is the antagonist or villain in this story—and against the woman and her child—would also indicate that the dragon is Satan.
Furthermore, the color of this dragon may also give us some clues as to it’s identity. It is red, and red is also used in other places in the imagery of The Revelation. “Elsewhere in Revelation the adjective… is used only of the red horse in 6:5 (n.b., i.e. note well, that the beast in 17:3 is described as …, “scarlet”).”[1] Also be aware of the fact that “Death sometimes appears as seven fiery red heads of dragons…, which symbolize the seven ages of the world (19:7).”[2]
(Okay, let’s get back to the dragon in the revelation before us.)
Now, this dragon has seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems or crowns on those seven heads. This description is unique and is not referred to again. The heads and crowns seem to refer to rulers. When compared to similar imagery in the book of Daniel, the dragon represents the kingdoms of this world under the dominion of Satan. The scholars in The Word Biblical Commentary state that other references to heads and crowns that are attributed to the beast in chapters 13 and 17 appear to be another beast. We could take a lot of time with this, but to simplify all of this, the eptithet “Dragon” is one of many designations of Satan in early Judaism.[3] It is little doubt that the dragon represents Satan himself. Furthermore, these scholars state that according to the grammar of the text, the omitting of this phrase has no material bearing upon the meaning the text surrounding it. So, we will not take any more time trying to figure out the imagery.
(Now we come to the action of the great red dragon, which really reveals some interesting perspectives.)
Like the woman, there are two significant statements made about the dragon: 1) His tail sweeps down a third of the stars; and 2) He casts the stars down to the earth. No one knows for sure what this stands for, but many believe it is a reference to an historical war in the heavens. Ezekiel 28:16 seems to indicate that the typological King of Tyre, who must also represent Satan, trafficked among the angels and fomented a rebellion. We believe that Lucifer was able to persuade one third of the angels of heaven to follow him.
Because of this rebellion, God cast Satan and these rebellious angels out of heaven and down to earth. Thus we have this imagery: “with his evil—but powerful—tail, he was able to sweep a third of the stars or angels of heaven from their lofty positions and cast them to the earth.”
Although people think there is a direct statement in the Bible concerning one third of the angels being cast out of heaven, there isn’t. This perspective may have been drawn from “the story of the descent of Satan and his angels to earth in the traditional story of the Watchers (1 Enoch 6–11). In 1 Enoch, stars can represent evil angels (18:14; 21:3–6; 86:1–3; 88:3).”[4] 1 Enoch is not a book that made it into the canon or standard books of protestant Bible.
What we are able to gleen from a survey of the Bible is that Satan was cast out of heaven, probably with a number of fallen angels. Angels, including Satan, was probably created on the first day of the week, as a part of the heavens. They apparently fell and were cast out of heaven, before Adam and Eve were created. We know that some of those angels were evidently so wicked that they are being reserved in chains and torment for that great and terrible day of the Lord.
These two statements, i.e. 1) his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and 2) threw them to the earth, reveal the evil power and the pernicious or aggressive nature of the dragon. He is aggressively evil and seeking to take as many with him to hell as possible.[5]
(Now, the great red dragon’s stance is particularly revealing with respect to our subject.)
The text states that the great red dragon stood before the woman, who was ready to give birth, for the distinct purpose of devouring the child when it was born. “In the next subunit, 12:4b–6, the perfect verb e{sthken, “he stood,” is used to foreground the dramatic confrontation between the dragon and the woman.”[6] The dragon takes a hostile stance before the woman who is about to give birth for the express purpose of devouring the child.[7] The perfect tense speaks of an event that was accomplished in the past with results existing in the present. So, the dragon stood before this woman in the past and that stance continues to have results in the present.
(I believe we can see in the grammar here a series of events.)
1. The great red dragon stood before Eve, in the Garden of Eden.
He stood before her, in the being of the serpent, to devour the seed that was in her womb. God prophesied in
Genesis 3:15 (NASB-U), “And I will put enmity Between you (i.e. the serpent) and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
So, from The Fall until now, Satan has been trying to destroy the seed and the biological line that would produce Jesus Christ, His ultimate Destroyer.
(The grammar may also refer back to another past event.)
2. The great red dragon stood before the woman Israel, while she was down in Egypt.
Pharaoh tried to destroy all the male babies of the Jews, two years of age and under, for the purpose of destroying the prophesied Deliverer, i.e. Moses, from being born. And Moses was a type of and in the line of Jesus Christ. The Bible states in
Acts 3:22 (NASB-U), “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.’”
Moses was prophesying the coming of the Greater Prophet, the Messiah, Jesus Christ!
(The grammar may also refer back to another past event.)
3. The great red dragon stood before the virgin Mary, while she was pregnant.
The great red dragon used Herod to destroy all of the male babies below a certain age, within Bethlehem and the near vicinity, in an attempt to destroy the prophesied Messiah, before He could be born.
Are you tracking with me? In each of these situations, although the battles manifested themselves on earth, the real confrontation seems to take place in heaven—particularly since that is the location of the two great signs that appeared.[8] While those involved in the earthly war were fighting for their lives and their destiny, there was another warfare going on in the heavens—over the Garden on Eden, over Egypt, and over Bethlehem and the surrounding vicinity!!!
So, the untold story of Christmas is the warfare that was going on right over the manger in Bethlehem!!!
(Are you with me? If you are, then you may be sensing that the pregnancy of the woman, the stance of the devil, and the warfare in heaven continues today.)
It is Christmas time again, not only on earth, but in the unseen world! We are about to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but the unseen world knows that the ultimate, final, and eternal Christmas is about to celebrated. There is a final Christmas coming that will approximate the very first one. We are coming to the end of this present age and we stand on the precipice of the dawning of the bright new age of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
As we approach the final Christmas, the Church, both the corporate and the individual Temples of the Holy Spirit are pregnant! We are pregnant with the seed of God! We are pregnant with the person of Jesus Christ! We are pregnant with expectations of spiritual birth! We are pregnant and showing our excitement about Christmas!
It’s Christmas time again and the devil has taken his stance to devour the child that we are about to give birth to. He wants to devour our expectancy. He wants to devour the potential of our seed! He wants to devour the life that is within us. He wants to devour the excitement of angels singing, heavenly portents, and the spirit of the season. He is waiting and planning to devour our joy, and he will use any means necessary, i.e. the holiday blues, grief, materialism, tiredness, etc.
Christmas represents and reminds us of the coming peace on earth and the tremendous potential of the promise that is wrapped up and bounded together with Jesus Christ. At the same time, we must also become aware of the fact that as Christmas reminds us of wonderful promises, it should also remind us the devil’s stance.
We must keep in mind that Christmas has left and renews a bad taste in Satan’s mouth. He took a stance at the first Christmas that is still active today. He hates Christmas and everything that it stands for! He also hates everyone who is connected to Christmas, which means that he hates us and seed of Christmas that is in us.
Satan’s first strategy is to keep you infertile, i.e. unable to receive any seed of life. Unable to receive spiritual seed, prophetic seed, relational seed, etc. Satan actively hates your birthing potential, particularly as it relates to Christmas. You have the potential to birth the miracle, mystery, and majesty of Christmas!!! So, he tries to block the spirit of Christmas from being conceived.
If satan can’t keep you infertile, he will try to get you to abort Christmas, either naturally or through outside influence! Through internal issues or external negativism, he will try to get you to miscarry the hope of Christmas and have it stillborn!!!
But, for some of us, it’s already too late. We are already pregnant, have been showing for some time, and labor pains are already evident. Consequently, satan takes a stance in front of us to devour the birth of Christmas, as soon as it is born!!! Satan wants to devour anything that comes forth from your blessed and sanctified womb. He wants to destroy the life that is birthed by you, through the power of the Holy Spirit. He attempted to destroy Moses. He attempted to destroy Jesus. And He is attempting to destroy the newborn seed Christmas with you, which is an expectation of the miraculous through the birth of Jesus Christ.
Please keep in mind that it is God who plants the seed of Christmas within you and protects you, until you are able to give birth. Therefore, the devil’s stance is actually a precursor or forerunner of war! God is not going to allow the devil to simply destroy the seed that He has put down inside of us. Satan will only succeed, if we cooperate with him. But, if we refuse to cooperate with Him, this signals war!!!
The fact that this warfare is also aimed at us is clearly seen in
Revevelation 12:17 (NASB-U), “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
The great red dragon is enraged and looking to make war with us, but Thank God that we are on the side of Jesus Christ, the Lord of Hosts, and Captain of the Armies of the Lord!!!
Christmas will be celebrated now, and one day forever!!!
(Now is the Day of Salvation! Come to Jesus, Now!)
Invitation
Call to Discipleship
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[1]Aune, D. E. 2002. Vol. 52B: Word Biblical Commentary : Revelation 6-16. Word Biblical Commentary . Word, Incorporated: Dallas
[2]Aune, D. E. 2002. Vol. 52B: Word Biblical Commentary : Revelation 6-16. Word Biblical Commentary . Word, Incorporated: Dallas
[3] Aune, David E., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52b: Revelation 6-16, (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.
1 Enoch Ethiopic, Slavonic, Hebrew Enoch
[4]Aune, D. E. 2002. Vol. 52B: Word Biblical Commentary : Revelation 6-16. Word Biblical Commentary . Word, Incorporated: Dallas
[5] Aune, David E., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52b: Revelation 6-16, (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.
[6] Aune, David E., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52b: Revelation 6-16, (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.
[7] Aune, David E., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52b: Revelation 6-16, (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.
[8]Aune, D. E. 2002. Vol. 52B: Word Biblical Commentary : Revelation 6-16. Word Biblical Commentary . Word, Incorporated: Dallas