The Dragon is the name Revelation gives to Satan, the ancient serpent who deceives the whole world.
He is the great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, who seeks to devour the male child and to make war on the rest of the woman’s offspring.
He is thrown down from heaven, knows that his time is short, and is bound for a thousand years before his final defeat in the lake of fire.
The church overcomes him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
John sees a great red dragon in heaven, whose tail sweeps down a third of the stars. The dragon stands before the woman who is about to give birth, so that he might devour her child. The child is caught up to God and to His throne; the woman flees into the wilderness. War breaks out in heaven: Michael and his angels fight against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fight back, but they are defeated and thrown down to the earth. The loud voice in heaven declares that the accuser of the brothers has been thrown down, and that the saints have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. The dragon, thrown down to earth, pursues the woman and then goes off to make war on the rest of her offspring—those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. He gives his power and throne to the beast. After the thousand years he is released, deceives the nations, and is finally thrown into the lake of fire. The dragon is therefore Satan in his role as the ancient enemy, the deceiver, and the persecutor of the people of God—already defeated, yet still raging until his appointed end.
- The dragon is explicitly identified as the devil and Satan, the ancient serpent.
- He opposes the Messiah and makes war on those who hold the testimony of Jesus.
- He is thrown down from heaven; his accusation against the brothers is broken.
- The saints conquer him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
- His time is short; he rages because he knows his end is near.
- He works through the beast and the false prophet, yet remains a defeated foe.
- His final destiny is the lake of fire, where he will be tormented forever.
- Ancient Serpent – The same enemy who deceived Eve in the garden.
- Accuser of the Brothers – Thrown down so that he can no longer accuse the saints before God day and night.
- Persecutor – Makes war on the woman and on the rest of her offspring.
- Deceiver of the Whole World – Leads the nations astray until he is bound and finally destroyed.
- Empowerer of the Beast – Gives the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.
- Bound and Released – Bound for a thousand years, then released for a last deception.
- Final Judgment – Thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur with the beast and the false prophet.
- Revelation 12:3-4 – “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.”
- Revelation 12:7-9 – “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
- Revelation 12:10-12 – “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short.’”
- Revelation 12:13, 17 – “And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child… Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
- Revelation 13:2, 4 – “And the beast that I saw was like a leopard… and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority… and they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast.”
- Revelation 16:13 – “And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.”
- Revelation 20:1-3 – “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.”
- Revelation 20:7-10 – “And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations… Gog and Magog… but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
- Genesis 3:1, 15 – “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made… I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
- Isaiah 27:1 – “In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.”
- Luke 10:18 – “And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’”
- John 12:31 – “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
- 1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
- Romans 16:20 – “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
- Matthew 25:41 – “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”
- 1 John 3:8 – “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
The dragon is the ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He sought to devour the child; the child was caught up to God. He was thrown down from heaven; the accuser of the brothers has been cast out. The saints conquer him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. He rages because his time is short. He gives his power to the beast, deceives the nations, and will be thrown into the lake of fire. Therefore do not fear the dragon. Hold the testimony of Jesus. Overcome by the blood of the Lamb. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The dragon’s end is certain, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.