Sign of the Dragon

Prayer – Lord, please give me wisdom and understanding about this sign of the dragon. The symbolism in Revelation is sometime difficult to discern…and this baby that is born? Is that the “first born”—Your faithful followers? 

An ancient serpent...turned to stone.
The great deceiver.

Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. ... Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. Revelation 12:3-4, 7-9

 

Meditate.

 

Evil will not prevail ultimately, but as Satan and his demons are loosed on earth…it will be bad. Evil will be rampant. Destruction is Satan’s goal and he is mad! He wanted to be God and rule over heaven and earth. That is not going to happen. In this passage we learn that He just lost a spiritual battle in heaven with the Archangel Michael and the good angels. He was tossed out of heaven and note that it says he was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. I’ve underlined “all” for emphasis. All Satan’s angels…not just part of them. Ugh! Thrown down to earth—not into the pit or the Lake of Fire—that will happen later. For now, people on earth will have to put up with him…or call on the Lord to help them. It will not be easy or pretty for them.

 

Right before the war in heaven the woman gives birth to a male child who is caught up to heaven.

She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. Revelation 12:5

That “male child” is made up of believers who received their immortal bodies in the seven days prior to being called up…caught up to God in heaven. It doesn’t say “the church…or the bride” just the male child which is assumed to be men and women who are faithful followers of Jesus Christ who will “rule all nations with an iron rod.” They will rule with Jesus as described in the letter to the Church Thyatira.

To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, to them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. Revelation 2:26-27 (Underlined for emphasis.)

Those letters to the churches are said to have been written to the 144,000 Jews to advise them in the last days—but we can use this correlation to understand about ruling with an iron rod, which is ruling with a severe, rigorous rule as indicated by the Blue Letter Bible on line Lexicon. It won’t be a Sheppard’s rod that is just used to defend the sheep and fight off wild animals, but one of a weapon of strength for a ruler. Jesus will give such a rod to those who are obedient to Him. Which end of the rod do you want to be on? Are you an obedient follower of Jesus? Beware of that dragon—but choose to follow Jesus now and forever. You'll be snatched up before Satan can devour you!

 

Verse of Salvation ~ After this, I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting, "Praise the LORD! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” Revelation 19:1

 

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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