Dragons
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The Red Dragon is a form of the Biblical Satan, otherwise known as Lucifer, the former Seraphim that rebelled against the Creator and became evil in Christianity and Hebrew religions.

His alias, the Red Dragon, was described in the Bible to have seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail that knocks one-third of the stars out of the sky.

The Red Dragon is mentioned to have other names like the Serpent of Old and the Devil. It is said in the Bible that Satan will take the form of the Red Dragon and will along with the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the Beast, deceive most of Humanity. After that the Red Dragon will be set free upon the world in which he will rule alongside demons for three long years. After that God will cast the Red Dragon, demons, and other dammed evil souls into Lake of Fire, thus finally destroying the evil of Satan forever.

Analysis[]

The depiction of Satan as the Red Dragon was likely to symbolize him as the supernatural ruler of the Roman Empire, which Christianity was negatively affected by at that time of history. The image of the Red Dragon later heavily influenced cultural and religious perceptions in medieval Europe that dragons were generally of an evil nature.

The Red Dragon, which has been described as aquatic, as well as the Beast from the Sea that accompanies it in Revelation bears some similarities with the Leviathan from the Old Testament. According to one interpretation, this is shown when comparing Issiah 27:1 and Revelation 12:3 and 13:14: both texts symbolize the struggle of the Israelites to overcome their challenges which is represented as a woman in labor. In Issiah, the Biblical God slays the Leviathan in response to their qualms while in Revelation, God protects the women the Red Dragon seeks to devour, both texts involving the use of a sword by a heavenly figure to defeat their respective dragon foe. Although in neither case are the Israelite's challenges fully solved, God's victory over their enemies as well as giving protection (as in the latter case) gives hope to the Israelites. Thus, John, the writer of Revelation, is emphasizing that God is the source of salvation by invoking certain motifs from Issiah 27:1 and manifesting them in Revelation.[1]

Comparative Mythology[]

The passage of the Red Dragon and its battle against the heavens has been suggested to fall under the Chaoskampf trope in mythology where a hero or heroic deity fights a dragon or serpent representing chaos. Particular myths that are similar include the battle between the god Zeus and the dragon Typhon and the fight between the god Apollo and the serpent Python in Greek mythology, the latter having a Biblical connection with the Philippian slave girl encountered by Paul in the Book of Acts being said to be filled with a "Pythonic spirit".[2]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Maicol A. Cortes (2022) The Leviathan: The use of Issiah 27.1 in Revelation Logos Bible Study Program
  2. Sharon Beekman, Peter G. Bolt (2012) Silencing Satan: Handbook of Biblical Demonology WIPF and STOCK Publishers
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