Bible Word of the Day
Dragon (Serpent of Old, Satan the Great Dragon)
Meaning
The word dragon is used many times throughout the Old Testament and with several different meanings. However, for the sake of this discussion, we will only look at its usage as another name for Satan. Because of his wickedness and desire for the destruction of mankind, Satan is called the devil, the serpent of old (which is a reference back to Genesis chapter three) and the Great Dragon. And the Apostle Paul calls Satan the “prince of the power of the air, the ruler of this world.” Paul does so because during this church age until the return of Christ, Satan is the major influence behind the world philosophies, ideologies, false religions and social movements.
And this is why God calls Satan the “Great Dragon” because of his desire for the destruction of mankind. We have to remember Satan hates God, and because mankind is made in the image of God, Satan hates us as well. So his desire is to thwart God’s efforts of salvation. There is no battle between Satan and God. Satan has already lost the war. He knows where he will spend eternity. Therefore his only goal now is to convince as many people as possible to follow him into Hell. He does so by convincing society to deny God and reject the Bible. This is why God refers to Satan as the “Great Dragon” and the “Father of Lies.”
In addition, as we read through portions of the Old Testament and the New Testament book of Revelation, they speak of a time just before the return of Christ called the Tribulation period. This will be a time when Satan is once and for all forbidden access to Heaven. He and his demons will no longer have access to God to accuse mankind of their sins. This will signal to Satan that His time is short, and he will in turn unleash chaos and destruction, just before the return of Jesus.
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'” (Book of Genesis 3:1)
“So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this,he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.'” (Book of Genesis 4-15
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Book of Revelation 12:7-9)