As we continue to read the next verses in Revelation 12, we have something else appearing in heaven. This appearance has a very clear meaning that cannot be mistaken. Let us examine verse 3 for it tells us a lot about the enemy that we call Satan. This is the first time he is described in Revelation so we need to look at this very closely.

    “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads”.

    The word great here pertains to external form, size, or measure. Hence we can tell that this red dragon is very massive in size and form. Keep this in mind as we move forward with this study. The red stands for blood which indicates his murderous nature and this has been his nature from the beginning (John 8:44). Take a moment to think on how this dragon is described so far. He has a very massive form and he is ALL about murder in every part of his being. In other words, all it thinks on is how it can murder someone. How can any human make a deal with this creature? Yes, there will be some who will, but we will get to that soon. In addition, the color red is used in Isaiah 63:1 - 6 for God’s royal robes. Again, we see the dragon (Satan) imitating God. Remember that we were also told in Ezekiel 28:11 – 18 that he was also beautiful until iniquity was found in him. As Christians, we are told in Matthew 24:23 – 24 to be careful of “false Christs and false prophets,” because Satan and his demons have the ability to try to imitate God in order to destroy us. Yet we have many of our fellow Christians falling into their traps and some of us who see the danger, do nothing to stop or help these Christians out of the traps or to avoid the traps that Satan has set. We will have to answer for that!

    The dragon stands for cruelty and high and mighty independence. The concept means that it does not have to answer to any one or thing,so it can do what it wants, because all others are below it. Yes, humans are his play toys. Look at several locations in the Bible where dragon or Leviathan is used for us to get a full understanding of this creature (Ezekiel 29:1 – 7; Jeremiah 51:33 – 35; Job 41:1 – 34). The word dragon is used in Revelation for Satan so the picture of him is that he is cruel with haughty independence.

     Let us put great red dragon together and see what we get. He is a massive form that has a murderous nature with haughty and cruel independence; he is all about himself. Remember he wants to be God and will do all that he can to achieve that goal. All that stands in his way must be killed and that includes those who are telling the truth about him and can show it in the word of God. Therefore, he must remove the word and them that stand in the word. This is why he is after the sun-clad woman, because the truth comes into the world through her (Israel) as Jesus Christ.

    There is still much more in this verse that we need to understand. The next thing we read is that he has seven heads and ten horns. Let us first examine the seven heads. There is a belief that these seven heads stand for Rome due to the fact that Rome was built on seven hills: these are Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal. The ten horns are symbolic of the kingdom being divided into ten kingdoms. The seven heads and ten horns are described in Daniel 7, but in two different time frames.

    What are these time frames? The first time frame refers to the historical Roman governement that was actually divided into ten kingdoms. The second time frame of Rome shows a Rome in the future that will do battle with God and His Saints. We have been calling this second time frame by a different name, THE GREAT TRIBULATION. It is important to understand that this Dragon will be allowed to build his kingdom that imitates Rome. How do we know this? This understanding is based on the last part of the verse (Revelation 12:3) “…and seven crowns upon his heads.” The crowns represent seven forms of government. The Dragon will be in control of the whole earth.