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Revelation 12
9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he 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.
The great dragon was thrown down/cast out
Previously we talked some about this dragon where we mostly examined the implications of the color red when it was first introduced into this scene. Now I want to take more time to follow the thread of this idea of a dragon which is the symbol of the chief rival of the Lamb and the sworn enemy of God and all that He is and does. This symbol is very significant, but we need to understand why it is so.
She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth. Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. (Revelation 12:2-3)
There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. They didn't prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven. (Revelation 12:7-8)
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (Revelation 13:1-2)
They worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Revelation 13:4)
I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)
We see a beast up out of the sea, resonating with Leviathan. Now another beast comes up out of the earth. This version of power mimics the appearance of the true hero of Revelation, but subverting it subtly in order to deceive all who dwell on the earth. This resonates with Behemoth.
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, something like frogs; (Revelation 16:13)
He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:3)
The angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present. (Revelation 17:7-8)
The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox. Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly. He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are like tubes of brass. His limbs are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword. Surely the mountains produce food for him, where all the animals of the field play. He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the marsh. The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him. Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn't tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth. Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare? (Job 40:15-24)
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook? Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you? Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants?
Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears? Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more. Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won't one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
"I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall come within his jaws? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another. They stick together, so that they can't be pulled apart. His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath kindles coals. A flame goes forth from his mouth. There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him. The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can't be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone.
When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing. If one attacks him with the sword, it can't prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. He counts iron as straw; and brass as rotten wood. The arrow can't make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him. Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride." (Job 41:1-34)
In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. (Isaiah 27:1)
Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, 'My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.' (Ezekiel 29:3)
Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)
Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land. (Jonah 2:10)
Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40)
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. But he answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' In the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the times! An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah." He left them, and departed. (Matthew 16:1-4)
When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet. For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11:29-32)
was thrown down/cast out
This is mentioned twice in this verse, so we will postpone exploring this until after finishing the extensive ID's listed here regarding the dragon..
the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world
He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, (Revelation 20:2)
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" (Genesis 3:1)
The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)
Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Yahweh God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. On your belly shall you go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:13-14)
Don't rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent. (Isaiah 14:29)
So far we see how this ancient serpent was the liar about God and instigated the fall of humans. Also, there is speculation that this serpent in Eden was originally able to fly and appeared like flashes of fire. Some believe it was the most beautiful of all the creatures on earth and even possibly the most intelligent. This would parallel the description of Lucifer in heaven who turned into Satan.
The people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread. Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. The people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh, and against you; pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us. Moses prayed for the people. Yahweh said to Moses, Make you a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard: and it shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. (Numbers 21:5-8)
The Hebrew word translated here as fiery serpent literally means burning, fiery, specifically and symbolically a seraph; poisonous. It comes from a root word meaning to be on fire. This links back to the description of the original angel who once lived in the very fiery presence of God.
You were the anointed cherub who covers: and I set you, so that you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:14)
In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. (Isaiah 27:1)
But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
