Answer
In Revelation 12, the apostle John witnesses a terrible tribulation period before the second coming of Jesus Christ. His revelation includes a sweeping, down-through-the-ages look at the ongoing spiritual battle between Jesus, God’s people, and the devil. The vision features a pregnant woman who represents Israel. The woman gives birth to a child, Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah (verse 5; cf. Revelation 19:15; Psalm 2:9). He is the beacon of hope amid the tribulation and the story’s hero. Of course, there is also the antagonist, a dragon, who is explained beyond doubt as a metaphor for Satan: “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 12:9, NLT).
John describes the dragon: “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” (verses 3–4, NLT; see also Revelation 13:1; 17:3). This dragon resembles the “fourth beast” of Daniel’s vision which was “terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet” (Daniel 7:7, NLT). Daniel’s beast also had ten horns representing ten powerful earthly kings whom the dragon influenced to oppress God’s people (see Revelation 17:12).
Satan has long been God’s archenemy, the great adversary and the accuser of His people (Genesis 3:1–5; Ephesians 6:11–13; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:10). Scripture portrays Satan as a dragon because he is powerful, terrifying, and capable of causing much harm (1 John 5:19; 1 Peter 5:8). Interestingly, in Genesis, Satan appears as a serpent; by the book of Revelation, this serpent has grown into a monstrous dragon.
The dragon of Revelation 12 seeks vengeance against the church through persecution because he has been cast down from heaven (Revelation 12:9; cf. Isaiah 14:12–15) and will ultimately be defeated by Christ (John 14:30; Romans 8:1; 1 John 3:8; Colossians 1:13; 2:15). The dragon is eventually locked away for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1–3; cf. Job 7:12) and later released for final destruction (Revelation 20:7–10; Isaiah 27:1).
Bible scholars generally recognize Revelation 12 as an example of the literary “combat myth motif,” an ancient storytelling technique in which “the basic plot line describes a dragon . . . elevating itself above the ruling god or gods. The dragon achieves a temporary victory, which results in a period of chaos. However, the defeated god—or a promised deliverer—conquers the dragon and reasserts the sovereignty of the appropriate ruling people” (Barry, J. D., et al., Faithlife Study Bible, Lexham Press, 2016, notes on Revelation 12:1–18).
John would have drawn from stories familiar to his audience to describe his vision. For example, in Greek mythology, the account of the birth of Apollo has some parallels, including a pregnant mother (Leto), a great sea dragon (Python) intent on killing the unborn child, and a hero (Poseidon), who hides Leto on a secluded island until Apollos is born. Later, Apollo slays Python on Mount Parnassus.
A dragon is a reptilian, chaos-bringing creature commonly found in ancient mythology and iconography of the ancient Near East. In the Old Testament, the dragon is associated with pagan gods and the enemies of God’s people. In several passages, God defeats a symbolic sea-dragon called “Rahab” (see Psalm 89:10 and Isaiah 51:9; cf. Job 26:12–13 and Ezekiel 29:3). Our Lord is the true dragon-slayer.
Satan is indeed like a dragon with the power to perform supernatural feats (2 Thessalonians 2:9), tempt (Matthew 4:1; Ephesians 4:26–27; 1 Thessalonians 3:5), deceive (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 20:10), accuse (Job 1:8–11; Zechariah 3:1–2), destroy, and torment (2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Peter 5:8). But God’s power is greater (Romans 8:31; 2 Peter 1:3–4). If we are born-again, Satan has no hold over us (Hebrews 2:14–15). We who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have everything we need to live godly lives in Him (2 Peter 1:3–4). The Spirit of Christ in us is superior to any scheme of Satan (1 John 4:4). We have victory over the dragon through our faith in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:4).
