The Great Dragon

The Great Dragon

Throughout the book of Revelation, one of the descriptions of Satan is as a dragon.  In each case, he is fierce and deadly and evil.  This is the opposite of our friendly Puff the Magic Dragon, of the old folk song by Peter, Paul and Mary.  This is a fire-breathing dragon with sharp teeth, sharp claws, and wicked intentions.

"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" Revelation 12:9.

The picture of a dragon hanging from the outside of an umbrella shop in Barcelona, Spain, features a fierce looking dragon, tail curled, body coiled, ready to pounce.  I imagine it being a real living, breathing creature -- something you would not want to meet up with in your worst nightmare.  This is something I would want to avoid at all costs.

So - why is it that so many people readily flirt with Satan and what he offers?   Some people laugh about Satan, considering references to such an entity as fairy tales, while others consider him almost like a "pal," out to help them have a good time.  Satan is the master of deception and can easily manipulate the minds of unbelievers (and even some Christians) into only seeing the sheep's clothing he has disguised himself with, or even as seeing him as an "angel of light."  Those people fail to discern the dragon hiding beneath the theatrical garb he uses.

Satan uses political correctness, open-mindedness, false religions, morality, and fun times as tools to bolster his cause and blind the eyes of the vast majority of humanity.  His whole goal is to keep unbelievers from realizing their need of a Savior and accepting the Lord's free gift of salvation.  If he loses an unbeliever to Christianity, then his tactics change and he works to dull their testimony and keep them from the path of victorious living through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Make no mistake, he is the absolute enemy of God -- and of those of us who belong to God our Father.  He is ever swinging that mighty tail and trying to knock us off our feet as we stand up for the Lord.  As strong as this great, evil dragon is, however, our God is far, far stronger.  Praise God, "Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world."

Here's a thought I had this week as I studied the Bible study, "Daniel," by Beth Moore.  We are studying about the Second Coming, the tribulation and the rapture.  We know that NO ONE knows the time that Jesus will return to earth except the Father Himself.  There are, however, signs that point to the nearness of this blessed event, and Satan is smart enough to read those signs. 

As I pondered all of this, I suddenly wondered, Could the rapture be the signal to Satan that the stopwatch on the seven-year tribulation has begun?  Otherwise, how would he know when to begin his big power play?  It's certainly an intriguing thought!  What do you think?

You can probably tell from my thoughts that I am a dispensational premillennialist, but whether this is what you believe, or not, no matter, if you're a born-again believer, we'll meet in the air sooner or later (:

I'd love to hear what you think about all of this.  I look forward to your comment!