The woman, the dragon, and the man child: the dragon

Study:

"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. ... and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." Revelation 12:3-5

Revelation 12 & 13 have their foundation in Daniel 7. This will be most obvious when we study the sea beast of Revelation 13. According to Daniel 7, a beast is a line of kings, a dynasty or a kingdom.

"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." Daniel 7:17

"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Daniel 7:23

Recall that the man child is Christ and the pregnancy and birth are His crucifixion and resurrection. What kingdom was around Christ both at his crucifixion and His resurrection?

"When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor." Matthew 27:1,2

"And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified." Mark 15:15

"And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And ... he delivered Jesus to their will." Luke 23:24,25

"When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. ... Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away." John 19:13-16

"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him." Matthew 27:27-30

"And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." John 19:19,20

"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did." John 19:23,24

"And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself." Luke 23:36,37

"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; ... Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God." Matthew 27:50-54

"The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ... But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." John 19:31-34

Christ was judged and condemned to death by a Roman governor, Pontius Pilate; mocked, spat upon, and smote by a band of Roman soldiers; crowned with a Roman made crown of thorns; crucified on a Roman made cross; had a Roman made title, written in three languages, one being Rome's language, Latin, placed upon His cross; had His clothing divided amongst and lots cast for by Roman soldiers; was mocked further by Roman soldiers while on the cross; had His death "convert" a Roman centurion and his soldiers, and cause them to declare Christ to have been the Son of God; and had His side pierced by a Roman spear. This all defining the judgment and crucifixion of Christ, that is, when "the woman ... was ready to be delivered."

"Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."  Matthew 27:62-28:1-4

Lastly, Christ's tomb had a Roman watch set around it and was sealed with a Roman seal when He rose from the dead, that is, when "the woman brought forth the man child."

In summary, these verses make it clear that the kingdom symbolized by the dragon is Rome, for it was this kingdom that judged, condemned, and crucified Christ as well as guarded His tomb when He rose from the dead early Sunday morning.

Note: Because the dragon is also the devil, according to Revelation 12:9, this means he was at the tomb at Christ's resurrection. It says "... the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." Did the devil really believe he could stop the resurrection of Christ, his own Creator... very God? Apparently! That shows you how insane sin makes you!

To be continued...

Related YouTube videos: