Revelation Chapter 12
Verse 3 continued “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”
“The term dragon, according to the associations currently connected with it, is somewhat apt to mislead the reader, by recalling to his mind the fabulous dragons of the Dark Ages, equipped with wings and breathing fire. At the time this Divine description was given, the term dragon had no such meaning among either profane or sacred writers.
"The dragon of the Greeks," says Pausanias, "was only a large snake"; and the context shows that this is the very case here; for what in the third verse is called a "dragon," in the fourteenth is simply described as a "serpent." Likewise the word rendered "Red" Greek: pyrros Strong’s # 4450 properly means "Fiery"; so that the "Red Dragon" signifies the "Fiery Serpent" or "Serpent of Fire."
“In the mythology of the primitive world,” says Owen, “the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun.” “The original reason for the identification of the serpent with the sun appears to have been that, as the sun is the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual world, by giving mankind the knowledge of good and evil. This, of course, like all idolatry, is an absolute perversion of the truth; but it serves to identify the sun-god with Satan.” (“The Two Babylon’s”, Pages 137, 138)
“In Rome the two grand objects of worship were the "Eternal Fire," kept perpetually burning in the temple of Vesta, and the sacred Epidaurian Serpent…The Epidaurian snake, that the Romans worshipped along with the fire, was looked on as the divine representation of Aesculapius, the child of the Sun… Now, if this worship of the sacred serpent of the Sun, the great fire-god, was so universal in Rome, what symbol could more graphically portray the idolatrous power of Pagan Imperial Rome than the "Great Fiery Serpent"?
No doubt it was to set forth this very thing that the Imperial standard itself--the standard of the Pagan Emperor of Rome, as Pontifex Maximus, Head of the great system of fire-worship and serpent-worship--was a serpent elevated on a lofty pole, and so colored, as to exhibit it as a recognized symbol of fire-worship. (“The Two Babylon’s”, Page 144)
Verse 3 continued “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”
“The term dragon, according to the associations currently connected with it, is somewhat apt to mislead the reader, by recalling to his mind the fabulous dragons of the Dark Ages, equipped with wings and breathing fire. At the time this Divine description was given, the term dragon had no such meaning among either profane or sacred writers.
"The dragon of the Greeks," says Pausanias, "was only a large snake"; and the context shows that this is the very case here; for what in the third verse is called a "dragon," in the fourteenth is simply described as a "serpent." Likewise the word rendered "Red" Greek: pyrros Strong’s # 4450 properly means "Fiery"; so that the "Red Dragon" signifies the "Fiery Serpent" or "Serpent of Fire."
“In the mythology of the primitive world,” says Owen, “the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun.” “The original reason for the identification of the serpent with the sun appears to have been that, as the sun is the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual world, by giving mankind the knowledge of good and evil. This, of course, like all idolatry, is an absolute perversion of the truth; but it serves to identify the sun-god with Satan.” (“The Two Babylon’s”, Pages 137, 138)
“In Rome the two grand objects of worship were the "Eternal Fire," kept perpetually burning in the temple of Vesta, and the sacred Epidaurian Serpent…The Epidaurian snake, that the Romans worshipped along with the fire, was looked on as the divine representation of Aesculapius, the child of the Sun… Now, if this worship of the sacred serpent of the Sun, the great fire-god, was so universal in Rome, what symbol could more graphically portray the idolatrous power of Pagan Imperial Rome than the "Great Fiery Serpent"?
No doubt it was to set forth this very thing that the Imperial standard itself--the standard of the Pagan Emperor of Rome, as Pontifex Maximus, Head of the great system of fire-worship and serpent-worship--was a serpent elevated on a lofty pole, and so colored, as to exhibit it as a recognized symbol of fire-worship. (“The Two Babylon’s”, Page 144)
“Prior to the dragon in 102 B.C., the Roman consul Gaius Marius decreed that the eagle (or Aquila) would be the symbol of the Senate and People of Rome.
“The letters SPQR are the abbreviation of the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, which translates to ' The Senate and People of Rome '.”
The eagle symbolized strength, courage, farsightedness and immortality. It is considered to be the king of the air and the messenger of the highest Gods. Mythologically speaking, it is connected by the Greeks with the God Zeus, by the Romans with Jupiter, by the Germanic tribes with Odin and by Christians with God.” (Wikipedia, encyclopedia)
In the days of the republic “the eagle appeared on various inscriptions and coins and more famously on the standards carried into battle by the Roman legions. The eagle has always been the symbol of a warlike nation, so the enduring memory of Rome is of a conquering nation,” however later this ensign would eventually be accompanied by the dragon.
It is a rule in symbolic language that a symbol is never employed until it becomes familiar in the minds of the people. Now it is recorded in history that a dragon was employed by Pagan Rome itself as a symbol of its sovereignty; and not only so, but we learn from history the exact time when it first began to be so employed. Note the following from an eminent expositor:
"The general interpretation which refers this vision to Rome may receive confirmation from the fact that the dragon was at one time the Roman standard…Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. 10) thus describes this standard: 'The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat, and the wind blew through it; and it hissed as if in a rage, with its tail floating in several folds through the air.' …
“The letters SPQR are the abbreviation of the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, which translates to ' The Senate and People of Rome '.”
The eagle symbolized strength, courage, farsightedness and immortality. It is considered to be the king of the air and the messenger of the highest Gods. Mythologically speaking, it is connected by the Greeks with the God Zeus, by the Romans with Jupiter, by the Germanic tribes with Odin and by Christians with God.” (Wikipedia, encyclopedia)
In the days of the republic “the eagle appeared on various inscriptions and coins and more famously on the standards carried into battle by the Roman legions. The eagle has always been the symbol of a warlike nation, so the enduring memory of Rome is of a conquering nation,” however later this ensign would eventually be accompanied by the dragon.
It is a rule in symbolic language that a symbol is never employed until it becomes familiar in the minds of the people. Now it is recorded in history that a dragon was employed by Pagan Rome itself as a symbol of its sovereignty; and not only so, but we learn from history the exact time when it first began to be so employed. Note the following from an eminent expositor:
"The general interpretation which refers this vision to Rome may receive confirmation from the fact that the dragon was at one time the Roman standard…Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. 10) thus describes this standard: 'The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat, and the wind blew through it; and it hissed as if in a rage, with its tail floating in several folds through the air.' …
"The dragon was first used as an ensign near the close of the second century of the Christian era, and it was not until the third century that its use had become common, and the reference here, according to this fact, would be to that period of the Roman power when this had become a common standard, and when the applicability of this image would be readily understood. It is simply Rome that is referred to--Rome the great agent of accomplishing the purposes of Satan towards the Church. The eagle was the common Roman ensign in the time of the Republic and in the earlier periods of the empire, but in later periods the dragon became also a standard as common and as well-known as the eagle." Barnes, Albert.--Notes on Revelation, 19th century (Historical)
Continued with next post.
Continued with next post.
