“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world …”
(Rev 12:9, NKJV)
In which zoo or game park have you ever spotted a dragon? Never? You don’t say J
A dragon is an imagined animal, a creation which exists because your imagination can bring it to life. In fairy tales – where dragons often feature and are slayed by the hero – the dragon represents “the tenacious aspects of the father”, according to Joseph Campbell in his research about myths and fairy tales. The hero of the fairy tale needs to gain something which will complete his identity, and this is represented by the dragon who keeps something precious captive (often a sleeping beauty), and will not let go of it. Campbell then also mentions that the dragon is a self-generated monster, in other words a manifestation of your own fears.
Although there is currently an attempt to discredit the Bible as a mere collection of fairy tales, myths, fables and legends, we know that this is not in any way the case, even though it features many miracles, speaking animals, unlikely realities that clash with the laws of nature, people resembling fantasy characters and invisible forces. (Someone with a Spirit-filled imagination, like C.S Lewis, can use the possibilities that these elements engender in the Word within literature, with a clear allegorical worth and an unambiguous prophetic message.)
In John 4:23 Yeshua states that the New Covenant will be made manifest through believers who seek him “in spirit and in truth”. The root word in Greek for truth is reality. Strongs defines it as “not concealing”. Thayer provides a comprehensive definition, including, “that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit”. 1 John 5:20 states that “we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” In one sentence our capacity for knowing God through our understanding is reiterated three times! He stands apart from any imagination, inventions, unrealities, suppositions. If it is not real, it is not God.
And if that is the case, why does the Bible use fantastical language and symbols, like the dragon, to make a point?
The Bible’s description of Satan as the dragon is one of the most apt descriptions, especially in the Bible’s own definition of the dragon as a manifestation of the animal who “was, and is not” (Rev 17:8). Listen carefully – he was, but is not. He exists only if you let him. And once he is there, he, as Tom Chetwynd writes in his Dictionary of symbols “swallows the light of conscious life”. He consumes the truth, reality. False Evidence Appearing Real.
In his People of the Lie, the Christian psychologist M Scott Peck writes about the concept of mental health as “an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs”. Then he states that “Satan is utterly dedicated to opposing that process. In fact, the best definition I have for Satan is that it is a real spirit of unreality”. Undeniably so: a dragon.
- Sela: What imagined dragons are you at war with?
- Read: Ruth 1-4
- Examine how this has been fulfilled: Ruth as Bride and Boaz as Bridegroom.
- For a deeper understanding: Read C. S Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.
