We are told that, “a great red dragon
signifies all who are merely natural
and sensual from the love of self,
and yet have more or less knowledge
from the Word . . . and think to be
saved by knowledge alone apart from
life.” (Ibid. 714.1) In other words, the
dragon represents the spirit of being
caught up in shallow things because
of a love of self, even though we know
the truth that teaches us to look deeper.
And especially it represents that voice
telling us: “Don’t worry – don’t worry
about closing the gap between what
you know and how you live. The way
you treat the Word is just fine.” The
dragon particularly represents every excuse for doing evil in spite of the Word,
from the most formal and institutionalized excuses to the most simple and
pervasive.
This is the thing that makes the dragon so terribly powerful: the fact that
it offers us reasons for doing the opposite of what the Lord teaches us to do,
reasons that make everything okay. We are told that the doctrine of salvation
by faith alone appealed to people because it allowed them to “indulge the
appetites of [their hearts and bodies], without any fear of hell,” since the way
they lived had nothing to do with their salvation. (Apocalypse Revealed 539)
The falsities that the dragon proffers today appeal in just the same way:
they allow us to indulge ourselves without fear. “You can always work on having
a real marriage later. You have a whole lifetime to repent. Enjoy yourself now.”
“You’ve known so many spiritual victories. Suffer a minor defeat – just one
concession. Just one lie. You’ll still be fine.” Really, the falsities that the dragon
whispers to us will be very personal – perfectly suited to bend the truth in just
the way that is most convenient for us.
It’s easy to get the mistaken idea that the dragon is something that preys
on people’s intellects – on people who know a lot of truths. But we can choose
to twist the truth whether we know a lot or a little. The issue isn’t what we
know. It’s that in our hearts we say, “Yes, I know that . . . but what I want is more
important,” and we find an excuse. The dragon is about justifying and living a
life of evil, which is why it is that ember color.
We read: “The dragon is called fiery red because a fiery red color
symbolizes falsity arising from the evils attendant on lusts, which is a falsity of
hell.” (Apocalypse Revealed 537.4) In a word, the dragon is ultimately a picture
This is the thing that
makes the dragon so
terribly powerful: the
fact that it offers us
reasons for doing the
opposite of what the
Lord teaches us to do,
reasons that make
everything okay.
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