Observations on the Dragon

"The dragon can symbolize 

(1) Satan (Rev. 12:7-9), 

(2) pagan Rome (Rev. 12:4), or 

(3) papal Rome (Rev. 12:14). 

 

This is true again in Rev. 13: 

In verse one, the dragon is pagan Rome, because the beast described

is clearly papal Rome. We are told that “the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority,” and we know that pagan Rome gave papal Rome its seat and its authority, including religious titles once conferred on the emperors (e.g., Pontifex Maximus) now conferred on the popes. 

 

But, in verse four, people are said to be worshiping the dragon, and it seems likely that people are not worshiping pagan Rome but Satan himself, because Satan, though cloaked in a hundred different names of diverse idols and gods, is the hidden god at the center of all pagan, anti-Christian religions. 

 

The beast had the ten horns, which we know signifies pagan Rome, but this beast also has characteristics of the Leopard (Greece), the Bear (Medo-Persia) and the Lion (Babylon). 

This means that papal Rome, the Roman Catholic Church, had incorporated beliefs and doctrines that stemmed from Rome, Greece, Medo-Persia, and Babylon." 

David Read/Fulcrum7