Page 29 - The Divine Unfolding of God's Plan of Redemption

be totally unreliable, yet are we convinced of the fact that in all there can be found
sprinklings of truth. John tells us in Revelation 20:2 that just before the earthly
millennial reign of Christ he saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the

bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old
serpent, which is the devil and satan.” Satan thus becomes clearly associated in
Scripture with that sinister creature known as the dragon, in which he incarnated
himself to engage in conversation with the woman, our first mother. The identification

that John gives should be sufficient not only for Scripture but for every appearance of
the dragon in earthly lore and symbolism.

We have inquired from scholars of ancient Chinese literature whether there is any

record of anyone who ever saw a dragon or any explanation of the origin of this
symbol, and we have never received any satisfaction. Certainly in the land of China he
covers the earth. There is hardly a place of interest but that it is somehow connected
with the dragon. In Peking there is the nine-dragon wall, the seven-dragon shrine.

Everywhere one goes there are dragons galore. The throne of the old emperors is the
dragon throne, and emblazoned upon the flag of the Manchurian Ching dynasty was
the dragon. One can hardly buy an Oriental work of art that does not contain this
emblem somewhere.

It was in the guise of the dragon that Satan wrested the dominion of this world
from God‟s representatives. The sign of the dragon is of course the sign of Satan‟s
overlordship of this world. As a consequence of this conviction, many of God‟s people

in China have conceived a great loathing for the symbol and have felt impelled to
remove every vestige of it from their homes and household articles, even though it has
demanded the destruction of things otherwise beautiful. When the real meaning of the
dragon is brought to the native Christians, their accumulation of associations and the

background of heathenism reminds them that the dragon is always connected with
something that is evil. One of China‟s finest, most prominent and devout Christian
ladies told me that after hearing me speak of the origin of the dragon she went home
and removed a great set of egg-shell china from her china-cupboard (beautiful and

expensive as it was), and had her servant throw the whole down the side of the
mountain and smash it into pieces, because every piece had a dragon on it! “It is true,
what you said,” she went on; “why should we who own the lordship of Christ keep

among our possessions anything that testifies to the overlordship of this world by
Satan?”

We have frequently noticed how the sign of the dragon is associated with
idolatrous worship. Particularly do we find him in company with the Buddha. In the

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