Something concerning the dragon of Revelation 12 occurs in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus had dispatched the Seventy (70 disciples, including the 12 Apostles) two by two throughout Samaria, as he proceeded on his way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51; 10:1). Upon the return of the Seventy, they greeted Jesus with great joy, saying even the demons were subject to them in his name. Albeit, Jesus warned them not to rejoice over this but, rather, be glad that their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20). What is most interesting is that Jesus said he beheld Satan “having fallen from heaven, as lightening” (Luke 10:18). In other words, Jesus beheld the fall of Satan from heaven as an accomplished fact during his earthly ministry!

This event in the Gospel of Luke is retold in Revelation 12:7-11. The Gospel of Luke identifies the characters. Michael in Revelation 12:7 is Jesus! I’m not saying Jesus is an angelic being, but I am saying Michael is Jesus, so Michael is, therefore, God. Michael’s angels are Jesus’ disciples. So the events in heaven are played out upon the earth during the first century AD. Therefore, if Michael is Jesus, and Michael’s angels are Jesus’ disciples, who are Satan and his angels? To answer this we need to understand who it was that Jesus and his disciples fought. The Gospels reveal that Jesus’ enemies were the Jewish authorities—the scribes (rabbis), Pharisees and the Sadducees (which included the elders and priestly class). We could say in the context of Luke 10 unveiling Revelation 12:7-11 that the Jewish authorities were the angels who served Satan or the Enemy. Who then was Satan, the dragon?

If we say: “The constellation, Virgo, represents the righteous (the virgin) of Israel who gave birth to the Messiah, Jesus,”[1] who might the dragon be? Might it be unrighteous Israel? If the dragon sought to destroy the child, whom the woman (righteous Israel) brought forth (Revelation 12:4), and Herod the Great was the historical figure who actually sought to kill Jesus after he was born into Jewish society (Matthew 2:7-8, 12, 16), then Herod, can probably be considered one of the dragon’s heads, but, if this is so, who are the others?

The first thing that comes to mind is the seven heads of the dragon are probably the same as the seven heads of Daniel’s four beasts (Daniel 7). These were four gentile kingdoms who ruled the apostate Jewish state, and it is generally true that the “head” rules the “body!” If all this is logically true, then the identities of the heads may, in some degree, be subjective in our effort to understand the whole picture, but certain kings should stand out. For example, Nebuchadnezzar, the conquering king who ruled over and later destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple would almost necessarily be the first head of the dragon. Cyrus, king of Persia, and probably the second head, ruled Israel in captivity but also allowed her to return to her homeland.

The Grecian Empire, represented in Daniel’s leopard, had four heads. The first ruler of Greece, Alexander the Great, was probably the first head of Daniel’s leopard and third head of the dragon in the Apocalypse. Two of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy and Selecus Nicator and their kingdoms had much more influence upon Jerusalem than he had,[2] so the second and third heads of the leopard would come from their regal line, probably Ptolemy I and Antiochus Epiphanies. They would represent the fourth and fifth heads of the dragon. The final head of the leopard was probably someone who also was Hellenistic in his manner, someone like Herod the Great. So, Herod gets to be the dragon’s sixth head. Certainly Herod tried to kill Jesus just after he was born and this fits the context of Revelation 12 and also places the heads in perspective, as far as where they fit in the context of time.

The seventh heads of both Daniel’s fourth beast and the dragon of the Apocalypse are the same in both prophesies. The fourth beast of Daniel represented Rome, and Daniel’s beast would point to the dragon’s seventh head in Revelation 12. Caesar ruled over the rebellious Jewish state (the dragon), just as the head rules the body. Under Augustus the Jewish state became part of the Roman province of Syria, and this erupted into a war between Rome and the Jewish zealots of that day. The Jewish governing body, the Sanhedrin lost its authority to administer capital punishment, and that authority was transferred to the Roman procurators, which Caesar appointed. So, Caesar gets to be the seventh head of the dragon:

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[1] Quoted from an earlier study: The Woman Who Brought Forth the Child

[2] Although most Biblical scholars believe Alexander’s four generals who inherited his empire are represented in the four heads of the leopard in Daniel 7, probably, only two of those generals actually fit the context of the dragon of Revelation 12.