Search the encyclopedia

Search the Bible

1000 articles found for “The dragon”

• Bel and the Dragon

  Bel and the Dragon is a story in which Daniel exposes the true nature of Bel, an idol of Babylon, and of a dragon that was worshiped there. It has been transmitted as an addition to the Greek Book of Daniel. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include it as Daniel 14, while Protestants classify it among the Apocrypha.

• Beast (Book of Revelation)

  In the Book of Revelation, the beast is a figure that receives authority from the dragon (Satan) and symbolizes the powers that oppose God and His saints. The best-known forms are the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth, and interpreters remain divided over their identity.

• Michael

  Michael is an angel named in the Bible. In the book of Daniel he appears as the "great prince" who protects the people of Israel, in Jude as "the archangel," and in Revelation as the angel who fights the dragon.

• Revelation 13:1–10

  In this passage John sees in a vision a "beast rising up out of the sea" that receives authority from the dragon, blasphemes God, and persecutes the saints. Interpreters differ widely on the beast's identity, and the passage is frequently cited in discussions of eschatology.

• Revelation 20:1–3

  John's vision in which an angel seizes the dragon, that is, Satan, and shuts him in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Because it is the first passage in the Bible to mention the "thousand years," it is the central text in debates over the interpretation of the millennium.

• Revelation 13

  Revelation 13 contains the vision of two beasts that receive authority from the dragon: the beast that rises out of the sea and the beast that comes up out of the earth. The chapter introduces the mark of the beast and the number 666.

• Revelation 12:9

  In the vision of war in heaven in Revelation 12, the great dragon is cast down to the earth and identified as "that old serpent," the Devil, and Satan. The verse is frequently cited in discussions of the Devil's identity and origin and of when Satan was cast out.

• Revelation 12

  Revelation 12 contains the vision of a woman clothed with the sun who gives birth to a son, a great red dragon who seeks to harm the child and the woman, and a war in heaven between Michael and the dragon, in which the dragon is cast down to the earth.

• Revelation 20:4–6

  A passage describing how the martyrs and those who had not worshiped the beast "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." It is the only text in Scripture that directly mentions the millennium, and it stands at the center of the eschatological debate among premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism.

• Revelation 20

  Revelation 20 depicts Satan bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years while the saints reign with Christ, followed by Satan's final rebellion and defeat and the Last Judgment before the great white throne.

• Armageddon

  Armageddon is a place name that appears only once in Scripture, in Revelation 16:16. It is described as the place where the kings opposed to God gather in the last days for "the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

• Parable of the Net

  The Parable of the Net is a parable in Matthew 13:47-50 in which Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a net that gathers fish of every kind. It teaches about judgment, declaring that at the end of the world the angels will separate the wicked from among the just.

• Dagon

  Dagon is the name of a god worshiped by the Philistines in the Old Testament. He appears in the story of Samson and in the account of the Ark of the Covenant being placed in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod.

• Samson

  Samson was a judge of Israel in the Old Testament book of Judges. Born a Nazarite, he fought against the Philistines. Renowned for his great strength, he was captured after revealing his secret to Delilah, and he died when he brought down the temple of Dagon.

• Ashdod

  Ashdod was one of the five Philistine cities on the Mediterranean coastal plain. It is known as the site of the temple of Dagon to which the ark of the covenant was carried in 1 Samuel 5, and it appears in the New Testament under the name Azotus.

• Judges 16

  Judges 16 recounts how Samson carried off the gates of Gaza, revealed the secret of his strength to Delilah and was captured by the Philistines, and finally brought down the temple of Dagon, dying in its collapse.

• 1 Samuel 5

  1 Samuel 5 recounts how the ark of God (the Ark of the Covenant), captured by the Philistines, was moved to Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. During this time the image of Dagon fell before it, and each city was struck with a plague of tumors.

• Beth-dagon

  Beth-dagon, meaning "house (temple) of Dagon," is an Old Testament place name. It appears twice in the book of Joshua: once as a town of the tribe of Judah and once as a point on the border of the tribe of Asher.

• Acts of the Apostles

  The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament. It records how, after the ascension of Jesus Christ and with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the church began in Jerusalem and spread as far as Rome.

• The Sabbath and the Lord's Day

  A discussion of whether Christians should observe the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath or the first-day (Sunday) Lord's Day, and whether the Lord's Day should be kept in the manner of the Old Testament Sabbath.