Topic 4 | Revelation 12:3, 4 introduces “a great, fiery red dragon” who hated the “male Child” and tried to kill him at birth. (You might remember this dragon from Study Guide 20.) Who was the dragon?

Answer:   The dragon represents Satan, who was cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:7–9) and who was working through the pagan Roman Empire at the time of Jesus’ birth. The ruler who tried to kill Jesus at birth was Herod, a king under pagan Rome. He killed all the male babies of Bethlehem, hoping that one of them would be Jesus (Matthew 2:16).