WHY the DRAGON symbolizes SATAN | Revelation 13 | Lesson 28

Revelation 13, explained in an expository way, from the Hebrew perspective. This episode, by Tom Bradford, breaks down plenty of details about the symbology of the Book of Revelation, chapter 13, and why does John the Prophet use it to explicate its vision in detail.
Join us in this Bible Study of Revelation 13.

[@aishafausett6316]

Thank you for your teaching, I really enjoy them pastor Tom.

[@DavidFardenJr]

Shabbat Shalom Tom and thanks for the teaching.

[@dianeitani8368]

That was really great! Thank you! God Bless you 🙏 ❤️

[@cullygrll6588]

I loved everything you taught. I personally have studied (to the best of my ability, praying and knowing the Holy Spirit within, the accuracy of the rapture). I truthfully can’t understand someone that speaks as wise as you appear to, not including it in this discussion. There is no excuse for this.

[@aracelisabele4173]

Thank you LORD FOR your Great GLORY Amen 😇🙏🙏 in Jesus Christ our Beloved savior Tru The intervention of Our Beloved Mother Mary Glory to the father The Son and the Holy SPIRIT 🙏😇❣️🙏🙏❤❤❤🎉

[@aracelisabele4173]

May God always watch over us protect us and guide us to the path of righteousness always.❤❤❤🎉

[@portlandpatriot7784]

I'm a formidable man, pray constantly, study, serve. I'm close enough to Jesus to realize that Im hopelessly disgracefully, wretched, a worm of a man that needs salvation. I'm praying The Father pours out His spirit on all of his saints, to give us the courage like our early 1st century brothers and sisters, to face the lions of our day. I'm very vocal with the little microphone that I have. There's enough evidence to convict me for following Christ. I think about others, around the world, suffering for Jesus. Imprisoned, cast aside, killed and tortured for their faith right now.

[@alphanumeric1529]

Consider that there are more (secret) Christians in China than there are Americans in America. But think on this latter day fact about the faith of the saints in this time, the time of the ending, and I think you should remember this, as it is relatively close to your geography: Do you remember the Umpqua Community College shooting... what 5, 6 years ago (more? I'm losing track of time)? Some loser shooter, after posting about it the day before online, and being encouraged by the young white nihilists who populate that forum, to get the "high score," the most kills in a shooting rampage, stormed the campus of the Umpqua Community College. Remember that? Well, I used to follow current affairs, before or as they were breaking back then, and I saw students immediately after the police secured the scene, being interviewed one by one, from the classroom where the loser shooter held up in the end, holding the class hostage. The media later denied these reports, and memory holed the interviews of many of these students. But the shooter had everybody sit on the floor, and one by one, he'd call them to him. He'd ask them if Jesus was God. If the student replied, "No," the shooter would shoot them in the leg. If the person replied, "Yes," that Jesus was a real person, but was also God in the flesh, the shooter would shoot that person in the head, ki11ing them. And know this as FACT, several students affirmed their faith in the very real Jesus and were executed for their faith. Consider this, the pattern emerged quickly in the minds of the captive students. If you denied Jesus, you'd live, with only a flesh wound. If you affirmed Jesus, you'd be sh0t in the head, ki11ed. And many students continued to affirm their faith in Jesus, and were executed for their faith. This FACT is hidden, denied, but is FACT, as I watched for myself, and heard the words of the students from that class, from those in the room as this loser shooter played out his deadly drama, and they each stated that the shooter was killing the Christians, and letting others go. And consider this FACT. Peter, the disciple, the apostle, a man intimate with Jesus' ministry, a man who personally witnessed Jesus perform miracle after miracle, even bringing the dead back to life, denied Jesus three times, out of fear for his own life. Yet, 2,000 years later, these young people, in a community college in Umpqua Oregon, stood FIRM IN THEIR FAITH, and accepted the penalty and REWARD for their FAITH. In this day and age. The faith of many is strong, even unto DEATH. Be heartened by this. The "media" which is more than just tv news stations now, but the media, the social media, every organ of information distribution, and popular art, aka music, tv and film, is working to diminish the truth of the Faith of the Saints in this Day. But the faithful are out there. They may not be filling every church, in every town and city in the US, but there are some in most churches in the US who have faith, even unto death, in the loving and just YHWH, and His Son, Jesus. So take faith. I think there are more truly faithful now living than in the time of Christ, and the time of the Apostles, and the time of the Early Church Fathers. This itself, is a miracle to me, and heartens my spirit as I personally enter my tribulation, and we, all of humanity, are likely to soon enter The Tribulation.

[@MrsJeann1]

May we ask for study ...I always wonder is the meaning of the 10 virgins with oil parabole. Can we ask for a study on that or if it exists already where can I find the teaching.

[@bertlorenz4252]

What are your thoughts about the ten toes from Daniel 2 being represented by the ten provinces from former Yugoslavia.

[@kingdavid-zh9dd]

It's the TEN TRIBES OF EDOM

[@mariakarayan9997]

Hi and thanks. I am Greek. The word translated beast actually means strong one or powerful one. It refers to the gods/elohim. The string ones are 4 elemental beings. God of earth, water, fire and Air. Each powerful or strong one given station have their own leaders, kings crowned to have office as leaders over countries. The powerful entities control parts of earth as enoch states. The dragon is a god of fire and metallurgy as metals are heat conductors.the metallurgy dictates as machines and metals rule. The gd of the air is coming in the clouds. The word kirios should be translated as master to describe ownership. The image set up by the strong one is televisual imagery displayed on screens via phones, tv, computers all made of metals and heat conductors heat u the global warming occurs. The image is worshipped via addictions and dependence on metal object which display imagery denotes worship of the image the strong one has set up and the power is given by the dragon fire god. Read book of enoch and sunerian stories are the source of genesis. Much of it is borrowed. Update your research.

[@MrsJeann1]

Wow ..

[@ChiliMcFly1]

28 Nations because the beast grew teeth and claws.

[@jnel2879]

What is the relationship, if any, between the beast from the sea and the woman of Rev 17 and between the beast from the earth and the beast from the bottomless pit of Rev 17?

[@mytwocents777]

The woman sitting on the scarlet-colored beast in Revelation 17 is an illustration of the composite two-fold nature of the First Beast which is the key to its worldly power: The union of the Church and the State: specifically, the Roman Catholic Church (the woman symbolizing the church) controlling the secular political powers (symbolized in this dual context by the beast alone) through ecclesiastic coercion to persecute and kill those Christians who refuse to bow down to its authority. It is a religious power which becomes a religio-political power. The king of the locust-beings from the abyss is Apollyon (Apollo), the destroyer, the Sun god of Greco-Roman religion, also known as Helios, Sol Invictus and Mithra. Revelation reveals a connection between this entity and the First Beast, as the latter is also said to ascend from the abyss. Therefore the spirit of the First Beast / Antichrist is associated with Sun worship. Apollo is the son of Zeus/Jupiter which symbolized Satan. Constantine, the first Holy Roman Emperor, while still a pagan, instituted Sunday as a day of rest in 321 AD for the citizens of Rome, in order to appease both the newly legalized Christians as well as the pagan citizens of the empire by setting apart that day on which the pagans normally worshipped the Sun god. The tradition was ratified soon after by the Bishops of Rome as a church doctrine, at which time they also declared resting on the Biblical Sabbath as grounds for excommunication (and, thus, damnation, according to their beliefs). The Second Beast, from the earth, also called the False Prophet, is a political power which becomes a politico-religious power. It, at first, presents what seems to be a mirror image of the First Beast, both in a physical and ideological sense, with many points of striking resemblance but professedly contrasting aims, which ultimately reflects worship of world citizens back to the First Beast. We can see the clear resemblance in, for example, the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. to the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the use of the Roman eagle of Zeus as its mascot, the likeness of a female Apollo/Mithra (i.e. in the form of his sister, Artemis/Diana) in the Statue of Liberty. I believe it can be validly argued that the False Prophet is, more specifically, the Society of Jesuits, the militant arm of the Roman Catholic Church who were very influential in the establishment of the United States (being its masterpiece as a sort of "mousetrap" for gathering into one place the Protestants fleeing from Papal oppression in Europe since the Reformation, in order to deal with them later) through their ties to Freemasonry and are responsible for the promulgation among Protestants of the false interpretation of prophecy of Futurism (later, Dispensationalism), in order to obscure the identity of the Antichrist, which has fueled the fire of the Christian Nationalist movement which, I believe, will lead to the abolishment of Constitutional freedom of religion and to a theocracy over which the Roman Papacy will eventually take control.

[@jeffthechristian3010]

42:20 It is 20 May 2024. Your interpretations of scripture here has held up perfectly. Everything in the world right now heads toward a Muslim beast-kingdom. :-( I wish it were the EU instead! :-(

[@alphanumeric1529]

I wish it were not the EU, and the US empire. The US has how many military bases in how many countries? What is it, over 200 bases in over 150 countries... where they the last numbers I'd heard? Who, what nation rules over the planet now, with the most powerful land Armies, with the most powerful Navy, with the power of the air, the Air Force, and now even over the heavens, with the Space Force? Who controls the global economy with the world reserve currency? Who just presses delete, and nations topple, not just governments, but nations filled with people! I wish it were the Muslim nations, ahh, to have the distant foreigners be the enemy! So much better than having yourself, your neighbors, your nation as the enemy of YHWH and all the nations of the Earth. It is a horror. A horror for which most here are unprepared. I wish this was not the case, I hope, and I pray, that this is not the case.

[@mariakarayan9997]

Revelation is apocryphal. The church fathers wanted to omit it alongside the book of enoch. Your understanding will be limited if you do not read revelation alongside enoch.

[@hermanehrentraut4956]

Shalom, to teach Rev 13 is future for us completely ignores the historical, cultural, and grammatical context of the first century AD. To say with absolute certainty the Dragon represents Satan is not only foolish but disregards other uses of Dragon in the OT where two humans are called Dragons the first is Pharoah of Egypt and second is Nebuchadnezzar Eze_29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. Jer_51:34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. Both were ruler's of Empire that elevate themselves above YHWH/Abba. With this in mind is there another candidate for the Dragon in Rev 13 yes the Emperor of the Roman Empire whose Emperors did elevate themselves above YHWH/Abba not to mention all three persecuted his chosen people Israelites. As for the Dragon being identified as Satan in Rev 12 that also is a clear result of poor vision, when everything is considered the Dragon in Rev 12 is talking about the British empire during the reformation in its role as being an extension of the Roman Empire after the Roman Empire joined with Nicene Christianity forming the Roman Catholic Church in 380 AD with the edict of Thessalonika. Edict of Thessalonica 380 A.D. Issued by Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus [Bishop of Rome] and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since in our judgement they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority that in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict. Besides these signs having symbolic meanings they also have literal meanings which point to Constellations which when the signs are put together point to specific dating of events during history after the ascension of Christ. Example Sea Beast is the constellation in Greek known as Hydra rising on the Eastern horizon. Worship in Greek G4352 προσκυνέω proskuneō pros-koo-neh'-o From G4314 and probably a derivative of G2965 (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, that is, (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): - worship. The beast will not be like Hitler and foolish comparisons result from Roman Catholic teachings begun in the 4th Century when writing the Vulgate Jerome wrote the antichrist would not come from within the Roman empire and by extension the Church, despite the apostles and Christ saying that is exactly where the antichrist would come from. The idea of Rev 13 taking place on a world wide scale only results by ignoring the grammar of the text. Throughout Revelation we see words "all" and "everyone" and use it as proof the events are future because "all" and "everyone" suggest global events except the Greek word "pas" means all manner of or all kinds of, now another excuse given to the events being global is the use of "earth" and "world" which did not refer to the planet "earth" means soil/land and world means region and was used in first century to speak of the Roman empire. It would not be until over a 1,000 years later that "earth" meaning our planet would first be used. G3956 πᾶς pas pas Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole: - all (manner of, means) alway (-s), any (one), X daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no (-thing), X throughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever. The edict of Thessalonika in 380 AD says everyone must give allegiance not just to the Roman Empire but the church of Nicene Christianity, refusal to do so will result in seizure of wealth and property, becoming an anathema in the community, being persecuted. This would also apply to NT saints because the Christ that was preached by the apostles is not the same Christ of Nicene Christianity. In fact that Christ was being preached by false bishops and apostles and the Christ they preached Paul called another gospel which was a different version of Christ then the apostles taught and John called the antichrist. In short the Dragon is the Roman Empire, the sea beast is the Patriarch of Roman Catholic Church, the land beast is the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church. The mighty angel of Rev 10 is the constellation known in Greek as Orion. Most people either do not mention or do not know that while the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church he is also king of Vatican State making him an absolute monarch. To this absolute monarch nations have yielded to in different ways such as giving billions of dollars in aid to yearly, allowing this absolute monarch to address political bodies which goes against their constitutions. Political leaders show obeisance to the Pope regardless of their faith by kneeling before Him and kissing his ring (which looks a lot like a dog licking his master's hand) However when you look in John's future but our past we see the Catholic church did yield great political authority (Holy Roman Empire). The antichrist cannot come from anywhere but the church, so he cannot be Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, or anyone else who is not from the church. Jerome when he wrote the Vulgate in Revelation 9 the king's name in Greek is Apollyon but in Latin is Extermans. Ex meaning outside Termans reference to the Roman border God Terminus, which means the king would come from beyond the borders of Rome and by extension would come from outside the Church since they were the same State and Church. The Catholic church wants to not only convert the world to Catholicism even if by force but it will put at the head the Pope since the Catholic Church has never changed its stance on Church and State being one, it is only because of nations like the US the refuses to recognize Catholic Church authority that the Catholic church cannot restore itself as both head of Church and head of State. History clearly shows that nations ruled by Christians have been and continue to be in very antisemitic, for proof just look how many Christian nations have expelled Jews from their nations some even more then once, and for the Jews who cannot leave they are enslaved, also they property and wealth is seized even during WW2 Christian leaders of Christian nations refused to let Jews trying to flee NAZI's enter their countries, even sending them back to Germany if they tried to enter doing so condemned many to slavery and death. The Roman empire in the first century after the Jewish Roman wars declared "let's wipe them out as a nation..." by forbidding any Jews to stay in Palestine and enslaving those that were in Palestine, in an attempt to erase it they rename Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina" and was rebuilt in Roman Style. When the forced conversion of Roman Catholicism began in 380 AD it is recorded by the Jesuits that the last of the NT saints as well as the remnant of the house of David were wiped out by the 800's in the form of starvation, disease, and by the Roman Garrisons which was not just the military of the Roman empire but also the Catholic church. In regards to Matthew 7 "many" in Greek is polus and means most, Christ is saying most people which can be anywhere from 50.1%-99.9% of Christians he will deny ever knowing. G4183 πολύς, πολλός polus polos pol-oos' Including the forms from the alternate “pollos”; (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many; neuter (singular) as adverb largely; neuter (plural) as adverb or noun often, mostly, largely: - abundant, + altogether, common, + far (passed, spent), (+ be of a) great (age, deal, -ly, while), long, many, much, oft (-en [-times]), plenteous, sore, straitly. Compare G4118, G4119. More proof is shown later in this chapter of Revelation.

[@sujamanasbadger5308]

Wow! Such an eyes opening comment. Thanks 😁

[@hermanehrentraut4956]

@@sujamanasbadger5308 Shabbat Shalom, I am just glad to be one of YHWH's/Abba's instruments of fulfilling the real purpose of Revelation which is uncovering the sins of the Church which hopefully will lead others to stop receiving the mark of the beast, or worshiping the beast, or worshiping the image of the beast as I had done for over 30 years. A continuous problem with how this channel teaches Revelation is it uses preconceived ideas and views mainly those of Nicene Christianity and plugs Revelation in to justify them Instead Revelation as any book of the Bible should be taught as if brand new before anyone ever got a chance to introduce other ideas and views then the original ones. I do find it disturbing how Tom Bradford as well as other teachers of eschatology use Revelation almost as a way of shielding themselves always says while he cannot say for sure I'm fairly certain this is what this means, the reason I find it disturbing is he teaches with such confidence that those who trust him as a good teacher will not be spared when Christ denies them, nor can they say but my pastor or teacher taught me that it means this, in short ignorance will not be an accepted excuse.

[@raptnred]

I don't believe Tom Bradford to be purposefully deceptive. I believe he is honest when in those studies of future events, he humbly admits he is not certain. In reality, no one can be completely certain if their understanding of prophecy is indeed 100% correct. After all, these are future events & our understanding can change as it unfolds. I have studied scripture, it's languages, & the culture in which it was written for many years. I could spend a lifetime doing so & truthfully admit my understanding of Echetological future events can change. I always try to keep in mind two things: The Adversary of YHWH is the Master of Deception, & Prov. 3:5-7. I agree that the case for the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican & Papacy fit very nicely with Revelations given the events of history. But, I also know that it could all be a deception to keep those who are diligently in YHWH's Word from seeing present events unfold that could change one's current understanding. Remember why many did not recognize Messiah? They had a preconceived idea of what He would be & do. When He did not live up to their understanding, they denied Him. All this to say, a truthful teacher teaches facts from scripture past. When it comes to future events, all that humble teacher can do is offer possibilities or a theory based on his own current understanding & state that it is such. All each of us can do is study.... PRAY the Spirit keeps us open to discern truth when we hear it or as events unfold...Pray to be humble & not overconfident in what we think we know or in how we critique others. After all, only YHWH knows everything for certain! Shalom Brother

[@hermanehrentraut4956]

@@raptnredShabbat Shalom, There has to be a line drawn in the sand where teachers can no longer be called unintentionally deceptive. I mean it is these teachers who claim to have a working understanding of English, Hebrew, and Greek and no one forced them to take on the yoke of teaching, but when people not as "educated" yet have access to the same resources as they do and even use then uncover an obvious mistake can it just be overlooked. I mean how strange is it when the sheep are correcting the shepherds. Example in another video of Rev series Rev 10:6 Tom said ...that there should be time no longer" He taught time in the Greek is tote, but that is not the only Greek word that means time, even more is the Greek word translated "time" in 10:6 is chronos. This means that Tom instead of using the actual Greek word instead substituted it for another Greek word, this is akin to adding to the book, he removed chronos and replaced it with tote, changing the intended meaning, because there was a reason John wrote chronos and not tote. Another example I see is how Rev 9 is taught to be describing a supernatural cavalry based military, which if future this military poses no threat as they are wearing armor made of iron, a substance modern technologies can easily get around. It preys on ignorance of most people "breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron" breastplate does not refer to a chestplate but refers to what is called a corselet, and the Latin makes it even clearer calling it a lorica, this is a lorica made of iron which already happened lorica segmentata and the rest of the technology of this army is also found in the past such as barding. This brings me to the whole point none of us can know exactly how the future will play out, but when events in Revelation have already happened exactly as described can we still accept these events are still future, using your example of not recognizing the Messiah they ignored that all the signs of his first coming had actually happened exactly as the prophets were told by God and then they told the people. This is obvious when teachers say "world" "earth" are proof the events have not yet happened. I mean first of all that is not what either word meant, the word "earth" to mean the planet would not be used until over 1,000 years later and just meant land and "world" was a reference to the Roman empire at the time of John. I mean consider what Tom said in this video that the events concerning the image of the beast would be seen on tv, however if true there is a huge problem the events of Rev 13 are after both the seal and trumpet judgments where according to him the planet will have been so devastated by war, famine, disease not just humans but all life, but yet throughout all this global destruction our tv's will still be fully functional to see events unfold throughout the world such as in Jerusalem. I used to think Tom is not as guilty because perhaps he had a bad teacher but if that is true and he never questioned what he was taught means he fails to be as the Bereans as recorded in Acts 17:11 where Paul praises the believers for even questioning if what he was saying was true, something not only do I not see being done by most endtime teachers, but when mistakes are found the person bringing it to their attention is rebuked for doing so.

[@raptnred]

@hermanehrentraut4956 Forgive me, Brother, if you feel I was rebuking you for your comment. I sincerely was not. I simply was pointing out how difficult it is even for the "learned" to share with others YHWH's hidden things. Can any of us make a mistake in doing so? You betcha! After all, we are human beings. As for a line in the sand where teachers should no longer be given leeway as "unintentionally deceptive," I believe there is. If a teacher is teaching against Torah, outright advocating YHWH's laws/Words are no longer relevant, then that person is intentionally deceptive. He is a teacher of Lawlessness & his father is the Adversary, the Father of Lies. However, I do not believe those who teach Torah but might possibly make a few errors will be condemned for lack of divine knowledge or human error. YHWH hates the purposeful deception of those who are not his own, not those who seek to be obedient yet are not perfect in it. Like you, I study much. I also at times watch many, I listen, I study, I test it to scripture & throw out what is contrary to Torah, most of all I Pray for discernment for myself & my people in YHWH. Shabbat Shalom

[@jwestgrayhat]

I am not qualified to make any prophesy. I see 9 nuclear nations with the 10th coming very soon, if not already accomplished. Praise his name and repent for your sins. 🙏

[@Torah411]

The dragon symbolizes Rome, not Satan. The kingdom of iron and clay is Jerusalem and Rome mixed together.

[@luciparadise6781]

I have never ever heard this. 🤨

[@lilynazara3809]

Iron and clay - Rome and Islam imo. Edom/Esau and Ishmael.

[@shoeshinegirl101]

I would think that clay represents human beings.

[@nonrev64]

He just showed you scriptures where the devil and the dragon are the same.if it's not written leave it alone.

[@dawnemile7499]

No it does not. Revelation 12 clearly says the dragon is the original serpent. Study your Bible.