- 41. Slay the Dragon
Isaiah 27:1 In that day the Lord with his sore and great strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
In the Messianic Age Jesus with the Word will punish and slay the Devil. This is the interpretation of the symbols. This is the promise for us: we by faith in Jesus overcome the Evil One with the Word of the Gospel. “In that day” = the Messianic Age; “the Lord” = Jesus Christ; “sore and great strong sword” = the Gospel; “punish, slay” = overcome, defeat; “leviathan, serpent, dragon” = Satan, the devil, the Evil One.
The defeat of Satan was at the Cross and the Tomb. The overcoming happens every time we use the Gospel. The final slaying will occur at the Final Battle when the devil is thrown into the lake of fire. From God’s point of view in eternity all of these events, past, present, and future, happen at one time, all at once. Christ has done it once and for all. All Enemies are overcome once, and continuously, and finally. By faith we see the Victory in the past and the future and experience it in the present. It is the sore and great strong sword out of the mouth of Jesus that does it. In Revelation 19 and 20 we read of that final battle and eternal judgment.
It happens in time, in our past history, in our present moment, and in our future; but in God’s eternity it is all at once; and it is sure and final even though we are bound by time and physical space in regard to what we can see and hear. Therefore, God in His grace has revealed to us in His Word of Gospel what really happens. Every time we read the Word and hear the Gospel this Great Event happens to us fresh and new. How can going to church be considered boring? In church, where the Gospel is preached and administered, this most exciting event recurs time and again: Sin, death, and Satan are utterly defeated and Jesus gains the victory for us, and we win.
Sin, Death, and Satan are real; their reality is not diminished, but enhanced, by God’s use of the most terrifying mythological beasts imaginable: leviathan the sea monster, the piercing and crooked serpent, and the dragon. The greater reality is that Jesus punished and slew them with the Word of the Gospel.