Demons and Dragons; 
                                        Real or False?

   

     Do you believe that there are demonic beings?  What about dragons? Did they ever actually exist? The King James Version of the bible speaks of both. Are they real or are they the figment of some ancient writers imagination?
     Antiquated words and phraseology in the bible often cause confusion about the meaning of many things. One such word is "Dragon" another word perceived to be in this category is "Demon". It is definitely in our best interest to know and understand who these beings are as well as their meaning to us today.
     The very fact that there is a question about their reality is a good example of the confusion brought about by Satan because of cultural differences, misunderstandings and incomplete explanations.
  The fact is that both demons and dragons are real, but maybe not in the way we understand them to be in our modern minds. In modern society we think of them both as fairy tale creatures. They bring pictures to our mind of medieval fanciful imagery intended to startle and entertain amusement hungry kings, nobility and peasants alike.
    First let's be perfectly clear about demons, they are real. They were real in biblical times and they are real today. They are just as real today as they were 2000 yrs ago when Jesus often referred to them and drove them out of tormented people. There is no mention anywhere in scripture that they would cease to exist or operate until the Lord comes back.
   Dragons are another matter completely. While they did exist, they weren't the fire breathing monsters depicted in medieval art and culture. In the days of King James the designation dragon was a title that fit about any unknown, ferocious or unfamiliar animal. Many scholars believe that the dragon Leviathan mentioned in Job was a crocodile or hippopotamus. According to prominent Christian Scientist Dr Carl Baugh of the Creation Evidence Museum the Behemoth of Job 40:15 was actually a dinosaur.
   Some of the Hebrew names in scripture are so obscure and unknown to modern scholars that they must simply guess at their meaning and origin. It stands to reason that the King James scholars simply chose a contemporary title that loosely fit any unknown animal in order to best describe it to their readers. The fire breather of medieval times was simply an imaginary extension of this common term. In this respect dragons could be real in the form of snakes, crockadiles, Hippos and even dinosaurs. If Dr. Baugh is correct about a few dinosaurs existing until the ninth or tenth century, the hot breath of a 140-foot long, six-story tall dinosaur could feel much like fire on the neck of a very frightened human recipient.
   They were not however, nor should it be implied, that they were the imaginary beings handed down from folklore in the sense of "Puff the magic dragon" or "Pete" the movie dragon etc.
   Demons on the other hand are a little more difficult to understand. Scripture says little about their origin except that when Satan fell from heaven after his rebellion, he took a third of the angles with him. It is supposed by scholars that these are the beings referred to in scripture as demons. Whatever their origin the bible is clear that they are evil beings under Satan's command and their first priority is the same as their masters, to kill, steal and destroy.  It is to disrupt and frustrate the work of God on earth, to promote evil and perversion and to cause hardship wherever they can. Deception is their main tool for accomplishing this agenda. They speak lies to unsuspecting believers and unbelievers alike. Part of their deception is to promote the belief that they are not real and like fire breathing dragons, do not exist.  This is a very effective deception. It leaves them free to operate unhindered in the lives of the unsuspecting targets.
   We must realize that they indeed do exist and learn how to combat them in spiritual warfare. They cannot "possess" Christians, only harass them . We need to take the authority given to us by Jesus and command them,in His name, to leave any situation in which we suspect they may be actively involved.
                                         Ray Cleghorn