In Rev 13:2 who is the Dragon that gives the beast it's power and authority?

Question

"The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."

Is this the answer at Rev 12:9
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2012:9;&version=31;

Answer 1

The devil when portrayed as a dragon is representative of Tiamat, one of the gods from Babylonian mythology.

Answer 2

Several points in the scene are worth noticing. First, a family resemblance between the dragon and the beast is evident. The dragon in chapter 12 had "seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads" (12:3), while the beast from the sea in chapter 13 has ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns. Only the number and placement of the crowns vary. Second, although it is not stated in so many words that the beast is the dragon's "offspring," this is suggested by a setting in which the dragon seems to call the beast out of the sea and gives it his power and his throne and great authority (v. 2). Finally, the beast's fatally wounded head (v. 3; compare vv. 12, 14) recalls a significant detail in the ancient prophecy from Genesis about the serpent and the woman: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Gen 3:15, ).

Clearly the beast from the sea bears the battle scars of the combat prophesied in that ancient text. The statement that one of the beast's heads seemed to have had a fatal wound could be literally translated "was as if slaughtered to death," reminding us that when the Lamb first appeared in John's visions he too was "standing as if . . . slaughtered" (5:6 NRSV; the same Greek word). Something more is presupposed here than the "war in heaven" and the conflict between the dragon and the woman described in chapter 12. The beast's wounded head suggests a previous encounter between the Lamb and the beast, probably centered in Christ's death on the cross. Both the Lamb and the beast were "slaughtered" or "slain" in that encounter, yet both are "alive" (1:18; 13:14), and each in his own way is a "victor" or "conqueror" or "overcomer" (for the Lamb, see 3:20; 5:5; 17:14; for the beast, 6:2; 11:7; 13:7).

It is Satan

Answer 3

Us. The desires of our flesh.

If you don't believe me, you can read the book that explains it all. Section 3 is all about "The Dragon."

From the book:

Today, people are pursuing the lusts and desires of the flesh (“worshipped the dragon”) which give life and “power” to the systems of government (“beast”), both politically and spiritually. These systems allow the people the ability to realize their dreams of worldliness, or they at least provide their citizens with the glimmer of hope that they might. People strive their whole lives to become popular, accepted, and obtain as much money as they can, not only for their immediate fleshly needs, but also for the future when they hope they will not have to work.

...we must be aware of our innate desires, which have become The Dragon that threatens our very existence.

Answer 4

Satan himself!
The beast is the anti-Christ. This is the man who will be coming soon to make peace in the middle east region between the Jews and the Muslims. When he is given his power, he will perform great miracles and signs for which even the highest religious leaders will be fooled into thinking this man is of God and will worship him.

Answer 5

And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 And she was with child, and she cried out, travailing in birth and being in pain to bring forth. 3 And another sign was seen in heaven; and behold, there was a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 And his tail drags away the third part of the stars of heaven, and he cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, so that when she brings forth he might devour her child. 5 And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

Cmty-Personal - Reve 13:2
* (1)like
The beast, Antichrist, is like a leopard, and his feet like
those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. According
to Dan. 7:4-6, the leopard, which is characterized by swift and
cruel movement, was the symbol of Alexander the Great, the king of
Greece. The bear, characterized by its destroying feet, was the
symbol of the monarchy of Medo-Persia. The lion, characterized by
its devouring mouth, was a symbol of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon. Since Antichrist, the beast, is like these three, he will
have all their characteristics, as mentioned in Dan. 7:4-7. He is
the totality of all the evil powers in human history.
* (a)leopard
# Da 7.6
* (b)bear
# Da 7.5
* (c)lion
# Da 7.4
* (d)dragon
# Re 12.3
* (e)gave
# Lu 4.5-6
* (2)power
That the dragon gives his power, his throne, and great
authority to the beast indicates that he makes the beast one with
him so that on behalf of the dragon the beast can resist God and
persecute God's people on the earth.
* (f)throne
# Re 2.13
* (g)authority
# Da 8.24, 9-10

Answer 6

the dragon is not really a dragon, but a representation and allusion to the serpent who caused mans fall in the garden. the beast is the antichrist, and when they are made one, a perversion of gods gift to wedded couples, (they shall become one flesh), the serpent (satan) will posses or enter into the beast (antichrist)

Answer 7

The dragon is a symbolic image of Satan because in reality he has no body

Answer 8

The Dragon is another name for Satan.

Answer 9

The Book of Revelation is a vision or dream of Johns. No one can and i mean no one can totally understand this book as it has so many symbols meaning other things. This book has nothing to do with our salvation at all.it is good to study but nothing else.

Answer 10

This question has been asked
by learned men for millenia.
We will have to wait until we
get there to know for sure.
Pray about it and see what
the Lord says....