At my last trip to Fort Wayne, I sat in on a class on the book of Revelation. It was the first day of the quarter, so we were going over the preliminaries for the class. The professor said one thing off hand that really has stuck with me ever since: the dragon and the two beasts are demonic mirrors of the Holy Trinity. This revelation (pun intended), blew my mind, and I think it shows us the way that all demonic lies given to the pagans are corruptions that can nonetheless point to the truth.
First, I want to start with a study of Revelation 12-13, which I will then follow with comparisons to actual pagan beliefs. With that, I think it's best to begin with what Christ revealed to John about the dragon in Revelation 12. First, the apostle describes the church (any disputes, comment on my other post on the topic), and then follows with a description of her enemy as a great red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems. The redness could refer to his love of warfare and/or desire for blood, both of which would also apply to the coloration of War's horse. The seven heads could be a claim to eternal divine wisdom, hence the number of divine completion, and the same is true for his seven diadems, which would be his claim to divine authority. The ten horns are likely a claim to great strength, with the number 10 being a number of simple completion. In this way, we can see the red dragon as the epitome of pride and violence, and with his nature as a dragon pointing back to the serpent in Eden.
The second beast is interesting, as he's an amalgamation of the different beasts from the prophecies of Daniel: the leopard, bear, and lion, and this depicts the beast as the leader of fleshly men and fulfiller of these grave prophecies. What's especially interesting is its relation to the beast, in that the dragon gave his authority and throne to the first beast and that the beast had a mortal wound that was healed, which caused him to be worshipped. This mirrors the economy of the Father and the Son, since, as the scriptures attest, the Father gave all authority to the Son and the Son sits on the divine throne in heaven. In this way, we see the first beast as a kind of "incarnation" of the devil, in which he gives great authority. It's also possible that his appearance as a conglomeration of different beasts could reference the historic giants, who were typically depicted as part-human and part-animal. This would fit the idea, since the giants were literally the demons partaking in flesh to beget children. The part about the mortal wound obviously mirrors Christ's sacrifice, after which He was healed of His wounds.
The final beast is certainly the least flashy but by no means the least interesting. This beast is described as having the horns of a lamb and the mouth of a dragon, which I would describe as being least in the pecking order but nonetheless with a powerful tongue. It also is likely a reference to the craftiness of the devil in looking like Christ but speaking with the voice of a dragon. The second beast is also said to perform great miracles like calling down fire from heaven and breathing life into a statue of the first beast, and he marks the unbeliever with a mark on his forehead and hand. Such traits obviously point to a corruption of the Holy Ghost. The miracles of calling down fire from heaven and breathing life into stone correspond to Pentecost or the miracle of Elijah on Mt. Carmel and the breathing of life into man, both of which took place by the Spirit. In addition, the marking with the beast's name on the forehead and heart corresponds to the Holy Ghost acting as the seal of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). Finally, he continually points to the first beast, which corresponds to the Holy Spirit's continual pointing to Christ.
One important thing to note about the two beasts is their lack of power when compared to the dragon. The first beast seems to have no power or authority in himself, but it is the beast who gives him authority. While this is possibly similar to the Son during His humiliation, it is clear that there is no trinitarian sharing of the substance between the two beasts. This is also seen in the second beast, who has horns like a lamb, which are by no means as marvelous or powerful as those of the devil or the first beast. In this way, we see that the corruption of such a truth cannot match the true mystery of the Holy Trinity.
Well, the book of Revelation is a book of archetypes that describes the world then, now, and in the future, culminating in the end of all our worldly torments in the return of Christ. Thus, these three can apply to numerous cases: the devil working behind wicked rulers and those in media that affirm their words, the devil working behind false preachers and their priesthoods, and all sorts of other examples. The one I think it especially pertinent to the type, however, is that of various religions. In the pagan conception religions, there are numerous cases that sound eerily similar to the Christian faith but with a clear strain of diabolical reinterpretation.
My favorite and the one I think correstponds to Revelation 12-13 the best has to be the Hindu "trinity," called the Trimurti. This triad consists of Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. The first two do sound remarkably similar to Christianity, with the Father generally ascribed the creator of all things (though of course the other two created the world as well) and St. Paul's words that "in [Christ] we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) and that "in [Christ] all things hold together" (Col. 1:17). The similarities sort of break down regarding Shiva, the god of destruction and sexuality, though perhaps you could say he's a mirror image of the Spirit of Life who calls us to chastity. However, there are a few points about these figures that really highlight the obvious demonic nature. First of all is Vishnu's trusted friend and attendant, Shesha. In most depictions of the god, you see him sitting above the waters on the back of a seven-headed serpent, and that's Shesha. First of all, this is entirely parallel to the seven-headed dragon of revelation, but he also is said to have great power. This snake supposedly holds all the planets in his hood, a shocking parallel to to dragon's tail knocking the stars from heaven, and it is said that his body uncoiling is what makes time flow and creation take place. His name means "Remainder," with a common title being Ananta Shesha, "Endless Remainder." The reason for this title is that all things will eventually cease to exist except for Shesha, who will outlive all things, even the gods, and "remain" after all things disappear. It's also notable that Brahma, the creator god, "requested" that he dwell in the underworld so that he could stabilize the earth, a remarkably obvious demonic cope for the fact that the Prince of Lies dwells in hell. Also, it's important to note that even though he's often depicted as a servant of Vishnu, in other places it is said that he is instead an incarnation of Vishnu, heightening the false god's connection with the serpent.
Another significant point about the three to mention is that there is great debate as to which of this trinity ought to be worshipped as highest, but there is universal agreement that it is never Brahma. Most sects worship Vishnu, some Shiva, but very few temples are dedicated to Brahma except one of the oldest ones, which is in modern times used to worship all the gods equally. To reiterate, the god that created all things and whose name is identical to the name for the Hindu concept of heaven itself is not supposed to be worshipped by Hindus. They actually do have a few various stories for this. In one version, it is because he created a female deity that he committed incest with and was sexually obsessed with. Another is that Vishnu and him performed a contest to see which was better and, depending on the sect, either Vishnu beat him or Shiva showed Vishnu how much better he was than both of them. In both stories, Brahma tries to best his opponent by trickery and is punished for it. Such depictions are seen perfectly in the modern day among the New Atheist crowd who constantly try to mock and blaspheme our Lord as a wicked, tyrannical ogre. Another less negative story is that he is done with his work of creation so there's no need to worship him, a common thought among Deists. These three so far depict the creator god as licentious, crooked, or distant at best. The final one, which I find most interesting, comes from one of the Hindu sacred texts called the Puranas and it talks about how these powerful beings worshipped Brahma and that it made them so powerful that Vishnu incarnated as a Buddha and convinced them not to worship Brahma anymore so they could be defeated. This story takes a more overtly Satanic tone, making the alliance a political one and acknowledging Brahma's power.
What's more, Hinduism isn't alone on this. There are shocking parallels all across the world of pagan myths where the stories told are not constructive but involve the theft and corruption of holy things. You can see the true biblical parallels all around this, but in Christianity, we find what C.S. Lewis calls the "true myth."
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