Long Ago and Far Away

 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ~Genesis 3:15

Long ago and far away in a time when men wrote stories to empress the rulers, a story was written about a prince with a shield that bore a red cross. A princess searched for this prince because she and her kingdom were in danger of being eaten by a dragon, especially the children. Her parents locked the princess in a tower with them to protect her but she was brave. She knew she must find a way to save the children. 

The prince's intention was to reach the beautiful castle on the hill but first, he must cross the valley where the evil dragon lived. He was entreated by the princess to conquer this fire-breathing dragon. Three times he was almost killed by the dragon but each time he overcame the injury and wounded the dragon. The first wound was his wing. The second time the prince chopped off his hand. The last time he stabbed the sword into the dragon's mouth. He fell dead to the delight of the valley people. 

The princess introduced the prince to her parents. The gift to the dragon slayer was to be the hand of the princess in marriage. The two were wed but the prince had to return to serve the Fairy Queen for six years before his job was complete. 

What a fairy tale! One I had never heard or had I? It sounded vaguely familiar but the story I know is no fairy tale. My son's high school English teacher had made him aware there was a Jesus character in every good piece of Western literature. The Jesus figure would seem to be the underdog but by the end of the story, he would be the victor. 

Let's take a moment to analyze the importance of this story. St. George and the Dragon is part of Faerie Queene written by Edmund Spencer. When it was written, the printing press was a new invention. So the Bible was not yet printed in England and probably wouldn't have been well received by the Queen or the priests. Scripture was strictly reserved for the church hierarchy. So this tale could be printed and distributed in England especially if the author gave the story to the queen and made her think she was a heroine in the story. 

So thinking about the characters

• St. George the Conqueror who was almost conquered. - God told Satan he would bruise the woman's seed but the seed of the woman would bruise Satan's head. 
• Three times St. George was almost killed. - Biblically, three is the number of God. Many times Satan has tried to destroy the lineage to Jesus and to destroy Jesus himself; Herod's killing of the babies, the people took Jesus out to stone him but he passed through the crowd, and when Jesus was crucified. 
• Three times the dragon was wounded. Many times Satan tried to overturn God's plan but Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses and praised God, Haman was hanged on the gallows built for Mordecai and the Jews defeated their enemies, and Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the altar by sacrificing a pig and attempting to destroy the Jewish religion.  But in the resurrection, Jesus conquered death and defeated Satan who now awaits his time. Oh yes, he still likes to wreak havoc, but his time is short. 
• The princess becomes St. George's bride. - The church is the bride of Christ awaiting his return for the wedding supper. 
• St. George must serve the Fairy Queen six years. - The universe was created in six days. One day is like a thousand years with the Lord. Did the author have a notion that maybe six thousand years would be an end to Satan? 

Heavenly Father, help us keep our eyes upon you and your word. Help us be aware of the spiritual warfare that goes on every moment and may we, the bride of Christ, put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18), and proclaim the faith until he returns. In Jesus's name. Amen.