Psalm 104:23

Psalm 104:23

The Lion of Judah

There are many images today that use the lion to represent the glory and strength of Christ. CS Lewis’s novel, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” presents us with Aslan, the mighty warrior lion who is sacrificed on an altar but comes back to life and drives the evil forces out of Narnia. The only symbolic mentions of a lion in the Bible are the Lion of Judah, “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.” Genesis 49:8-12. 

 

And in Revelation, “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals’” Revelation 5:5. 

Lions, by nature, are creatures of the night and are to be feared, as we discovered in the previous verse, they represent the lord of the night whereas humans who go about their work, are lords of the day. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are reminded that our adversary the devil, is like a roaring lion that is out to devour the unwary and the unprotected. The Satan is the Lord of the night. Jesus, the man, is Lord of the day and He is the lion we should honour and obey. One day, we will see Him in His triumph and praise God for the lion who roars!

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