TITLES OF CHRIST
LION OF JUDAH
DR. JIM DIXON
REVELATION 5:1-5
FEBRUARY 26, 1989
“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” That, of course, is the title of the first book of the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia, written by C.S. Lewis. The wardrobe symbolizes a kind of birth, a door, an entrance into the world of Narnia. The witch symbolizes Satan and the forces of evil working in Narnia. And the lion; the lion represents Jesus Christ Himself, the Mighty One, the Son of the Almighty whose mere presence brings comfort to the faithful and causes the wicked to tremble.
Well, C.S. Lewis was not the first to represent Christ through the image of a lion. That distinction belongs to the Bible. The Bible refers to Jesus Christ with this title: the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. This morning we’re going to examine that title, and I have two teachings. First of all, this title, the Lion of Judah, is a title of majesty, a title of royalty.
A long time ago, I heard a story. It’s kind of a dumb little story. I hear a lot of dumb stories. This one I kind of liked, perhaps you’ve heard it. It’s the story of a lion who one morning woke up and felt kind of insecure. He thought the only thing to do was to go out and assert himself over some other animals in the jungle. So he went and found an antelope and he said, “Who’s king of the jungle?” The antelope trembled and the antelope said, “You are o lion, you are.” Well, the lion proceeded and he began to feel a little better. He found a giraffe and he said, “Who’s king of the jungle?” The giraffe didn’t even hesitate, the giraffe said, “You are o lion. You are.” Well, the lion was feeling a lot better now and proceeded on and found a tiger. The lion said to the tiger, “Who’s king of the jungle?” The tiger didn’t like this, but the tiger wasn’t really in the mood for a fight. So the tiger said, “You are oh lion, you are.” Well, the lion was really feeling great by this time. As he went through the jungle, he found an elephant and the lion said to the elephant, “Who’s king of the jungle?” The elephant looked at the lion and reached down with its trunk and wrapped his trunk around the lion, then began to just fling the lion around and around and then just threw the lion right into a tree and the lion fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. A few minutes later, as the lion kind of gathered itself together and collected its senses, it looked up at the elephant and it said, “Look, just because you didn’t know the answer doesn’t mean you’ve got to take it out on me!”
Well, we all know the answer. We all know the answer of who’s king of the jungle? The lion is king of the jungle. Even if the lion isn’t really king of the jungle, we call the lion king of the jungle and the king of beasts and that is why you see there are six lions portrayed on the great seal of England. That is why there are eight lions portrayed on the royal arms of Great Britain. That is why there is a lion with a crown on its head on the coat of arms of Finland. That is why Elagabalus, who was the emperor of the Roman Empire, journeyed and traveled in a royal carriage pulled by a team of lions because those lions were to portray his majesty and his royalty. That is why Solomon himself, king of all Israel, as we are told in the book of 1 Kings, the 10th chapter, had 12 lions carved on his throne. On the armrest of his throne were two lions’ heads, 14 lions in all. It was said that his throne was perhaps the most regal in all the world, a symbol of his majesty and his royalty.
So when Jesus Christ is called the lion, we are saying that He is royal. We are saying that He is majestic. He is king, but He is called the Lion of Judah and this title, the Lion of Judah, magnifies His majesty and magnifies His royalty because, you see, Judah was the kingly tribe of Israel. It was the tribe from which the king’s came. It was the tribe of David. It was the tribe of Solomon. And Jesus Christ was descended from the tribe of Judah, from the seed of David and from the seed of Solomon, the Lion of Judah…king. King of Kings, royal and majestic.
It’s interesting that in Ethiopia, in their royal house, all the kings who have come from that royal house through the ages have taken the title, the Lion of Judah. They have taken this title because they have claimed that their royal house is descended from the tribe of Judah in Israel through the alleged union of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. So it is that all the way through Haile Selassie, who died in 1976, the rulers of Ethiopia have taken this title. But of course, Haile Selassie was not really the Lion of Judah and the other kings of Ethiopia and Abyssinia that went before him. None of them were really the Lion of Judah. They were simply men: some of them good rulers, some poor rulers. All of them were temporal. All of them died. But you see, the Bible prophesies and the Bible prophesied that there would come someday a ruler whose reign and whose kingdom would be forever and he would come from the seed of Judah, come from the seed of David and Solomon, the Lion of Judah. The Bible tells us that one is Jesus Christ.
If you’re a Christian, then you have embraced Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. You have embraced Him as your Savior. But if you’re a Christian, you have also embraced Him as the Lion of Judah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, majestic, royal. You have taken Him as Savior and Lord, you have taken him as Lamb and Lion.
We really only begin to understand the majesty of His sovereignty when we serve His kingdom. I’m sure that many of you have heard of Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsy Ten Boom, World War II in Nazi Germany. They were imprisoned in Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp, for their aiding and abetting of the Jewish people. Prisoner #66729 and #66730, deeply committed Christians. They were sentenced to imprisonment in Barracks 28 in Ravensbruck. When Corrie and Betsy arrived in Barracks 28, they could not believe what they saw. As they entered those doors to that horrible place, they saw hundreds of women jammed into this primitive room. There was no sanitation. The stench was beyond comprehension. They looked around for a place to sit down in the reeking straw.
They found a spot and Corrie and Betsy sat down. They hadn’t been there long, and they began to have pain in their arms and in their legs. That’s when they discovered that the entire barracks was infested with fleas. Corrie began to cry. She had experienced much suffering. She had experienced starvation almost unto death. Untold cruelties she had seen. Backbreaking labor she had participated in. But somehow in this moment, as they were jammed into those barracks and those despicable conditions, this just seemed like more than she could bear to have all these fleas.
Well, Betsy reminded Corrie of a passage in 1 Thessalonians which says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Corrie said, “No way. There’s no way I’m going to give thanks. What’s to be thankful for?” Betsy said, “Well, there’s a couple of things we could be thankful for. We can be thankful we’re together. I mean, that’s highly unusual in Nazi concentration camps for two sisters to be able to be together.” Corrie agreed with that. Betsy said, “We can also be thankful because we have a Bible.” I mean, that’s not unusual, that’s a miracle. It was by the hand of God they were able to bring that Bible into that Nazi concentration camp. Corrie agreed. So they decided they would thank God right then for the fact that they were together and the fact that they had a Bible. So they did that, and when they were done, Betsy said, “You know, Corrie, we also must thank God for the fleas.” Corrie said, “There’s no way.” She said, “You know, the Bible doesn’t say to thank God for all circumstances. The Bible says, thank God in all circumstances.” Betsy said, “Be that as it may, we need to thank God for these fleas.” So, Corrie agreed, she thanked God for the fleas.
The time passed and one day led into another. They began to have Bible studies in the back of the barracks where there was a plain lightbulb that gave sufficient light for them to read their Bible. As they would read the Bible every night, other women would gather around. They knew they weren’t really supposed to have the Bible, and they certainly weren’t allowed to have worship services, but they thought they might as well try for as long as they could get away with it. So the women came and they began to have worship services. They even had portions of the service that were conducted in Latin by Roman Catholic Christians who were there. Portions of the service each night consisted of hymns that were led by Lutheran women who were there. They had liturgy that was led by Eastern Orthodox Christians. But every night at the end of the worship service in Barracks 28, the Scripture would be read by Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom. The other women would gather about, and they would read one phrase at a time translated from Dutch to German because there were so many women from so many nations and so many languages. Each phrase would be translated into other languages and into French and into Russian, into Polish and into Czech. It was a time when the Holy Spirit of God just fell upon them every night, a time of great joy, a little touch of heaven in the midst of their hell.
As the days and the weeks and the months went by, they marveled that they were able to worship together like this and no guards, no Nazi authorities ever came in and told them to cease their worship. Then one day, a fight broke out in the barracks between two women and they went outside to get a guard to come in and help break it up. The guards said, “We’re not going in there.” And they said, “Why is that?” They said, “We never go in there. We do not go into Barracks 28.” They said, “Why?” He said, “We don’t go into Barracks 28 because Barracks 28 is infested with fleas.” You see, it was only then that Corrie and Betsy began to understand the majesty of the dominion and sovereignty of the Lion of Judah. They were in a jungle, but there was a king in the jungle, Jesus Christ. He was even able to use the fleas to serve the purpose of His kingdom. Had it not been for those fleas, they could not have had the joy of those worship services every night.
That’s how it’s always been. From the Apostle Paul to Martin Luther to Billy Graham today, those who enter the service of the kingdom of Jesus Christ soon began to discover the majesty of His rule and the majesty of His sovereignty.
You see, it was the Lion of Judah who called Hudson Taylor to the China interior. It was the Lion of Judah who called David Livingston to darkest Africa. It was the Lion of Judah that called William Booth to the London slums. If you’re a Christian, it’s the Lion of Judah who has called you right here to the city of Denver. It’s a jungle. It’s all a jungle. We all have fleas. I mean, there are things all about us that aggravate us, that irritate us because the world is fallen. Jesus said, “In the world, you will have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The Lion of Judah, the King Royal Majesty.
This title, Lion of Judah, not only refers to His royal majesty, but this title secondly and finally is also a title of wrath. It’s a title that expresses the very wrath of God.
You may have heard of the man who went to the zoo. As he walked about looking at the various animals, he saw one enclosure with a sign on the outside. The sign said, “Peaceful coexistence.” He looked into the enclosure and he marveled to see a lion in there and a lamb, both of them sleeping, tranquil setting, at peace, the lion not harming the lamb. The man marveled when he saw this. He wondered, “How can this be? I mean, how can a lion be in there with a lamb, not even hurt the lamb?” He saw a zookeeper coming and he called to him. He said, “Sir, I don’t understand this. How is it that you’re able to have a lion and a lamb in there and they’re both sleeping like that.” The zookeeper smiled and he said, “Well, really it is very simple. Every couple of days we just put a fresh lamb in there.” Well, of course, that’s how we envision lions. Lions are flesh-eating, lions are carnivorous, lions are devouring. No doubt about that.
At this church, we have a school. It’s called Cherry Hills Christian School. Our school has a nickname. It’s called the Lions, the CHCS Lions. We have a stuffed lion, which is the mascot of the school. The stuffed lion is taken to games and various school events. The school newspaper is called The Lion’s Roar, kind of clever. But you see, in biblical times, the lions roar didn’t refer to a newspaper. In biblical times, the wrath of kings…that wrath was described as the roar of the lion. In the biblical world, they knew all about lions because there were lions throughout Israel and Palestine. Many Christians today are not aware of that. But you see, in the Old Testament time, lions were plentiful throughout Israel and Palestine, so much so that the Hebrew language had seven different words for lion. Even in the time of Christ, there were lions in Israel, and they did not become extinct in the Holy Land until the 12th century A.D.
These lions were not built for speed. They could run about 35 miles an hour. Unfortunately, that was a little bit faster than a human being. Most of all, they were built for strength. Lions are incredibly strong, they weigh 350 to 400 pounds, some of them 500 pounds in weight…10 feet in length. Their shoulders and their forelegs have incomprehensible strength. Zoologists tell us that a lion is able to kill an animal such as a zebra or an antelope, or even a giraffe with a single blow of its paw to the head. So powerful is the foreleg of a lion.
Well, in the biblical world, they understood that lions didn’t hunt or devour most of the time. Lions spent most of their time just kind of lying around sleeping. In fact, they did that 20 hours a day. But there always came a time in the day, late in the afternoon when the lion was hungry and the lion was ready to devour. It was then that the lions began to roar, and their roar could be heard for miles. The people trembled and the animals trembled. The wrath of the lion was about to come upon them.
In the Bible, in Isaiah, Chapter 38, in Lamentations 3, in Hosea, Chapter 5, and in many other passages in the Bible, the wrath of God is compared to a devouring lion.
Well, is this right? Is this right to think of Jesus Christ as expressing the wrath of God? I mean, isn’t Jesus love? Isn’t He mercy? Isn’t He grace? Isn’t He forgiveness? The Bible says, yes, Jesus Christ is love and He is mercy. He is grace, and He is forgiveness. But the Bible also tells us Jesus Christ is holy. He is utterly holy. The Bible tells us He hates sin. He loves sinners, but He hates sin. The Bible tells us that the day is coming when His wrath will be poured out upon all sin and upon all people who have rejected His sacrifice for sin.
In Revelation, Chapter 19, we’re told that Jesus Christ will come to this world a second time and He will not come as a lamb. He will come as a lion. Now, the Bible tells us that when He comes that second time, He will come with all the armies of heaven. We’re told that He will come with a sword. We’re told that He will smite the nations, and we’re told in Revelation 19 that He will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. That is not the image of Christ that most people contemplate, gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
You see, we’re told in Revelation, Chapter 6, that “there will come a day when all the kings of this world will tremble before the wrath of the lamb.” It’s a strange phrase, the wrath of the lamb, but not so much so when we understand that the lamb is the lion, the Lion of Judah, and all judgment is given to him. Jesus Christ Himself said “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son that all might honor the Son in the same way they honor the Father.”
What does this mean to us? The message to you if you are not a Christian…If you’re not a Christian, the message is clear; the message is a warning.
You might recall the British luxury liner Titanic and how it sank on April 15th, 1912 on its maiden transatlantic crossing when it collided with a massive iceberg in the North Atlantic. Many historians tell us that that didn’t need to happen, that there was a warning from the crow’s nest. The message had been sent to the wheel room, but that message had been ignored. “Iceberg dead ahead,” but the message ignored. The great ship went down. 1,513 people died. It’s a serious thing when we ignore a warning.
Well, you see, God warned the people of Noah’s day. For more than a hundred years, God warned them and they laughed. The judgment of God came as He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.
The Bible says in Romans, Chapter 1, “the wrath of God is poured out from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men.” Of course, God wants us to understand His immediate reaction to sin is not wrath. His immediate reaction to sin is forbearance. His immediate reaction to sin is mercy. His immediate reaction to sin is grace. But if through the course of our life, you see, we reject His mercy, and if through the course of our life we reject His grace, He wants us to know that one day judgment will come. Wrath will come because He is the Lion of Judah. He’s not willing or wishing that any should perish, and He sends us forth with the gospel. “God loved the world so much, gave his only begotten Son that who whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
What’s the message for us as Christians? First of all, Christ wants us to understand that we are not the Lion of Judah. We are not the agent of God’s wrath. We are not the vehicle through which God means to express His wrath. Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah. We are not called to judge, but we are called to leave all judgment for Him.
How would you like to be Salman Rushdie? How’d you like to be him this morning? Wherever he is, wherever he’s hiding. The British author who wrote the satanic verses, the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death pronouncement upon him offering physical and spiritual rewards to any who would assassinate this man. The world marvels. The world marvels at the Islamic people that they would openly resort to physical violence as a response to the questioning of their faith.
Of course, throughout history, there have been times when Christians have responded with physical violence towards those who have questioned their faith. God wants us to understand that whenever we’ve done that, we sinned. God wants us to understand that whenever we’ve responded with physical violence towards those who have challenged the Christian faith, we grieve the Lion of Judah and we sin because all judgment waits for Him and all wrath is His. It is not ours. God’s message to us is very clear in this time, which really is the time of the gospel and the time of salvation and the time of grace and mercy, the wrath is yet to come.
God’s message to us is clear. Jesus said, “I say to all who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those that abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other as well. From him who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your cloak. Give to everyone who begs of you and from him who has your goods, do not ask for them again, but as you would have men do to you, do so to them. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again. But I say to you, love your enemies. Do good. Lend, expecting nothing in return, and your rewards shall be great. You’ll be called children of the Most High for He is kind even to the ungrateful and the selfish. So be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you.
It’s all summed up in Romans, Chapter 12, when the Bible says “Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no man evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, insofar as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. And beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written ‘Vengeance is mine. I will repay’, says the Lord. No, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him to drink for in so doing you will heap burning colds upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
You see, the message to us as Christians is clear. We’re not the Lion of Judah. We’re not called to carry out the wrath of God. It all waits for the consummation, for the Son of God, the Lion of Judah. He has one other message to us as Christians, and that message is this; we’re not destined for wrath. He wants to make sure you know that as a Christian, you’re not destined for wrath. You’ve already passed out of judgment into life. The Bible says clearly in 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 5, to us as Christians, “You are not destined for wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ.” You see, the wrath of God was poured out on Calvary’s cross. The moment you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you came under the umbrella of the cross. For those who reject the cross, the wrath remains. But for those of you who have embraced Christ, you’ve come under the umbrella of the cross and you are not destined for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, zoologists tell us that lions, while they’re certainly viewed as ferocious, and they are, lions are extremely loving towards their families, towards their own. There are few animals in the whole world, few animals, so loving towards their families as lions…or more nurturing. They provide and they protect. They’re even playful with their own. You see, God wants you to understand that when you embrace Jesus Christ as Lamb and Lion, when you take Him as Savior and Lord, you enter the family of God. You come into the realm of His care and His nurture. He disciplines us, but never in wrath. He disciplines us for our own good. You are not destined for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that whether we wake or sleep, we might always be with Him. So comfort yourselves, the Bible says, with these words.
The Lion of Judah: He is the King, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and only those who serve His kingdom see the majesty of His sovereignty. The Lion of Judah, the title of wrath. One day He will judge the world in power and in truth. He calls on all men everywhere to repent that they might receive His grace and His mercy and enter His eternal kingdom. We are not destined for wrath as Christians, but He would remind us that we are not called to implement His wrath on other people, but to show his mercy for His kingdom’s sake. Let’s close for the word of prayer.