John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29) An elder in heaven said to the Apostle John, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah…has prevailed…” (Revelation 5:5) A lamb is sacrificial, meek, helpless and defenseless, whereas a lion is aggressive, strong and territorial. A lamb might not open its mouth but a lion will — and roar! The Lamb on the throne is the Lion of the tribe of Praise.
We are by nature lambs but there are times when we need to become lions! A UK revivalist said, “I went to bed a lamb one night and the next morning I woke up as a lion; and a year later I went to bed one night as a lion and woke up the next morning as a lamb.” In between, the Lord used him powerfully.
The lion roars when it has taken its prey (Amos 3:4) and animals who hear its roar fear and shake involuntarily. When the Lord spoke to Amos, he prophesied involuntarily! (Amos 3:8) The Lamb/Lion on the throne has prevailed over Satan. Jesus was a lamb in his meekness as he stood before the High Priest before Caiaphas, before Pontius Pilate, before the Roman soldiers who whipped him, and finally the passers-by who taunted him while he hung helplessly on the Cross. But he was a lion in his resurrection and loudly in his triumph over the powers of darkness! “He made an open display of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Years ago, after a week of severe illness, the Lord spoke to me through these texts and made me know that I needed to be less passive and more aggressive, so I became a ‘lion’, shook myself, and ‘roared’ at the persistent illness: “I command you to get well and to fully recover in the Name of Jesus!” According to Ephesians 1:22-23 Christ is the head over his body, which is the church. Jesus the head of the church is the saviour of his body (Ephesians 5:23). This metaphor is taken from the physiological fact that the human head (mind) rules the human body. The mind-body link is psychosomatic.
The Bible’s concept of “suffering for Christ’s sake” does not include sickness. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) With lion-like strength Samson arose and shook off bondages. A lion shakes its mane after it stands up. An evangelist friend once told me that the lion is the only animal in Africa that sleeps with its eyes closed.
The Apostle Paul was lamb-like in ministry and sought to persuade men. But he was lion-like when confronting demonic obstruction or willful disobedience. He pronounced God’s judgement on Bar-Jesus the sorcerer (Acts 13:6-12), and on those Jews who resisted his message (Acts 13: 44-47). Paul put up with a fortune-telling maid for days before ordering the spirit of Python to leave her 16:16-18).
We are lambs, not lions, but there are times when the anointing on us causes us to speak out with authority against evil spirits in people and against people whose spirits are evil. (We need to discern which is which.) It’s time to ‘roar’ against your chronic condition, captive situation or evil circumstance! It’s time to ‘roar’ against oppressive sickness. Sickness will turn the temple of the Holy Spirit into a ruined shell.
The Lion of Judah is territorial over his domain. He has “taken the prey” and shares it with the young lions. That’s us! We don’t walk through this world as lions but as lambs. However those who with evil intent resist the power of the gospel suddenly discover to their dismay that we are not the easy prey they thought we were. Things change when quiet lambs suddenly turn into loud lions!