Those who mistake meekness for weakness are shocked when lambs that bleat become lions that bite! John the Baptist introduced Jesus as “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 defenceless, but a lion is aggressive, strong and territorial. A lamb does not open its mouth but a lion opens it and roars over its domain! The sacrificial Lamb had become the triumphant Lion.
Most of us are by nature lambs but there are times when we need to become lions. A revivalist said, “I went to bed a lamb one night and the next morning I woke up as a lion; and then a year later I went to bed one night as a lion and woke up the next morning as a lamb.” In the time between the Lord used him powerfully.
The lion roars when it has taken its prey (Amos 3:4) and those who hear it shake with fear 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 before Caiaphas, Pilate, the Roman soldiers who whipped him and the passers-by who taunted him while he hung on the Cross.
But Jesus was a lion in his resurrection and in his triumph over the powers of darkness! “He made an open display of them, triumphing over them in it.”
After a week of severe illness, the Lord spoke to me through these texts and made me know that I needed to become a lion. So I ‘roared’ at the persistent illness in my body, saying, “I command you to get well in Jesus’ name!” and “I speak the health of the Lord Jesus Christ into my body!” I soon recovered.
The Bible definition 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)
Samson had lion-like strength, and he arose and shook off bondages (until his hair was cut and his vow broken). A lion shakes its mane after it has risen to its feet. An evangelist friend told me that the lion is the only African animal that sleeps with its eyes closed.
The apostle Paul was lamb-like in ministry and sought to persuade men. But when confronted by demonic obstruction or in the face of wilful disobedience, he was lion-like! He pronounced 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 (Acts 16:16-18).
We may be by nature lambs, rather than lions but there are times when the anointing moves us to speak with authority against evil spirits in people, and also 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 spiteful words of those who think little of you! It’s time to ‘roar’ against the sickness that oppresses your body, which is “the temple of the Holy Spirit”! Satan wants to turn God’s temple into a heap of ruins.
The Lion of Judah looks territorially out and 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; we walk through it as lambs.
But when those with evil intent persist in resisting the message of Jesus, they discover suddenly and to their dismay that we are not the pushovers they had thought we were.
That happens when the Lord’s quiet lambs suddenly turn into his loud young lions!