Do you know that we have a powerful advocate?
“Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:5
We are often so taken up by the meekness and gentleness of Jesus that we forget that He is a king, a ruler and a very powerful one. We don’t usually have a problem with seeing Jesus as a lamb, but it is more difficult to see Him as a lion. In fact, some of us associate lions in the scripture with Satan or destruction of God’s people. Wasn’t Daniel cast into a den of lions because he disobeyed Nebuchadnezzar? Doesn’t 1 Peter 5:8 say, “…your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour"?
For sheep, which is the subject Peter is addressing, a lion’s roar is terrifying. Though it is certainly frightening, the power of a lion is not in its roar. Peter says that Satan is “like” a roaring lion seeking to devour and will devour any who are not in the flock of the Good Shepherd. Why would Jesus be announced as the Lion of the tribe of Judah?
This reference relates to Israel’s (Jacob’s) blessing of his son, Judah, in Genesis 49, where he described Judah as a lion and also declared him to be the ruler over his brothers. The lion became the symbol of rulers. Banners of kings have had lions upon them to show the strength of their dominion. In essence, the elder is telling us that the Worthy Lamb who he is introducing has total dominion and he backs it up with three more statements, which we’ll get into next Monday.
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