The Lamb And The Lion Of God

One of the most beautiful prophecies of the coming Kingdom of God (see also The Gospel of The Kingdom of God) is found in the book of Isaiah (see also The Prophets: Isaiah).

"^11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse [see also The Seed Of David], and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: ^11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; ^11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: ^11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. ^11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

^11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. ^11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ^11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. ^11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD [see The By-The-Book Messiah], as the waters cover the sea.

^11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. ^11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ^11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth ;see The Gathering of Israel and Judah]." (Isaiah 11:1-10 KJV)

"In the midst of the elders stood a Lamb ... behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah"

Along with the literal lambs and lions described in the verses quoted above, the Word of God also uses them figuratively, in Prophecy. Perhaps the reason that there was to be a "lamb" of God, and why The Christ was born as an ordinary man, is because sheep symbolized humanity, as in how the "sheep have gone astray" - except the One from among them that would be Sacrificed as a means to bring them back to the fold. As also prophesied by Isaiah:

"^53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ^53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. ^53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:5-7 KJV)

The prophets of the later time recognized the "lamb" when He came.

"^1:29 The next day John [see The Prophets: John The Baptist] seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29 KJV)

When He had completed His given purpose, the "Lamb" delivered the Sacrifice to God.

"^5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof [see The Seven Seals]. ^5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. ^5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. ^5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; ^5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:5-10 KJV)

Notice also in the verses quoted above that the "Lamb" ("in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain") is also referred to as a "Lion" ("behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda"). Like the "Lamb," the "Lion" was identified long ago.

"^49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? ^49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (Genesis 49:9-10 KJV)

Lions are used as symbols of kings. In the case of The Messiah, it describes how the "Lamb" is going to rule when He returns.

"^15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. ^15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. ^15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." (Revelation 15:2-4 KJV)

"^19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ^19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. ^19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. ^19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ^19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ^19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of kings, and LORD of lords." (Revelation 19:11-16 KJV)

Fact Finder: What is the purpose of "Zion"?
See Anti-Zion Is Anti-Christ

This Day In History, April 9

193: Septimius Seversus was proclaimed emperor by the Roman army in Illyricum (see Ancient Empires - Rome).

1241: Mongol forces fought the Poles and the Germans at the Battle of Liegnitz.

1483: King Edward IV of England died.

1626: Francis Bacon, British lawyer, courtier, statesman, philosopher and writer died at age 65.

1682: Explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed Louisiana for King Louis XIV of France.

1770: English explorer James Cook sighted Botany Bay, Australia.

1747: Simon Fraser, the 12th baron Lovat Jacobite, became the last man in England to be executed by beheading.

1799: Sir Humphrey Davy discovered the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide, ("laughing gas").

1865: Over 26,000 Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union forces under Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, ending U.S. Civil War.

1869: The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada.

1917: During the First World War (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars), the German-held Vimy Ridge (France) was taken by 4 divisions of Canadian troops after one of the fiercest battles of the war.

1921: The Russian-Polish War ended with the signing of the Riga Treaty.

1940: Germany invaded Norway and Denmark during the Second World War.

1945: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian and anti-Nazi was executed in Flossenburg concentration camp. He was arrested in 1943 for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

1948: 245 Arab men, women and children were killed by the Irgun (a "Zionist" paramilitary group) in a village close to Jerusalem called Deir Yassin. The murders resulted in tens of thousands of Arabs fleeing to the Arab-controlled West Bank, and into Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Egyptian Gaza Strip. In retaliation, the Arabs murdered 77 Jewish doctors and nurses in a convoy on their way to Mount Scopus.

1969: The supersonic Concorde airliner made its maiden flight, from Bristol to Fairford in England.

1991: The date of Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0

1992: President Manuel Noriega of Panama was convicted of drug charges in a Miami court. Noriega was captured as a prisoner of war when the U.S. invaded Panama, however he was thereafter prosecuted by U.S. domestic law.

2005: Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, his mistress of many years.