The Lion and The Lamb

The Bible describes God’s character as the lion and the lamb. The lion being ferocious, strong, and like a king. The lamb being more docile, peaceful, and not intimidating. God, being seen as a lion is probably what most people prefer to liken to God’s character. Jesus, on the other hand, is endeared to be more like the peaceful lamb. We often think of God having the distinct character of both, the lion, and the lamb.

In the Old Testament, God is a roaring lion calling his people from Assyria and Egypt back to Israel. The blood of lambs was sacrificed for the salvation of the Israelites from the wicked rulers in Egypt. Priests of that time would sacrifice lambs for the sins of Israel.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist, profoundly declared: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” We can read more in (John 1:29). God is roaring like a lion in the Old Testament. The lion was a metaphor image of the Jewish Messiah. He would come as the conquering king. Not so, in the New Testament, but rather God is revealed in the peace-maker person of Jesus. Today, we don’t see the lion metaphor. Rather, we see Jesus as the slain Lamb of God, the one who sacrificed His life for the salvation of our sins. Jesus triumphs over evil through vulnerability and nonviolence, as our conquering, but peaceful Messiah. Praise God.

In these present times, it is not hard for us to see nations like destroyers, the symbols of power and dominance, like ferocious, lions out for the kill. But our hope, if we believe in Jesus, is He is coming back one day as our benevolent, all-forgiving, savior and almighty King!