The Lion and the Lamb

All my life I have heard that the Bible tells us that Heaven will be so perfect and peaceful that the lion will lie down with the lamb. It wasn't too long ago that I realized that that thought wasn't quite accurate. While it is probable that such will be the case, the phrase comes from a misquote of Isaiah 11:6. The exact words read:

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and

the calf and the lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."

A lamb is found in the verse, but no lion. However, there is a place in Revelation that gives us a very interesting presentation of the Lion and the Lamb.

In chapter four, John is taken up to Heaven, and in five he weeps because no one is found worthy to open the scroll that contains the final judgements and the denouement of God's redemptive plan for the earth. Without that scroll being opened, those events that will wrap up the end of the world before the coming of the millennial reign cannot take place. The glory that is Heaven, the glory that is living in the presence of our Savior, will remain out of our reach. No wonder John wept.

But in verse five of chapter five one of the elders tells John to buck up. There is Someone worthy to perform this crucial step, this breaking of the seals to open the scroll. He tells John, "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." John looks. And what does he see? Verse six says he sees "a Lamb as it had been slain."

So here we see the juxtaposition of the Lion and the Lamb, presented in an intriguing way. The elder tells John to look at the Lion. But when John looks, what he sees is a Lamb. Why this difference? We know that the Lamb is Jesus. We know that the Lion is Jesus. So when John looks and sees the Lamb, he is also seeing the Lion, but that is not what his eyes are showing him. Why? While they are both symbols of Jesus, is there a reason why the elder calls him a Lion yet John sees Him as a Lamb?

A very wise minister once told me, "Let Scripture define Scripture." So let's look at how Scripture tells us God sees things. In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord tells the prophet Samuel that people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. John's eyes saw a Lamb, but the words out of the elder's mouth were different. Jesus, yes, equivalent, yes, but symbolized in a completely different way. I believe the elder was proclaiming the totality of what God saw in the Lamb. John's eyes perceived what the world saw, Jesus as a meek lamb, a slain lamb. But God saw Him in all the power of His resurrection, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Because God does not see with the limitations of human eyes; He sees us as all that we are in Him.

As I extrapolate on this precept, please remember that Jesus the Lamb was sinless, but the other human examples in Scripture were not. When John saw what worldly eyes saw, the Lamb, he was looking at a sinless being. There are other examples in the Bible that give us an inkling of how, despite our human frailties, God focuses on His glory within His chosen vessels. They, unlike the Lamb, had a presentation of sin in their lives. Also note, please, that in no way am I saying it is okay to sin, that to live without regard to God's moral precepts is acceptable. My point is that we, as mere humans, can see one dimension only, while God sees much more, a totality of what we are in Him.

For example, when you think of Lot, Abraham's nephew who chose to live in the bustling populated cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, how do you think of him? If you're anything like me, you think of him as selfish; when his uncle gave him the choice of where to live, instead of deferring to his elder, his uncle, he thought only of what was best for himself. Thus, selfishly, he chose the area that looked more profitable for his herds. And later, well, I don't really like talking about it, but he kind of got drunk and allowed himself to be tricked into sleeping with his daughters. The resulting line of descendants shows how wrong choices end in grievous consequences. That line ended up giving us some of the enemies of God's people, the Moabites and the Ammonites. Because of these egregious acts, I tend to disparage Lot in my thoughts, but I am wrong to do so. God does not see as man sees.

Incredibly, in 2 Peter 2:7-8 Lot is called "just," "a righteous man," one who was vexed day to day by the "unlawful deeds" that surrounded him. Lot made some pretty big mistakes. But while God did hold him accountable for his actions, and he reaped much grief from his dumb choices, God still loved Him. And this is the mind boggling truth: God chose to see the good in him (calling him righteous infers that Lot loved and sought after the living God), and to speak that to the generations to come. Yes, He included the history of Lot's errors in Scripture that we might learn from them. But God's focus was not on Lot's errors. In His abundant mercy, He forgave him. He spoke good of him. And if God chooses to speak good of someone, who are we to visualize them solely in their miry past, to speak evil of them, or condemn them in our thoughts?

After the story of Lot, we read about Jacob, who lived up to his name, a name that means "supplanter." He not only stole his brother's birthright, but his paternal blessing as well. Yet, despite Jacob's roguish tendencies, God deigned to reveal Himself to him, even changing his name, and making of him a great nation. Time and again in the New Testament, God is referred to as "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." This honor would not have been conferred on someone God held in disdain. In fact, in Romans 9:13 the Apostle Paul quotes an Old Testament promise about Jacob in which God says, "Jacob I loved." We see that when God loves someone, He doesn't minimize or try to hide their errors. But once the person in question enters into covenant with Him, God never again refers to their errors. He speaks to the greatness, His righteousness, that He sees in them.

Then there are the brothers of Joseph who, except for Benjamin, were stinkers every one. Treating their father despicably. Selling their brother into slavery. What skunks! What unworthy persons to be on the receiving end of God's blessings! But just as their brother Joseph forgave them, apparently so did God. From them God chose to bring forth the people that would be called Israel. He didn't hide their perfidy, it is written plainly in Scripture, but He forgave them when they repented and changed the trajectory of their lives. If God forgave them, who are we to hold them in perpetual contempt?

Over and over we see that when we enter into a covenant relationship with God, He no longer speaks of us or sees us as what we once were. He sees the Lion in us. We might have been skunks, but God will not dwell on that. He will define us as He sees us now—washed, redeemed, covered in the righteousness of Christ. He does not see us in our weakest, most limited form. He sees us as all that we are in Him. The Lion and the Lamb.

The elder said one thing, John saw another. God was revealing the totality of all that is the Christ. Even so are we. When He sees us, He sees the totality of all He has made us.

May this encourage us not only to be careful not to diminish our fellow believers with our words, but to think of ourselves as He sees us. Not limited. Not powerless. Washed, clean, walking in the power of His Spirit.

"And such (thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, etc.) were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29) .

"Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:11).