Almost everyone has an imbalanced view of Jesus’ emotional life. Practically, we tend to see Him as either lion or lamb and not both. Those of us with more lamb personalities will focus on the parts of the Bible where Jesus was meek, kind, patient, loving, and appears more passive if not even timid. Those of us with more lion personalities will focus on the parts of the Bible where Jesus was strong, firm, urgent, controversial, and appears more active, if not aggressive.
The Bible presents Jesus as both a lion and a lamb. Revelation 5:5-6 speaks of Jesus saying, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…”
Jesus came to earth once in tenderness as a lamb as He was born a baby, crucified on a cross, resurrected from the dead, and ascended to Heaven. We witness Jesus as lamb in His tender love for women, children, the outcast, and suffering. Examples include the healing of Jairus’ daughter, forgiving the sinful Samaritan woman at the well, weeping at the death of His friend Lazarus, and tenderly caring for His mother Mary from the cross. As a lamb, Jesus is tender.
Sometimes Jesus is a lion. A lion is the king of the jungle. A lion eats whatever it wants – buffalo, hogs, and even elephants or alligators. A male lion lives in a pride or pack with mainly females and children and will go to war against anything that threatens his pack. We see Jesus as a lion in His repeated wars with Satan, fights with demonic religious leaders, and making a whip to attack money changers at the Temple for exchanging the worship of God for the demon god of money, Mammon.
When Jesus returns the second time, He will return as a lion. The reason He has not yet had the final judgment is not because He is indifferent, but rather He is patient and is giving sinners ample opportunity to trust in the Savior, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”
A day is coming when God will judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:5) through the Son (Ps. 2:12; Mark 14:62; John 5:22; Acts 17:31). When the Son of Man’s throne arrives on the earth, all will stand before Him for judgment (Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-15).
Ezekiel 38-39 talks about a final war to end all wars. This is the same battle mentioned as the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 16:16.
This war is part of the constant effort to undo the Abrahamic Covenant, to take the land, to destroy the lineage, and to change who the Lord is. This will continue until the final battle where the nations surrounding Israel are empowered by the Hamas spirit to declare war, take the land, eradicate the lineage, and thwart the Second Coming of the Lord.
Essentially, the story of Ezekiel 38-39 is this: the Hamas spirit of violence will empower all these nations to align together and to strike and attack Israel in an attempt to undo the Abrahamic Covenant, take the land, destroy the lineage, and stop the Lord. This will be the final war because this would be a war that Israel would lose and Satan would win, where Israel would be eviscerated unless the Lord Jesus returns.
But here’s the good news. We’re going to encourage each other, like it says in 1 Thessalonians. Stay tuned for the good news in tomorrow’s devotional.
Are you more of a lion or a lamb? Do you see Jesus more as a lion or a lamb?
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