Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Tal Paul's Preaching. This episode is titled lion and Lamb and was recorded on March 31 of 2019.
After switching weeks for an unremembered reason. This episode closes out the month of March, whose weather comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb.
This episode explores biblical references to lions and lambs, then compares them to Jesus.
The main scripture for this episode is The Revelation, chapter 5, verses 1 through 14.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Let's definitely go before the Lord and let's bow our hearts in prayer. Lord, you are so great and wonderful and sovereign and we just look to you, we trust in you and we just rely on you for all our needs, Lord.
Lord, we pray for our country too.
It seems that it's in turmoil all the time now. And we just pray that we know you're in control and we just want to trust that you've got it handled and that you know what's going on and it's going to glorify you.
And we just pray for all of our cares and health and wants and whatever ails us, Lord, that we would look to you and we know that you are faithful and love us so much, Lord. And we just praise you for that, praise you for how good you are and wonderful.
And we do this in Jesus name.
Amen.
Well, it's March, the last day of March.
And in March we say the weather comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
And man, it sure got the lion part right at the start of this month. It was just ferocious. It was vicious snow and cold and oh man, boy, but I'm sure glad it's going out like a lamb.
I had my doubts, you know, up until about the 21st, I wasn't sure that we would see the ground. There was still so much snow, but boy, I'm so glad that the snow was gone and we can see the grass and the flowers and everything starting to grow.
And we have associated the weather of March to help describe or illustrate or paint a picture of the contrast of the start of the month of March's weather with the end and how it goes out.
And we can easily picture a lion. That ferocious weather, the roaring winds, that biting cold that's so lion like. And we can picture a lamb warm and fuzzy, gentle like a breeze. It couldn't knock you over.
I mean, that lamb is just so peaceful.
And so we associate animals to help illustrate our point with the weather in the contrast of March.
And so does God, and he just so happens to use those exact same animals to describe Jesus Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah and Jesus is the Lamb of God.
And so just like March's weather, let's start by looking at lions in the Bible.
There are many famous lions in scripture.
One of the first is the lion and the bear that David slew. And David was going to go up against Goliath and he was trying to convince him to let him go slay that giant. And so he describes the time that he was keeping care of the flock and a bear and a lion came against him and David slew him with his own hands.
Then we have perhaps the most famous, we've got Daniel in the lion's den.
We have Darius and the politicians of that day convinced him to pass a law that outlawed the worship of God.
And Daniel, he's not going to stop worshiping God. Daniel was a man of God. So Daniel worshiped publicly and they caught him and they threw him into that lion's den. And Darius was so worried, he ran back that next morning and sure enough the Lord had shut those lions mouth and Daniel was unharmed.
Then we have this lion that the mighty Samson slew.
He was that Fabio looking long haired guy who had lots of women problems. Oh my goodness, he had women problems.
And one of the women that he was about to marry, she was a Philistine, which God forbade the Israelites to marry, but he was going to do it anyway. And he was taking his parents down and a lion came out against him and he slew that lion. He probably just flicked it on the nose or something and it died.
But this lion died. And when he went back by a nest of bees had gone up inside the carcass of the lion. And so he presented that riddle to everybody and said, out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And nobody could solve that riddle until that girl he was about to marry begged and pleaded and finally got out of him that what is stronger than a lion and what is sweeter than honey?
Then there's this lion. It's a very strange tale in First Kings, chapter 13, where this prophet was supposed to go and prophesy against Jeroboam and Bethel.
And God told him to go in, tell Jeroboam what God was telling him, and then to leave by a different way. Well, the prophet was leaving by a different way, but he lingered. And another guy came along and said, well, oh no, the Lord told me that you should come and eat with me.
And that's exactly what the Lord told this prophet not to do.
So this prophet leaves the other prophet's house and he's slain by a lion. The lion jumps out and kills him. And his donkey and lion stand right next over his corpse.
And they just stand there. And the lion doesn't eat the donkey and the lion doesn't eat the corpse. They just stand there. And the people marveled at what God had done.
Then, of course, in the millennium, the lion shall lay down with the calf and the wolf with the lamb.
And we have lions in general referenced throughout the Scriptures in many ways. And perhaps I think the most famous is going to be 1 Peter 5:8, 1st Peter 5:8.
And you'll remember it as soon as I start saying it. It says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, is as a roaring lion walking about, seeking whom he may devour.
And aside from that most famous one, here are some of my other favorites. Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 13 says, the lazy man says, there's a lion outside.
I shall be slain in the streets. This guy is so lazy that he says that there might be a lion outside. I'm not going to go outside and work because I might be killed.
In Amos 3. 8, it says, the lion has roared. Who will not fear the Lord God has spoken. Who can but prophesy?
And what Amos is saying there is that when the lion roars, everybody fears.
And when the Lord God speaks to you, you have to go and speak that what God has told you to do.
And Psalms 91:13 says, and this is speaking of Jesus, what Jesus will do, it says, you shall tread upon the lion and snake, the young lion and the dragon shall you trample underfoot. Speaking of how Jesus is going to defeat our enemy, there are also these four strange creatures that accompany God in Scripture.
You'll see them in Revelation and Isaiah and Ezekiel.
And they're the ones with the six wings that cry, Holy, holy, holy, 24 7. And they seem to be accompanying God and. And his throne.
And we all know why they say holy, holy, holy three times. That's because of the Trinity, holy for each.
I'll actually read that one. Revelation, Chapter four, verses seven through nine.
And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third had a face as a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.
And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about them, and they were full of eyes around and within.
And they rested not day nor night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come.
And those beasts Give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who lives forever and ever.
As the Israelites wandered through the wilderness, the camp wasn't in complete chaos. They didn't just find a spot, and everybody camped where they went to. They all had assignments on how and where they were to camp.
And so you had the tabernacle, and that's where God dwelt in the middle. That was the tribe of Levi. They had charge of carrying this tabernacle and setting up the mercy seat and the tabernacle where God was.
So you had the tabernacle and the tribe of Levi surrounding that. Then you had all the tribes, and they would camp north and south and east and west.
There were four tribes that started that. So there would be one tribe up north, and then the rest of the other tribes would camp north of them.
So it was very organized.
And each of those tribes would have this banner or flag or standard with the emblem or sigil or whatever represented that tribe.
And they would carry that as they marched or went to battle or. Or camped.
And so for Ephraim, Ephraim was the tribe that was north.
And they had the ox, just like one of the four living creatures.
Then you had Reuben on the east, and their emblem was a man, just like one of the four living creatures.
And then you had Dan to the west, and they had the eagle, just like one of the four living creatures.
And Judah, of course, the lion.
They were south.
And the lion just happens to be one of the four living creatures.
So you would have this lion, and that represented Judah. But where did Judah get the lion representation? We find that in Genesis, chapter 49, verses 8 through 10. And Jacob, who God renamed to Israel, is blessing and prophesying over each of his kids, the tribes of Israel.
And this is where he's talking about Judah. And it says, judah, you are whom your brethren shall praise.
Your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies. Your father's children shall bow down before you. Basically, all the other tribes are going to bow before Judah.
Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey. My son, you are gone. Up he stooped down he crouched as a lion, as an old lion who shall rouse him up the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet until Shiloh or the Messiah shall come.
And unto Messiah shall the gathering of the people be.
And that's where Judah gets the lion as their emblem or standard.
You see, Leah and Rachel were the wives of Jacob, but only Leah had children First. And she had the first four children. She had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and then Judah.
So why wasn't the firstborn chosen to be the king or the leader of all the other tribes? Well, Reuben fell into sexual sin and Simeon and Levi were cruel.
In fact, one of the daughters of Jacob or Israel had sex with another tribe member. Not a tribe of Israel, an outside tribe. So Simeon and Levi said, oh, we'll let you marry her and intermarry with us, only you must be circumcised.
And so they had that tribe circumcised.
And right as they were recovering from that, Simeon and Levi went in and killed them all.
So they were cruel. And so the rights of the firstborn fall to Judah. And I think we can see why if we look at the story of Exodus and Joseph, where Judah comes before Joseph and he offers up himself in the place of all his brothers. He says, don't, don't imprison my brothers, imprison me. Take my life for my brothers. And that's the right kind of heart God wants to use.
And so King David comes from the tribe of Judah.
And Jesus, a descendant of David, comes from the tribe of Judah, who is king of kings.
Just as the lion of King we describe as the king of beasts, Jesus is the king of kings.
And our banner, our standard, our emblem over us should be Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
In fact, if we look at how God made lions, if we take a look at their characteristics and mannerisms, God could have picked a rhinoceros as the symbol of Judah, or an elephant or a shark, whatever he wanted. But when we look at lions, I think you'll understand how that fits perfectly with Jesus.
For instance, there's only one head of the tribe or king lion of the pride.
The male and female lions are very distinctively different. But there's one single dominant male and he'll kick out or kill all the rivals to his throne.
The lion king does not share the throne with anyone else.
That certainly sounds like Jesus. You can't love two masters.
We must choose who will be king of our lives.
We must put to death the sin of our nature.
The headline is King and protector of its own, fighting to the death to preserve the pride's well being.
They are his pride and joy and he delights in them.
His pride contains a related group of females able to live on their own and fend for themselves. I mean, those female lions, they could hunt and kill for themselves. They don't really need that male lion. But you must be part of the pride to take part in the rewards.
We must belong to the body of Christ, the Church, to have God's power, power and protection.
The females or his brides are the ones doing the work for the king. They bring their kills, their first fruits. Let's call them to their king.
They go forth to hunt together as a team, each having a specific role in the harvest, just as we have different roles in the body of Christ and give all the glory to our God.
And there is an enemy, hyenas, who will often steal those kills. And the harvest of those lions are hated. And the males have been known to just hunt and kill hyenas without even eating them.
Clearly, when you look at lions and the attributes of Jesus, the similarities are astounding.
So let's go out like a lamb, like March, and take a look at sheep.
And often when we think of sheep, we think of shepherds.
However, the study of shepherds is really an entire Bible study on its own.
The list of shepherds is long, and there's far too much that can be said about them.
So really, we'll have to save that for a different sermon.
This is of course, because we as people are often compared to being sheep kneading a shepherd.
Mark 6, 6:34 says, and Jesus, when he came out, saw much people and was moved with compassion towards them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd.
And Jesus began to teach them many things.
Psalm 103 says, you know that the Lord, he is God, and that he has made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
And Matthew 10:16 says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.
You be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Boy, there God just pulls out all the references to different animals. There's four there. The sheep, the wolves, the serpents, and the doves.
In Psalm 79, 13, it says, so we your people and sheep of your pasture, referring to God, will give you thanks forever. We will show forth your praise to all generations.
And Psalm 95, 7, 8 says, for he is our God, and we, we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the provocation, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.
We also associate sheep in the Bible with sacrifice, and rightly so, because lambs were the most commonly sacrificed animal.
Now we'll notice that Satan doesn't associate himself with a lamb, just with a lion, because Satan isn't about to do Anything for anybody except himself.
I think that's the key to recognizing the deception of Satan, because Satan can do miracles, but everything should glorify God.
People should praise God when a miracle occurs.
And Satan doesn't want to be associated with the sacrifice for others. But Jesus certainly does.
Jesus is the Lamb of God.
This is how he was first publicly announced to the people.
John the Baptist introduces Jesus at the start of Jesus ministry with this. We find it in the Gospel of John, chapter one, verse 29.
And the next day, John the Baptist, seeing Jesus coming unto him and said, behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
And again, just a few verses later, John 1:36. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God.
So what exactly is the Lamb of God?
Passover, or what we call Easter, is coming up soon, just right around the corner.
And that is where Jesus became the Lamb of God.
Israel was captive and enslaved by the Egyptians.
And God, through Moses, tried to convince the Pharaoh to let his people go.
And the way he tried to convince him is by instituting plagues upon Egypt.
And the last plague and the worst plague finally would cause Israel to be released.
That was the first Passover.
The angel of death would pass over all those who partook of the lamb and would not kill their firstborn.
And so the Israelites were to take into their homes a lamb, spotless and perfect and healthy, to live among them, with them in their home.
Everyone would become acquainted with that lamb.
Friends even.
I'm sure the kids named it something like Lamb Chop.
And I'm sure those same kids cried when it was sacrificed, having bonded with it.
See, that lamb represented complete innocence that would die in our place because of sin, because of our own very sin.
I think if we recognize sin as eventual death, I'm convinced we would do less of it.
So you've got Billy sitting on his little brother and he's pounding on his chest, torturing him, you know, say uncle's uncle.
And in walks the little lamb chop.
BA Billy looks up at that lamb.
You got a little. Little Sally who runs in the kitchen to gossip to her mother.
Her mother's there feeding little lamb chop.
Sally looks at that lamb and says, never mind, and walks away.
You got mom and dad in the middle of a screaming fight.
In walks little lamb chop, curious BA they would stop and look at that innocent little lamb, that little lamb chop, understanding that it was going to be their sin that was going to put to death that little lamb, that innocent, perfect little Lamb was a complete and perfect picture of our Lord Jesus.
We must become acquainted friends with. We must get to know Jesus.
We must bring Jesus into our homes, our lives.
We must recognize Jesus died for our sins in our place.
We must partake of his.
We must consume Jesus, the bread of life. See, they didn't just kill the lamb. They actually made that lamb into a meal.
And we ourselves, and that's what communion represents, that bread of life. We must consume Jesus, accept Jesus completely, to get that angel of death to pass over them and live. That first Passover, they took that blood of the lamb with hyssop. And they would strike either side of their door and the top of the door frame, and that blood would drip down and it was on either side and that would form that cross.
And when that angel of death would come and see that the blood of that lamb was covering their door, it would pass over that house and not cause that death.
We must as well, we must sprinkle that blood of Jesus on our hearts, on that doorpost of our heart, so that that death, that second death passes us over as well.
Just like the month of March, the Jews thought, thought of the Messiah as two completely different people because the Old Testament scriptures describe him so differently.
There was that lamb like Messiah who was the suffering servant. And then they had that lion like Messiah who was the conquering king.
And I think Revelation 5 kind of ties it all together. If you want to turn there. Revelation chapter 5.
And it starts with.
And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?
And no man in heaven or on the earth or under the earth will to open the scroll or to even look at it.
And verse four. So I wept much. This is John the disciple speaking.
He just wept bitterly because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll or even look at it.
But one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has prevailed. To open the scroll and to loose itself. Seven seals, Verse six. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Then he came, that lamb and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us unto God by your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne. The living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was innumerable, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the sun, under the earth, and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying, blessing and honor and glory and power to be to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. Then the four living creatures said, Amen, and the 24 elders fell down and worshipped him. Him who lives forever and ever.
In Revelation 6, just the next chapter, verses 15 through 17, it's going to describe those who have rejected Jesus, and they're going to say, hide us from the wrath of the Lamb.
And we can't even comprehend the wrath of this sweet little lamb.
However, if we look at it in the opposite way, as we think of March's weather, which comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, the opposite is true for our Messiah, who went out like a lamb slain, but is coming back as a lion.
Beware the wrath of the Lamb. Indeed, Jesus is our chosen and dominant male lion, the King of kings, the lion of the tribe of Judah, who will rule and reign forever.
Jesus is also that sacrificial lamb who took our place and died for our sins as the Lamb of God, so that the second death will pass us over.
Praise God. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Indeed.
Enjoy and accept the Lamb and the lion's bite will not come against you.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, you go to great lengths to illustrate your word so that we can comprehend it. Lord, we just ask that that Holy Spirit works within us and reminds us of your word and everything that you want us to learn, Lord, and that seed in our heart would grow and that we would come closer in our relationship with you.
Lord, we praise you for who you are, and Lord we praise you for all that you've done to save us.
We thank you and we praise you in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to this message.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Our prayer is that the message, in some way or another, helped in your walk with God and that your relationship with God was strengthened and grew more intimate.
If you would like to contact us with questions or comments, you can email us at the following that's meredletters.com or M E at R E D L E T T e r S Com.
Thank you.
