THE LION
In the Ancient Near East. Because of the well-known characteristics of lions, they were of special interest to a broad spectrum of people across the ancient Near East and Africa. Due to the lion’s power and boldness, lions were often hunted for sport, especially by the Assyrian kings. Some captured lions were even kept in captivity (cf. e.g., Dan. 6:7). Indeed, The “ keeping of lions in captivity in ancient Mesopotamia is well attested in in the inscriptions and stone reliefs of the Assyrian kings, who used to let them out of their cages to hunt them down” and, “The Assyrian king Ashurnasipal II (ca. 883-859 B.C.) is reported to have maintained a breeding farm for lions at Nimrud, while in Egypt Ramses II (ca. 1290-1224 B.C.) supposedly had a pet lion that he took into battle.
Representations and carved statues of lions could be found at important public places. City gates were especially suitable for such displays. Particularly noteworthy were the lion figures at Nebuchadnezzar II’s famed Ishtar Gate in Babylon, before which lay a processional way, “decorated with figures of lions in enameled brick.” Noteworthy also were the “two mighty lions of basalt, inscribed with a record of warfare,” which Shalmaneser III placed at the south gate of Til Barsip following his conquest of the city.
Temples, palaces and thrones could also be adorned with lion figures and statues. A fine example is Tiglath Pileser III’s palace at Kalhu where, “Lions and bull colossi, whose figures were wrought with extreme cunning, clothed with power, were set up in the entrance for a wonder.” Kings apparently were fascinated with the prowess of the lion. Accordingly, they often depicted themselves as possessing lion-like qualities. Thus Adad Nirari II of Assyria (911-891 B.C.) declared, “I am powerful, I am all powerful, I am brilliant, I am lion-brave, I am manly, I am supreme, I am noble.” Similarly Assur-nasir-pal II (883-859 B.C.) boldly proclaims, “I am lion-brave, and I am heroic! Assur-n™sir-pal, the mighty king, the king of Assyria, chosen of Sin, favorite Anu, beloved of Adad, mighty one among the gods, I am the merciless weapon that strikes down the land of his enemies.” The Hittite king Hattusilis I likewise says of his son and successor Muršiliš “You must enthrone him. […] In place of the lion, [the god will set up only] (another) lion.” Even the gods were at times compared to lions. Thus the Egyptian god Amun-Re is portrayed as a lion who “loves his possessions!” The Canaanite death god Mot is described metaphorically as a voracious beast with a “throat of a lion.”
In the Old Testament. With this brief survey of the ubiquity of the lion imagery in the ancient Near East in view, it may be expected that the lion would also appear in the literature of the Old Testament. Such an expectation is amply rewarded. Indeed, the same images of ferocity and strength evoked in association with the use of the lion in the literature of the ancient Near East may be seen in the Old Testament. Many different Hebrew words for lion were used, often to depict lion-like qualities in human beings, especially warriors and kings, but even whole nations. Lion-like qualities in human beings could be presented both negatively and positively. Thus wicked individuals were at times compared to lions roaring after their prey and tearing them apart. Accordingly, David prays to the Lord for deliverance from wicked men saying, “ Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me! Otherwise they will rip me to shreds like a lion; they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me”(Ps. 7:1-2; cf. 17:9-12).
One of the most poignant instances of David’s concern may be found in Psalm 22. Here David compares his adversaries to a “roaring lion that rips its prey” Ps. 22:13) and therefore prays to the Lord for rescue from “the moth of lions” (v. 21). Within the context of the second movement of the psalm, which expresses the psalmist’s suffering at the hands of his enemies (vv. 11-21), the imagery of the lion also occurs in a well known crux. In verse 16 (HB v. 17) traditional translations read something like, “They have pierced my hands and feet, ” a reading found not only in the LXX and Latin Vulgate, but in the ancient Psalms Scroll discovered at Nahal Hever. The MT, however, reads: Like a lion, my hands and feet.” If the Hebrew text is allowed to stand, the imagery adds to the effect present in verses 13 and 21. Thus the psalmist feels strongly as though he were surrounded by a pack of voracious lions with their mouths wide open, ready to devour him.
Wicked leaders could also be likened to lions. The kings of Babylon and Assyria as well as the pharaoh of Egypt are depicted as vicious and voracious lions, which are bent on tearing other people and nations apart (Jer. 50:17; Ezek. 32:2). Even the leaders of God’s people could be said to be lion-like in their despoiling of the citizenry: “Her princes within her are like a lion tearing its prey; they have destroyed lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it” (Ezek. 22:25). Leaders and people together could make a city to display lion-like qualities. Nahum declares that such was true of Nineveh (Nah. 2:11-12). Indeed, whole nations were pictured as lions roaring after their prey (Isa. 5:26-30; Jer. 4:7; 5:6; 50:17).
The lion metaphor was also employed in a more positive setting. Thus the righteous person is said to be as “confident as a lion,” even while “the wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing” (Prov. 28:1). The lion’s strength and boldness are exemplified in courageous people. The brave Gadites who defected to David were said to be “fierce as lions” (1 Chron. 12:8). Courageous David reported that even as a youth he had-lion like courage, for he faced and killed a lion (1 Sam. 17:36). A bit of a strange tour de force occurs in Hushai’s reminder to Absalom that his father David possessed unusual strength and ferocity. Therefore if David and his warriors were to attack Absalom’s men first, he would effect such a slaughter that Absalom’s bravest soldier, “one who is lion-hearted-- will virtually melt away” (2 Sam. 17:10). In all of these, then, the quality of bravery is likened to the boldness of a lion.
In yet another setting, much as in the palaces on ancient Near Eastern kings Solomon’s power and royal status were further emphasized in that lion statues surrounded his throne (I Kings 10:19-20). Likewise, Solomon’s temple featured engraved lions Perhaps these were symbolic of the majesty and power of God whose earthly home was understood to be the temple (I Kings 7:12, 29,51; cf. Ezk. 8:16). The following study, however, is concerned with texts in which the lion is used metaphorically for the person and work of God.
The imagery depicting deity as a lion was also utilized by the authors of the Old Testament to portray the person and activities of Yahweh. The metaphor was also very familiar to the Israelite people. The metaphor of God as a lion was particularly present in the context of judgment. Thus Job, who at times felt that the Lord was persecuting him mercilessly, at one point complained, “If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me” (Job 10:16). Therefore, he pleads with God to exercise compassion and give him relief in order that he might enjoy his brief remaining time on earth (vv. 20-22).
During his illness Hezekiah likewise complained that God was relentlessly battering his sick body. Oswalt describes his pain in graphic terms: “The writer says he groaned for help through the night, but in the morning ‘the lion’ was still cracking his bones between his powerful jaws (cf. Job 3:23-26). By nightfall there seemed no hope at all.” Nevertheless, Hezekiah comes to realize that his sickness was designed for his own good: “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. You delivered me from the pit of oblivion. For you removed all my sins from your sight” (Isa. 38:17). In yet another case, the author of Lamentations, while speaking for the citizenry at large in fallen Jerusalem, expressed his sorrow and pain saying with regard to God, “To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion staking its prey” (Lam. 3:10). On the one hand, Jeremiah expresses his own personal deep feelings relative to God’s judgment and the trials, which he himself experienced at the hands of his countrymen (cf. v. 14). On the other hand, as God’s anointed prophet he wishes his hearers to understand that God was yet faithful to his people:
The LORD’s loyal kindness never ceases;
his compassions never end.
They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!
“My portion is the LORD, “ I have said to myself,
so I will put my hope in him (Lam. 3:20-22).
his compassions never end.
They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!
“My portion is the LORD, “ I have said to myself,
so I will put my hope in him (Lam. 3:20-22).
Jeremiah’s representative position as a citizen of Jerusalem who laments God’s judgment against the city is indicative of the fact that not only individuals, but also cities and whole nations could merit God’s lion-like judgment. In extended discourse (Jer. 25) Jeremiah prophesies that God was about to judge his people beginning with Jerusalem (v. 29) and spreading out to the whole nation, “Like a lion about to attack, the LORD will roar from the heights of heaven; from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly” (v. 30). That judgment will then extend “on one nation after another” (v. 32) and so to “all those who live on the earth” (v. 30). For, “The LORD is like a lion who has left his lair. So the lands will certainly be laid waste by the warfare of the oppressive nation and by the fierce anger of the LORD” (v. 38). Jeremiah employed the lion imagery elsewhere as well in announcing the judgment of foreign nations and cities such as Edom (Jer. 49:19) and Babylon (Jer. 50:44). Earlier, Amos also declared that Yahweh was a lion roaring from Jerusalem who would bring judgment not only against his sinful people in Judah (Amos 2:4-5) and Israel (2:6-16), but upon the surrounding nations as well (1:3-2:3).
Especially to be noted is Joel’s prediction concerning the eschatological future (the day of the Lord): “The LORD roars from Zion; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out. The heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel” (Joel 3:16). In that day, “Because the nations have roared insolently against God’s people (Isa 5:25-30), the Lord will be as a lion roaring after its prey but in behalf of the return remnant.” Joel’s prophecy demonstrates that the metaphor of God as a roaring lion is not exclusively one of judgment.
Multiple uses of the lion metaphor also occur in John’s Apocalypse. Although the lion figure does not appear extensively in the book of Revelation, its uses are important. In Revelation 4:7 one of the four living creatures associated with the heavenly throne is said to be “like a lion.” These heavenly creatures are beings much like the seraphim and cherubim (Isa. 6:1-3; Ezek. 10:14). The imagery of the lion, however, is associated with the divine judgment prophesied in connection with the sounding of the fifth trumpet. With its sounding came a plague of locusts with “teeth like lions’ teeth” (Rev. 9:8) and after the sounding of the sixth trumpet, another plague is unleashed by four angels upon horses whose heads “looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulphur came after of their mouths” killing a third of humanity (Rev. 9:17-18). In Revelation 10:3another angelic being is said to shout “in a loud voice like a roaring lion,” a simile doubtless emphasizing the volume and power of the angelic voice. The sounding of “seven thunders” served to provide an awesome effect to the angelic voice foreshadowing still further judgment.
Another fine example of multiple uses is found in the prophetic oracles of Hosea. To be sure, Hosea warns Israel and Judah of their coming judgment due to their infidelity and fascination with foreign deities (e.g., Hos. 13:7-8). Thus the Lord proclaims through Hosea, “I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear them to pieces, then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!” (Hos. 5:14). Both kingdoms will thus suffer defeat and their people carried off as captives into exile. Nevertheless, in another oracle Hosea reveals the compassionate heart, which the Lord has for his people. In a future day he will forgive and restore his repentant people. “He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the LORD; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west” (Hos. 11:10). “As Gomer/Israel would respond in renewed fidelity to her husband (Hosea/Yahweh; 2:19-20), so the future Israelites will come in reverential trust and love to the Lord. As Gomer/Israel would experience renewed blessings based upon fidelity and a lasting relationship with Hosea/Yahweh, so God’s people will experience the long missing covenant blessings in the Promised Land.”
In Israel’s distant historical past in the days of its exodus and movement to the land of promise the hireling prophet Balaam declared that the forces of the Lord’s people were as irresistible as a mighty lion or lioness (Num. 23:24; cf. Num. 24:19). Similarly and yet in a far greater way Isaiah foresees a time when Israel’s lion-like God will come to fight for his people and Jerusalem in particular and his people will prevail over their enemies (Isa. 31:4-5). Micah also foresees a time when “survivors from Jacob will live among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which attacks when it passes through; it rips its prey and there is no one to stop it. Lift your hand triumphantly against your adversaries; may all your enemies be destroyed!” (Mic. 5:8-9). As Barker points out, “Just as a lion mauls and mangles sheep and other animals, so Israel will overcome all her foes… . No one will be able to withstand her. The Messiah’s kingdom must triumph over all opposition.” In all of this one sees the imagery associated with divine authority, power, and judgment.
Ultimately Israel will enjoy a period of great peace and prosperity when its redeemed remnant returns to the Promised Land. In that era of prosperity and peaceful conditions there will be a highway named the “Way of Holiness … reserved for those authorized to use it … no lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it; they will not be found there … those whom the LORD has ransomed will return that way. They will enter Zion with a shout. Unending joy will crown them” (Isa. 35:8-10). In that millennial era even the mighty lion all be tamed: “An ox and a young lion will graze together, and a small child leads them along … a lion, like an ox, will eat straw” (Isa. 11:6-7; cr. Isa. 65:25). All of this will be accomplished through the Lord’s anointed One, the Messiah, Christ Jesus We shall return to this point later. But there is yet another image connected with the animal world that also finds its ultimate application to Christ. To that metaphor we turn our attention before a final consideration of the significance of both images as summed up in him.
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