WHEN THE LAMB OF GOD BECOMES
THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

by A. Edwin Wilson (1901 - 1987)

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"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne" (Rev. 5:1-7).

One of the ways the Lord has of teaching is by setting opposites in position so as to show contrast between the two. For instance, note the contrast between Cain and Abel; Ham and his two brothers, Shem and Japheth; Jacob and Esau; Moses and Pharaoh; David and Saul; Daniel and Belshazzar; and in particular, the one we have for our meditation in this article: Christ as the Lamb of God contrasted with Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It was Isaac in Gen. 22:7, who asked his father Abraham, "Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" Throughout the Old Testament we have the Lamb prefigured in type and symbol as well as mentioned directly in prophecy; but it was not until John the Baptist saw Jesus coming unto him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," that the identity of the Lamb was known. Isaiah 53 gives a beautiful picture of the Lamb, and Psalm 22 also shows how the Lamb suffered. Purported pictures of Christ — which at best are only sinful man's concept and not a true Scriptural presentation — always seem to picture Him as anemic, sickly, and effeminate; whereas, the Word of God pictures Him as the King of kings, and Lord of lords — the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It was as a Lamb that He lived, suffered, and died; but He arose and entered into heaven as our great High Priest, from whence we look for Him to return in vengeance to pour out His wrath on all those who obey not His gospel. Note the following Scriptures:

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Rev. 19:11-16).

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs" (Rev. 14:14-20).

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women, ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle" (Zech. 14:1-3).

"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, 0 Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel" (Joel 3:9-16).

"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury: and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth" (Isa. 63:1-6).

These passages of Scripture uniformly teach that when the Lord returns to the earth with His saints (which will be after He has appeared in the air for His saints) that He is coming in judgment upon the earth dwellers. His feet shall touch the Mt. of Olives and it will cleave in two from the east toward the west. There shall be a very great valley, half the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south (Zech. 14:4). This manifestly is the valley of Jehoshaphat mentioned in Joel 3:12-14. This valley, filled with innumerable hosts of Christ rejecters, is typified by the winepress of Isa. 63 and Rev. 14. The winepress in Scripture was usually dug out of the side of the hill either in rock or hard clay, with a gentle slope toward the outside so that when the juice of the grapes had been crushed out it could flow to the outside and be put in containers. The ripe grapes were gathered and put into the winepress; the men of the harvest would then get into the winepress with bare feet, and with their robes gathered around their waists, tramp the grapes until all the skins were broken. During such process their robes would become stained from head to foot with the juice of the grapes. This time of the harvest was quite a season and was always enlivened by shouts and songs as they rejoiced because of the harvest. The Lord's vengeance upon His enemies is likened to the winepress. His enemies are typified by the grapes, and the Lord Himself treads them beneath His feet. Isa. 63:1-3 and Rev. 19:13 tell of our Saviour's garments being stained with the blood of His enemies. It was alone that He suffered, bled and died on Calvary, and it will be alone that He will tread the winepress (Isa. 63:5, 6). It is amazing how some can say they are not interested in whether the Lord returns or not, when those scenes in and around Jerusalem that witnessed His humiliation will see His honor, power, and glory when He returns as King of kings, and Lord of lords. Through His suffering and sacrificial death He has won the right to rule and reign over His own creation. Let us not deny Him that right by saying it makes no difference whether He comes back or not. Sometimes people who are uninstructed in the Word of God ignorantly ask, "Why doesn't God do something, if there is a God?" These passages of Scripture show very clearly that not only is God going to do something, but they show just exactly what He is going to do. We must always keep in mind that this is the day of grace and that during this day the Lord is seated at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for His people (Heb. 7:25). He is now discharging His office as our great High Priest. He is yet to be revealed as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. What a paradox we find today in that the Jewish nation has never been able to see their Messiah as the Lamb of God, neither as the suffering Servant in Isa. 53. They look only for the Lion of the tribe of Judah. On the other hand, the Gentile Christians cannot see Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, neither as the King of kings ruling and reigning here on the earth over His own creation. They see Him only as the suffering Servant, the Lamb of God, dying in humility, but never exalted to His rightful position as the King of kings. The fact of the matter is, there are two distinct lines of prophecy running throughout the Word of God. One line shows the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God making atonement for sin by dying on the cross. The other line of prophecy portrays Him as the King, Ruler, Conqueror, coming in power and glory, putting all enemies under His feet and reigning for a literal thousand years upon the literal throne of David in the literal city of Jerusalem. One must understand both lines of prophecy to have a clear concept of the Word of God, else he will find himself in despair and despondency because of misunderstanding and misconception similar to that of John the Baptist:

"Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11:2, 3).

Had John recognized the two lines of prophecy he would have known that the glory follows the suffering — the crown comes after the cross. So dear is the crowning, ruling, and reigning of our Lord to God His Father that we are urged to pray, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). We can praise God that there is a day coming when every wrong shall be righted, every sin shall be confessed, Satan shall be put down, Christ and His church shall reign triumphant, and the Name of the Lord shall be glorified on every tongue. And the Lord has urged us to watch and pray for that day. God grant unto every one of you, our readers, that you will lift up your heads and begin to look up, knowing that your redemption draws nigh (Luke 21:28).