(READ; PROV. 30:29-3129There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: 30A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; 31A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up. (Proverbs 30:29‑31); REV, 5; 1 Peter 5:8-118Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8‑11); DAN. 6; ISA. 11:4-94But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. 9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:4‑9).)
RO 30:29-31{EV 5{PE 5:8-11{AN 6{SA 11:4-9{
THE LION has justly been called the King of Beasts. His power, fierceness, and boldness are well known but these attributes would not alone give him his proud title. In aspect he is magnificent, the full roar for which he is so noted is grander than the voice of any other beast, but with all these qualities is also a nobleness not found in any other beast of prey.
No animal can strike terror to the heart of a lion, even the fierce and strong buffalo falls an easy prey to the courageous king of beasts. We could hardly term him noble if he were bloodthirsty, but he is not, for a lion will not kill except when hunger drives him to do so to provide his food. He is no more bloodthirsty than the butcher who slaughters the bullock or the sheep for his own dinner, he does not kill for the sake of killing, and in this he is surely nobler than some human beings who chase and kill for the mere joy of it. A lion may capture his prey, but he will not worry it or tear it to pieces like the wolf, or bear, and if he takes an animal in readiness for an evening meal, so long as that animal does not resist he will not do him any harm. This has enabled many a hunter to escape with his life after being surprised and caught by the king of beasts, for by lying apparently perfectly still, but quietly and imperceptibly moving a tiny bit, by slow degrees he has been able to reach his rifle, and then make a bold bid for life. Or he might just choose to remain perfectly still until some friend came to the rescue.
Magnificent, fierce, and courageous, but noble as bold, we need not fear contradiction when we assert that this wild beast is assuredly the king of beasts.
Is it any wonder that the ancients stood in awe of the king of the jungle and desert? Need we be surprised that there are so many allusions in the Bible to the fierceness and strength of this fine creature?
The hunter to-day, even with his modern rifle and various safeguards, still has a very deep respect for the lion, so that we must admire the boldness of David when he attacked a lion without the help of any weapon.
I now propose to divide the rest of my talk into four sections, and these will be: (1)The strength of the lion.
The roaring of the lion.
Curbing the lion's power.
The tame lion.
(1)the Strength of the Lion
"What is stronger than a lion?" is a Bible question (Judg. 14:1818And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. (Judges 14:18)), and we need not depart from the Bible to find an answer, for we read in Proverbs, a book full of many wise sayings on a number of different subjects, that the lion is the "strongest among beasts, and turneth not away from any." Accordingly with such evidence we can quite definitely describe the lion as the strongest of all fierce and strong wild animals. Most of us would like to be strong, but strength can be used in two different ways, either to defend the weak and to help others, or to destroy that which is good and to further one's own selfish ends.
Is it not food for thought that both the greatest Friend of man, his Savior, the Lord Jesus Himself, and also man's greatest foe, the one who seeks to destroy everything that is good in him, Satan, the devil, are both likened in different parts of the Bible to the lion, and in both cases there is the suggestion of the strength of this creature?
In the fifth chapter of the Revelation there is a wonderful picture of a scene in heaven, witnessed by the Apostle John, who was very troubled because there was no one there able to open a book that was sealed with seven seals. Then we read in the words of scripture: "And one of the elders said unto me, 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." We next see "a Lamb as it had been slain" in the midst of the throne, who was successful in opening the sealed book, and all heaven became vocal in His praise; indeed, every creature in heaven, on the earth, and in the sea joined to say, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Thus we see one and the same divine Person spoken of as a Lamb—surely the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world"—and also as the "Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David," speaking of the divine strength and power that was in Him, as well as of His royal and kingly position.
He is the One who can meet every difficulty and can overcome every enemy, even that great enemy Satan, whose strength is surely great enough to justify his being likened to a roaring lion. But, thank God, when the Lion of the tribe of Juda meets the roaring lion, the former must prevail.
We have said that the lion never seeks its prey unless when hungry—Satan, the "roaring lion," is always hungry, and therefore ever seeking fresh victims, the sheep and lambs of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(2)the Roaring of the Lion the Lion's Roar Is Majestic in Its Grandeur. Who Has Heard It in the Evening at the London Zoological Gardens Without Being Affected? How Much Finer Must It Sound Amidst Its More Natural Surroundings in the Jungle! It Strikes Terror to the Heart of Big Beasts, and How the Graceful Antelope Trembles at the Sound!
Naturalists say that the lion only roars when he is sure of his prey, and this is rather confirmed by the words of scripture, for if we turn to Amos we read: "Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?" (Amos 3:44Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? (Amos 3:4))
If the roar of the lion then means that this great and strong beast is sure of his prey, what a very solemn thought is conveyed in the verse that states, "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Is he also sure of his prey? He would seek to destroy your soul, to take away all happiness from you, while promising you happiness and everything else you want. He may assume the garb of the lamb, he may quietly seek to get you into his toils, but all the while he is the roaring lion, and if he is confident of his prey, he is gloating over your anticipated fall. That is what his intention is, but we must not be taken unawares, and so the apostle tells us to be on our guard, "be sober, be vigilant" and we shall then be aware of his approach. And when he attacks us we should be ready for him, for our passage goes on, "whom resist steadfast in the faith.”
The human voice has a profound influence on dumb beasts, and it has been reported that a few words spoken in a tone of command, without any sign of fear, have been known to arrest a lion in his attack, and in just the same way a voice has a wonderful effect on the roaring lion, the devil-it is the voice of faith, the voice of quiet and dependent trust on the One who is mightier.
When down on this earth our blessed Lord was able to resist the wiles of the devil by the word of God, and three times He said, "It is written," until in the end the devil left Him.
We need therefore have no fear of our greatest enemy if we resist him, if we are steadfast in the faith and put on the "whole armor of God." We shall then prove that behind his bold front he is really a coward, and we shall be victorious, we shall know what it is to be "more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
(3)Curbing the Lion's Power If the Lion Is the Strongest of Beasts, As We Have Proved, It Is a Wonderful Thing to Be Able to Curb That Power, Greater Even Than Resisting It, Great Though That Assuredly Is.
There are cases in the Bible of lions being miraculously restrained from attacking man, but undoubtedly the most marvelous and the best known is that of the prophet Daniel. We all know the story of how he was true to his God, knowing that if he bowed his knee to Him, and was seen so doing, he ran the risk of being thrown into a den of lions that had been made hungry by being denied food for some time. He might have argued that he could pray to God in secret, that he could pray without even kneeling down, but he knew that by so doing he would really be denying the God in whom he trusted. So as he had been wont to do in the past he kneels where he can be seen and lifts his heart in prayer. His enemies report him to the king, and he is condemned to the dreadful punishment and is cast into the lions' den. But there is One who is mightier than the lion, and He will not allow His faithful servant to be touched.
When the king came, and fearfully called to see if by any miracle Daniel had escaped, how it must have moved him to hear those words: "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths." Truly God can curb the power of the fiercest beast.
No need to say the lions were not hungry, for we have proof that they were, for when Daniel's enemies were thrown in, they were pounced upon and eaten before they reached the bottom of the den.
Daniel might have been called upon to suffer death in this way, but his trust was in God. In later days in the city of Rome that dread cry, Christianos ad leonem ("To the lion with the Christians!") was heard, when the Roman emperor was trying to destroy Christianity, and in these cases God did not intervene, but allowed His servants to suffer for Him, and instead of Christianity suffering, the patient and quiet heroism of the martyrs proved the reality of their faith, there being many converts as the result.
What a comfort it must have been for these martyrs to think of Daniel, and to feel that God could curb the power of the strongest of beasts if it were His will.
But how all this shames us, does it not? How often we are afraid to confess the name of the Lord Jesus, not because we should be cast among hungry lions, but just because some one might laugh at us! If we think of the prophet Daniel and his fearless behavior in a day before God's love had been revealed by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, surely our confidence will be increased, and we shall not be ashamed to stand alone, if need be, among those who do not own Him, and would even have His name disowned by others, and His followers destroyed if only they had the power to do it.
You have all read "Tom Brown's School Days," and must remember how the delicate new boy Arthur made Tom feel himself such an arrant coward, because he had never dared to kneel down before his schoolfellows to pray before going to bed.
(4)the Tame Lion If It Is More Wonderful to Curb the Power of the Lion Than to Resist It, It Seems to Me That It Is Still More Wonderful to Tame the Lion, in Fact to Give It a New Nature.
Yet there is a day coming when the fierce beast of prey will be no longer fierce, when the gentle lamb will no longer fear the dread lion. That will be in the day when the Lord Jesus Himself rules this earth-in the millennium. We often talk of the blessings of the millennium, when there will be perfect order, and absolute happiness, but how often do we realize that that day may not be far distant. You may say that there are no signs of its approach, that men and nations fight and strive for mastery as much as ever, but that in itself is a sign of its approach, for the millennium will be ushered in by such a period of strife and lawlessness that men will long for a deliverer.
If that deliverer is none other than the Lord Jesus, if He is to be the great ruler, can we think of wild beasts tearing harmless animals to pieces in that day? Let scripture itself give us the picture: we shall have to turn to the eleventh chapter of the prophet Isaiah, where we find that it is stated of the Lord: "With righteousness shall he judge the poor," and in that day we shall find "the calf and the young lion together," and all in such perfect harmony that "a little child shall lead them.”
The truth that the lion is no longer a beast of prey is implied in these passages, but if further proof is needed we can go on and read: “the lion shall eat straw as the ox,” while of this poor sin-stricken. world we read: "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." What a lovely picture of millennial peace and happiness.
The One who can curb the lion's power can also change his nature. Let me ask you a personal question: Has He changed your nature? You may answer that you are not fierce and do not need taming, but there is in each one of us that which prompts us to hasty actions, to do that which will harm, to say that which will wound, and it is only by putting our trust in the Lord Jesus, who went to Calvary's cross to bear our sins—yours and mine—that we shall be able to have that new nature that will be in keeping with the state of affairs that will obtain when He rules in righteousness. Let us pray that we may even in these days have some of the knowledge of the Lord.