The Lion from the Tribe of Judah - GraceLife Church of Pineville

Scripture Focus: Revelation 4–5; Genesis 49

Introduction

From Genesis to Revelation, God weaves together truth to relay a cohesive, whole story.

We saw the same truth in the story of a Lamb in my last sermon on Palm Sunday. We considered two suppers: one a Passover supper of the Lamb, written of in the book of Moses; the other, the marriage supper of the Lamb, written of in the Revelation to John.

Now, we turn again to story—this time, to the story of a Lion.

As with the Lamb, we will again see this animal appearing in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. But we will also see that His identity is revealed starting from the first book—Genesis.

The Lion of Revelation is the Lion of Genesis.

The Lion of Revelation is the Lion of Genesis. That means it is a very long story. It’s a story that took 750,000 words and 2,000 years to write. The last man to add his words to the story was the apostle named John, who wrote Revelation.

It is John who had the privilege in the New Testament of writing of Christ as both Lamb and Lion of this story—Lion in Revelation and Lamb in the book called the Gospel of John. In his Gospel, John wrote this about the story of Jesus:

There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25)

But what we’re about to see is that, at the end of the Bible—this Book written by God—there is a scene in which God Himself is holding up a book, and the apostle John is weeping out of fear that no one will be able—will be worthy—to read from it. We see John weeping over the chance to hear one more story from God.

My prayer is that you will yearn to hear from the Word of God. That you will long to see Jesus in that Word—Jesus the Lamb of God, and Jesus the Lion.

The Lion and the Lamb

What you imagine regarding the juxtaposition of these two animals—lion and lamb—is probably a mostly accurate assumption as to why the images could be applied to Christ: the judgment upon the lamb, but the lion as the judge; the humility of sacrifice as the lamb, but the majesty and power as the lion (no one tries to sacrifice lions).

This sermon is titled “The Lion from the Tribe of Judah” because the only time in the New Testament where Christ is referred to as a lion, He is called the Lion from the tribe of Judah. What does that mean?

The reference occurs in the book of Revelation—a book notoriously hard to understand. (Note that we’ve also said that the most occurrences of the word “lamb” in general occur in Revelation.) If it’s strange for you to think of a man as a lamb or a lion or as a lamb and a lion, well, that’s about as normal as it gets for the following scene from Revelation:

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”¹ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” (Revelation 4:1–5:5)

“Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book …” (Revelation 5:5)

It’s hard to read anything in Revelation without asking a lot of questions to try to get to the bottom of what all of it means and symbolizes.² It’s easy to wonder why God chose to reveal all of this to us (via John).

Here are some of the questions that come to mind from the above passage:

Who are the 24 elders?
What are the creatures?
Who is the strong angel? (And what does it mean to be a strong angel? Moreover, why can’t the strong angel open the seals?)

So many questions!

I challenge you to fix your attention on the focal point of this passage: the Lion. Specifically, let’s examine two questions:

Who is this Lion?
How is He worthy?

Who Is This Lion?

The reference from the elder to “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5) tells us where to look: Genesis 49.

This chapter tells a story about Jacob blessing his sons—a word that we’ll see goes beyond what we normally think of.³

Jacob is a patriarch (along with Abraham and Isaac—as Scripture repeatedly says, it’s through these three men that God’s promises were given), but he’s also a prophet. And in this passage of Scripture he is going to prophesy about the future. (We often think of Revelation as a book about the future, but the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is also a book of prophecy about the future.)

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, is also a book of prophecy about the future.

Here’s how Genesis 49 begins:

Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.” (v. 1)

Jacob is on his deathbed. By “days to come” he could mean the immediate future, the near future, or the far future (or maybe a little of each). He’s giving his final blessing. This is something of a last will and testament.⁴

Genesis 49 continues:

“Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel your father.

“Reuben, you are my firstborn;
My might and the beginning of my strength,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
“Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Their swords are implements of violence.
“Let my soul not enter into their council;
Let not my glory be united with their assembly;
Because in their anger they slew men,
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.⁵
“Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will disperse them in Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.” (Genesis 49:2–7)

This is not a good start to the prophecy: Reuben, Simeon, and Levi all experience loss. Can you imagine being any of these three brothers and listening to this?

Reuben starts off with losing the place of preeminence. Simeon and Levi must be thinking, “Okay, we’re next in line,” but the pronouncement about them is, in many ways, worse: they don’t just lose preeminence; they are cursed and told that they will be scattered. Given the pattern so far, can you imagine being last in line (the 12th son) listening to this?

Everything changes with Judah:

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you;⁶
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
“Judah is a lion’s whelp;⁷
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He couches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of all peoples.
“He ties his foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
He washes his garments in wine,
And his robes in the blood of grapes.
“His eyes are dull from wine,
And his teeth white from milk.” (Genesis 49:8–12)

This passage is where we get the phrase “the lion of the tribe of Judah” from. We see that his brothers praise him. We begin to get a hint of the answer to the question that is implied in Revelation—the question about worthiness (“Who is worthy … ?”; 5:2).

How Is He Worthy?

Something about Judah is worthy—worthy of the praise of his brothers. And what’s pictured next is the image of a young lion (Genesis 49:9). This is not a helpless lion cub, but a young lion in the prime of life—having the strength and vitality of youth, but also with the promise of more to come. He’s a strong lion who has killed his prey and now rests in his lair on top of the mountain. At his height, no one dares approach him, for he has conquered his prey.

In the next verse (Genesis 49:10), we see that, like our common image of the lion, Judah is King. He has a scepter, a ruler’s staff, and he will maintain his rule for some time. Specifically, he’ll maintain his rule “until Shiloh comes”—which is a way of saying “until he comes to whom it belongs.” The idea is that there is someone worthy from the tribe of Judah, to whom this rule, this authority, belongs; from him, a scepter will not depart—that is, he’ll rule forever.

Of this last phrase of verse 10 (“to him shall be the obedience of all peoples [or nations]”), one author says, “The most startling aspect of the description of this one from the tribe of Judah comes next: ‘and the obedience of the nations is his.’”⁸ It’s not simply the obedience of Israel the nation, but of nations, plural. (Here’s where detailed Bible study becomes important—studying the nouns and pronouns, the verbs, the singular and the plural.)

So we have this prophecy about the nation of Israel, the sons of Israel. And what is pictured is a ruler, a worthy ruler to whom the obedience of nations is even due. And then we have verses that speak to the prosperity of his rule (Genesis 49:11–12). The growth in His kingdom is so much that the best of the grapevines you can just tie your animal to. Prosperity seems to be such that even the wash water is like wine.⁹ His eyes are dark because of abundant wine, and his teeth are white from drinking milk. Hopefully you get the idea: the kingdom is prosperous!

Summary of the Lion’s Characteristics

To summarize the prophecy of Genesis 49, the lion from the tribe of Judah is:

An object of praise (by his brothers)
Powerful (a conquering lion—he’s conquered the prey)
A recipient of worship (his brothers bow down to him)
A ruler
A ruler with a long rule (perhaps even perpetual)
Obeyed not only by his people but by multiple nations
Has a rule marked by prosperity

Tying It Together: The Fulfillment of Genesis 49

Let’s tie these prophecies back to Revelation; look for the things mentioned above in Revelation 5:1–14:

And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,

“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 5:5 tells us the Lion from the tribe of Judah in Genesis 49 is Jesus—He is the One who perfectly fulfills the prophecies about Him in the Book of Moses.

He is the object of praise—by the elders, living creatures, and angels, then everything.
He is powerful, able to do that which not even the strong angel dared to attempt. He is described as one who has overcome, who is able to simply take the book from the hand of God.
He receives worship as men (the elders) and creatures fall down before Him.
He is the ruler whose rule is perpetual. He has “dominion forever and ever.”
He is obeyed by the nations. He has purchased men with his blood; those from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (9).
His rule is marked by prosperity: He is worthy to receive “riches … glory… blessing” (12).

Revelation 5:5 tells us the Lion from the tribe of Judah in Genesis 49 is Jesus.

Closing Observations

I will close with some observations about the story of Genesis 49 and the story of Revelation 4–5.

The testimony John hears about the One who is worthy is that He is a Lion. But what John looks and sees is a Lamb. I don’t know what to make of that fully.

We can speculate that the Lion is the one doing the fighting—although Revelation says war is waged against the Lamb. We could also speculate that it is the Lion that is the kingly figure; however, it’s clearly the Lamb who is on the throne in the end.

What do we know?

The Lion and the Lamb are one and the same. He is a lamb-like lion and a lion-like lamb.

The Lion and the Lamb are one and the same. He is a lamb-like lion and a lion-like lamb.

There’s some later thought within Judaism that there would be two messiahs: one who came as a lamb for sacrifice, the other who came as a lion for rule. Maybe this is an answer to those who would speculate and say, “No, they are one and the same.”

But it’s not unusual that these two mixed natures should dwell in Christ:

He is both God and Man
He is both the priest and the sacrifice
He is both the king and the servant

Jesus plays many roles in this story, and often unexpected ones. Good stories do that.

He is the Lion who stops John’s weeping. (He is the One who will stop our weeping as well.)

That’s not the only oddity here. We learn that this Lion of Revelation 5, with His never-departing scepter, has shared with His subjects the spoils. He has purchased us not as slaves, but as co-rulers:

They sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” (Revelation 5:9–10)

He has made us to be “a kingdom and priests to our God”! This is unfathomable.

He has purchased us not as slaves, but as co-rulers.

The Path to Blessing

An interesting thing follows in the rest of the passage in Genesis 49; we didn’t read that entire blessing (feel free to do so here). In the rest of the passage, you’ll notice what becomes of the other brothers: Once blessing is pronounced upon Judah, then every brother who follows after Judah receives a blessing.

Do you see the story being told?

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi all fall from preeminence and receive a curse. But for every brother who comes after Judah, there is blessing to be received.

This is the message of the gospel that we celebrate at Easter. Mankind has fallen from its intended preeminence. We live under a curse. But God, through His Son Jesus, descendent from the tribe of Judah, has received blessing, and in doing so, He has changed the trajectory of the story, of history.

For every brother who comes after Judah, there is blessing to be received. This is the message of the gospel.

He has opened the path to blessing. He lifts up fallen humanity. He gathers what has been scattered.

He is the Lion who has conquered and is worthy of praise.

But we praise Him, says the Scripture, as brothers. We praise Him, says the Scripture, as sons of the father: “Judah, your brothers shall praise you … Your father’s sons shall bow down to you” (Genesis 49:8).

He Is Worthy

Who is worthy? The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is worthy.

Why is He worthy? Because He has claimed a powerful victory: the victory over death itself.

What is He worthy of? He is worthy of all the things the Lord has told us from the beginning of the story. He is:

Worthy of praise
Worthy to receive worship
Worthy to rule
Worthy to rule for all time
Worthy to be obeyed not only by His people but by multiple nations (who He will make His people)
Worthy to be recognized for His prosperous rule
Worthy to be proclaimed on this Easter as the Lion from the tribe of Judah, who, as a Lamb, gives His life to us and shares His life with us, so that the blessing He has from the Father would flow also to us

The question of the gospel is Who is worthy? The answer: only One—the Lion and the Lamb. The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world—we cannot do that for ourselves. He is the only One worthy enough. And if you have not trusted in Christ, I invite you to do so—to believe in Him for eternal life—so that you may be saved.

The question of the gospel is Who is worthy? The answer: only One—the Lion and the Lamb.

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