…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 5:5)
This title or description of our Lord sounds manly and strong. King Richard I of 12th-century England was called “lion-hearted” because of his renown as a military leader since the age of 16. Historically, he was preceded by another, and greater, leader—King David of Israel—about 1,000 years before Christ. As a young lad, David killed a lion with his bare hands, grabbing the animal by its chin whiskers (1 Sam 17:34-36). If that wasn’t enough to prove his emerging manhood, he also took down a bear single-handed. When all others cowered in fear at the Philistine giant, David, still a youth, ran to engage Goliath without any armor, equipped with only a sling and five stones. It didn’t matter the foe, he was ready to take on whatever stood in his way. Why five stones? It was known that Goliath had four brothers (2 Sam 21:19-22), so young David was readying himself to take them all on, one at a time – one stone is all that was needed for each! Surely he had a lion’s heart.
How fitting that the iconic king of Israel should come from the Jewish tribe of patriarch Judah, of whom Jacob said, “Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up?” (Gen 49:9).
Interestingly, the book of the Revelation pictures a book of prophecy that was secured with seven seals. As John writes it,
“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.”(Rev 5:2–3)
But, there is one, pictured as “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah,” a descendant of David, as seen in our verse for today, Rev 5:5. This is the same individual described in the next few verses as the “Lamb” (Rev 5:6). In John’s vision, those present worshipped Him:
“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” (Rev 5:9)
Lord, You powerfully procured our salvation through Your humility and weakness as a Lamb. You defeated the enemy of our souls by sacrificing Yourself.
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