Times Of Swaziland: LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH
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The Editor on 27/10/2017 09:09:00


Sir,
The phrase ‘The lion of the tribe of Judah’ appears once in the New
Testament. The Bible says; “And one of the elders said to me, do not weep:
behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open
the book, and to lose the seven seals thereof,” (Rev 5:5). Who is this ‘lion
of the tribe of Judah, the root of David’?
The Old Testament gives us more information about the tribe of Judah and King
David. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and King David was his descendant,
therefore the one referred as the ‘lion of the tribe of Judah’ is someone
who is a descendant of the tribe of Judah.
In Genesis 49 Jacob is about to pass away and he is giving blessings to his sons
before his death. To his fourth son, Judah, he said; “You are a lion’s cub,
O Judah, the right to rule will not depart from Judah until he comes to whom it
belongs and the obedience of the nations is His (Genesis 49:9-10). The imagery
of the lion is given to Judah and it is a reference to the eternal rule that
will come from Judah. Through Judah will be the lineage of the kings, the
descendants of Judah will rule. However, the right to rule was to remain in the
tribe of Judah until a certain time. Isaiah prophesied that a great and glorious
king would come.
The book of Matthew starts off like this; “The book of the generation of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his
brethren,” (Matthew 1:1-2). We begin by seeing that Jesus is ‘the son of
David.”
That simply means that the Lord’s earthly genealogy came through King David.
Verse 2 says Jacob (Israel) was the father of Judah. The rest of that chapter,
up to verse 27, follows the lineage of Judah all the way up to Christ.
Therefore, the symbolism behind the lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of
David is the conquering Messiah who puts his enemies under subjection. Christ
himself is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, “For it is evident that our Lord
sprang out of Judah,” (Hebrews 7:14). Christ is the ultimate, true and eternal
King.
King David and all the other kings from the tribe died and ceased to be kings
but Christ died and he rose again, He is alive. Satan is like a roaring lion;
note very well, he is not the lion but he is like a lion. He walks around
seeking whom he can destroy. Because Christ overcame; when He dwells in us, we
too will overcome (Hebrews 2:18).
Dear reader, there is one who is worthy! There is one member of the human race
who has not sinned, there is only one who died and rose again: He is Christ the
Messiah; He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
The good news for the tribe of Judah and this world is that the ‘Lion of the
tribe of Judah’, Jesus Christ is coming again.
May we be prepared for in a little while He who is coming will come and will not
delay.
Bopoto Gwinyai (7663 8191)