“Judah is a Lion’s Cub: from the prey (sin, death, and the devil), My Son, you have gone up (ascended): He stooped down (sat down on His Throne), he couched as a lion (rested), and as an Old Lion, who shall (dare) rouse Him up?” (Genesis 49:9).
This prophetic passage looks beyond the tribe of Judah to Jesus. Even though He came first as a Lamb to die, He defeated death as the “Lion-Cub.” Our generation likes the “Lamb Jesus” or the cute “Lion-Cub Jesus”, but they're uncomfortable with the “Lion-of-Judah Jesus.”
Traditionally we quote the “Christmas” Scriptures and enjoy them entirely pulled out of context, because it keeps the “Lion” at bay. But the promise of the Virgin Birth was to crush the Serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). The promise of Emmanuel is safety to God’s people, while warning the enemy… “You shall be broken in pieces” (Isaiah 7:14, 8:9).
We love the prophecy of “The Child” whose name is… “Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace,” but the context is Israel rejoicing after the Old-Lion roars upon the Temple Mt, freeing it from its yoke of bondage, in a One-Man battle of “burning and fuel of fire” (Isaiah 9:5,6).
We turn to Micah, the prophecy of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, but the same passage says He returns as the Lion-King to… “deliver us from the Assyrian (terrorist) when he enters our land and tramples within our borders” (hello!). He says, “I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the nations such as they have not heard” (Micah 4:8-5:15).
Aren’t you glad Jesus is “The Beginning and the Ending”? May these prophecies change the way we say “Merry Christmas” this year, for the Old-Lion is returning soon to finish the victories His Cross began.
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