THE BEAT e149 When the Lion of Judah Returns (the sound of sovereignty)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd.  

Season 2 Episode 149 

THE BEAT | When the Lion of Judah Returns (the sound of sovereignty)

Quick Take 

Hey human, let’s consider the power of our Protector, the sound of sovereignty, and why Jesus is called the Lion of Judah. What it will be like when he returns to conquer the world for eternity. And the rapture. I get personal. Join me in e149. Thanks for listening.

How is Jesus, your lion of Judah, protecting you today?

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

(lion roar)

Yeah. When we talk about the power from within, it sounds like this. The guttural growl of the lion. The sound of sovereignty.

The way it comes from a place so deep, so powerful that my stomach feels sick. And my soul begins to shake.

A lion’s growl, and his roar can be heard for up to 5 miles away. Lions have unique vocal folds with a square shape that gives them more volume with less effort. At a distance of around one meter, a lion’s roar can reach 114 decibels (dB). To put this in perspective, the human pain threshold for sound is around 110 dB. Lions utilize their roar to establish territory, warn intruders and contact other pride members. The lion’s voice signals dominance and announces the lion’s presence.

And the most amazing thing about how our Creator works, each lion’s roar is distinctive, allowing other lions to recognize each other by their growl, and their roar.

The Power of Our Great Protector

Jesus is called the Lion of Judah. This is a powerful metaphor, drawing from Genesis 49. During his final blessings to his 12 sons, Jacob prophesies that the tribe of Judah will be like a lion with strength, royalty, and conquering power.

Genesis 49:8-12

 

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you;

    your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;

    your father’s sons will bow down to you.

9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah;

    you return from the prey, my son.

Like a lion he crouches and lies down,

    like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,

    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he to whom it belongs shall come

    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,

    his colt to the choicest branch;

he will wash his garments in wine,

    his robes in the blood of grapes.

12 His eyes will be darker than wine,

    his teeth whiter than milk.

 

This title signifies the royal lineage of Jesus, as Judah was the tribe from which the kings of Israel, including David, descended. The prophecy of Judah’s dominance is seen as a foreshadowing of the future kingship of David and the eternal reign of Jesus.

In Matthew 1:1-17 you can trace the lineage of Abraham to David to Jesus. Jesus was fully man, with an earthly ancestry that carried God’s story to the cross. Make time for separate to read through his lineage, and note those who have a familiar story. This alone is such a testament to God’s promises to his people.

The Lion of Judah Returns

I just finished this year’s Bible trek from Genesis through Revelation. In Revelation, the Lion of Judah returns to conquer.

Revelation 5:5

 

“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.'”.

 

For me, the guttural growl of a lion reflects that spiritual place where my reverence meets God’s sovereignty, that “drop to the ground in the presence of Jesus” moment. It is a reverence that shakes my soul.

Because I know that the Savior who became a lamb for my sins is also the lion that waits… protecting me from deep within this world’s spiritual brush. Listening, waiting, warning, protecting my spirit.

I do not want to forget that deep rumble of his righteous protection over me. I want to live in the center of it.

And somehow this prepares me for when he returns. I think about this scene and the sound of the lion, and know that the power of Jesus, in all his sovereignty, is in a spiritual realm I have never experienced. That I cannot fully experience on earth.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

 

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

 

This is called the rapture by many, though it is not a Biblical term. Scholars have varying opinions on when the scene Paul describes happens, whether during the second coming referenced in Revelation or before.

Either way, it will happen.

And when it does, we will see the power of Jesus like we have never seen it before. So, I end this episode with an appeal for a reverent spirit, for me, and for you, by sharing a deeply personal experience.  It took only minutes but seared the power of Jesus’ return into my soul, and, the tragedy of being left behind to live through, survive seven years of tribulation. To go into the tribulation as one who does not believe in Jesus, the Lion of Judah. A tribulation with an unconstrained devil, the mark of the beast, and 144,000 witnesses evangelizing with uncompromising divine urgency. 

The rapture is imminent. Nothing needs to happen before Jesus comes. Except giving your life to him.

Listen in.

We had just come from our local church in the Outer Banks. It was a Sunday, and we were stopping at a market for our weekly fresh food needs. It was standard fare. We had been in the store for about 20 minutes, had made our way over to the yogurt aisle on the far side of the store. I had gone ahead down the aisle but saw my spouse with the cart at the other end. He turned it to go back the other direction. When I came back, I thought I saw him turn down an aisle 2-3 aisles back toward the center of the store. So, I started to follow his trail, looking down each aisle as I went. No spouse. And it had been less than a minute since I lost sight of him.

It didn’t make sense. I just saw him. So, I went back and forth between the aisles closer to the center of the store. It just didn’t seem possible that he could be anywhere else. But he was not there. I then went by every aisle to the other end of the store, no spouse. I went back to the yogurt aisle, then back to the center aisles. No spouse.

At first, I imagined telling a policeman that my spouse had been abducted. A grown man barely in his 60s. Then, I stopped, as panic filled my gut. What if he really was not in the store? What if he had disappeared? I began walking the aisles and studying the people I was passing.

I began to look at them to gauge if they were Christians. Believers, or non-believers. I remember thinking I am going to need to ask everyone in the store.

I was thinking, were we the ones left? Was this the rapture? Was my spouse taken? I knew I was going with Jesus, but also this question: was I left behind? I felt ill. Nauseous.

This moment wasn’t really about doubt, or that I thought Jesus didn’t take me. It was about how it felt to be left behind. A feeling of devastation I had never felt before. The tragedy of being left behind.

I walked all the way back to the other end, and the line at the deli counter had thinned. There he was. I ran up to him, and said, “I lost you. I didn’t know where you had gone.” He said, “ok” like you say it when you don’t really have much more to offer than that. That you didn’t know you were missing.

I said, “I thought it was the rapture, and you were gone.”

He’s a loving man, by nature. Kindness passed over his face and into my heart. He said he was sorry I had that moment and gave me space to process my ebbing panic.

But when my heart rate lowered and stabilized, I realized I wasn’t sorry.

Never Sorry When God Reveals

I believe God gives us moments that intensify our awareness, urgency, and wisdom for the purpose we have been given. That as many souls as possible disappear from every aisle of the market as possible. Because when he comes, the decision has already been made.

We make the decision to accept what Jesus has done for us, on earth. Not later. Not in heaven. Not at the pearly gate. Not. Not. Not.

I have my OBX market experience to motivate my witness.  I think about it often, when I am about to engage with someone I do not know, when God calls me to interact with someone I don’t really want to, or maybe when I want to choose doing something more spiritually passive than witness.

I think about someone walking those aisles like I did, looking for people they came with, looking for someone they just said hi to, and coming to my conclusion. I think about that nonbeliever. Anyone who has not accepted their sin nature and given back their life to the One who created it.

I think about that person finally walking out of that store toward their car, their home, their favorite chair, and what is to come. On their phone with someone trying to sort it out. Frantic, lost, in a world that has turned upside down for them.

I think about how, at that point, for that unbeliever, earthly life gets so much tougher. The Great Tribulation. Seven years of spiritual warfare.

I think about that unbeliever and the Lion of Judah, and how I want Jesus to protect him or her from deep within this world’s spiritual brush. Listening, waiting, warning, protecting their spirit.

Let my witness help someone hear the Lion of Judah.

(lion roar)