The Lion and the Lamb
Despite the image at the top, what was called a lion in Israel didn't look like that. It's like the deer often described in the Bible. In my head, I see an image of a North American white-tailed deer, but what was in Israel was quite different. The lion common to Israel was not the massive African lion that our minds conjure up, but would have looked more like a large bobcat. They are very dangerous, very vicious, quiet, and cunning. They are fiercely protective of their young, which is quite different than male African lions. They are wild and unpredictable...
...much like our God.
One of my favorite pieces of literature is the "Chronicles of Narnia." Christ is pictured as Aslan, a lion. A common theme in the books is that He is good, but "He is not a tame lion." Jesus is not bound to our rules, our expectations, or our desires. In fact, I imagine that most church people today would have the same reaction to Jesus that the Pharisees did in the Bible.
The lamb is the image of scacrifice in the Bible. I don't think I need to spend a lot of time on that.
Our God is the lion AND the lamb. Here's a question for you: How is Jesus a lion in your life right now? How is He a lamb?
This is from an interview with Leeland, the writer of this song:
"We’ve had a lot of changes in our band. About 2 ½ years ago I was at a writer’s retreat at a cabin in Nashville, and we had an amazing three days. The third day, I was hanging out with Brenton Brown, and he’s a good buddy of mine. Rewinding a bit, the chorus of this song first came about 3 years ago when we were leading worship at a church in California for three days. The people coming to church were very hungry for God and very expectant. Every night got more intense, and the expectations and hunger grew. It was amazing leading worship for them because none of them cared about us, they were just there for Jesus and pursuing Him. We sang like two full-length songs, and lots of spiritual songs, where we were singing words like “Holy” and “Worthy” over and over for an hour.
The Bible talks about spiritual songs, which come out of your heart and Spirit. They aren’t necessarily a written song, but come out of your heart. That’s what we were doing, and everyone was singing their own songs to God. We were just weeping, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. My brother came over to me and asked me to play at the piano while he went down to pray for people. While I was there, God dropped the whole chorus of this song on me right there. I recorded the chorus on my phone.
For a year and a half, I played it for artists and nobody really connected with it. I played it for Brenton, and he just latched on to it. It spoke to him a lot, and he started working on verses with me. Then I met up with Brian Johnson, and we talked about writing songs together, and I reached out to him as well. He loved it as well. Together, the three of us finished the song in about a month. We sang it at a youth camp, and all the kids just sang along, and we knew the song was done. Writing this song with Brian reconnected me with Bethel Music, and that’s how I ended up recording this song and album with them."
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
The Lion and the Lamb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ujBoud26k
Lord I Need You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA
Great Are You Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpb02shcAis
How Great Is Our God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBD18rsVJHk
How Great Thou Art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRGnKTcGyDI
...and we are learning:
Still In Control