About the Lion of Judah Ministries
Another book under development, True Christianity, addresses the disparity between true Biblical Christianity and what many churches teach and what many Christians believe. Click here to read the first nine chapters.
Read Revelation 5:1-5
God the Father is holding it - seven seals means completeness
Who is worthy? - no one, so John wept
But the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is because he has prevailed in His mission as the Lamb of God
He is also the Root of David meaning his bloodline goes back to David
Judah was the 4th son of Jacob who fathered the 12 tribes of Israel
Why didn' t Jesus descend from the 1st son Reuben? Or from Joseph about whom it was foretold that all the other brothers would one day bow down and worship?
Well, Reuben committed incest with his father's wife
The 2nd & 3rd sons (Simeon & Levi) had the blood of the Schechemites on their hands after avenging their sister Dinah's rape
So the birthright fell to the 4th son Judah
Judah was no saint either; he married a Caananite woman in opposition to God's command to marry within the Jewish clan; he then went back on his word to his son's widow Tamar, who later seduced him as a prostitute and produced a son Perez, who was the next link in the bloodline that eventually led to Jesus
King David was also from Judah's bloodline which is why Jesus is called the Root of David about whom it was prophesied, the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever (1Kings 2:45)
But the first prophecy of the never-ending Kingdom of Jesus was given by Jacob on his deathbed
Read Genesis 49:8-12
Judah means praise
Judah is a A lion's whelp
From the prey (i.e. sacrificial lamb), you have gone up (i.e. was resurrected) to lie down as a lion (i.e. from the whelp to the full grown Lion of Judah)
And, as a lion, who shall rouse him? (i.e. Satan is no match for the coming Lion of Judah)
The scepter shall not depart from Judah (i.e. his lineage will rule forever)
Jesus has fulfilled the law so now the lawgiver is between His feet until Shiloh (another name for Jesus) comes
Note also the prophecy about binding the donkey to the vine (as on Palm Sunday)
Washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes (by his blood we are healed & saved)
But when He comes back as the Lion of Judah, His eyes are darker than wine (i.e. the all consuming fire)
But, his teeth are whiter than milk (i.e. totally pure, the fullness of righteousness)
The Lion and the Lamb
While it was the Lion of Judah who was deemed worthy to open the scroll, it is actually the Lamb who sits on the throne and opens each of the seven seals
Revelation 5:8-10 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.
As the Lamb opens the seals, wrath and destruction are loosed upon the earth
Revelation 6:12-17 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, A Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
I believe that the rapture occurs right before this sixth seal is opened i.e. a pre-wrath rapture
Revelation 19:11-16 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
This is the Second Coming of Christ which is not the joyful, blissful arrival that most people imagine when the Lamb comes back as the Lion of Judah
Revelation 19:17-21 17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, A Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Revelation 21:1-4 1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Conclusion
And only when both the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah have fulfilled their roles are they joined together into one and exist in blissful harmony
Isaiah 11:6-9 A The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze ; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. 9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
For that will invariably lead to the great falling away from the faith that the Apostle Paul prophesies before the Great Tribulation
Only if we understand and believe in the Jesus who is both Lamb and Lion will we have a solid foundation with which to withstand the seducingly deceptive ploys of the Beast and the False Prophet when they usher in the period of peace during the first half of the Tribulation