I consider Revelation 4-5 to be the pivotal moment of the entire book. It's at this point that we either commit to a violent or nonviolent reading of John's letter. It can go either way, dependent solely on how we interpret the meaning of the phrase "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" in 5:5.
Is this title an acknowledgment of a violent Jesus?
Should we be praising Jesus as the "Lion of Judah?"
In next week's article, The Lion or the Lamb, we'll explore these questions and others, as well as the two chapters in full. However, we will find it super helpful to be aware ahead of time of how the Bible talks about lions outside of Revelation.
The way we use lions in metaphors today is predominantly positive because we view them as the king of the jungle. So when we say someone or something acts like a lion, we are usually expressing admiration for someone's regal bearing, authority, bravery, or strength. On the off-chance we're using the metaphor of a lion negatively, we typically focus on the ferocity, aggression, or wildness of its roar.
Lions appear 135 times in Scripture. Of course, we're going to ignore references to actual lions, comments about how a carving or something else looks like a lion, visions about peaceful lions, other miscellaneous mentions, and lions in Revelation itself (for now). That leaves over 40 places where someone or something acts as a lion. It's too many to quote them all in a single article, but I'll highlight specific examples while summarising the rest.
I divide the verses into six categories depending on who or what is acting as a lion in the metaphor. I'm also solely using the NIV translation for this.
Is Scripture as positive as we are? Let's dive in and find out.
