The Lion And The Lamb Series

Sunday Morning February 24, 2002 Bel Aire Baptist Church

Series: Who Is Jesus Christ? [#3]

THE LION AND THE LAMB

Hebrews 7

Introduction:

1. In our series “Who Is Jesus Christ?” we have identified Jesus as the One who can make us alive and the One who came to seek and save the lost.

2. In Revelation 5:5-6 we see Jesus being referred to as two different kinds of animals. What are they? The lion and the lamb. Also in these two verses I noticed something else. As John is looking over expecting to see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, what does he see? He sees not a ferocious lion with blood dripping off his teeth, but a harmless and innocent lamb.

3. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I was John I would have been thinking, “What! A lamb! No, no, no! What we need right now is that ferocious lion to take charge, not some sweet little lamb.”

4. Not only does this not make sense to us, but also it did not make sense to the Jews. How could the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb represent the same person? In fact, history tells us that the religious leaders and scholars at the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament, which is referred to as the Inter-biblical period, believed that there was going to be two Messiahs.

5. These scholars used Zechariah 4:12 to say that the two branches talked about in this verse was two Messiahs. One Messiah would be the Kingly Messiah and the other Messiah would be the Priestly Messiah. After all, Israel had a King and a High Priest. These two positions were separate.

6. These scholars also used the term “scepter” from Genesis 49:8-12 to refer to the promised Kingly Messiah and the promise of “the eternal Priesthood” from Numbers 25:10-13 to refer to the promised Priestly Messiah.

7. If this was not enough evidence for you, they would also take you to Jeremiah 33:17-18. Turn with me to this passage.

8. Here we have two covenants, one with David concerning a Messiah that would come as King and the other with the Tribe of Levi concerning a Messiah that would come as High Priest. God could not break either promise so what could He do?

Comparison

These two animals obviously have different types of characteristics.

The Lion: Characteristics

1. Power

2. Strength

3. Commands respect

4. Confident

5. Cunning

6. No fear

The Lamb: Characteristics

1. Not powerful

2. Weak

3. Not respected

4. Not confident

5. Not known for being cunning

6. Fears many other animals

The Lion: Representation

1. In Revelation 5 this Lion represents a King.

2. You may ask, “How do you know that?” This passage says that this Lion is from the tribe of Judah and in Genesis 49:8-12 we see that the tribe of Judah is the tribe from which the Israelite kings would come. It’s promised right there in Genesis.

3. From this passage we know that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and so that makes Him our Eternal King. That makes Him the Almighty King. That makes Him the Most Powerful King. That makes Him the Ruler over all. Amen?

That’s why we can sing Hymn 247 “Come, Thou Almighty King”.

[Sing Hymn 247]

The Lamb: Representation

1. In Revelation 5 this Lamb represents a sacrifice. In fact this is not just any sacrifice, but a perfect sacrifice.

2. In the Old Testament who was responsible for making the sacrifices for the nation of Israel? The priest.

3. In this passage we find that Jesus is not only the One who is the perfect sacrifice but is the One who offered the sacrifice. He did this by offering Himself as the sacrifice for all mankind. This makes Jesus our eternal High Priest. This makes Jesus our Intercessor. This makes Jesus the only way to God. John the Baptist said in John 1:29, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Turn with me to Hymn 233 “Behold The Lamb”.

[Sing Hymn 233]

Combination

How can it be that Jesus could be both King and High Priest? Did God have to change the rules for Jesus? Did God have to break one of His promises?

Turn with me to Hebrews 7:1-10

I would ask that we all stand as I read from God’s Word and I would also ask that the ushers come forward for our offering.

[Offering: Special Music: “The Lion And The Lamb” (Shawn Drake)]

King Melchizedek

1. In Hebrews 7:1 we find Melchizedek who was the king of Salem (which means peace) and the priest of God.

2. In Hebrews 7:2 we find that Melchizedek was the “king of righteousness” and the “king of peace”.