ELUL MEDITATION DAY 23 - THE LION OF JUDAH

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THE LION OF JUDAH

We are gaining ground as we journey on our way to The Feast of Trumpets. As we wait, we study these Elul meditations. Our study began with trying to understand The Ten Commandments. Now we are busy looking at and meditating upon the attributes of God’s nature. Today we will ponder the fact that Yeshua is The Lion of Judah. We will tie that thought into the fact that The Lord Our God is One.

Why would we be doing this?

Because one of these days that old shofar will sound. Our King is going to return. We must be ready for that occasion. What better way to prepare than reflecting on the attributes of God? Today we meditate upon His Kingship as well as His Oneness. If you are familiar with the prayer called the Shema, you may already be familiar with these facts. For those who are not yet familiar, the Shema is a prayer repeated from the words of the Torah found in Deuteronomy 6:5-9. They state that God is One.

By knowing and understanding these attributes of the nature of God, we are better equipped to focus on how to make our lives a reflection of His life.

GOD IS DECIDING YOUR NEXT YEAR

These thoughts need reviewing before we reach The Day of Atonement (just ten days after The Feast of Trumpets.) This is said to be the time of the civil year when God looks down and makes his judgments for the coming year. The condition of our hearts leading up to that decision are what determines how the next year of time will go for us.

According to scriptures, we will see the same patterns in the Last Judgment. During Elul, we look back over the last year of our lives. At the last judgment we will be looking back over our whole lifetime. It is so much easier and more efficient to do this on an annual basis when we still have time to repent and turn from our sins. With the review in Elul, we are preparing for the next year if God allows us to live. Eternity will be even more crucial. We will be examinig our whole lifetime before God. At that point it will be too late to make any final changes.

Knowing that Jesus is Our King, and knowing He could return and intervene in this process at any given moment, only adds more mystery and anticipation to the last Ten Days of Awe.

WE ARE PREPARING FOR A KING

We MUST be all about preparing for our coming King!

Any clear thinking Hebrew can tell you, The LORD Our God is One! This has been their daily prayer for years and years. It should be ours too.

This aspect of Oneness is always easier to understand if we think about how an egg is made. All eggs have a hard outer-shell, a liquid part that surrounds the middle, and a yoke on the very inside.

An egg is all three of these things; the shell, the white and the yoke. However, an egg is more clearly defined as one thing, an egg. The one egg contains all three important aspects of the egg. All of these aspects working together as One bring life.

Eggs are all about bringing new life into the world. I think it is really cool that God chose the egg to illustrate this part of His nature. The egg is a great example which helps us to better understand what it means to be three things in one.

THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE

This great One encompasses the whole essence of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I really don’t have time or intention today to argue the definition of “Trinity” when it comes to our God. However, I do know the one thing we can all agree upon is the fact that all three of these, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, do exist. Together these elements of the Godhead make up the complete whole of our One True God. From our One True God comes life.

Call it what you will, this is one of the first principles of living with God. It is among the first things Jewish children learn. Any properly raised Hebraic-thinking child can tell you that all of the parts of a Great God come together and combine to make One Great God. They have learned how an egg works.

It is interesting to think about the part of God that is called The Son. This is Yeshua, our Messiah. So many beautiful facets of God’s nature can be seen in what we know of the Messiah part of God. He is The God Who Saves Us!

Yeshua Messiah is Immanuel, God with us!

HE IS THE LION OF JUDAH

When thinking of The Messiah, one cannot help but reflect on The Lion of Judah. This is the awesome nature of God we will dwell on today. I speak of the part of God that is Jesus. He is the part who happens to also be The Lion of Judah.

Why would we call Jesus by this name and what does it mean?

This royal name carries many significant end-time meanings. Picture Yeshua Messiah coming on the clouds to save His people. Sometimes these visions are symbolized with the fierce face of a roaring lion. You know the lion is always perceived as being “the King of the Jungle.”

Look out Jungle of the World – The King is going to return. When that happens, He is going to reign. His reign will be all powerful and mighty. His Kingdom will last forever and ever.

Those who love Him will get to be with Him – forever. Can you imagine? Is this not amazing and truly something to get excited about?

THE KING IS COMING AGAIN

As we look forward to the Feast of Trumpets, we are reminded it is the Coronation Day of Our King. In the future, we will see the majestic Lion of Judah raise it’s awesome head once again.

Do you know the amazing traits of this Lion/King?

He was born to be noble. Though much of the world did not notice, the angels sang. The shepherds worshiped. Wisemen came with gifts for a King. A star led them to the King – who became The Lion of Judah.

A HUMBLE KING

The King, though royal through-and-through, was humble. He loved and identified with the lowest and poorest of society. This included tax collectors and prostitutes. The Lion of Judah King helped the feeble and infirm. He healed those who never dreamed they would be well. This included the blind, the lame, the demon possessed, and the broken-hearted.

The men who followed this Lion King were called. Yet, they were ordinary men with everyday trades such as fishing and tent-making. For some reason, the famous were not found on this King’s list of helpers. Though a King, He earned his own way. An earthly Father taught Him the skills of a carpenter. He worked very hard, only resting on The Sabbath. This King never became rich with earthly possessions. We are told He preferred to gave away anything he had of earthly value. Though born a King, he had no official address or home on this earth.

The Lion of Judah was a Lion King who possessed great strength. His strength was both physical and spiritual. He walked everywhere, covering miles and miles of territory on many journeys. His bed was whereever he found himself when the sun went down at the end of the day.

A RISEN KING

At sunrise each morning He would go out to the mountains or the wilderness. While there, He would pray and pray for hours and hours. The Lion King prayed until he had the spiritual strength to face the burdens of a Messiah to the World. YHVH was the source of His strength. He knew this. Fasting brought Him even more strength and determination.

This King of Judah was just an ordinary man, but also The Son of God. He endured the pain and agony of a cruel and horrid death on a cross. Three days later the supernatural strength He had gained brought Him out of the grave alive again. He is risen!

NOBILITY, HUMILITY, STRENGTH, COURAGE AND PERFECTION

All great lions possess courage. Courage is one of their most endearing traits. Lions never fear, for they know they are King. All of the jungle watches and holds their breath as they see the Mighty Lion King pounce and destroy His enemies. The Lion of Judah is always victorious. He will never fail.

What is it that makes him so noble, so humble, so strong and so full of courage?

He is on mission from Heaven to do The Father’s will. This humble King never gives in to temptations. That trait is what has kept him pure and sinless. This is where the power comes from. Because of it, He will be perfect in every way. For you see, a sacrifice must be perfect and without blemish in order to be accepted by God as a covering for the sins of the world. No one asked Him, but He volunteered for this mission.

The Lion of Judah has prevailed.

WE MUST BE READY

This mighty Lion of Judah has accomplished his impossible mission. He has overcome the world. Now he sits next to The Father, ready to return at any moment. He will come for us whenever The Father gives him the Word.

One day we will see him coming in the clouds. All of the earth will bow before him.

Will it be this year?

Only The Father knows for sure.

We must be ready!

Our King is coming!

VERSE

“Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.’” – (Revelation 5:5)

PRAYER

Father, Please prepare our hearts to receive the mighty Lion of Judah, our King. Teach us His ways and clean our hearts so that when He returns for us, we will be ready and waiting to serve him. Fill our hearts with the oil of Your Holy Spirit. Lead us in ways that will keep us prepared to let go of all but what matters to Yeshua, Our Beloved. Amen