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"No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there on, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there." (Isaiah 35:9) The BBC recently reported an "escaped circus lion (Kimba) roams around an Italian town before capture." Residents were told to remain indoors or in their cars, such was the potential risk to the residents of Ladispoli, Italy. I am sure we would have heeded such a warning. It does reflect the danger lions pose to human beings. Daniel faced such animals when an evil plot from his Persian opponents cast him into the lions’ den. But God in his power was able to keep faithful Daniel safe in contrast to when Daniel’s opponents were placed in the den by King Darius. Such a prospect was applied to the prophet of God who travelled north to King Jeroboam to denounce the apostasy of the Northern kingdom in the days of that king. However he ignored the instruction to eat or drink nothing and to return to Judah immediately he had delivered his message. But he accepted the invite of a local prophet in the north. His punishment was to be killed by a lion. (1 Kings 13) Lions are a symbol of power. The England football team have the three lions on their football shirts. The empire of Babylon was pictured as a lion to symbolise its power in the world. In this present age Peter in his epistle gives us the warning of Satan as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, to destroy the faith of the Christian. (1 Pet.5:8) One thinks of the population in that Italian town staying inside to avoid a potentially dangerous lion. We ought to be aware of the subtle threat of our enemy which does not want us to make our calling and election sure. On a more positive note our Lord Jesus is described as "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David" (Rev.5:5) to depict his authority, his majesty and kingly power. Like the animated film and musical the "Lion king" the lion is the supreme carnivore in the food chain hence the connection between being a king and a lion. In the coming age the Messianic age, in the 1,000 year reign of Christ and the Church, there will not be the influence of Satan to prevent the redeemed being reconciled to God, after the general resurrection of the dead.
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Thought For The Month