Who/what is the Lion of the tribe of Judah?

John receives the answer to the question the strong angel had proclaimed. One of the elders told him, "Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and the seven seals thereof." No further comment is needed; the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah and the Root of David. "The King's wrath is as a roaring lion" (Prov. 19:12). He is now to be revealed in mighty power and strength to execute judgment. (See Gen. 49:9.) And He is also the Root of David.

As John wept because none was found worthy to open the book, one of the elders informed him that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, had prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. There is no mistaking who this is. He is described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Offspring of David, the One who as Man descended from David. But He is also described as the Root of David, the One who was before David, and from whom David sprang; in short, the One who was from all eternity.

The Lion, that is the one from whom all retreat and no one stands in the way (Prov. 30:30; Micah 5:7). He who comes from the tribe of Judah, the promised descendant from the tribe of David. Jacob had compared Judah to a lion (Gen 49:9). Judah will overcome, but only through Christ, the great conqueror. The root of David: He is not only true man (from the tribe of Judah), but also eternal God and as such the root of David. He overcame in order to "open the book and its seven seals": He is the Victor and He will carry out the counsel of God. He will carry out God's plan for the earth.

The Lion and the Lamb. Possessed of divinely given intelligence, the elders are able to witness to the One who can open the book. They say to John, "Behold the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." The lion is the symbol of strength as we read, "A lion which is strongest among beasts" (Prov. 30:30). His power then is irresistible, so the prophet Micah can say of the lion he "both treads down, and tears in pieces, and none can deliver" (Micah 5:8). The lion of the tribe of Judah tells us of this mighty power being exercised in the cause of God's ancient people, according to the prophecy of Jacob, which foretells that Judah will prevail over his enemies — "Thy hand shall be in the neck of shine enemies." In order that Judah may prevail he has the strength of "a young lion." But the real source of Judah's strength is that out of that tribe the One would come to whom the people would gather (Gen. 49:8-10). Christ is the true Lion of Judah.

Christ is also the Root of David. In David we see the King chosen of God to be victorious over all his enemies. Nevertheless Christ is the true King, the One who will put all enemies under His feet. He is first in the mind of God and hence the Root from whence David sprang. Thus Christ in His irresistible power as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and as a Divine Person — the Root of David — is the One who alone is able to open the book.

Judah we know to be the tribe from which sprang the Christ or Messiah. Hence the style and character in which the elder announced the only One who could open the book — "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." Majesty and power among wild beasts upon earth are conveyed by the metaphor employed. Jacob compared Judah to a lion. One great chain runs through all scripture. The Holy Ghost who spoke by Jacob on his death-bed speaks now through John, and reveals that, rejected as He may be on earth, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is owned on high, the One in whom God's purposes all centre. He is also "the root of David." This implies more than being David's Son: He is David's Lord. He might be of David's line, but He is David's root, the real though secret cause of all his titles and promises; just as John the Baptist said that He who came after him really was before him. But there is another remarkable intimation. It is not merely said that He is worthy, but that "He hath prevailed." That little word "prevailed" (conquered or overcame) is bound up with the whole subject of the chapter. It is the victory of Jesus by His blood. The Lord Jesus had personal worthiness at any time to take the book, but if He had received and opened it on the ground of His own worthiness alone, what would this have availed for us? All must have been sealed to us still. Therefore the Lord not only proved that He had personal worthiness to open the book which contained these future counsels of God, but He prevailed, and by virtue of that prevailing we are entitled to listen and to understand the mind of God even as to the future.

"And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as it had been slain," etc. (ver. 6). John had heard of a Lion, but now that he came to look, it was a Lamb. When he expected to see the symbol of power, there stood before all the picture of most holy suffering and rejection. And this was the emblem of Christ as seen even on the throne in all the glory of heaven — a smitten One, guileless and unresisting "a Lamb as it had been slain." He is clothed with perfection of power; the seven horns no doubt mean as much. The seven eyes are the symbol of perfect intelligence — the fulness of the Spirit, here in respect of earth and its government. But the One who is seen with all the power and wisdom is the Lamb. The basis I believe, of all our blessing stands in that blessed truth. The Lord of glory has become a Lamb, and as such must be known, if we are to profit by Him.

The book, thus introduced, strong angel appears on the scene, and cries with a loud voice, challenging, as it were, the whole universe, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" There was no response to the challenge; for, in truth, there was not one, from Gabriel downwards, of all God's creatures, who had the requisite qualification to undertake the task. John, on this account, wept much because no man (" no one ") was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. (vv. 2-4.) Then one of the elders — not the angel, remark, but one of the elders — for it is these alone who possess the intelligence of God and of His ways (compare Rev. 7:13-14), said unto him, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." (v. 5.) It is the Messiah of prophecy who is thus indicated, though, as we shall see, the Messiah who had been rejected and "slain," and was now, in consequence, exalted to the right hand of power. Jacob had thus spoken: "Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?" And the very next verse speaks of the coming of Shiloh, unto whom the gathering of the peoples should be. (Gen. 49:9-10.) The Lion of the tribe of Judah, therefore, tells of the irresistible, all-conquering power of Messiah in conflict with His enemies. (Compare Psalm 18:37-44); and the "Root of David" sets Him forth rather as David's Lord than as David's Son — the Root here, not the Offspring. In this presentation we have, then, the Messiah in the truth of His divine Person, combined with His victorious power in conflict. John "beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (v. 6.) What a contrast between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of man! "A Lion, the Root of David." What majesty, dignity, visible display of strength, energy, and all-commanding power might we expect to behold! But no; it was a Lamb, and a Lamb as it had been slain! Ah! here is the divine secret of His exaltation, and of His having prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. Let us examine this wonderful exhibition more in detail.

However, the sadness is not to continue, for John is told by one of the elders not to weep (v. 5). His eyes are directed to the only One who is worthy, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. As the Lion He is God's powerful King: as the Root of David He is the living God, He from whom David received being. He has prevailed because of who He is and because of His great atoning sacrifice which gives Him title to save every believer and to judge those who refuse Him.

In the vision John wept much. He did not rejoice at the thought of judgment against evil failing by default of a worthy executioner. The very reverse: it outraged his feelings to imagine that it should fail in this manner. We know that, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Eccles. 8:11). It would be a crowning calamity if it were never executed at all, and John might well weep at the thought of this. The elders however, were in the secret of heaven and one of them gave John the key to all. It is by a Man that God is going to judge the world in righteousness, and that Man has prevailed and acquired the title to do it. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, an allusion to Genesis 49:9-10, and at the same time the Root of David — not merely the Offspring of David, but the Root, from whom sprang all David's authority and victory. The title to the crown was His to begin with. It is doubly His as the Overcomer. The closing verses of Psalm 78 indicate how definitely God's purposes for the government of the earth centre in David and Judah. All failed in David's immediate successors, for he had to lament, "Although my house be not so with God" (2 Sam. 23:5) and yet all is accomplished in Christ. Nothing fails.

The Lion of Judah, then, has prevailed, and so is worthy to open the book of judgment. But how did He prevail? Verse 6 tells us. It was by dying as the Lamb of sacrifice.

What all others have failed to do, He can and will do. For He is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." The lion is a type of resistless strength, whether acting lawlessly or, as here, in the righteous execution of God's judgments, for "the King's wrath is us the roaring of a lion." (Prov. 19:12.) Long ago the figure had been used of Israel — "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat the prey, and drink the blood of the slain." (Num 23:24.) And of Judah especially it was said, "Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?" (Gen. 49:9.) These prophecies are yet unfulfilled; for He who holds God's mighty power, symbolized by the lion, has not yet appeared in this character. He has been on earth as a lamb led to the slaughter, but not as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." This is the character however which He now takes. He is also "the Root of David," for it is from God's purposes concerning Him that all the glorious promises to David and his house are derived.

Think of the majesty of the One who takes the book from the hand of God. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah . Judah is the royal tribe, the lion symbolizes strength and royalty. All royalty belongs to Christ, as the Son of David according to the flesh. He will be invested with all that royalty means in God's thoughts, and men will see in Him what a true King is. He presented Himself once for their acceptance when He entered Jerusalem “meek and riding on an ass.” And the world rejected Him—Jew and Gentile alike—but when He appears as the Lion of the tribe of Judah He will break the nations in pieces like a potter's vessel.