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The Lion in the Cage and the Lion on the Throne


Ezekiel 19:9

With hooks they pulled him into a cage
    and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him in prison,
    so his roar was heard no longer
    on the mountains of Israel.

 

Thought for the day – The Lion in the Cage and the Lion on the Throne

Ezekiel 19 is not a comfortable read. It's a funeral song for kings. God tells Ezekiel to take up a lament for the princes of Israel — pictured as lion cubs raised by a lioness, growing into fierce, capable predators. And then verse 9: "With hooks he pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. He was placed in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel" (NIV). The lion that once made kingdoms tremble ends up as an exhibit. Muzzled. Paraded. Silent.

We actually know this isn't just poetry. Archaeologists digging in Babylon found ration tablets listing "Yau-kin, king of Judah" among the palace's captive dependents — Jehoiachin, fed like livestock, decades into his imprisonment. The lion in the cage has a name and a receipt. So when Revelation 5 announces "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" are we to expect the same thing, the same story. Another captured king. Another silenced roar.

Except that when John turns to look at the Lion , he sees a Lamb. Slain, but standing. What a contrast. Every human throne Ezekiel writes about ends the same way: caught, caged, carted off. Power built on teeth and claws always meets a bigger set of teeth eventually. To quote the captain from Jaws, there is always a bigger fish.

But Jesus doesn't out-lion the lions of this world. He wins by being led like a lamb to slaughter — and comes out the other side holding the scroll.

If your strength has ever failed you, take heart. His didn't look like strength either. Until it did.


 

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