In the past I would often wonder about the correct way to view God. Should we view Him as the all-powerful King of the Universe, whose "name is to be feared among the nations" (Malachi 1:14)? Or should we see Him as a gentle, loving and forgiving God who is "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love" (Joel 2:13)? The truth is that both of these views are partially correct. The Bible refers to Jesus as both the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5) and the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29, 36). This Lion/Lamb contrast has greatly helped me in maintaining an accurate view of God that encompasses both of these essential aspects of His character.
God in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, most people see God as much more of a "Lion" than a "Lamb." The Old Testament contains numerous accounts of God bringing judgment on the Israelites because they had turned away from Him to follow other gods. Although these judgments display God's wrath and His justice against wrongdoing, they also clearly demonstrate His love for His chosen people, the Israelites. Instead of sitting back and allowing the Israelites to follow other gods and live sinful lives until they eventually ended up in hell, God did what was necessary to wake them up out of their sinful trance so that they might repent and turn back to their Creator. Because the heart of sinful man is exceptionally hard, it usually takes much more than some minor pains or frustrations to get someone to turn away from his sins.
Let's look at some scriptures from the Old Testament that describe the character of God. First, consider what the Lord said to Moses about Himself on Mount Sinai:
"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6-7)
This statement from the Lord Himself truly illustrates how the God of the Old Testament possesses both "lion" and "lamb" qualities. It demonstrates that God is innately loving, faithful, compassionate and forgiving, yet it also describes His perfect justice towards wrongdoers. Additionally, if we examine the descriptions of God made by those who knew Him best in the Old Testament, they all agree with the Lord's description of Himself. David said to the Lord:
"Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep." (Psalm 36: 5-6)
Moses told the Israelites:
"For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." (Deut. 10: 17-18)
And Jeremiah proclaimed to the Lord:
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers' sins into the laps of their children after them." (Jer. 32: 17-18)
Thus, the God of the Old Testament clearly possesses mighty, lion-like qualities that should cause us to fear Him, as well as gentle and comforting lamb-like qualities such as love, mercy and compassion. Those who truly knew Him in those days shared this view of their Creator, and they greatly delighted in both His "Lion" and His "Lamb" characteristics.
God in the New Testament
The New Testament portrayal of God is primarily accomplished through Jesus Christ, who is "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Heb. 1:3). Therefore, the most important way we learn about God in the New Testament is by what we see in His Son. The predominant view of Jesus today in the Christian church is definitely the "Lamb" view, and there are certainly an abundance of scriptures that depict this side of Him. Jesus tells a crowd of people that He is "gentle and humble in heart," and He offers them "rest for [their] souls" (Mat. 11:29). The Apostle Paul talks about the "meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1), and he prays that all the saints would have the power to "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Eph. 3:17-18). However, there are also lion-like characteristics of Jesus displayed throughout the New Testament. In the book of Revelation, Jesus tells the church in Pergamum that unless they repent, He will come to them and "fight against them with the sword of [His] mouth" (Rev. 2:16). He tells the church in Thyatira that He will "cast [Jezebel] on a bed of suffering," and He "will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways" (Rev. 2:22). In chapter 23 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has some very harsh words for the Pharisees and teachers of the law. He calls them "snakes," "hypocrites," "blind men," "whitewashed tombs" and "[sons] of hell," and He tells them that "upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar" (Mat. 23:35). Finally, Jesus' parables also contain a number of very serious, lion-like statements. Two of the best examples of these statements occur in the Gospel of Luke. In chapter 12, Jesus tells a parable in which He declares that an unfaithful servant "who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows" (Luke 12:47). In chapter 19, Jesus shares the Parable of the Ten Minas, an allusion to hell in which a king returns from a distant country to find that some of his servants have been faithful while he was gone and others have not. This is what the king (Jesus) has to say concerning his unfaithful servants:
"But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me." (Luke 19:27)
So although the New Testament portrayal of Jesus is often very lamb-like, there are a number of passages in the New Testament that display His mighty and awesome lion-like qualities, as well. Thus, our knowledge of the Son of God should bring us great comfort and encouragement (if we belong to Him), as well as a powerful reverence and fear of the One to whom we will one day give an account of our lives before His heavenly throne (Rom. 14:10-12, Heb. 4:13).
The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever
The discrepancy between how Christians typically view the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament often leads to some peculiar behaviors and beliefs. Many people seem to believe that although the God of the Old Testament was often very harsh and angry, now He has changed and is more loving and merciful towards people. They act as if God had "learned from His mistakes" and now has made some improvements in His moral character. The Scriptures, however, are clear that not only is God perfect in all of His ways (Deut. 32:4), but He cannot even be tempted to do wrong (James 1:13). Additionally, God says in the book of Malachi, "I the LORD do not change" (Mal. 3:6), and "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). Therefore, we know that God has always possessed complete perfection in each of His glorious attributes, and He will continue to do so for all of eternity.
Perhaps an even more common view today is the belief that God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) are intrinsically different from each other. Many people believe that God the Father is the "Lion" and God the Son is the "Lamb" in the makeup of the Godhead. Some of these people even treat the God of the Old Testament like an embarrassing relative, where they know of His fierce wrath and fury, but they are afraid or ashamed to tell people about this side of God, and instead they try to steer people towards Jesus, whom they describe as "kind, loving and merciful." However, when Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father, Jesus answered, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Why did Jesus respond like this to Philip's request? Because, as Hebrews 1:3 declares, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being." The great 18th century theologian Jonathan Edwards interpreted this verse as meaning that Jesus is the "eternal, necessary, perfect, substantial and personal idea which God hath of himself" (Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 4, ed. C. C. Goen (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), Ch. 1). Thus, Jesus and the Father are completely identical in their attributes, qualities and characteristics. The reason why Jesus told Philip, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?" is because He is the God of the Old Testament.
Embracing the Fullness of God
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says to the Father, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Therefore, since Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God, let us fully embrace and seek after all of His divine excellencies and perfections, that we may not miss out on any of the blessedness that comes from knowing God in His fullness! If we fail to gain a proper understanding and enjoyment of any of God's glorious attributes, we will have an inferior enjoyment of eternal life. Additionally, if our knowledge and experience of God is lacking in certain areas, we may not have come to truly know the God of the Scriptures at all. The god we have accepted and embraced may be an imposter with no power or ability to save us from our sins. Just as most of the Biblical world worshipped idols made of wood and stone – "idols that cannot see or hear or walk" (Rev. 9:20) – a god that is kind and forgiving but does not ignite any fear in his followers is no god at all, as is a harsh, dictatorial god who brings people no joy or delight.
