Ooooh a lion...

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Proverbs 28:15
As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.

The key to understanding scripture isn’t based on the amount of doctrinal education that a person has, but rather on the simple ability to read scripture. Sometimes we get all caught up in searching out some deep hidden spiritual message supposedly hidden, secretively, within the confines of the verse. We know it’s there, but we think only the well educated, Biblically astute, theological masterminds can draw it out. Wrong! It’s there in plain English (in this case it’s in King James English), ready to be read. You see, sometimes all we need to do is slow down and read the words on the page.

Sure, it’s true that I’ve said that Jesus is concealed in the Old Testament of the Bible. I’ve made mention of His hidden fingerprints all over in the text. But Jesus is revealed in the New Testament. Since we have the New, we can look in the Old to find Him. We know exactly Who we are seeking. It’s not a mystery. But when we read scripture for a spiritual lesson, we act as though we have no idea what we’re seeking. We pray Bible-starter prayers like, “God, reveal to me Your hidden mystery in this text. Show me what spiritual secret is hidden here.” I think sometimes God just wants to reply, “HEY!! Why don’t you just read what is written? I didn’t put it in words to confuse you!”

Allow me to use the above referenced scripture to illustrate my point. First, the proverb. “As a roaring lion...” Let’s just analyze this small section. In this case we have the word “as”. We could (as some translations do) substitute the word “like”. Take away “as” and you have “A roaring lion...”, but with as you have “Like a roaring lion.” Meaning, similar to one, but not really a roaring lion. So a wicked ruler over the poor people isn’t really a roaring lion, but he’s like one. Well, what does a roaring lion do? He ROARS! He’s always making demands, yelling and screaming, telling them what they have to do. Pretty simple, right?

But what doesn’t the verse say? It doesn’t say “As an eating lion...” it certainly doesn’t say, “An eating lion.” That would be some scary stuff, and that would lend a whole new meaning to the verse! If he were an eating lion, he’d be consuming the poor, and that’s not good at all. But, alas, he isn’t. He’s simply a roaring lion. Well, he’s not even that. He’s like a roaring lion. He’s loud and scary, but not a real threat.

Well, what about 1 Peter? The same holds true. Only in this case we’re discussing the Devil. Peter refers to him “as a roaring lion”, just like in our proverb. So, the same holds true. He’s not really a roaring lion, but he’s like one. Well what does that mean? It means the Devil likes to go around yelling things at us to make us think he’s all that and a bag of chips, when here’s the truth: he isn’t! Again, Peter doesn’t say he is a roaring lion and he certainly doesn’t refer to him as an eating lion. Peter makes the devil out to be just a nuisance. Peter tells us that the Devil wanders around looking for someone he may devour. If he may, then it stands to reason that he may not! He’s all talk (or roar!), no action. The only thing he can do is make noise. Well, that’s not really scary now, is it? Why isn’t he an eating lion? Because Jesus knocked his teeth out at the cross! So really there is nothing to be afraid of.

But wait; like a bad infomercial, there’s more!

Our Proverb said something about poor people. Well, are we poor? Certainly not. Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” I’ve made a point to highlight HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US. Past tense for the future people. What Christ did at the cross was outside of time. He will supply our needs from His riches which HAVE BEEN GIVEN to us through Christ. That’s a blessing in and of itself, never mind this whole lion thing! But anyway, the point is that we’re not the poor to be lorded over by a wicked ruler (Devil) who screams negativity and horrible things all the time. We are heirs to the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and as such we have nothing to fear!