A SPIRITUAL THOUGHT ON LIONS
The lion is king in the animal kingdom, but what is the Bible’s view on lions? In scripture, the most popular mention of lions is in the story of Daniel and his journey in Babylon.
The king’s command was as good as a god’s, and the people knew that the penalty for disobedience was death. Yet, Daniel decided to honor Yahweh in that time and landed in the lions’ den with hungry and ferocious lions. Then, God displayed His authority by keeping Daniel safe (Daniel 6).
The devil is described as being like a roaring and roaming lion that is always seeking for whom to destroy. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.”.
This tells us about the loudness of the lion’s roar that you can hear from miles away and instills fear and respect in all the other animals.
Lastly, the Bible describes Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, describing God’s ability to protect and guide His people as King and warrior. “One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5. This makes us hopeful that although the devil is out there looking for someone to destroy, our God is able to keep us safe from harm.
Bible Verses About Lions
Genesis 49:9 – Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?
Numbers 23:24 – Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
Numbers 24:9 – He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.
Deuteronomy 33:20 – About Gad he said, “He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm and the crown of the head.
Deuteronomy 33:22 – About Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps out of Bashan.”
Judges 14:5 – Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him.
Judges 14:8 – After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
Judges 14:9 – He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body.
Judges 14:18 – The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.”
1 Samuel 17:34 – David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
1 Samuel 17:36 – Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”
1 Samuel 17:37 – David said, “Yahweh, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! Yahweh will be with you.”
2 Samuel 1:23 – Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. In their death, they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions.
2 Samuel 17:10 – Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
2 Samuel 23:20 – Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit in a time of snow.
1 Kings 7:29 – and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.
1 Kings 7:36 – On the plates of its supports, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, each in its space, with wreaths all around.
1 Kings 10:19 – There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
1 Kings 10:20 – Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom.
1 Kings 13:24 – When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.
1 Kings 13:25 – Behold, men passed by, and saw the body thrown on the path, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
1 Kings 13:26 – When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth. Therefore Yahweh has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke to him.”
1 Kings 13:28 – He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor mauled the donkey.
1 Kings 20:36 – Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.
2 Kings 17:25 – So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn’t fear Yahweh. Therefore Yahweh sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
2 Kings 17:26 – Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land.”
1 Chronicles 11:22 – Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.
1 Chronicles 12:8 – Some Gadites joined David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains:
2 Chronicles 9:18 – There were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
2 Chronicles 9:19 – Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. There was nothing like it made in any other kingdom.
Job 4:10 – The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
Job 4:11 – The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
Job 10:16 – If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.
Job 28:8 – The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
Job 38:39 – Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
Psalm 7:2 – lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.
Psalm 10:9 – He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.
Psalm 17:12 – He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psalm 22:13 – They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
Psalm 22:21 – Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
Psalm 34:10 – The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
Psalm 35:17 – Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.
Psalm 57:4 – My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
Psalm 58:6 – Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
Psalm 91:13 – You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
Psalm 104:21 – The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
Proverbs 19:12 – The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
Proverbs 20:2 – The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
Proverbs 22:13 – The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”
Proverbs 26:13 – The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!”
Proverbs 28:1 – The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:15 – As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people.
Proverbs 30:30 – The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn’t turn away for any;
Ecclesiastes 9:4 – For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Song of Solomon 4:8 – Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
Isaiah 5:29 – Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.
Isaiah 11:6 – The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:7 – The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.
Isaiah 15:9 – For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.
Isaiah 21:8 – He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.
Isaiah 30:6 – The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people.
Isaiah 31:4 – For Yahweh says to me, “As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for their noise, so Yahweh of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
Isaiah 35:9 – No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there.
Isaiah 38:13 – I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
Isaiah 65:25 – The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 2:15 – The young lions have roared at him and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
Jeremiah 2:30 – “I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Jeremiah 4:7 – A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations. He is on his way. He has gone out from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.
Jeremiah 5:6 – Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has increased.
Jeremiah 12:8 – My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. She has uttered her voice against me. Therefore I have hated her.
Jeremiah 25:38 – He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger.
Jeremiah 49:19 – “Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
Jeremiah 50:17 – “Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
Jeremiah 50:44 – Behold, the enemy will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it. Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it; for who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?”
Jeremiah 51:38 – They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
Lamentations 3:10 – He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
Ezekiel 1:10 – As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man. The four of them had the face of a lion on the right side. The four of them had the face of an ox on the left side. The four of them also had the face of an eagle.
Ezekiel 10:14 – Every one them had four faces. The first face was the face of the cherub. The second face was the face of a man. The third face was the face of a lion. The fourth was the face of an eagle.
Ezekiel 19:2 – and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness. She couched among lions, in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
Ezekiel 19:3 – She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
Ezekiel 19:5 – Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.
Ezekiel 19:6 – He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
Ezekiel 22:25 – There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made many widows within it.
Ezekiel 32:2 – Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, “You were likened to a young lion of the nations; yet you are as a monster in the seas. You broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.
Ezekiel 38:13 – Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, will ask you, ‘Have you come to take the plunder? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?
Ezekiel 41:19 – so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. It was made like this through all the house all around.
Daniel 6:7 – All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the local governors, the counselors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong decree, that whoever asks a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Daniel 6:12 – Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree: “Haven’t you signed a decree that every man who makes a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered, “This thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.”
Daniel 6:16 – Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.
Daniel 6:19 – Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions.
Daniel 6:20 – When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?”
Daniel 6:22 – My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me; because as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.
Daniel 6:24 – The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
Daniel 6:27 – He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
Daniel 7:4 – “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet as a man. A man’s heart was given to it.
Hosea 5:14 – For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
Hosea 11:10 – They will walk after Yahweh, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.
Hosea 13:7 – Therefore I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path.
Hosea 13:8 – I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them.
Joel 1:6 – For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.
Amos 3:4 – Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
Amos 3:8 – The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy?
Amos 3:12 – Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.”
Amos 5:19 – As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
Micah 5:8 – The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver.
Nahum 2:11 – Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?
Nahum 2:12 – The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.
Nahum 2:13 – “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
Zephaniah 3:3 – Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
Zechariah 11:3 – A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
2 Timothy 4:17 – But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear. So I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Hebrews 11:33 – who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Revelation 4:7 – The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.
Revelation 5:5 – One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.
Revelation 9:8 – They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions.
Revelation 9:17 – Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
Revelation 10:3 – He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
Revelation 13:2 – The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
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