Lion Of Judah
Painted in Beit Sahour, Judaean Hills, Israel, 2010
In many of our worship songs, Jesus is often referred to as the Lion of Judah. This is one of God’s formal, revealed names in the Hebrew scriptures and as such is an important discovery of some peculiar aspects of Himself. As an act of worship, in an attempt to contribute honor to this Majestic aspect of God, I began to contemplate some of what might be imbedded in this name. As the contemplation moved me toward an artistic design, I found myself drawn to attempt to illustrate something about the authority of the Lion of Judah being recognized and embraced by His bride in these last days.
As I started preliminary work on this piece, I wrote on my sketch pad a few of the main ideas I had from our first hand interactions with African lions during the 11 years our family lived in Africa. (On two occasions, when tenting in the Masai Mara, we heard the thunder of lions roaring nearby and at times have seen them from less then ten feet away—blood splattered from a fresh kill— from within the relative safety of the van we were in.) The descriptive words I wrote down included:
Awe inspiring; potentially very dangerous/destructive; confident/capable; wild—i.e., not predictable--even the unkempt manner of the shaggy mane points to this underlying untamable, cannot-be-boxed-in characteristic; intimidating in their majestic power; loud; unquestionably dominant; regal; intriguing
With these characteristics as a reference point I began to consider what a painting of the Lion of Judah might say. I wanted it to look like a realistic portrait of a real, life-size lion’s head. But beyond that I was stuck: I did not want it to look like just a wildlife painting. I needed something to set this lion apart as The Supernatural lion directly connected to and identified by a people whom He calls His own. As with many of my musings that eventually become paintings, I kept turning this idea over in my heart for weeks, waiting for the missing elements of the design to present themselves. They came together one morning during worship in a House of Prayer in Israel.
For a few months of each of the past several years, Caryn Beth and I have been a part of Succat Hallel, a 24/7 House of Prayer that overlooks Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. In addition to other “prayer watches” that are ongoing, on Tuesday mornings people from all over the world come together to pray for the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah 19. God is always faithful to bring to the attention of the “watch” leader a theme every week and out of that theme comes an intercessional focus and direction. After many weeks of waiting on the Lord for the ideas of my painting to materialize, one Tuesday morning my heart leapt as I heard the prayer leader cry out to God ". . . for the authority of the Lion of Judah to be recognized and embraced by His bride in these last days."
In that moment I finally felt the Holy Spirit’s release and urging to begin my Lion of Judah painting. The next day, I sketched from several photos of lions and then had Caryn Beth literally come up and embrace the canvas while I photographed her stance and then finished my sketching from the new photo.
The end result is a painting of the feminine innocence of the Bride of Christ in a tender, vulnerable surrender to the majestic, regal headship of the Lion of Judah, King of all. Somehow for me, the presence of the delicate bride makes the terrible, beautiful majesty of the King all the more pronounced and real.
As with any piece of art, this painting says different things to different people. For me, as I reflect on it, the words of C.S. Lewis come to mind from his excellent allegory, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the middle of that story, a young lady is anticipating the extraordinary experience of her first meeting with the Lion, Aslan, who, in the tale, represents Jesus. Trying to get a sense of Aslan’s demeanor, she asks a friend the question: “Is he quite safe?” She had never met a Lion before. The surprised reply shoots back: “Safe?! Who said anything about safe? ‘Course He isn’t safe -- but He is good!”
As I started preliminary work on this piece, I wrote on my sketch pad a few of the main ideas I had from our first hand interactions with African lions during the 11 years our family lived in Africa. (On two occasions, when tenting in the Masai Mara, we heard the thunder of lions roaring nearby and at times have seen them from less then ten feet away—blood splattered from a fresh kill— from within the relative safety of the van we were in.) The descriptive words I wrote down included:
Awe inspiring; potentially very dangerous/destructive; confident/capable; wild—i.e., not predictable--even the unkempt manner of the shaggy mane points to this underlying untamable, cannot-be-boxed-in characteristic; intimidating in their majestic power; loud; unquestionably dominant; regal; intriguing
With these characteristics as a reference point I began to consider what a painting of the Lion of Judah might say. I wanted it to look like a realistic portrait of a real, life-size lion’s head. But beyond that I was stuck: I did not want it to look like just a wildlife painting. I needed something to set this lion apart as The Supernatural lion directly connected to and identified by a people whom He calls His own. As with many of my musings that eventually become paintings, I kept turning this idea over in my heart for weeks, waiting for the missing elements of the design to present themselves. They came together one morning during worship in a House of Prayer in Israel.
For a few months of each of the past several years, Caryn Beth and I have been a part of Succat Hallel, a 24/7 House of Prayer that overlooks Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. In addition to other “prayer watches” that are ongoing, on Tuesday mornings people from all over the world come together to pray for the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah 19. God is always faithful to bring to the attention of the “watch” leader a theme every week and out of that theme comes an intercessional focus and direction. After many weeks of waiting on the Lord for the ideas of my painting to materialize, one Tuesday morning my heart leapt as I heard the prayer leader cry out to God ". . . for the authority of the Lion of Judah to be recognized and embraced by His bride in these last days."
In that moment I finally felt the Holy Spirit’s release and urging to begin my Lion of Judah painting. The next day, I sketched from several photos of lions and then had Caryn Beth literally come up and embrace the canvas while I photographed her stance and then finished my sketching from the new photo.
The end result is a painting of the feminine innocence of the Bride of Christ in a tender, vulnerable surrender to the majestic, regal headship of the Lion of Judah, King of all. Somehow for me, the presence of the delicate bride makes the terrible, beautiful majesty of the King all the more pronounced and real.
As with any piece of art, this painting says different things to different people. For me, as I reflect on it, the words of C.S. Lewis come to mind from his excellent allegory, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the middle of that story, a young lady is anticipating the extraordinary experience of her first meeting with the Lion, Aslan, who, in the tale, represents Jesus. Trying to get a sense of Aslan’s demeanor, she asks a friend the question: “Is he quite safe?” She had never met a Lion before. The surprised reply shoots back: “Safe?! Who said anything about safe? ‘Course He isn’t safe -- but He is good!”