The Righteous Are as Bold as a Lion

Picture a panthera leo — stalking unafraid through the savannah, imperial and mettlesome, strong, and commanding. Other animals flee when she approaches and cower at her mighty roar, for they know she is tearing and powerful, sovereign among animals.

In the Book of Proverbs, this is the image we are provided to represent the righteous. Proverbs 28:ane proclaims, "The wicked abscond though no i pursues, just the righteous are every bit bold as a lion."

Yet how is this so? Often it is the wicked who are known for their force and say-so, while the righteous are considered "good," kind, and merciful. How are the righteous as bold equally a lion?

What Does it Mean to Exist Righteous?

Mostly, righteousness means being morally correct, i who lives in an upright style co-ordinate to the Lord.

In the Bible, people who are righteous are those who encompass the commands of God, who turn from fleshly desires and strive to alive in the style of Christ Jesus, our model of perfection.

But Christ hadn't yet come at the time King Solomon wrote Proverbs. Solomon would take been referring to an Old Attestation concept of righteousness, 1 rooted in hope-keeping, holy living, and purity.

The give-and-take used in that Scripture is tsaddiq, which Strong's Hebrew concordance translates every bit "but" and "righteous." It's the same word used to describe Noah in Genesis half-dozen:nine — the lone man God deemed worthy of saving from the alluvion — and God Himself when Nehemiah praised him during the people's great confession subsequently the Jerusalem wall was rebuilt (Nehemiah ix:8).

The NKJV Open Bible defines this sort of righteousness as "that which is upright."

What Does it Hateful to Be 'Bold equally a Panthera leo'?

According to Strong'south Hebrew concordance, the original Hebrew uses the word yibtah, from the root batach— meaning the country of being bold and trusting, confident — and kephir, pregnant a young lion.

In this sense, the verse is saying those who are morally upright and merely, those who are "righteous," have the trusting, secure conviction of a young lion, i who walks assured of his victory.

Elsewhere in Proverbs, Solomon refers to the lion as "mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing" and moves with "stately bearing" (Proverbs xxx:29-xxx).

One who is assuming equally a lion does not worry. This person is confident that he or she is protected past the Lord and walks with Him. All they exercise is guaranteed, blessed, and certain to triumph in the end.

What Is the Context Backside This Poesy?

In Proverbs 28, Solomon is explaining what sort of leader he wishes his son to be: one who is potent, mighty, mettlesome, and practiced, not the sort who'due south and then unstable, brash, and haunted by his evil deeds that he would flinch at phantom pursuers.

Keeping in mind that Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom, this book is just that: nuggets of God-inspired wisdom on how to alive and pb well in club to please the Lord and receive His approval.

Throughout this chapter of the book, Solomon contrasts the wicked with the wise, indicating how the wise walk with God and comport in a controlled way filled with good judgment and discernment.

They don't need to be a roaring young lion, consumed with foolish emotion and wrath. Rather, they pb with their heads and the providence of God. They tin can exist a young lion, a lion in his prime.

And like this young lion, they tin can alive with confidence — that is, boldly, like a lion — considering they are unfettered past their conscience. Their censor is clear and pure, and they can proceed with peace and rest knowing they are guided and cared for by God Omnipotent.

Why Does Righteousness Make a Person Assuming?

When we are righteous, we fear God. We alive our lives in respect and awe of the gifts He gives u.s.a., and we practice our best to please Him. The wicked do non fear God but rather concern themselves with the ways of this world and the people.

Because the righteous accept their sights set on the Lord, they don't accept to worry about other people in the same way, for they worry about their principal.

This provides keen freedom, for they are liberated from the shackles of people-pleasing and politics. They can move almost their days with courage and confidence, knowing they are secure.

It's the same kind of security and confidence Jesus refers to in John sixteen:33 when He tells His disciples that in Him, they accept peace.

What Are Some Other Verses That Include the Power of a Lion?

God Omnipotent has complete and absolute power over all things. Indeed, He created the universe, and all rightfully bow to Him. Righteousness is living in line with that truth. To remind u.s.a. of God'due south authoritative position, here are some other Bible verses that refer to God as a lion:

Then 1 of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open up the scroll and its 7 seals"(Revelation five:5).

Like a king of beasts coming up from Hashemite kingdom of jordan'due south thickets to a rich pastureland, I will hunt Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who tin can claiming me? And what shepherd can stand against me? (Jeremiah 49:19).

They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a panthera leo. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west (Hosea 11:10).

For I will exist like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I volition carry them off, with no one to rescue them (Hosea 5:fourteen).

The lion has roared — who will non fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken — who can but prophesy?" (Amos three:8).

This is what the Lord says to me: "As a lion growls, a smashing lion over its casualty — and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed past their clamor — so the Lord Almighty volition come down to practise battle on Mount Zion and on its heights" (Isaiah 31:4).

A king'due south rage is like the roar of a king of beasts, just his favor is like dew on the grass (Proverbs 19:12).

What Does This Mean?

In that location is no question that lions are perceived as powerful. "Rex of the jungle" is among their titles, even though lions don't actually alive in the jungle. Other creatures freeze and run in fearfulness for their lives at the sight of the panthera leo. The king of beasts is formidable and ascendant.

It's the aforementioned manner with God, our Father. Revelation 22:13 calls God "the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Cease."

In the Volume of Daniel, the seemingly mighty King Nebuchadnezzar had this to say when God leveled him and thus displayed His full say-so:

His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded every bit aught. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can concur dorsum his hand or say to him: "What have you lot done?" (Daniel four:34-35).

God is similar a lion, merely far more powerful. And when we are righteous — that is, when we walk in alignment with Him — we can take the courage and boldness of a lion, as well.

For farther reading:

How Is Jesus the 'Lamb of God' and the 'Lion of the Tribe of Judah'?

Why Does the Lord Send Rain on the Righteous and the Unrighteous?

Why Are Believers to Have Boldness in the Christian Life?

Jessica Brodie is an honour-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing double-decker and the recipient of the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for her novel, The Retentiveness Garden. She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism. Learn more nearly her fiction and read her organized religion blog at jessicabrodie.com. She has a weekly YouTube devotional, likewise. Yous can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and more. She's as well produced a free eBook, A God-Centered Life: 10 Religion-Based Practices When Yous're Feeling Broken-hearted, Grumpy, or Stressed.