Verse 8 says, "Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee: thy hand shall be upon the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee" (Heb.). Here we are told that Judah's brothers will praise him and that his father's children will bow down before him. This means that Judah's brothers will praise and worship him for his victory. Does this actually refer to Judah or to Christ? It refers to Christ. Thus, I say again, we may substitute Christ for Judah and declare, "Christ, Thy brethren shall praise Thee, and Thy Father's children shall bow down before Thee."
Verse 9 says, "Judah is a young lion: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up," and verse 8 says, "Thy hand shall be upon the neck of thine enemies." We need to see the picture portrayed here. A lion dwells on the mountain. When he goes after some prey, he descends from the mountain. As he is waiting to seize his prey, he crouches. But after he has taken his prey, he brings it up the mountain with him. Thus, the words, "From the prey, my son, thou art gone up," mean that the lion has gone up the mountain to devour his prey. After eating it, the lion no longer crouches; instead, he couches, that is, he lies down. This indicates that, after swallowing up his prey, he is satisfied and lies down to rest.
We need to apply this picture to Christ. Christ was firstly the young lion crouching as He waited for His prey. After seizing His prey, He brought His captive to the heavens where He enjoyed him. This reminds us of Ephesians 4:8, which says, "When he ascended up on high, he led a train of vanquished foes" (Gk.). This train of vanquished foes was Christ's prey. Now, after enjoying the prey He has captured, He is satisfied and rests in the heavens. To put it in plain words, this means that Christ is now sitting on the throne in the heavens. But according to the poetry of verse 9, after devouring His prey, Christ was satisfied and couched to enjoy His rest.
Have you ever seen such a vision or experienced such a Christ? In your experience, do you have Christ as a young lion? Do you also have Him as the satisfied lion who lies down to rest? Years ago, when I was young, I was troubled by many kinds of enemies. But one day I saw that my enemies had already become a prey to my Christ. My temper, my problems, my weaknesses, and all my other enemies were Christ's prey. He went to the cross and captured them, and in resurrection He led a train of vanquished foes to the heavens for His enjoyment. Now, in the heavens, He is no longer fighting; He is couching. He is Lying down to rest, and I am experiencing Him as a resting lion. He is couching, and I also am resting. Why should I be troubled by anything? I simply need to enjoy this victorious, satisfied, and resting Christ.
I know the situation of the brothers and sisters, especially of the young people. In the last message you learned that you were a Levi. However, during the past week, you have probably been troubled by some enemies. Perhaps an enemy came in through your roommate, your parents, your husband or wife, or your own disposition. But after you have read this message, I hope you will also be able to say that you are a Judah. Immediately after Levi, Judah appears. This means that Christ has come. Today our Christ is no longer the young lion; He is the resting lion. When the Apostle John was weeping because no one was qualified to open the scroll of God's mystery, an elder said to him, "Do not weep; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals" (Rev. 5:5). This verse does not say that our Christ will overcome; it says that He has overcome already. He has captured the prey and swallowed him. Hallelujah, all the enemies have been devoured by Christ! Today Christ is not the fighting One; He is a couching One, the resting One sitting in the heavens. If you see this, you will forget your enemies, your temper, and the troubles caused by parents and children, and you will say, "Hallelujah! Lord, I worship You and praise You! Lord, You were the young, fighting lion. But today You are resting in the heavens as the victorious lion. And now I am partaking of all You have done."
Notice that, according to the Hebrew, verse 9 says, "He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lioness." Why does this verse first speak of a lion and then a lioness? The young lion is for fighting, for gaining the victory, and couching is the sign that the fighting lion has won the victory, has devoured the prey, and is now resting in satisfaction. Here we firstly have the young lion and then the couching lion. But what is the significance of the lioness? It is that the lion is about to bring forth many cubs, many baby lions. Thus, Christ is not only the fighting lion and the resting lion, but also the producing lioness. Christ is our mother lion, and we are all His lion cubs. In the last message we saw that we have become priests. In this message we need to see that we also have been made lion cubs. When the enemy troubles you, you should realize that you are a baby lion. Let the enemy challenge us all he wants. We are not merely priests; we are also lions. Christ is the producing lioness who has brought forth us as His many cubs.
The last part of verse 9 says, "Who shall rouse him up?" Some versions say, "Who dares to rouse him?" This means, "Who dares to defy Him?" Today, not only is Christ the lion; we also are lions.
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