Into the Lion's Den
I stumbled on one of those verses the other day, a verse that blew my mind and re-oriented my reality towards something otherworldly, something more Heavenly.
The verse comes from Song of Songs chapter 4. In it, the Bridegroom-King is showering love and affection over His Bride, saying “Every part of you is so beautiful, my darling. Perfect is your beauty, without flaw within” (Song of Songs 4:7 TPT). God is caught up with His Bride. He sees her beauty and He is enthralled. And in the midst of this intimacy, an invitation begins to take shape.
He goes on, saying, “Now you are ready, my bride, to come with me…Come with me through the archway of trust…” The footnote in the Passion Translation describes this place, ‘Aman,’ as a place of trust and settled security, a place where faith is born and whereupon this invitation can begin to be rightly perceived.
He goes on:
“We will look down from the crest of the glistening mounts and from the summit of our sublime sanctuary.
Together we will wage war
in the lion’s den and the leopard’s lair
as they watch nightly for their prey.
For you reach into my heart. With one flash of my eye’s I am undone by your love, my beloved….” (Song of Songs 4:8-9a; emphasis mine, TPT).
Wow! I’m simply floored by this exchange. From the place of intimacy and security, we are invited to join the Bridegroom-King in waging war. Intimacy between heaven and earth creates a courage and power to fight for something. The Warrior King (see Psalm 24:8 & 10), in a state of intimate love, moves out towards darkness, and is moved to do battle with the oppressor.
As I read this, my spirit flashes to instances throughout scripture where God defines priorities of leadership as that which ‘encourages the oppressed, defends the cause of the fatherless, pleads the case of the widow’ (Isa. 1:17 NIV), where God establishes a standard where the rights of the poor and oppressed are maintained and where the weak and needy are rescued and delivered from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3-4 NIV).
When I hear The Lord inviting me to “wage war” with Him, I am inspired to do the above, this includes rebuking the oppressor and going on the offensive towards anything that perpetuates human suffering or injustice among people.
Watch for the God of Love in the secret place. Be prepared for Him to invite you to see and to behold things from His perspective, to not only see what He calls beautiful but to also perceive what moves Him to action. Be prepared to step into the lion’s den, to break the back of the oppressor.
This idea in scripture reminds me of why I’m alive and why I do the things I do with my time. Why I walk into dark places with the Light of God’s love: why I go to brothels with other Jesus followers to share hope with women trapped in the sex industry, why I intentionally mentor youth in my city.
I move towards these things and the people in those places in my social landscape with the love and power of God because of verses like these.
The Lord is a mighty warrior in our midst. He is the One who cannot turn away from those who are under the weight of injustice or oppression. He lives to revive the spirit of the contrite and to raise up those who are bent low-- both in humility as well as beneath the weight of injustice (see Isa. 57:15 NIV).
What is our intimacy with the Lord producing? Don’t be surprised by His invitation to walk into dark places, places where pain and suffering are a norm for people.
He is the strong One who walks upon the scene with transformational power—His power to Love and to Heal, His power to declare ‘there’s another world available, do you want it?’ (my paraphrase of ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’ -Matt. 10:7). “Together we will wage war…” The Love He stirs in us is going somewhere, somewhere dark, somewhere meant to be illuminated with love, hope and healing!
-Lance Jacobs
