Lions Eat Christians? What?

Christians being eaten by lions? Now what’s wrong with that picture? I wondered.

Most have seen movies that include scenes with a Roman Colosseum. People are pitted against people, or against beasts. One of their favorites was feeding Christians to the lions.

Wait just a minute! From a Biblical perspective this is all wrong. Jesus (the Lion of the Tribe of Judah) doesn’t eat Christians. He loves and cares for them.

In an instant, a whole new understanding of prayer came into view.

No doubt, you’re familiar with the Armor of God: the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Helmet of Salvation, Shoes that are the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace, the Shield of Faith, and the Sword of the Spirit…and an oft left-out piece: Prayer.

Let’s consider the shield for a bit. In the days of the Roman Empire, the one used was roughly 2 1/2 feet by 4 feet…big enough to shield the entire body. When a group of soldiers stood side-by-side, their shields formed an impenetrable wall.

Place them in a circle, and what do you have? A Colosseum!

For you see, when we join in prayer, we have effectively encircled our enemy. The Lion (always victorious) can then take him out.

Like I said, this is completely backward to the Roman Colosseum.

There are a few times in the Bible when the Lord says, “I looked for a man to stand in the gap, but could find no one.” The verse takes on a different meaning when seen in this light, doesn’t it?

This causes me to wonder how many times total victory was thwarted, the enemy allowed to escape, because I failed to heed the call to prayer. Hmm, mmm.

It came as no big surprise that Satan took one of God’s spiritual truths and turned it into a grisly game for entertaining the masses. After all, he’s twisted every other thing God designed for our good and His glory.

For instance, God invited His people to several week-long parties to celebrate their relationship with Him in song, dance, and pot-lucks. Today we have concerts where people gather for the sake of worshiping other people, sing songs that tear them down, and dance seductively. Some parties last all weekend – sometimes turning into orgies.

God invites us to be filled with His Spirit, Satan invites people to be filled with alcohol or drugs so that He can fill them and control them.

God designed marriage to illustrate His faithfulness to us, Satan destroys marriages, and many people in the process.

God uses stories to teach us about Himself. Hollywood uses stories to teach us about evil and vile things.

God wrote a Book, so did Satan.

God calls for gatherings for the sake of worship, so does Satan.

God instituted a system of animal sacrifice to atone for sin until Jesus gave the final sacrifice. Now, no more bloodshed is required. Satan still demands sacrifices – not of animals only, but of humans as well.

I could give many more examples, but you get the idea. Anytime we see perversity, we see a twisting of a spiritual truth.

…like Christians, who were eaten by the lions in the Colosseums of old.

 

Want more on our armor? Check out Is Your Skirt Flapping in the Breeze?