Monday is another one of those animal weather folklore days, like we had a couple of weeks ago with Phil. You know the rodent from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania who comes out and looks for his shadow. But the one this month deals with a lamb and a lion. If March starts off with pretty bad weather (which is open to much interpretation), it comes in like a lion. Next, folklore says it will then go out like a lamb, with pretty mild weather. And of course you can flip that--but we don’t want to since we prefer getting the bad weather out of the way and then have spring ushered in!
The lion and lamb are connected not only in weather but also in scriptures. . .or are they? We are all familiar with the saying that the lion will lie down with the lamb. The meaning seems to be that when Christ returns there will be peace. Well, there will be peace, but only because when Christ returns we will be taken to heaven as this earth passes away. But do the scriptures say that the lion and lamb lie down together?
Both lion and lamb are mentioned in Isaiah 11:6 and again in Isaiah 65:25. Though they are mentioned in each of these scriptures, they are not mentioned as being connected with each other. Each are mentioned as lying down in the first passage, but the lamb with a wolf and the lion with a calf. Again similar parings with the second passage but this one deals with eating. So yes, they are both mentioned, but not in connection with each other.
I guess one could make a case for Jesus being both of these. It is easy to see a lion as Jesus rips through the temple courts overturning the tables and chasing out those who were profiting off of other believers. Or the way He attacks the religious leaders who are focused on self instead of serving. And it’s just as easy to see Jesus as a lamb dealing with the woman caught in adultery or when He calls the little children to Himself. So a case could be made that Jesus is both a lion and a lamb.
The one thing we do know is that Jesus was considered a perfect lamb, one without blemish or defect (1Peter 1:19). Along that same line we know He was the sacrificial Lamb (1Corinthians 5:7). I don’t know what the weather will be on Monday as I sit here almost a week ahead of time writing this. But I can make this forecast: We can have peace in this difficult world, as we focus on the Lamb who came to rescue us through His death on the cross. So, regardless if the weather is turbulent or gentle on Monday--immerse yourself the strength and peace of Jesus.
Watching the weather, Randy