I love the new song that we have been doing by Leeland. “The Lion and the Lamb” has a great message and, quite frankly, very fun to play (both on drums and electric guitar). So many times I categorize God into one of the two boxes, either the lion or the lamb. When something bad is happening to or around me and He steps in, I hope He is roaring like a lion and fighting my battles. When I’ve sinned, I hope He is the lamb… you know, he would just come up to me and say “baaaaaaaad Richard.” (ok, enough horrible jokes). However, because He’s God and I’m not, He sometimes has to be the lion to me.

In C.S. Lewis’ “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” Aslan (the God/lion character), has to rip away the flesh of a boy, so that he can be can the man Aslan/God wants him to be. When I accepted Christ I became a new person, but He seriously has to keep refining me. Pulling away what doesn’t belong, so there’s room for what He has in store for me.

Well onto the song… The following is an interview with Leeland on where to song comes from and the scripture related to it.

“An Interview with Leeland”
We’ve had a lot of changes in our band. About 2 ½ years ago I was at a writer’s retreat at a cabin in Nashville, and we had an amazing three days. The third day, I was hanging out with Brenton Brown, and he’s a good buddy of mine. Rewinding a bit, the chorus of this song first came about 3 years ago when we were leading worship at a church in California for three days. The people coming to church were very hungry for God and very expectant. Every night got more intense, and the expectations and hunger grew. It was amazing leading worship for them because none of them cared about us, they were just there for Jesus and pursuing Him. We sang like two full-length songs, and lots of spiritual songs, where we were singing words like “Holy” and “Worthy” over and over for an hour.

The Bible talks about spiritual songs, which come out of your heart and Spirit. They aren’t necessarily a written song, but come out of your heart. That’s what we were doing, and everyone was singing their own songs to God. We were just weeping, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. My brother came over to me and asked me to play at the piano while he went down to pray for people. While I was there, God dropped the whole chorus of this song on me right there. I recorded the chorus on my phone.

For a year and a half, I played it for artists and nobody really connected with it. I played it for Brenton, and he just latched on to it. It spoke to him a lot, and he started working on verses with me. Then I met up with Brian Johnson, and we talked about writing songs together, and I reached out to him as well. He loved it as well. Together, the three of us finished the song in about a month. We sang it at a youth camp, and all the kids just sang along, and we knew the song was done. Writing this song with Brian reconnected me with Bethel Music, and that’s how I ended up recording this song and album with them.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Hosea 11:10 (NIV): “They will follow the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.”

John 1:29 (NKJV): “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 15:13 (NKJV): “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

Philippians 2:10-11 (NIV): “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Revelation 5:11-13 (NIV): “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'”

Revelation 12:11 (NKJV): “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

What is the takeaway message?

My brother and I were talking about this song and God’s attributes, about the power and tenderness of God at the same time. You see it with John in Heaven in Revelation. On earth, he laid his head on Jesus’s chest, and in Heaven he sees Jesus in all of His glory. He falls down like a dead man. God is so mighty and powerful, and Jesus puts His hand on his shoulder and tells him to not be afraid. It’s an amazing picture of how we tremble at His power and might and glory, and at the same time He is tender like a Lamb. It is amazing that He is both to us, for us and with us. I’m excited to see how the song has connected with people. I really didn’t have much to do with the song, as the Lord just gave me the chorus.

Lyrics:
He’s coming on the clouds
Kings and kingdoms will bow down
Every chain will break
As broken hearts declare His praise
For who can stop the Lord Almighty

Our God is a lion
The Lion of Judah
He’s roaring with power
And fighting our battles
Every knee will bow before Him
Our God is a lamb
The lamb that was slain
For the sins of the world
His blood breaks the chains
Every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb
Every knee will bow before Him

Richard Jacobs
Worship Pastor