Sunday's Blessing - 10/18/2026 - Names of God - Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Jesus)

Sunday's Blessing - 10/18/2026 - Names of God - Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Jesus)

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5 (ESV)

King David was the most prolific and celebrated king over all of Israel. He united Judah with the rest of the tribes to bring the entire nation into unity. He ruled them all with equality and fairness.

David came from Judah. They were the first to recognize him as king after Saul died. In time, the rest of the tribes came to acknowledge his throne, which was appointed by God.

The name Judah means “praise”. One of the primary marks of David’s reign over Israel was the commitment to worshiping Almighty God. He forsook the Tabernacle of Moses when returning the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Instead, David built a new tabernacle focused on 24/7 worship in front of the Ark, which was in the open for all to see. David understood God’s heart which desired a restoration of fellowship with man like Adam had in the Garden of Eden where “God walked with Adam in the cool of the day.”

So, when the call came from the throne of God asking for someone worthy to open the scroll which John saw in the vision, there was only one option. Judah would be the tribe of origin. Someone from the lineage of David might qualify for the task, but only one did. His name was Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

John wrote “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”, the book we now refer to as “Revelations”. However, the entire book is ONE Revelation. Everything in it reveals truth about Jesus Christ. Here is a list of names from Revelation used to refer to Jesus. Many of these are dealt with separately in other chapters of my book, The Names of God.

Jesus Christ – 1:1

Faithful Witness – 1:5

First Begotten of the Dead – 1:5

Prince of the Kings of the Earth – 1:5

Alpha and Omega – 1:8-13

First and Last – 1:8, 11, 13

Son of Man – 1:13

He that lives and was dead – 1:13, 18

He that holds the seven stars – 2:1

He who walks amid the golden candlesticks – 2:1

He who has the sharp double-edged sword – 2:12

Son of God – 2:18

He who tests minds and hearts – 2:23

He who holds the seven Spirits of God – 3:1

He who has the seven stars – 3:1

The holy and true One – 3:7

He who has the key of David – 3:7

He who opens what no man shutteth – 3:7

He that shuts what no man opens – 3:7

The Amen – 3:14

The faithful and true witness – 3:14

The beginning of the creation of God – 3:14

Lord – 4:11

Lion of the tribe of Judah – 5:5

The root of David – 5:5

The Standing Lamb – 5:6

The Lamb – 5:7; 19:7, 9

Lord of Lords – 17:14

King of Kings – 17:14

Trustworthy and true – 19:11

Rider of the white horse – 19:11

The Word of God – 19:13-16

Christ – 20:4

The Lord God of the Holy Prophets – 22:6

Beginning and the end – 22:13

The sprig from the root of David – 22:16

The bright morning star – 22:16

The One recognized as the ONLY person qualified to open the scrolls was none other than The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the One seated at the right hand of God in Heaven, the One who was present when earth and man were created, the One who guided Noah in building an ark to save mankind, the One who came to Abram to deliver the promise, the One who guided Moses in bringing Israel out of Egypt, the One who led Joshua into the Promised Land, the One who directed Samuel to anoint David King over Israel, the One who was born of a virgin in a manger in Bethlehem, the One who lived by every word from the Father, the One who gave His life as a ransom to redeem man on a Cross at Calvary, the One whom God raised from the dead after He reclaimed the keys of death, hell, and the grave, and the One who ascended to the very throne which He now occupies making intercession for those who have been baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!

Seated on His throne next to the Father, still bearing in His body the scars on His hands and feet, still gripping the keys of The Kingdom, He awaits the appointed time when the command from the Father is given.

In his first epistle, John wrote:

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2 (ESV)

What a sight that will be! When we see Him we will be transformed into His image as “the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

We can place our faith in this One called the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” In Him, there is no fear, no hesitancy, and no anxiety. All praise be to God!

Sunday's Blessing - 10/11/2026 - Names of God - He Who Hath Anointed Us

Sunday's Blessing - 10/11/2026 - Names of God - He Who Hath Anointed Us

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (ESV)

There are many sermons and teachings about Jesus being anointed. Jesus declared this of Himself when He stood in the synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:16-19 (ESV)

He has anointed me! Jesus knew that without a doubt. Here is the wonderful part for us: God is no respecter of persons. What He did for Jesus (a man born of a woman) He will do for everyone. One of the names used to refer to Jesus is “Christ”, which means, “anointed one”. Jesus promised before He ascended to Heaven after the resurrection that He would send the Holy Spirit who would dwell in us. The Holy Spirit would baptize us into Christ. This is the anointing He has given to us!

Before being sent as an ambassador to another country, the sending country confers on them the authority to carry out business as their representative. The same thing is true of the Christian. God has established anointing as the method of conferring on others the authority and ability to act in His behalf. This is the essence of being a Christian. When we identify with Christ through faith, the Holy Spirit baptizes (anoints) us into Christ. We now carry in us the same power Jesus has, and we now have the same authority Jesus operated in while on earth. 

There are two important references in scripture which help us understand anointing. The first is use of oil to anoint an object in order to consecrate it. The very first time anointing with oil appears in the Bible is in Genesis 28:18. Jacob pours oil on a stone pillar at Bethel after waking from his dream of a ladder to heaven, marking the place as holy ground. The second reference comes from the commands given to Moses regarding the Tabernacle and its operations. The first person explicitly anointed in scripture is Aaron, when Moses pours oil on his head to consecrate him as high priest in Exodus 29:7. Anointing with oil is mentioned throughout scripture. For the New Testament Believer, the source of anointing is found in Christ Jesus and is used as a type of the Holy Spirit.

Without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, sent to us by The Anointed One, Jesus, we are like impostors trying to pass themselves off as representatives of the One they represent. It’s the spiritual version of scamming. Satan did this when he approached Jesus after the forty days of fasting which began when Jesus was baptized of John. Satan tried to get Jesus to turn away from the plan the Father had for His Only Begotten Son, but Jesus was the Word made flesh to dwell among us. Jesus responded to every temptation thrown at Him with a “word” from God.

Our mission is to do the same. Jesus made a way, legally in the spiritual sense, for us to be redeemed and brought back into right-standing with God. Jesus then sent us His anointing, in the form of the Holy Spirit, to help us serve as representatives of His in the earth, ambassadors from the Kingdom of Heaven, to be “ministers of reconciliation”, as Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 5:18. This does not mean we are to become “preachers”, but instead to become those who reveal Christ in the earth by demonstrating the love of God, the compassion of Christ, and the reflection of Jesus by following the Holy Spirit’s leading as He directs our paths. This is all accomplished by the anointing given by “He Who Hath Anointed Us”.

Sunday's Blessing - 10/04/2026 - Names of God - He Who Worketh All Things After the Counsel of His Own Will

Sunday's Blessing - 10/04/2026 - Names of God - He Who Worketh All Things After the Counsel of His Own Will

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, Ephesians 1:11 (ESV)

Ephesians 1 and 2 are, in my opinion, two of the greatest chapters in the Bible. Paul lays out the foundation of all God did to prepare a way for us to be restored back into fellowship with our Creator.

There’s a word in this verse which gives many Christians problems with their faith in God. “Predestined” does not mean that God has already laid out your entire life, including who you will marry, the children you will have, the work which you perform, the places you will live, the church(es) you will attend, and most importantly, whether you will be saved or not. There is a much simpler and more accurate understanding of being “predestined.”

One of the first rules for interpreting the Bible is the Bible itself. If the question is already answered elsewhere in the Bible, then you do not need to look further. In this case, Paul himself answers what he meant by “predestined.”

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29 (ESV)

I love how simple this is. God does have a plan for every single human who has ever lived, is living, or will live on this planet. He wants every person from Adam until the last human birthed before the end of this existence “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

How did God come up with this plan which could apply to everyone? The Godhead (Father, The Word [Jesus], and the Holy Spirit) decided this would be the hope for every person. “Let us make man in Our image.” (Genesis 1:26 ESV) God gave each person a will so they could make choices to bring themselves into conformation to Jesus. God gave each person means by which they would have the power to be conformed to Jesus – the Holy Spirit –  who was placed inside every believer. But it all started with Abraham, where God gave access to faith by which everyone can be redeemed back into right-standing with God.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, Hebrews 6:13 (ESV)

In all of scripture we see a single thread where God always does things according to His will, which is determined by taking counsel with Himself, because who else can God consult?

The final part of this particular “Name of God” has to do with “inheritance.” In today’s culture, an inheritance is something passed from one generation to the next. It usually consists of things pertaining to wealth (money, valuable objects, or real estate) but can include a business or trust where the recipient has to assume some sort of role to oversee the operations of the inheritance. The latter is the case here. God made us joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) where we are to “rule and reign” with Him (2 Timothy 2:12).

Let’s recap what Paul is trying to convey in Ephesians 1. God has prepared an inheritance for us (His Kingdom), and to qualify us for the position has predestined all of us to be like Jesus, who is the King of this Kingdom, where we will rule and reign with Him. This whole plan was conceived by God Himself when He “took counsel of His own will.” That is certain is Good News! God’s wisdom is incredible.

Trust His process and embrace His plan. Enjoy the ride.