Bear Hands 🐾

• 

The biblical story of David killing a lion is only two verses long, but it always captivated me, and stirred up so many questions in my head. What kind of lions lived in ancient Israel? Was it a male lion? How does one kill a lion with their hands? Does it feel good to kill a lion? Why haven’t I killed a lion?

These important questions led me to do some light research…

I quickly found the conventional talking points of the story…

• The wilderness was the young shepherd’s training ground for leading a nation.

• The lion (and bear) incidents built David’s courage and trust in God, preparing him to face Goliath.

• God delivers those who trust Him, regardless of how overwhelming the enemy appears.

But there are a couple other parallels in Scripture that seem obvious, and yet the commentaries I read weren’t mentioning them. First, the story closely resembles Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7). Second, Satan is compared to a roaring lion seeking to devour its prey (1 Peter 5:8).

It seems to me a clear image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leaving the 99 righteous sheep to rescue the one that is lost to sin. Is the hardly mentioned story of David and the lion yet another Old Testament story that foreshadows Jesus?