The Roaring Lions

In 2007 my husband and I toured the Field Museum in Chicago, IL. We went for the purpose of seeing Sue the most complete T-Rex ever found. After spending some time with Sue we spent the remainder of our afternoon touring the rest of the museum. It was during the tour that we came across the exhibit of The Ghost and The Darkness.

In March of 1898, as Indian workers constructed the Kenya-Uganda railway bridge than spanned the Tsavo River in Kenya, they were stalked and eaten by two maneless Tsavo lions. The railway workers  tried everything to prevent the lions from dragging their fellow workers out of their tents and into the night. They set up guards, the lions just attacked them. They tried ringing their campsite with a fence of thorn bushes and bonfires. The lions dug through the bushes dragging the screaming worker into the night.

After several months of living in fear the workers fled the project. Lt. Colonel John Patterson set traps and tried unsuccessfully to capture the lions. After several months the first lion was shot on December 9, 1898. The second lion was killed 3 weeks later. The lions are attributed to the deaths of between 35 and 135 men. When the lion’s den was found it contained the skeletal remains of some of the victims.

In I Peter 5:8 we are told to Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Our enemy is just like these lions. We try to set up protection and he charges through seeking out our weaknesses. We have, in our culture, diminished the devil and his intents. We have made him a cartoon figure. Someone who appears on one shoulder when we are tempted. Someone whom is more mischievous than evil. Many movies have portrayed him as the seductive temptress or the scheming old man. But we should not fall prey to these images. The bible is clear Satan is a roaring lion seeking the utter destruction of your soul.

Think for a minute of the early church receiving this letter from Peter. Many may have witnessed friends or family members being devoured by the lions in the coliseum. If they had not seen it firsthand they certainly knew what was happening. And here Peter is telling them that the enemy of our souls wants to do the same thing.

In John 10:10 we are told that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; I (Christ) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Again we are told that our enemy has one purpose: destruction. Fortunately for us we already have a skilled hunter of lions on our side. While we may fall into the temptations of Satan our souls cannot be destroyed by him as long as we have Christ as our Savior.

Our war with the enemy has already been won. We may still have the occasional battle. Satan knows he has lost. He is just trying to take out as many as he can. But do not be afraid. We serve a master Lion Hunter and he has his prey in sight.