A Holy Kind of Bipolar
By Gregory John Wilson
In the fifth chapter of Revelation, John the apostle is weeping. A scroll sealed with seven seals sits in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne, and no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth is worthy to open it. Then one of the elders leans over and tells him to dry his eyes:
“Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5 (NKJV)
So John turns to look for a lion. And what does he see?
“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…” Revelation 5:6 (NKJV)
He is told “Lion,” and he sees a Lamb. Not two different beings—one Person. The same Messiah who roars is the Messiah who was slain. The same hands that hold the scepter of judgment still bear the scars of love.
I have jokingly called this “a holy kind of bipolar.” Let me be careful with that phrase. Bipolar disorder is a real and often painful struggle for many dear people, and I do not use the word lightly. And God is not moody. He does not swing back and forth between good days and bad days. The whole point of this article is the opposite: God has two poles—two perfect, unshakable magnetic ends to His character—and both are held together in flawless, unchanging holiness.
“For I am the LORD, I do not change.” Malachi 3:6 (NKJV)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17 (NKJV)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV)
Paul puts the two poles side by side in one breath:
“Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God…” Romans 11:22 (NKJV)
So let's consider them. And as we do, let's not merely study Him—let's praise Him.
1. Both Poles in One Name
When Moses asked to see God's glory, the LORD passed before him and proclaimed His own name. Notice how God describes Himself:
“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty…” Exodus 34:6–7 (NKJV)
Merciful, gracious, forgiving… and by no means clearing the guilty. That is the Lamb and the Lion in the very same sentence, in God's own self-introduction. The prophet Nahum does the same thing:
“God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; the LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; the LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.” Nahum 1:2–3 (NKJV)
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7 (NKJV)
Slow to anger—yet great in power. Furious with His adversaries—yet a stronghold for those who trust Him. Even the prophet Zephaniah, in one verse, pictures the Mighty Warrior singing a lullaby:
“The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)
| The Lion — אַרְיֵה (Aryeh) | The Lamb — שֶׂה (Seh) |
|---|---|
| Holiness that cannot tolerate sin | Love that will not abandon sinners |
| Justice — “by no means clearing the guilty” | Mercy — “forgiving iniquity and transgression” |
| King who reigns and judges | Sacrifice who bleeds and dies |
| Roars against evil | Silent before His shearers |
| Defends His flock from the wolf | Lays down His life for the sheep |
| Returns riding a white horse | Came riding on a donkey |
| “The wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16) | “The Lamb is its light” (Rev. 21:23) |
2. Praise the Lion: The Wrath of God
Modern believers are often a little embarrassed by the wrath of God. We'd rather skip those chapters. But Scripture never apologizes for it, and neither should we. God's wrath is not a temper tantrum; it is the settled, righteous, measured opposition of a perfectly good God against everything evil. A God who was not angry at child abuse, genocide, slavery, and the destruction of His image-bearers would not be good. He would be indifferent. The Lion is worthy of our praise.
The Lion of Judah was promised from the beginning
“Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” Genesis 49:9–10 (NKJV)
Jacob's blessing over Judah reaches all the way to the Messiah, the one to whom the scepter truly belongs. Yeshua is that Lion—the royal Son of David who will never lose His throne.
Praise Him for His holiness
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:3 (NKJV)
“For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 (NKJV)
His wrath flows from His holiness. He is so utterly pure, so blazingly good, that sin simply cannot survive in His presence. Hallelujah that there is Someone in the universe who is completely untouched by corruption!
Praise Him for His justice
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:4 (NKJV)
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne…” Psalm 89:14 (NKJV)
“God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 7:11 (NKJV)
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Romans 1:18 (NKJV)
Every victim who has ever cried, “How long, O Lord?” can take comfort in the Lion. No evil will slip through the cracks. Nothing will be swept under the rug. The Judge of all the earth will do right (Genesis 18:25).
Praise Him for His power and His roar
“A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” Amos 3:8 (NKJV)
“They shall walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west.” Hosea 11:10 (NKJV)
“The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name.” Exodus 15:3 (NKJV)
Notice Hosea 11:10: the Lion's roar is not only a warning to His enemies—it is a summons to His children. When He roars, His sons come home.
Praise Him for His holy zeal
We sometimes picture Yeshua as only soft-spoken and mild. But watch Him in the Temple:
“When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables… Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.’” John 2:15, 17 (NKJV)
And hear Him speak to the religious leaders who were loading heavy burdens on the people while shutting them out of the Kingdom:
“Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” Matthew 23:33 (NKJV)
The Lion roars most fiercely at those who harm His sheep. That is not the opposite of His love; it is His love, with teeth.
Praise Him as the Destroyer of our enemy
The devil is a counterfeit lion:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)
But the true Lion of Judah has already crushed him:
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 (NKJV)
“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Colossians 2:15 (NKJV)
Praise Him as the returning King
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war… Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11, 15–16 (NKJV)
“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10–11 (NKJV)
3. Praise the Lamb: The Love of God
If the Lion alone were the whole story, not one of us could stand. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). But the Lion is also the Lamb, and the same God whose holiness demands justice is the God whose love provides the sacrifice.
The Lamb was promised from the beginning
“And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’” Genesis 22:8 (NKJV)
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:13 (NKJV)
“For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)
On Mount Moriah, God provided a ram in the place of Isaac. In Egypt, the blood of a spotless lamb turned death away from every door it covered. Every one of those lambs was a signpost pointing to the day John the Immerser would look at Yeshua and cry out:
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 (NKJV)
Praise Him for His substitutionary sacrifice
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:5–7 (NKJV)
Think about that. The Lion whose roar shakes the nations chose to be silent. He could have called more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53). Instead, He opened not His mouth—except to pray for the very ones driving the nails:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34 (NKJV)
Praise Him for His precious blood
“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18–19 (NKJV)
Praise Him for His undeserved love
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (NKJV)
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (NKJV)
Praise Him for His gentleness
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28–29 (NKJV)
“A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench…” Isaiah 42:3 (NKJV)
“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.” Isaiah 40:11 (NKJV)
The One who could crush you with a word stoops down to carry you in His arms. If you are bruised today, the Lamb will not break you. If your faith is only a smoldering wick, He will not snuff it out. He will fan it back into flame.
Praise Him for His endless mercy
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:8–13 (NKJV)
“Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23 (NKJV)
Praise Him as the Lamb who Shepherds
Here is one of the most beautiful paradoxes in all of Scripture: the Lamb becomes the Shepherd.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11 (NKJV)
“…for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17 (NKJV)
That is the very heart of this ministry's name. We are held in the Shepherd's embrace—by the One who knows what it is to be a lamb led to the slaughter, and who now leads His lambs to living water.
4. Where the Two Poles Meet: The Cross
So how can God be both? How can He “by no means clear the guilty” and yet forgive me, who am guilty? The answer is Golgotha. At the cross, the Lion's wrath and the Lamb's love did not cancel each other out—they kissed.
“Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” Psalm 85:10 (NKJV)
“…whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness… that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:25–26 (NKJV)
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
Just and the justifier. The Lion's justice was fully satisfied; not one sin was overlooked. And the Lamb's love was fully displayed; not one sinner who trusts in Him is turned away. The wrath that should have fallen on us fell on Him. That is why the believer can sing without fear:
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Romans 5:9 (NKJV)
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NKJV)
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
Here is the stunning truth: for those who are hidden in the Lamb, the Lion is no longer a threat—He is a defender. His roar is now aimed at everything that would harm us. The same power that once stood against us now stands for us.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:31–32 (NKJV)
5. A Word of Warning, A Word of Welcome
Revelation contains one of the most startling phrases in the Bible. When the day of judgment comes, people cry out to the mountains:
“Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:16–17 (NKJV)
The wrath of the Lamb. Let that sink in. If you reject the Lamb's love, you will one day meet the Lamb's wrath. There is no third option, no neutral God in the middle. The One who offers Himself to you today as a Lamb will one day return as a Lion.
But—and here is the good news—today is still the day of the Lamb's welcome:
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV)
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
His patience is not weakness. It is the Lamb holding back the Lion so that you have time to run into His arms. If you have never done so, run to Him today.
6. Becoming Like Him: Bold as Lions, Gentle as Lambs
As we behold Him, we are being transformed into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18). So His people, too, should carry a bit of this “holy bipolar”:
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1 (NKJV)
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16 (NKJV)
- Be lion-hearted in standing for truth, confronting injustice, defending the vulnerable, and hating what is evil (Romans 12:9).
- Be lamb-like in humility, forgiveness, patience, and a willingness to suffer wrong rather than repay evil for evil (1 Peter 2:21–23).
- Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)—truth without love is a lion without a lamb; love without truth is a lamb without a lion.
- Leave vengeance to Him. “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord (Romans 12:19). We can afford to be lambs because our God is the Lion.
7. The Final Picture: Worthy Is the Lamb
By the way, the Bible never actually says “the lion shall lie down with the lamb.” What it says is even richer:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6 (NKJV)
In Messiah's Kingdom, all the predators are made peaceful, all the prey are made safe—because the One on the throne is the perfect union of Lion and Lamb. And in eternity, heaven will never stop singing about it:
“You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation…” Revelation 5:9 (NKJV)
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5:12 (NKJV)
“Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” Revelation 19:9 (NKJV)
“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Revelation 21:23 (NKJV)
Notice: the Lamb receives power and strength. The Lamb who was slain is praised with Lion-sized worship. In the end, the two poles are one glorious Person seated on one eternal throne.
A Closing Prayer of Praise
Abba Father, we praise You, for You are both the Lion and the Lamb.
We praise You, Lion of Judah, for Your holiness that blazes like a consuming fire, for Your justice that will set every wrong right, for Your zeal that drives corruption from Your house, for Your roar that calls Your children home, and for Your power that crushed the serpent and will one day make every knee bow.
We praise You, Lamb of God, for Your silence before Your shearers, for Your blood that turns away death, for Your love that found us while we were still sinners, for Your gentleness with bruised reeds, for mercies that are new every morning, and for the Shepherd's arms that carry us close to Your heart.
Thank You that at the cross, Your wrath and Your love kissed, so that You could be both just and the justifier of all who trust in Yeshua. Thank You that the Lion now fights for us, and the Lamb now leads us. Make us bold as lions and gentle as lambs, until the day we join every tribe and tongue in singing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”
In the name of Yeshua, the Lion and the Lamb. Amen.
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