A Vision of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
“Then with His mighty roar He laid bare the foundations of the earth, uncovering the secret source of the sea. The hidden depths of land and sea were exposed by the blast of His hot breath.” (Psalm 18:15 TPT)
After weeks of seeing lions in my spirit (and having them highlighted to me literally everywhere around me in the natural), I was reading the Psalms and came across this verse. Immediately, I heard the sound of a Lion’s roar in my spirit. It was so loud, so violent and so passionate, that it shook not only the atmosphere around me, but I could sense it shaking the heavens as well.
I felt a heavy fear of the Lord, and had to lay face-down on the carpet for a few moments as the sound of the roar reverberated in my spirit. I felt the passionate heart of the Father, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, over His children who have been under a heavy assault in their minds and emotions as of late. We are at war, and many are weary and feel ambushed in the spirit.
In the natural, I began to sense what felt like hot breath on my neck, and I went into a vision where I saw, again, a Lion that was so massive and glorious, and so incredibly close in proximity, that He literally took my breath away. I watched as He shook His mane wildly, with great purpose.
The vision then shifted to a lovely, comfortable, homey-looking rug that was being shaken out to remove all of the dirt and debris from it. In the final moments of the rug being cleaned, I heard in my spirit the sound of the Lion’s roar again. I could hear, in the tone of His roar, an intense love that left me weeping. When I finally had a moment to recover from what I had just seen and felt, I began to ask the Lord to speak to me about what this all meant.
Three Key Insights
The Lord spoke several things to me regarding this vision:
1. He’s getting to the bottom of things. “…The hidden depths of land and sea were exposed by the blast of His hot breath” (Psalm 18:15 TPT).
I felt the intensity of His love for His children, particularly for those of you who have felt the wrestle against what you thought were “old patterns” and “old ways of thinking/behaving” that seem to have popped up again.
The enemy has tried, one last time, to ambush you with these old patterns, but the Lion has seen this and is ROARING over you. His love is exposing and shaking off the things that hold you back, or that make you feel “comfortable,” so that you can walk in the freedom that Jesus paid for you to walk in. Whoever the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). Any dirt from the last season is shaking off of you. (Photo via Pixabay)
2. He is bringing His children back to their foundations in Him. “…He laid bare the foundations…” (Psalm 18:15).
He is uncovering the foundation we have actually built upon so that we can remain strong in all circumstances. “Anyone who listens to My teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock” (Matthew 7:24-25). He is bringing His beloved ones back to the true foundation – the Rock – and their first love (Revelation 2:4).
“Back to basics,” I hear the Spirit of the Lord say. The foundation is intimacy, which is where the enemy cannot touch you.
3. He is close. “…the blast of His hot breath…” (Psalm 18:15).
Though a fear of the Lord came upon me during this encounter, and though I felt an unnerving shaking in the heavenlies, I knew that I could trust Him and what He was doing. I felt, for a second, the blast of His hot breath on my neck, and I heard Him say, “You only feel it on your neck because I AM THAT CLOSE TO YOU, and I don’t intend on leaving you or forsaking you… in fact, I MEAN that you would remain this close to Me.”
“…’I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” (Hebrews 13:5)
He Has Already Taken the Hit for You
On another day, while praying more into this encounter, I went into a waking vision of myself standing at the end of an old minefield. The field was not large, but I could sense that the ground underneath was teeming with hidden mines ready to go off and destroy me. It felt like an ambush. At the end of the field, there was a hill where the Lion stood waiting for me. He was regal and indeed wild, but I knew that I could trust Him. I realized that I needed to get to the Lion, at any cost. But I also knew that the minefield was active, and I began to tremble as I feared for my life.
I caught the gaze of the Lion’s eyes and grew in confidence. I kept my eyes fixed firmly upon His and began to take my first step into the minefield. My thought was that if I kept my eyes firmly upon His, He would be able to guide me through the field in safety to Him. This is how I would have navigated this in the past.
As quick as the blink of an eye, the great Lion suddenly appeared next to me. Again, I felt His breath on my neck as He whispered in my ear, “Hold on to Me.” I somehow found myself compelled to get on His back and cling for dear life to His mane! I noticed that His paws were MASSIVE, and His voice was filled with raw love and passion for me. My finite expectation was that He would gallop through the minefield at full speed, taking me to safety on the other side. But what actually happened brought so much encouragement and life to my soul that I am trembling even as I type this. (Photo via Unsplash)
The Lion took His time walking through the minefield with me on His back, clinging to His mane. Yet with every step, His large paws would always touch down on top of a mine. His paws would “take the hit” every single time. Though His paws bled, nothing harmed me, and I made it through the minefield that was set up to take me out, because the Lion took the mine blast, time and time again, on my behalf.
I came out of the vision, weeping in repentance. “…the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). Jesus took it all for me. How could I ever allow myself to be distracted by or fearful of the enemy’s schemes before me? Why would I ever think that I had to do it on my own?
The Lion Is Close
Whether you feel a shaking and an exposure in the spirit, or in your emotions; or maybe you fear the hidden ploys of the enemy set before you, I feel the Lord’s urgent encouragement over you – HE IS CLOSE. He is closer than you know, and He is roaring over you and fighting for you. If you lean in and hold on tightly, He will carry you through this season and take every hit on your behalf.
I also felt His reminder that (as C.S. Lewis states in the Chronicles of Narnia) He is GOOD, but He is not a “tame lion.” When He roars, we tremble…but we acknowledge His goodness and His kindness, and also His raw love for us and His protection over us.
He is near, and He is FOR YOU.
“‘No, I will not unleash My fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. For someday the people will follow Me. I, the Lord, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, My people will return trembling from the west. Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,’ says the Lord.” (Hosea 11:9-11 NLT)
Mandy Woodhouse
Outrageous Hope
Email: outrageoushopegirl@gmail.com
Website: mandywoodhouseoutrageoushope.com
Mandy Woodhouse is a wife, a published author, a speaker, an evangelist and a teacher. Originally from Louisiana, she is the New Believers pastor at Glory City Church in Brisbane, Australia. She, alongside her husband, both teach at the Glory City Academy and sit on the Queensland Prophetic Council. Mandy has a strong gift of exhortation and a love for the Word of God. She lives to use her prophetic voice, creative teaching style and her writing skills to impart HOPE and to awaken true, righteous IDENTITY in the Body of Christ across the globe, while always pointing to JESUS.