As a lion growls, a great lion over his prey and though a whole band of shepherds is called against him, he is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor so the Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights. Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; He will shield it and deliver it, He will pass over it and rescue it. --Isaiah 31:4,5

This banner expresses the character of Jesus as the Lion of Judah. Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep, see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Son of David, has triumphed! (Rev. 5:5).

SHAPE: The banner is shaped like a heraldic shield, both to express the scripture in Isaiah 31:5 “...the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem...” and to emphasize the kingly lineage of the Son of David through the royal line of Judah.

BACKGROUND: Red is the color of the earth and points to the human lineage of Christ. Red also is the color of war and speaks this message to the principalities of heaven: “...The Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion...” (Isaiah 31:4). The red flames on the background are a declaration to the enemy of his defeat. “‘Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man; a sword not of mortals will devour them . They will flee before the sword.... Their stronghold will fall because of terror, at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will flee in panic,’ declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 31:8,9). This dominion of the Lion of Judah is also proclaimed in Genesis 49:8: “Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies”. The purple border speaks of the royal lineage of the Son of David. It is formed of bricks, suggesting the wall surrounding Jerusalem. There are thirty-three bricks, one for each year Jesus was on the earth. The wall is also symbolic of our protection in Him. “...you will call your walls Salvation (the Hebrew here is ‘jeshua’) and your gates Praise” (Isaiah 60:18).

LION: The lion is silver as it represents Jesus and His mission of redemption. The lion is in a stance of control and dominion. He comes from the east and is moving forward. This speaks of how He has fulfilled the prophecies of His coming and will fulfill the purposes of God. The eyes of the lion are wine red. “His eyes shall be darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk” (Genesis 49:12). The purple border expresses another part of this passage: “He will wash his garments in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes” (v.11).

BELLS: The bells are for the noises of warfare. Proverbs 19:2 says, “The king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion.” The number seven speaks of His spiritual perfection. The Lion of Judah is terrible to the enemy because he has no weakness that can be attacked. His dominion is complete. Not only has He won the victory, but He is so strong, His enemies dare not come against Him.


SCEPTER: On the back of the banner is a scepter placed as a scarp (the diagonal slash on a crest) on the heraldic shield. It expresses the scripture in Genesis 49:10: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." Jesus was prophesied as the Scepter: "I see him, but not now, I behold Him but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth" (Numbers 24:17). When we lift up His name, we have power and authority in the heavenlies through praise. "Judah is My scepter" (Psalm 108:8).