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The short title above is fully expanded to say,
Jesus was lamb of God from the foundation of the world
Jesus was not Lion of Judah from the foundation of the world
What do I mean?
We read that Jesus is the Lamb of God, here testified by John the Baptist:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:29
And, Jesus is known as that very Lamb from the foundation of the world,
. . . the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8
So the first half of the title is now established.
Now, in Christian circles, Jesus is also known with many other names which are founded in Scripture like "Son of God" (Matthew 14:33; et al), "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), "Son of Man" (Matthew 11:19; et al) and, many more.
But, Jesus is also known as the "Lion of Judah".
When no one was found to open the scroll in Revelation 5, John receiving the revelation wept. Then an elder spoke up and said,
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
So not only is Jesus known as the Lamb of God, He is also known as the Lion of Judah.
But we do not read the title Lion of Judah as possessed or known from the foundation of the world. Jesus was not associated in the bible with the tribe of Judah first. He was associated with the tribe of Benjamin first.
Saul is the first king to be chosen by God over Israel. At this point in time and history Jesus was not "Lion of Judah" or connected to the tribe of Judah at all. There is no biblical connection between Jesus with Judah until after Saul's rebellion. King Saul rebelled and God "regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel." (1 Samuel 15:35). There is no knowledge of God revealed in the bible that suggests a connection between Jesus and Judah until after Saul's rebellion: there is none before.1
Once King Saul rebelled against God, Samuel the prophet exclaimed,
And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever."
1 Samuel 13:13
Here Samuel informs that for Saul, had he not rebelled, God would have established his kingdom over Israel forever. In this statement is the truth of God's plan up to that point: that Jesus would have been from Saul's tribe, that of Benjamin. This is so because Saul's kingdom was planned to last forever. There was no other plan in play up till then. It was a real plan, but it was not a declared plan and, as a non-declared, ahead of time plan, God was then not bound to fulfil that word (unuttered). So that, when Saul rebelled, God was free to change that existing plan and choose another king. This is what He did. He then chose David, as the next king. And David, he is from the tribe of Judah.
But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.
1 Samuel 13:14
This is the first prophetic mention of David in the bible.
A new plan was now in play to have David to be king and then for Jesus to be born from his lineage. But this was not a plan from the foundation of the world and therefore for Jesus to be known as "Lion of Judah" could only begin from that point in time.
Re-inforcing this truth
Furthermore to back this truth up, God tells us clearly that He had no plans for who to be king *at all*, all the way up to the time of the exodus. God says He had not chosen a king at all right up till then.
Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel.
2 Chronicles 6:5
So two things God says He had not decided, He had not chosen, and that at least up to the time of the exodus: One, who was to be king over Israel and, Two, where the temple was to be built.
So to suggest that Jesus was the Lion of Judah before that time is completely false. The plan did not exist. God did not know what He had yet to choose. Had He chosen, He knew already. The decision would already be made. But He is the One telling us, He did not choose.
Any dogma, theology or doctrine of God that says, God knew everything from the beginning or, that he has decided everything to happen from the beginning, is false. It is error.
The scripture is God telling us what He is like and here He tells us well what He did not know, because He was free to yet decide this. To say He already knew, is to say He is not free to make a new decision, because all decisions are already made. They are not: not in scripture.
But one plan and decision already made from the foundation of the world is Jesus as the Lamb of God. So, we see that the future is partially closed and partially open in God's Mind. It is fixed in what He has planned and declared and, open in what He has not declared nor decided. We read of other plans that God has declared.
Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,"
Isaiah 46:9-10
The end that God declares from the beginning, of this very declaration, is established. It will happen.
How?
By God Himself making sure it happens:
Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.
Isaiah 46:11
Is this all ends?
No.
It is the only the end that God declares.
From the beginning of the declaration only, is it valid.
God purposed it and will also do it because He has "spoken it"; not before. It is from the point of declaration that it is fixed. When it is spoken.
We saw above that God had a plan for king Saul, but God had not "spoken it" beforehand.
But, later with David, God does speak of His plan; His new plan with David.
David as king, having expressed his heart and desire to build God a place, a temple (as he mentioned) with Nathan the prophet (2 Samuel 7:1-3), Nathan then went away. That very night God speaks to Nathan and tells him what he must say to David. God was now speaking His plan. This is what He was to say to David,
When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Samuel 7:12-13
What God had planned for King Saul, but *not stated* ahead of time, God was now saying for David.
It is from this point on that the lineage of David was secure because for God it was like this "Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it." (Isaiah 46:11b). It is from then on that Jesus could be known with (certainty) by the name of "Lion of Judah".
But this name was never from the foundation of the world (at all).
So that even though many of David's descendant kings ended up more rebellious than king Saul had been, David's lineage continued because of God's uttered promise.
God's knowledge
God's knowledge is absolute: if there is something that can be known, God knows it: God knows all that is knowable, hence the word omniscience: all knowing. This does not include new knowledge: Knowledge that has yet to be decided: knowledge that does not yet exist. No one can know what is yet to be decided, or else, it would already be decided. God is the One informing us what He did not choose, what He did not decide, as yet right up to a certain season in history (2 Chronicles 6:5). God's Mind was open. God's knowledge of the future is partially open because of this.
When the bible mentions God as "perfect in knowledge" (Job 36:4; Job 37:16) all this means is that God's knowledge is complete. It is full of all that can be known; nothing more. What cannot be known is what is new and yet to be decided, as exampled above.2
When the NIV states "all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:16), it is a mistranslation. The YLT gives "Mine unformed substance Thine eyes saw, and on Thy book all of them are written, the days they were formed -- And not one among them." This is about the days of formation in the womb for a baby. This is the context.3
The bible understanding of God's knowledge being partially open as regards the future is today known as Open Theism. This is a new term coined in the 20th century. In the 19th century this was termed Divine Nescience.
For how knowledge of evil and God interact,
I recommend this chapter of mine readable at:
Evil and God's knowledge
For how prophecy operates for an Open Theist
A video on 1 Samuel 13:13 entitled:
1 Samuel 13:13 - Proof Positive of Open Theism
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NOTES
1 Judah is recognised as like a lion in Scripture "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?" (Genesis 49:9) This was said by Jacob as his parting prophetic words over each of his sons: This one over Judah. The very next portion of the prophetic word and blessing over Judah, by Jacob was "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 49:10). Right from that time until Shiloh comes, that is, all the way through the history of Israel and all its tribes, during the exodus and during the times of the judges, and onwards, Judah would always have rulers and judges in its midst. That is, until Shiloh comes (The messiah, Jesus). This is no prophetic word about king David or Jesus coming from Judah, but only about all of the rulers and judges from Judah. They would always be there in Judah, both rulers (sceptre) and judges (lawgivers), right up to when Shiloh comes is the emphasis of this prophetic blessing and word. Even now when Israel has no king, the tribe of Judah has rulers and judges in its midst, for that is the uttered word.
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2For those who think God is outside of time I recommend my article IS GOD ETERNAL?
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3
For more on this there is a separate chapter (19) discussing this in my book Serious Mistranslations of the Bible.
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