User blog:AndrewShilohJeffery/Theology in "The Lion King"

 As you all may know, “THE LION KING” is full of Jewish and Christian theological ideas. At first, it might be hard to see these ideas, but after reading this essay, you’ll quickly see how the Word of God helped inspire this marvelous story. Instead of just focusing on the first film, I’ll also focus of “THE LION KING II: SIMBA’S PRIDE” as well as “THE LION GUARD”. I’ll also be using scriptural evidence to help back up my ideas. There’s not much else to say, so let’s get to it.

 To start off my essay, I’m going to focus on the main concept of “THE LION KING” series, The Circle of Life. Now, you might be asking “What does this have to do with Jewish and Christian Theology?” Well, let me explain this to you who are reading this essay. The Circle of Life is the Pridelanders way of life, similar to the way the Torah(The Law of God) was and still is to the Israelite Nation. Much like The Circle of Life was established for the physical health of the Pride Lands, as well as to help differentiate the Pride Lands from other territories, the Torah was meant to set apart the nation of Israel from the surrounding pagan nations (Exodus 19:5) and to provide God’s directions for the physical and spiritual health of the Israelite Nation (Exodus 21-23, Deuteronomy 6:4-19, Psalm 119:97-104) In Bible times, many Israelite kings such as Ahab and Zedekiah, did not follow the Torah and saw it as something for fools. Similarly, antagonists such as Scar, Zira and Janja, refused to follow the Circle of Life and saw it as something for fools. In “THE LION GUARD: RETURN OF THE ROAR” Janja states in his song “Tonight we strike” he states that he thinks the Circle of Life is for fools. Very similar to how Dathan, Abiram and Korah saw the Law that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai as laws meant to oppress the Nation and restrict freedom (Numbers 16). As you have seen, “THE LION KING” has some elements of the Torah within the Circle of Life concept found throughout the series.

 Another theological concept found in “THE LION KING” is its similarities to the biblical story of Moses and other Bible stories. A lot of you may have seen this one coming and the rest don’t know what in the world I’m talking about. Let me clarify on this for all of you. In the Bible, Moses is the Prince of Egypt until he kills an Egyptian guard. He runs away to the Land of Midian, where he lives as a shepherd for Jethro. Forty years later, Moses is commanded by the Lord Yahweh to return to the land of Egypt and deliver the Israelite nation from slavery (Exodus 1-13:16) Similarly, Simba is the prince of the Pride Lands until he is accused of killing his father by Scar. Simba runs away to a far away oasis, where he lives for a few years. He is later commanded by his father to return to the Pride Lands to take back the land from Scar. Both Simba and Moses receive visions, in which both are commanded to return to their homeland to free their people. In Moses’ case, it was the Israelite nation and for Simba, it was his pride of lions (Nala, Sarabi, Sarafina, Diku, Dwala and Naanda).

 “THE LION KING” also shares similarities with the Messiah’s famous parable “The Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-32). “How so?” you might ask. Well, let’s touch upon this parable. While the Prodigal son was not forced to leave home, he left nonetheless. After wasting his inheritance on alcohol, women and gambling, the prodigal son was forced to eat from the pig pens. He then came to his senses and returned to his father. However, his elder brother was not happy to see him at all. Similarly, Simba left his home in the pride Lands and adopted the “hakuna matata” lifestyle of Timon and Pumbaa. Before long, Simba found himself eating insects like his friends. With the help of Nala, Rafiki and Mufasa, Simba finally comes to his senses and returns to the Pride Lands. However, like the parable of the prodigal son, not all were happy to see the true king of the Pride Lands return.

 “THE LION KING” also shares similarities with the Nativity of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The animals of the Pride Lands represent the Shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, the birds of the air represent the angels who declare that the king is born and Rafiki represents both the Magi who bless the king, and Simeon, whom lifts Jesus up in his arms in the temple for all to see (Matthew 2:1-11, Luke 2:8-38). However, not all are pleased with the birth of the newborn king. Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus before he became old enough to overthrow him. Similarly, Scar wanted to kill his nephew Simba in order to take the Throne from him.

 Another Theological concept found in “THE LION KING” is how Scar shares similarities with David’s son Absalom (1 Chronicles 3:2, 2 Samuel 3:3). Absalom took the throne from his father and reigned in his father’s place. All the land of Israel sided with David and revolted against Absalom. In the end, Absalom was killed and David took his rightful place on the throne of Israel (2 Samuel 15, 19:1-8). Similarly, Scar took the throne from his older brother Mufasa and declared himself king. When Simba returned to the Pride Lands, the lionesses sided with Simba and revolted against the tyrant Scar. In the end, Scar was killed by his hyenas and Simba, like King David, took his rightful place as the leader of the Pride Lands. Both Absalom and Scar were killed and in both stories, the appropriate king took his rightful place and brought peace and prosperity to the land.

 Another Theological concept found in “THE LION KING” is found in the song “He lives in you” featured in the song album “RHYTHM OF THE PRIDELANDS” and in “THE LION KING II: SIMBA’S PRIDE” at the beginning of the film. You all probably saw this one coming. Before you read more of this essay, I want you to listen to the song “He lives in You” by Lebo Morake and Marc Mancina (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzRDhhKNfrE). Kind of easy to see the Christian themes in the song, isn’t it? What this song tells me is that #1. God resides in all who follow Him (Romans 8:14) and #2. As a child of the King Jesus, I am royalty, not because I deserved to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (Romans 3:10-12), but because of his love for all his people (1 John 4:8 and 16) as well as his death on the Cross (Romans 5:8).

 Another Song In the Broadway show that I can think of that has a theological concept is "Endless Night." In the song, Simba begins to doubt his father’s promise that he would be there when Simba needs him. Similarly, many Christians have begun to doubt the Lord’s promises found in the Scriptures and lose their faith. In response to this, James wrote: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8) Later in the song and in the story, Simba’s faith is restored and he knows that his father’s promise will come true when the time is right. In another similar way, King David wrote “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.” (Psalm 77:11) Meaning that Simba remembers the words that his father Mufasa said to him as a cub.

 Another Theological idea I just thought of is from “THE LION KING II: SIMBA’S PRIDE”. In the film, there are two factions fighting each other. Those factions being Simba’s Pride and The Outsiders. Obviously it’s supposed to be like the Montague and Capulet families from “Romeo and Juliet”. However, I believe that it’s also similar to the division of the Kingdom of Israel into two separate nations: The kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. I believe that Simba’s Pride is similar to Judah, and here’s why. Simba’s Pride, much like The Kingdom of Judah, had its share of Righteous kings in its history (Mohatu, Ahadi, Mufasa) and the Kingdom of Judah had leaders like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah, who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2 Chronicles 18:1, 32:26, 4:2)Simba, while making some good decisions, didn’t always walk in the ways of his ancestors, similar to Kings Solomon and David (2 Samuel 11-12:23, 1 Kings 11) The Outsiders represent the northern kingdom of Israel because much like Israel, the Outsider had leaders like Taka and Zira, who didn’t respect the Circle of Life, much like Kings such as Jeroboam, Omri and Ahab, who didn’t follow the ways of the Lord Yahweh at all during their reigns. The divisions in Israel were due to sin, which often shown in scripture, brings division (1 Corinthians 1:13, 11:18 James 4:1) The division between the prides was mostly due to Zira’s devout loyalty to Scar. (MY OPINION:and the murder of Simba’s son Kopa) Unlike Israel though, The Prides were reunited in the end thanks to Simba’s daughter Kiara and Zira’s Son Kovu. While in God’s Word, The Northern kingdom was taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.(2 Kings 17:5-6) and the Southern kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 24-25)

 On the subject of the Outsiders and Pridelanders still, it could also be similar to the rivalry between King Rehoboam of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and King Jeroboam of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. I bring this one up because much like how Jeroboam and ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel split and formed a separate kingdom (1 Kings 11:29-31) Zira and her followers formed a separate pride, known in the Lion King films as “The Outsiders”. Though the split between Simba’s Pride and the Outsiders was due to Zira and her followers committing High Treason, they did believe that Zira’s youngest son Kovu was to be king instead of Simba, similar to how the Ten Tribes wanted to make Jeroboam king of Israel instead of his brother Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:16-20). Like I said in my last paragraph, The division between the prides was mostly due to Zira’s devout loyalty to Scar as explain in the Lion Guard episode “Lions of the Outlands”(MY OPINION:and the murder of Simba’s son Kopa) while the division of Israel was due to the sinfulness of Rehoboam. Divisions like this have also been common within the Body of Christ. Though unlike the division between the lion prides and the Tribes of Israel, the divisions in the Church are very minor and as followers of Y’shua, we are one in that we worship the One who sets us free (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

 One more Theological idea I can think of comes from “THE LION GUARD”. That being the Roar of the Elders. Scar (or Taka) was the Leader of the Lion Guard. He possessed a gift called “The Roar of the Elders” given to him by the Great Kings of the Past. However, this power went to his head, and he wanted to use the Lion Guard to help take down his brother, Mufasa. When they refused, Scar destroyed his Guard using the Roar of the Elders, and as a result, Scar became weakened by this event, losing the Roar forever by using it for evil. In other words, He completely took this gift for granted. God’s Word often commands us as Christians not to take His gifts for us for granted (Ecclesiastes 7-12, Romans 10:5-15, Ephesians 2:11-18). Kiongozi, on the other hand, does not take this gift lightly and fears of using it for evil like his great-uncle Taka. In the episode “Never Roar Again”, Kion vows never to use the Roar, out of fear of hurting or even killing members of his family or his friends. Mufasa later reassures his grandson that unlike Scar, Kion uses his God-given gift to protect those who live in the Pride Lands and those whom he loves. In 1st Peter, the Apostle Peter writes “ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10).

 As you have all seen, The Lion King is a series full of biblical allusions that are meaningful to Christians who are fans of this series. I’m not a theologian, but I hope you have all learned something new about “THE LION KING” after reading this. I promise, I will add more to this essay later on. Thank you for reading this essay and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.