User blog:AndrewShilohJeffery/Theology in The Lion King

 As you all may know, “THE LION KING” is full of Judeo-Christian theological ideas. At first, it may 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 Israelites. 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 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. Allot 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 Israelites 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, as well as 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 Yeshua 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 (1st Chronicles 3:2, 2nd Samuel 3:3). Absalom took the throne from his father and reigned in his father’s place. All of 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 (2nd 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 (1st John 4:8 and 16) as well as his death on the Cross (Romans 5:8).

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.