(Printed the Reader's email with his consent)

Dear Pastor Paul Ang,

I was doing some searching on the internet trying to find out information on the Lion’s Roar. Let me give you a bit of background. I’m a seminary student at Regent University working on a Masters in Practical Theology in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA and God has drawn me to the Hebraic Roots of Christianity, I am a born-again believer and am waiting on the Lord Jesus to show me what He wants for my life. In doing some reach for various projects, I discovered that in Jewish literature (Midrash) it describes this story:

“The midrash tells a fascinating story of how Judah and Joseph
almost came to blows over the release of Benjamin. Judah roared like
a lion, and displayed super-human feats of strength, tossing boulders
into the air and pulverizing chains with his teeth, all to show
what Joseph would have to contend with. Joseph then gave
Manasseh a look, and Manasseh stomped his foot on the floor so
hard, he made the whole palace tremble, while Joseph kicked a marble
column, breaking it into pieces, to which=2 0Judah wisely replied,
"Such stamping comes from Father's house," meaning he recognized
these feats as only accomplishable by those related by blood to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thus he sought a non-violent alternative.
(Chassidah, Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities, pg. 331.)

As looked for examples of this on the internet I came across references to the Lion’s Roar first in one of your congregants blogs and then on your blog site. While the above quote is certainly not a scriptural reference for the Lion’s Roar gift as it is the Midrash, I do think it is interesting. I don’t have access to the Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities personally as this is a secondary quote from a magazine called Targum. I don’t normally contact people out of the blue like this, but felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit that this was rather important for you to see.

As I read about this, I thought to myself, I think I may have this gift. Several years ago in Korea (around 2000), I was at a worship services where I could not stop shouting “Glory” at the top of my lungs, after that I hadn’t experience or seen anything like it before or after, until this past year. I was in Iraq and praying with my prayer group on top of the Chapel. We were doing our weekly intercession and I felt the Lord urging me to yell “JESUS” as loud as I could, It seemed at one point deafening and I felt I could go even louder, but the Chaplain came up and stopped us for being too loud. The Chaplain that stopped us on the roof (who by the way is a Spirit Filled Believer in Jesus), was very encouraging and recommended we continue in the Base Chapel, just not on the roof. I haven’t really used it since and not even sure what to use it for, though I knew instinctively that I was doing for Spiritual warfare.

The other reference that I found was that the “Lion’s Roar” was a type of Kung Fu, which was portrayed in a Kung Fu Movie called “Kung Fu Hussle” Which had a lady roaring supernaturally to defeat her opponent. Certainly Satan will try to attempt to twist any gift that God has bestowed, so that didn’t surprise me.

I was hoping that perhaps you could shed some light on the subject for me regarding this spiritual gift, how it is used in your congregation and elsewhere and any other insight you could give me on the subject. Thank you for your time and may God richly bless you in the coming weeks.

In Christ,
Robert

I also wanted to say that I appreciate the links you sent me I read both the blog and the testimonials previously, but I had not read Elder Dainel Ng’s testimony so thank you!

Additionally, For those interested Targum is a small press PDF Game Magazine that is no longer in publication (though you can find it on the internet http://www.rpgnow.com/) The focus initially was on a Game called Testament: Role-Playing in the Biblical Era. I wanted to fact check the magazine’s article so I found an online copy of the Midrash on the internet at http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/loj/loj203.htm and it fully confirms the story in the Midrash.

I’ve included the full text of the stories below for your review, with portions concerning a loud voice, cry, shouting, etc. in Bold.

When the brethren yielded to Joseph's demand, and consented to leave their brother behind as hostage, Simon said to them, "Ye desire to do with me as ye did with Joseph!" But they replied, in despair: "What can we do? Our households will perish of hunger." Simon made answer, "Do as ye will, but as for me, let me see the man that will venture to cast me into prison." Joseph sent word to Pharaoh to let him have seventy of his valiant men, to aid him in arresting robbers. But when the seventy appeared upon the scene, and were about to lay hands on Simon, he uttered a loud cry, and his assailants fell to the floor and knocked out their teeth. Pharaoh's valiant men, as well as all the people that stood about Joseph, fled affrighted, only Joseph and his son Manasseh remained calm and unmoved. Manasseh rose up, dealt Simon a blow on the back of his neck, put manacles upon his hands and fetters upon his feet, and cast him into prison. Joseph's brethren were greatly amazed at the heroic strength of the youth, and Simon said, "This blow was not dealt by an Egyptian, but by one belonging to our house."
These words had such an effect upon Judah that he broke out in sobs, and cried aloud, "How shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me?" His outcry reached to a distance of four hundred parasangs, and when Hushim the son of Dan heard it in Canaan, he jumped into Egypt with a single leap and joined his voice with Judah's, and the whole land was on the point of collapsing from the great noise they produced. Joseph's valiant men lost their teeth, and the cities of Pithom and Raamses were destroyed, and they remained in ruins until the Israelites built them up again under taskmasters. Also Judah's brethren, who had kept quiet up to that moment, fell into a rage, and stamped on the ground with their feet until it looked as though deep furrows had been torn in it by a ploughshare. And Judah addressed his brethren, "Be brave, demean yourselves as men, and let each one of you show his heroism, for the circumstances demand that we do our best."

In the meantime Manasseh had assembled a great army, five hundred mounted men and ten thousand on foot, among them four hundred valiant heroes, who could fight without spear or sword, using only their strong, unarmed hands. To inspire his brethren with more terror, Joseph ordered them to make a loud noise with all sorts of instruments, and their appearance and the hubbub they produced did, indeed, cause fear to fall upon some of the brethren of Joseph. Judah, however, called to them, "Why are you terrified, seeing that God grants us His mercy?" He drew his sword, and uttered a wild cry, which threw all the people into consternation, and in their disordered flight many fell over each other and perished, and Judah and his brethren followed after the fleeing people as far as the house of Pharaoh. Returning to Joseph, Judah again broke out in loud roars, and the reverberations caused by his cries were so mighty that all the city walls in Egypt and in Goshen fell in ruins, the pregnant women brought forth untimely births, and Pharaoh was flung from his throne. Judah's cries were heard at a great distance, as far off as Succoth.

I am amazed at everything I’m reading and I’m interested in what you will have to say, especially if you get a chance to read the whole story as these are simply excerpts from the story about Joseph meeting his brothers. Of course, none of the Midrash scriptural as it is not in the canon of the Bible, but it is fascinating.

We know that the spoken word is powerful, and this was demonstrated in Genesis 1 when God spoke the world into existence. Matthew 12;36 tells that we know that we’ll be held accountable for every word that proceeds forth from our mouths, so it is no surprise that the Lions Roar as you describe would be so powerful a gift thru which the Holy Spirit operates. It also interesting to see how the Midrash potrays the destructive power of voice as well. I’m going to continue to explore this subject study and prayer and I'll keep you posted on what I find. Please keep me in prayer as well not only in my school studies, but also for discernment in where God wants me to serve along with discernment about that have been imparted to me by the Holy Spirit. Please let me know how I can be praying for you and your congregation. I look forward to hearing back from you on these Midrash excerpts, and feel free to include these in your blog as well. May God richly bless you in the coming weeks.

In Christ,
Robert
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一位读者关于狮子吼的研究 (中文翻译由中国Sarah Shan博士完成)

（经作者同意取自于email）

亲爱的保罗牧师:

我在网上搜索想找到关于狮子吼的信息。首先介绍一下我的背景。我是美国维州维吉尼亚海滩维真大学神学生，攻读实用神学硕士学位。神带领我来到Hebraic Roots of Christianity。我是一个重生的基督徒，现在正等候神对我生命的呼召。在对一些项目进行研究的时候，我发现在犹太文化(Midrash)中记载了一个故事。

midrash中讲述了一个精彩故事，犹大和约瑟因为释放便雅悯的问题几乎争打起来。 犹大如狮子般吼叫，展示超人力量，向空中投掷大石头，并用自己的牙齿磨碎链子，他展示这些技艺，要看约瑟用什么来跟他比试。约瑟给玛拿西一个眼色，玛拿西就在地上跺脚，力量之大以至于整个宫殿都颤动。而约瑟则踢向一个大以萨理石柱，将其踢成碎片。犹大看到了这些，很智慧地回答一句：这样的力量来自父的家。意思是说，他认出来这些技能只有亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的家族才会拥有。于是他选择不用武力来解决问题。（Chassidah, 圣经人物百科全书Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities,第331页）

我在网上查找关于这个故事的例子时，首先查到了您的两位会众Blog中关于狮子吼的文章，进而找到您的Blog网站。虽然我上面引用的故事不是关于狮子吼的圣经依据，因为是在Midrash中记载的，但我确实认为很有趣。我没有亲自查找圣经人物百科全书，因为它也是引用另一本杂志叫做Targum。我通常不会这样冒昧与人联系，但感动圣灵催促我，让你看到这个故事是很重要的。

读这个故事的时候，我自己想，我认为我可能有这个恩赐。几年前我在韩国的时候（大约2000年），我在一个敬拜会中禁不住声嘶力竭地呼喊“荣耀”，在那前后我没有过类似的经历。直到去年，我在伊拉克与我的祷告小组一起在礼拜堂房顶上祷告，我们一起做每周一次的代祷，我感觉主催促我尽我所能地大声呼喊“耶稣”。声音似乎已经震耳欲聋，但我感到还能更大声。牧师上来阻止我们，因为声音太大了。到房顶来阻止我们的牧师很受鼓励（他也是经历圣灵充满的基督徒），但他建议我们到礼拜堂地下继续祷告，不要在房顶上。我实际上没有再用过这个，也不确定这是用来做什么的，我只是本能地知道我那样做的时候是在做属灵争战。

我找到的另一个参考信息是：“狮子吼”是一种“功夫”。在一部叫做“功夫”的功夫片中有描述 。片中一位女士超自然地吼叫，打败她的对手。当然，撒旦会试图扭曲神所赐的恩赐，因此我对此并不感到惊奇。

我希望您能在这个问题上给我一些亮光，使我能理解这个属灵恩赐。您的教会中或其他地方如何使用这个恩赐，您在这方面能给我的一些什么看见。谢谢您付出的宝贵时间，愿神在接下来的几周丰丰富富祝福您。

在基督里,

Robert

我也要感谢您给我的链接，我读了您的笔记和以前的见证，但我还没有读Dainel Ng长老的见证。谢谢您！

另外，如有人感兴趣，Targum是一个小规模的PDF游戏杂志，现已不再出版（但可以在http://www.rpgnow.com/网站上找到），内容源于一个叫做“约”的游戏：扮演圣经时代的人物。我想查找杂志中的一片文章，结果在网上发现了Midrash的文本（http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/loj/loj203.htm）。在Midrash中完整地确证了这个故事。

我把完整的故事列在下面以便您阅读，有关大声 呼喊 吼叫等的部分。

当弟兄们屈服于约瑟的要求，同意留下他们的兄弟做人质时，西缅对他们说，“你们要待我象从前待约瑟一样吗” 但他们绝望地回答说：“我们有什么办法呢？我们全家都要饿死了。”西缅回答：“按你们的意思办吧，但我要看看谁敢把我投入监狱。”约瑟传话给法老，让法老派给他70个勇士帮助捉拿强盗。但当70个人来到并要动手捉拿西缅时，他发出大声，这些人倒在地上撞掉了牙齿。法老的勇士们以及在约瑟旁边的人都吓坏了，只有约瑟和他儿子玛拿西镇静不动。玛拿西起来，对西缅后颈击打一下，把手铐戴在他的手上，脚镣戴在他脚上，把西缅投入监狱。约瑟的弟兄们对这个年轻人的英武非常震惊，西缅说，“这一拳不是出于埃及人，是我们家族的一员”。

这句话极大触动了犹大，他禁不住呜咽，大声哭道，“我怎么回去见我父亲呢。他的呼声达到了四百里（古波斯单位）之外的迦南地，但的儿子户伸听到了，一步就跨到埃及，与犹大一起呼喊，整个大地因他们发出的极大声音几乎塌陷。约瑟的勇士们牙齿都被震掉，比东和兰塞城被毁坏，留下废墟直到以色列人在督工手下时被重建。之前保持安静的犹大的弟兄们，也都大发雷霆，用脚顿地，直到地好象被犁出深沟一样。犹大对他的弟兄们说：“勇敢起来！我们暂且屈尊如人，各人展现自己的英勇，因现在的环境使我们不得不尽力如此行。”

玛拿西也同时召集了一支大军，五百骑兵加一万步兵，其中有四百能不用刀枪徒手作战的勇士。为了震慑他的弟兄们，约瑟让这些人用各样器具奏出大声。他们的声势的确使约瑟的几个弟兄害怕。但犹大对他们说：“你们害怕呢什么呢，这是神要赐怜悯与我们。”他拔出剑来，发出狂呼，使所有人惊慌失措，在逃跑的混乱中很多人互相践踏死亡。犹大和他弟兄们追赶逃军直到法老宫殿。回到约瑟那里后，犹大再次大声吼叫，其回声之强烈，使埃及和兰塞所有城墙倒塌，怀孕妇女流产，法老从宝座逃走。犹大的呼喊声达到极远处，直到疏割。

当我读这个故事时，对里面的记载感到非常惊讶，我也很想知道您会说些什么，尤其当您有机会能读完整的故事时，因这只不过是约瑟与众弟兄会面故事的摘录而已。当然Midrash不是在圣经正典里，不能作为圣经根据，但它却很精彩。

我们知道讲出来的话语很有能力，创世纪1章也证明了这一点，神用他的话创造世界。马太福音12:36说我们口中所出的一切话都要句句供出来。因此，您说狮子吼是圣灵所运做的一个极有能力的恩赐，也就不以为奇了。很有意思，Midrash也描述了声音的破坏性能力。我会继续祷告并研究这个主题，如果有所发现，会转发给您。请为我祷告，不只是做学术研究，而且也使我能分辨神要我在哪里服事并分辨圣灵给我的恩赐。请让我知道我应该如何为您和您的教会祷告。期待您对这些Midrash摘录内容的反馈意见，这些内容您可以随意发布在blog中。愿神在以下几周丰丰富富赐福与您！

在基督里,

Robert