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Animals often serve to symbolically represent human traits. Jacob referred to some of his offspring in Genesis 49 as having animal characteristics: Benjamin as a ravenous wolf, Naphtali as a peaceful deer, Dan as a wily serpent, Issachar as a burden-bearing donkey, and Judah as a lion's whelp, symbolizing the protective fierceness of a mother lion. The lion, the king of the beasts, symbolizes the coming King of Kings, who will appear as a terrifying lion to end all human wars and forms of government, sitting on God's throne, bringing peace, righteousness, and harmony under God's government, enforcing God's laws.