In Defense of the Horn: God’s Symbol of Strength

June 24, 2020 by alisa hope wagner Leave a Comment

*Video at the end of post.

God’s Symbol of Strength

The “horn” is a metaphor of God’s strength in the Bible, especially on Earth. Since we learned about how God inspired the writers of the Bible to use literary devices, we must also look at how Satan can twist these devices for his evil agenda. King Saul was anointed by Samuel with a manmade flask, representing he was humanity’s choice of a king (2 Kings 9:3). King David, a King after God’s own heart, was anointed by Samuel with a horn, representing he was God’s choice for king (1 Samuel 16:13-14). In essence, David’s kingdom would be backed by God’s strength.

Many scholars believe King David wrote the following verses in Psalms that reveal God giving strength to a person and strength to humanity through Jesus Christ using the metaphor of a horn.

“For surely your enemies, Lord, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured on me. My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes” (Psalm 92: 9-11 NIV).

“Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown” (Psalms 132:17-18 NIV).

The horn is a sign of God’s strength; however, Satan also has his strength in this world. Jesus Himself calls Satan “the prince of this world” (John 14:30). And in the Book of Revelation, Satan (the dragon) will give his strength to the antichrist (the beast) who has ten horns. The number ten represents the Law of Moses (ten commandments), which Satan will use to condemn those who haven’t accepted the single Horn of Jesus and His saving grace. The number one represents God. Jesus is God in the flesh coming to earth out of His great love for us to take our sins and give us His righteousness, so we can be reconciled back to God and saved from the Law that Satan will use to condemn the world (Revelation 13.1-4).

The horn is an important symbol, and we can distinguish if the horn is being used as a metaphor for God’s strength or the enemy’s strength. As Christians, we don’t have to fear the strength of Satan because the Bible reads that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NKJV). We also don’t have to fear the metaphor of the horn if it is being used for good. People still blow the shofar (a horn) today to signify the strength of the Messiah and the victory we have through His death and resurrection.

Many times, we fear or discard something because the enemy has created his counterfeit. For every truth of God, Satan will try to distort it and force us to discard it. Just like the rainbow is a metaphor for God’s second chances, Satan has taken it and used it for something unbiblical. Now, many Christian fear to even showcase the rainbow. But we must discern the truth and seek the Holy Spirit before we make judgments against something. Everything can be used for good or evil—that doesn’t mean we have to fear it.

There was once a time that horns were mostly believed to be a good metaphor. Michaelangelo sculpted an image of Moses with horns on his head. His reasoning comes from St. Jerome’s translation of the Bible into the Latin Vulgate. Some scholars say that St. Jerome made a translation error; however, other scholars insist that St. Jerome chose his words wisely and that Ancient Jewish history fully believed that Moses had sprouted two horns while talking with God on Mount Sinai and copying the ten Commandments. The number two represents the witness. Moses is the witness of the Law that people demanded instead of going into the storm at Mount Sinai to meet with God themselves. They had prepared themselves to meet God, but fear prevented them from going through with it.

“Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain” (Exodus 19:17 NIV).

When they saw that God was in the storm, they told Moses to speak to God on their behalf. They feared the storm.

“When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die’” (Exodus 20:18-19 NIV).

Instead of entering into a personal relationship with God, they got the Law—six hundred and thirteen rules that would only bring condemnation.

“For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) (Romans 4:15 NLT).

Moses walked into the storm to be with God alone. He was the only one willing to face the storm and receive an intimate relationship with Him. God did what the people asked. He gave them the Law that would replace relationships.

“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights: he neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tables the ten words of the covenant.And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord” (Exodus 34:28-29 DRA).

This word “horned” comes from the Hebrew “qaran,” and www.blueletterbible.org defines that word as the following:

Qaran in the KJV translates Strong’s H7160 into shine and has horns.

(Qal) to send out rays
(Hiphil) to display or grow horns, be horned

Many believe that these “horns” that Moses received from talking with God were horns or rays of light that signified Moses to be the witness and writer of the two tablets that he held. This is the reason that Bibles today translate Moses’ horns into a theme of light.

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him” (Exodus 34.29-30 KJV).

To keep the “shine” meaning of the word, “qaran” and do away with the “horn” symbol is to do a massive disservice to Scripture and to our lives. Yes, we want to shine the glory of the Lord. However, we also need the horn of God’s strength. We need both the light and the strength of God, so we must take back the horns from how the enemy is twisting the metaphor of horns today. Satan may have strength, but God’s strength is limitless. Instead of focusing on Satan’s use of the metaphor, we need to focus on God’s use of it.

Horn of God’s Strength and the Glory of His Light are available to us, and we need them both to have victory. Out of the root word “qaran” comes the word “qeren,” which has the same implications:

The KJV translates Strong’s H7161 in the following horn or hill.

of strength (fig)
flask (container for oil)
horn (as musical instrument)
horn (of horn-like projections on the altar)
of rays of light
hill

This word is found many times in the Bible and is a display of God’s strength in people’s lives.

Hannah claimed the horn of God when she finally gave birth to a son, Samuel, and dedicated him to the Lord: “And Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies. Because I rejoice in Your salvation. David was anointed with oil from a horn'” (1 Samuel 2.1 NKJV).
And in Hannah’s jubilation, she actually prophesied about the coming Christ, Who is the literal symbol of God’s Strength in our physical world: “The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. ‘He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed‘” (1 Samuel 2.10 NKJV).
Samuel anointed King David with oil from a horn: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah” (1 Samuel 16.13 NKJV).
King Solomon was anointed with the oil from horn as another horn was blown:“Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, ‘Long live King Solomon!’” (1 King 1.39 NKJV).

According to Psalm 75.10, there are wicked horns and righteous horns.

“All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” (KJV).

So which horn are we raising up? Because if we are not raising up God’s horn, we are giving the enemy authority to raise up his counterfeit.

King David knew all too well about which horn he wanted in his life. After hiding in caves from an enemy intent on killing him, he realized the only true horn of strength was from God.

“For You are the glory of their strength, And in Your favor our horn is exalted“ (Psalm 89.17 NKJV).

“But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, And in My name his horn shall be exalted“ (Psalm 89.24 NKJV).

What we see from King David’s words is that his very strength was reliant on God’s strength. This means that when we rely on God, He gives us His strength. When we don’t rely on God, we give that strength to the enemy. How do we make sure to hold onto God’s strength? The Old Testament prophesies the Horn of David, which is Jesus Christ, God in the Flesh, come to bring God’s salvation and strength to the World. Jesus is our Horn of Strength today. By His grace, He fulfilled the Law that condemns us, and left us with only one command with 3 parts: Love God, love others, love ourselves. The Horn of David has given us His righteousness, so we are no longer condemned by the Law.

“There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed” (Psalm 132.17 NKJV).

And in Revelation 5:6, we see the Slain Lamb, Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the world to give us God’s Salvation and Strength. The Lamb now has 7 horns because 7 is the number of Sabbath, and Jesus is Lord over Sabbath. God rested on the seventh day not because He needed rest, but He knew His Son (the One Horn) would reconcile all six days back to God. The slain and resurrected Lamb of God now has seven horns—the ultimate sign of God’s strength.

“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (NKJV).

Seven is the number of completion, and Jesus is the complete strength of God in the flesh given to us by His grace. By faith we grab hold of this Horn of Strength, so the enemy cannot have authority in our lives anymore.

We must take up our horn today and take back the authority Jesus died on the Cross to give us. The horn of Christ is our strength!

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David” (Luke 1.68-69 NKJV).

Because of salvation on the cross, we have been reconciled back to God and His Horn of Strength is now over us. When we received the gift of salvation, we have the Horn of Christ in our lives and the power, authority and victory of God is ours! We must embrace this Horn or else the enemy will try to replace it with his false horn of destruction. Satan has a counterfeit of the light.

“And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11.14 NKJV).

He has a counterfeit of the horn.

“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads” (Revelation 12.3 NKJV).

For certain, Satan has power with his light to fool and power with these horns to destroy, but the Lamb of God’s Light and Horn have the ultimate victory. We can fight every battle the enemy wages against us, knowing that we have the tools—God’s light and His Horn—to overcome and win.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10.4-5 NKJV).

Anything that tries to “exalt itself against the knowledge of God” must be put under the authority of Christ. Satan only has the authority that we give him, but if God is our true Light and Horn, there is no room for Satan to take up space in our lives.

In my Christian Fantasy Fiction book, The Violet Moon Series, I take the elements of faith and write them into a new world. I believe many of our young people today take for granted the story of the Cross and salvation through Christ because they grew up hearing it. So, I shed new light on the principles of faith without compromising the truth: We have a Savior, God in the Flesh, who entered our world and reconciled us back to our Creator.

In my book, the River-dwellers have horns, which symbolizes God’s strength over their lives. The Sand-shapers, however, extract their horns, which symbolizes that they have removed God and His strength. In a sense, I’m trying to take the metaphor of the horn back by writing this series. The world has distorted it enough, and I’m tired of the enemy getting all the credit for the horn.

Let us never remove the Horn of God, Jesus Christ, from our lives, churches, communities, countries and world. Because when we do, we give Satan the authority to wield his horn of destruction. That is why learning literary devices to read and meditate on the Bible is so important. The enemy doesn’t want us to find the deeper meaning in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is passionately trying to teach us. The Bible confuses many people, and there is a plethora of contradictory interpretations. Of course, God reveals revelations in different ways to each individual. Insights in the Bible have layers that will resonate with people in different ways. However, if we willingly wrestle with God while studying the Scriptures, we may find common ground with other believers. Plus, as we read and meditate on God’s word, we will find ourselves becoming more and more like Christ as our spirits saturate our entire being.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV).