There are more than a few people in the Bible that come face to face with a lion. The outcome of the engagement with the king of beasts varies. Sometimes the lion wins, sometimes man wins, and every now and then there is a stalemate, which of course must be counted as a victory for the human competitor.  I would like to take a look at some of these encounters.  

Samson met a lion, a young lion, a lion that feared nothing. It roared against our sanctified strong man.  Samson killed it with his bare hands.

Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother,
to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and
behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit
of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him
as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his
hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had
done.

(Judges 14:5,6)

David was a mere boy when a lion teamed up with a bear to feed upon the sheep of his flock.  David killed them both !

And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's 
sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a
lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and
smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when
he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote
him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the
bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

(I Sam. 17:34-36)

Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men did many exploits, among them he killed a literal lion in a snow bank, and took care of some "lionlike" men to boot.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, te son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, sho had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in a time of snow.

(II Sam. 23:20)

Daniel was thrown into a den of lions that the king kept for the sole purpose of tearing his enemies to shreds. God intervened and brought a premature manifestation of the millennial kingdom, putting peace in the hearts of the animals so that they did not attack Daniel. 

 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, 
and cast him into the den of lions. …  And a stone was brought,
and laid upon the mouth of the den; … and the king spake
and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is
thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee
from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live
for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions'
mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him
innocency was found in me; and also before thee, 
O king, have I done no hurt.

(Dan. 6:16 ff)

After Daniel was delivered, the king had all those who accused Daniel thrown into the very same lion’s den along with their wives and children. But by now that temporary peace had been lifted from the lions and replaced with a "lets party" attitude. 

And  the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

(Dan. 6:24)

Score another victory for the lions.    

In I kings 13 we are told about someone known simply as "The man of God", who was given a clear command by God Himself concerning the mission he was to accomplish and exactly how he should carry it out. But this first man of God listened to another man of God, a lying prophet who deceived the first man of God into disobeying the clear instructions he had received, and as a consequence the man on the mission was killed by a lion.

 In I kings 20 we find still another unnamed man that fails to comply with a rather strange request made by one of the "sons of the Prophets" and is sentenced to be eaten by a lion.

 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his 
neighbor in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee.
And  the man refused  to smite him. Then said he unto him,
Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold,
as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And
as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

(I Kings 20:35,36)

 Another verse, less well known to us, but no doubt very familiar to the Jews of Jesus day and just prior to that period, becomes relevant:

 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth
of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of
Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed,
and in Damascus in a couch.

(Amos 3:12)

This verse sets forth the "remnant" concept so often declared for Israel, i.e., that although there be few left among the faithful when God acts to deliver His people, yet He will indeed deliver, and that with a mighty hand. The metaphor in this particular verse is taken from a well known practice in antiquity that required a shepherd to retrieve remnants (remains) of a slaughtered animal from his flock to "identify the victim", and thus to remove any question of guilt from the shepherd should it be charged that he gave away, lost or sold from the flock. 

This article was conceived as the result of looking up the word "jungle" in the dictionary.  In fact, I cannot remember just what prompted the need to check on that word.  I found out that it comes to us through the Hindu word for "wasteland", and still further back from the very ancient Sanskrit language and a word for "dry, waterless". Interesting that the Lord would say in Luke 11:24:

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh
through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith,
I will return unto my house whence I came out.

A metaphoric use of the word "jungle" in modern times makes reference to "a milieu characterized by intense, often ruthless competition." Naturally a whole range of Bible verses leap into your mind at this point.  For myself, being a Tarzan fan, the lion, the king of the jungle came to mind. Then I realized how accurate the apostle Peter's description of the devil is in I Peter 5:8              

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as 
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

A metaphorical lion could be characterized as a turkey who acts like a lion, and that does not concern us too much. Even if we were devoured by the real live actual jungle type lion with real teeth and claws. Though it would certainly be no fun, yet if the victim were a  saint of God it would merely hasten his departure to be with the Lord. To be devoured by this roaring lion Peter is talking about, the devil, involves your eternal soul.

Throughout church history the words "Christian" and "lion" are found joined together often. In most cases the lions have the winning edge. It is very possible that the apostle Paul refers to successfully endured  being thrown to a lion when he says;

Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me;
that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the
Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

(II Tim. 4:17)

Beloved, there is another Lion!  The Lion of the tribe of Judah! All glory to His Name!  An example of His fierce manner may be found in His defense of Mt. Zion:

For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and
the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds
is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor
abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

(Isa 31:4)

 Yes its a real jungle out there! But there is a safe place, a city wherein the King reigns. It is His own city, it is The Spiritual Zion whose Builder and Maker is God. As recorded in Psalm 48:1,2  and referred to in Mt. 5:35:

 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.