ChristStory Bestiary

RAM

Jesus Christ, Savior, Sacrifice, & Leader of the Flock

Rams were sacrificed on the altars of Israel and most of the ancient world (Gen 15:9; Ex 29:1-3, 15-32; 35:7; 36:19; 39:34; Lev 5:15-18; 6:6; 8:2, 18-22, 29; 9:2-4, 18-19; 16:3-5; 19:21-22; 23:18; Num 5:8; 6:14-19; 7:15-88; 15:6, 11; 23:1-4, 14, 29-30; 28:11-28; 29:2-37; Ezra 6:9, 17; 7:17; 8:35; Job 42:8; Psa 66:15; Ezek 43:23-25; 45:23-24; 46:4-11; 1 Chr 15:26; 29:21; 2 Chr 13:9; 29:21-22, 32). Isaiah prophesied that the rams returning to Israel with God's scattered children would joyfully offer themselves upon the altars of the Millennial Temple (Isa 60:7). Like other sacrificial animals, rams became symbols of Christ who went to the Cross as a willing sacrifice for our sins. In spite of the excellence of the Mosaic offerings, the Lord preferred hearts devoted to obedience, justice, love, mercy, and a humble walk with their Lord to the "fat of rams" (1 Sam 15:22; Isa 1:11; Micah 6:7-8).

The most famous ram in the Old Testament is the one Abraham found trapped by its horns in a thicket on Mount Moriah where he had gone to sacrifice his only son Isaac (Gen 22:1-14). An angel stopped the hand of Abraham just as he was about to kill his boy and the ram was sacrificed in his stead. This story is known as the akedah (binding) and is a reminder of the obedience of the patriarchs. The ram, sacrificed in Isaac's place, is an image of Christ crucified in our stead. The thicket has been likened to Jesus' crown of thorns. In Judaism, shofars (ram's horns) are reminders of the akedah. On rosh hashanah, the Jewish New Year festival, the akedah is read and the shofar is blown to remind people of God's mercy which they hope to receive throughout the coming year. Shofars are also blown at Jewish exorcisms and excommunications. Some people believe that on the Day of the Lord, Elijah or the Lord will summon the exiles to Jerusalem and the dead to life by blowing a shofar made from one of the horns of the akedah ram (Is 27:13).

Trumpets continued to be called rams' horns long after they began to be made of silver and other metals. These were blown at celebrations; to summon people to war; and to warn of danger (2 Chr 15:14; Hosea 5:8). During the taking of Jericho, seven priests played upon rams' horns as they marched before the ark, circling the city once each day for six days. On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times and then blew a long blast upon the ram's horn. At this signal all the Israelites shouted and the walls fell down (Josh 6:4-13).

Rams for sacrifices and to fertilize the flocks were important in the Old Testament economy. These animals and their wool were often given as gifts, tribute, and trade (Gen 32:14; Deu 32:14; 2 Ki 3:4; 2 Chr 17:11; Ezek 27:21). Jacob guarded Laban's flocks of rams, goats, and ewes for twenty years while his uncle repeatedly attempted to cheat him out of his wages (Gen 31:38). "But God was with Jacob and if Laban said, "'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: 'The streaked shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore streaked'" (Gen 31:7). The Lord wanted Jacob to know that this was His doing, so He sent the patriarch a dream, saying, "Lift your eyes and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you" (Gen 31:7-12). When He returns, the Lord will sort the righteous from the ungodly, figuratively judging "between rams and goats" (Ezek 34:17).

Like the bull, the ram came to represent male fertility; fire; obstinacy; aggression; war; creative energy; and manly strength or courage. It is a symbol of the wild and procreative forces of nature. Considered the first sign of the zodiac, Aries the ram (Mar. 21 - Apr. 20) announces the coming of spring, the return of the sun, and the bursting forth of nature. Pictures and statues of rams were believed to make women fertile and ensure the happiness of the family hearth. The cornucopia or "horn of plenty," symbolizing abundance, is a ram's horn. The ram is an attribute of many war, fire, sun, sky, fertility, creator, and hearth gods. It was used by the early Church as a symbol of the spiritual fertility of Christ who was the first of many spiritual siblings.

In classical mythology, rams were associated with shepherd gods such as Hermes Kriophoros who turned the plague away from a city by carrying a ram upon his shoulders as he walked around its walls. As a ram god, Apollo Karneiros protected flocks from wild animals and taught shepherds how to tend their sheep. In China and India, rams were the steeds of the gods. There and in other countries, rams were associated with unicorns. The nations around Israel portrayed Baal and Rashap with ram's horns. Ea, the pagan god of Destiny and the Ocean was represented by a ram's head set on top of a column. In Egypt, rams were sacred to Amun, Khnum, Osiris, and the cult sites of Elephantine and Mendes. Each year, Amun, the ram-headed creator of the universe, was sacrificed in the form of a ram which was mourned and buried with great honor in a sacred tomb at Thebes. The Celtic fertility god, Cernunnos, had a ram-headed serpent as one of his attributes. The bleating of the ram and the spiral shape of its horns made it a universal symbol of thunder and thunder-gods such as Shango, Thor, and Benin.

The Golden Fleece of Greco-Roman mythology is similar in symbolism to the Holy Grail and the Philosopher's Stone. In order to claim his throne, Jason and his Argonauts set out to capture the fleece from the dragon which guarded it. This pelt originally came from a talking ram sent from Hermes to prevent Phrixus and Helle from being sacrificed to Zeus by their wicked stepmother. The golden ram flew through the air with the children upon his back. He brought Phrixus to safety in Colchis but Helle was lost over a body of water later known as the Hellespont. At Colchis, the boy gratefully sacrificed the golden ram to Zeus and hung its fleece in a sacred grove where it was believed to bring good fortune, joy, and prosperity to the surrounding area. The ram itself was placed in the heavens as the constellation Aries. Around 1447 Pope Eugene IV had Jason's capture of the Golden Fleece pictured on the doors of St. Peter's in Rome. Christian symbolism considered the Golden Fleece an image of Christ who rescued the children, helping them to soar above the darkness of the pagan world as long as they clung to His fleece (teachings). Phrixus was the soul who held fast until he reached the heavenly shores. Helle represented the soul which became discouraged and fell back into sin and death.

As leaders of the flock, rams were symbols of leadership and of Jesus Christ as the guide of souls. Sheep were believed to follow the bleating of rams. Therefore, St. Ambrose considered rams emblems of the divine Word. When God warned His people to return to Israel from Babylon where they had been taken as captives, He urged them to hurry and "be like rams before the flocks" (Jer 50:8). If they waited for someone else to lead them, they would be destroyed along with their captors which were about to be invaded. Rams fighting with wolves and defending the sheep represent the war between Jesus and Satan for souls.

The tendency of rams to butt their enemies with their foreheads made them symbols of military courage and might. Bronze and cast iron ram's heads were placed on the ends of siege-engines known as "battering rams" and used to smash through the walls and gates of cities (Ezek 4:2; 21:22; 26:9). The destruction of cities and their leaders by war is likened to sacrificial rams being led to the slaughter (Jer 51:40; Ezek 39:18; Isa 34:6). In Daniel's vision of the ram and the he-goat (Dan 8:3-7, 20), the ram with two horns represents the Medes and the Persians who conquered the lands to the west, to the north, and to the south until suddenly Alexander the Great (represented by a he-goat) "attacked the ram, and broke his two horns," depriving the Medio-Persian Empire of all its power (Dan 8:7).

Rams are symbols of strength, fertility, war, souls and their guides. The psalmist writes that "the mountains skipped like rams" or quaked in holy fear when God led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land (Psa 114:1-7). Ram skins were dyed red and sewn into the third of four coverings for the Tabernacle used by Israel in the wilderness (Ex 22:5; 26:14; 35:23). These helped to prevent dust and rain from entering the sanctuary.

All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated.