DavidFord said
"have an opinion or a point of view?"
I have lots of opinions.
"favor Jesus’ words over any other narrative"
Is it OK to draw a parallel between Jesus and a lifted up serpent?
John 3:14 (KJV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
  

Absolutely, and that is my point, he himself made the comparison!

When you look strictly at the words that came directly out of Jesus’s own mouth in the Gospels, he completely rejects the passive, sacrificial “Lamb” identity. He never identifies with animals meant for the slaughterhouse or the butcher’s knife.

Apart from the Hen trying to gather her chicks under her wings, Jesus only explicitly identifies himself with one other animal:

The Living Serpent of Healing

In the Gospel of John, Jesus names his own cosmic function by identifying with the Serpent of the wilderness:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (** you do not have permission to see this link **)

Dave, please read my essey, because I have explained everything :

"favor Jesus’ words over any other narrative"
Is it OK to draw a parallel between Jesus and a lifted up serpent?

John 3:14 (KJV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

Theocracy, "30 Pieces of Silver"

DavidFord said
"What do you think?"
It's all fine by me.

Don't you have an opinion or a point of view?

"their perception God is as lion or moth, when in fact it is wrong to identify our God with such terms"
Is it OK to liken Jesus to bread?
John 6:35 (CEV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Jesus replied:
I am the bread that gives life!
No one who comes to me will ever be hungry.
No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.
  

We, as Christians, have to favor Jesus' words over any other narrative.

"their perception God is as lion or moth, when in fact it is wrong to identify our God with such terms"
Is it OK to liken Jesus to bread?

John 6:35 (CEV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Jesus replied:
I am the bread that gives life!
No one who comes to me will ever be hungry.
No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.

DavidFord said
"Peter’s epistle states that the devil is a lion"
Is it bad to compare God to a:
lion?
moth?
Hosea 5 (NIV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
9 Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of reckoning.
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.
I will pour out my wrath on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
...
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face—
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me.”
  

I think that is their perception God is as lion or moth, when in fact it is wrong to identify our God with such terms. The devil is as a lion, and the moth has no authority in the heavenly kingdom.

The lion is the devil according to ** you do not have permission to see this link **, and the moth is the false god. Or, if you prefer that is their [wrong] perception only. What do you think? For me, it was interesting when you offered moth to replace lion, here:

DavidFord said
"It is not if your god is the devil"
If one's God _isn't_ "the devil,"
is it bad to compare that God to a:
lion?
moth? 

It is bad from my perspective, but HOSEA is pointing out theirs.

"if we look at the actual Biblical text... the lion is used to describe the devil"
In the Bible, is God ever likened to a lion?

"the moth is used to describe God. ... The Moth as God: In Hosea 5:12, God Himself speaks and says: 'I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.' ...the moth represents God working quietly, patiently, and from the inside out"
Do you believe that Hosea 5:12 depicts "God working quietly, patiently, and from the inside out"?

DavidFord said
"It is not if your god is the devil"
If one's God _isn't_ "the devil,"
is it bad to compare that God to a:
lion?
moth?
  

1. 1. The Lion as the Devil: In 1 Peter 5:8, the Bible explicitly warns:
      

      "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

   2. The Moth as God: In Hosea 5:12, God Himself speaks and says:
      

      "I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah."

DavidFord said
"Peter’s epistle states that the devil is a lion"
Is it bad to compare God to a:
lion?

It is not if your god is the devil, lol.

Hosea 5 (NIV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
9 Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of reckoning.
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.
I will pour out my wrath on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.

12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
...
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face—
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me.”

I imagine that some shepherds have died trying to protect their sheep.

I think that Athanasius pushed The Shepherd of Hermas to replace the true shepherd, Jesus ** you do not have permission to see this link **, and labeled him as both a sheep and a lion, while Peter's epistle states that the devil is a lion 1 Peter 5:8.

1 Samuel 17 (NIV)
** you do not have permission to see this link **
32 David said to Saul,
“Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine [Goliath];
your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied,
“You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him;
you are only a young man,
and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul,
“Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep.
When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
35 I went after it, struck it
and rescued the sheep from its mouth.
When it turned on me,
I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear;
this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them,
because he has defied the armies of the living God.
37 The Lord who rescued me
from the paw of the lion
and the paw of the bear
will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David,
“Go, and the Lord be with you.”