Jeremiah 49:19
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
The image of a lion coming up from the swelling of the Jordan rests on the thickets and canebrakes along the lower Jordan serving as retreats for wild beasts, which a flood would drive out. The verse stands in the closing prophecies of Jeremiah in chapters 46 to 51 against Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Damascus, and above all Babylon, the kingdom which had perverted all the other kingdoms of the earth. It belongs to prophecies against the nations, including Edom, and describes their coming defeat before Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylon denounced in this setting is not simply the ancient empire but is used as a type of mystical Babylon.
The verse has been misapplied to a claimed lion-like invasion by Louis Napoleon against the United States as the habitation of the strong. In that misapplication the chosen man was taken as the claimant appointed over the land, the words who is like me were linked to Michael meaning who like God, the appointing of the time was taken as authority to set the invasion date, and the shepherd was identified as Cyrus, all to support a prophetic role. That use of the verse to identify the claimant as one like God was exposed as an extravagant claim to prophetic and divine offices. The verse has also been used to claim that God called Cyrus to be Israel's shepherd or governor, for whom the crown given to the rider on the white horse was fitting.