He brooks no opposition. The lion demands to rule alone. He represents pride - the collective noun for a group of lions is a 'pride' of lions. Pride was the fatal flaw of the spies whom Moshe sent to investigate the Land of Israel. The spies returned on the ninth day of the month of Av.
Pride is rooted in the element of fire which seeks to rule at all costs.
The spies' pride and their concern for maintaining their own ruling status distorted their vision of the Land. If the spies erred in their perception, making self-fulfilling prophecies of doom, the Jewish People were also at fault by listening to their distorted report. It was on that same day, the ninth of Av, that the Second Temple was also destroyed. On the ninth of Av, the Romans destroyed Betar and massacred thousands of Jews. As the prophet Yirmiyahu predicted, Jerusalem was ploughed over - on the ninth of Av.