Evangelicia

Alicia's Bible Blog

 

 

Isaiah 11:9 "They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

 

This is part of Isaiah's prophecy about the coming Messiah. He says at that time "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6).

 

This is a promise that has always intrigued me. I can understand man, with his free will, coming (eventually!) to so love God that he turns away from violence and destruction. It's not something I see happening anytime soon, but I can understand how we could get there. But its difficult to imagine animals, who don't have free will, changing so drastically. Animals are acting in accordance with their natures, the lion survives by pursuing the calf.

 

Then again, if I think of this as a return to humanity being in perfect communion with God and therefore in right relationship with all of Creation, as in the Garden of Eden, I can understand it a bit better. Isaiah's prophesy implies that nature, rightly ordered, does not rely on violence for survival. The Fall, then, affected more than just us. Creation is ordered under humanity's dominion, so once we started down the path of sin and violence, we influenced the rest of Creation as well. 

 

Isaiah's prophesied Messiah is all about reestablishing proper order in all of Creation's relationship with God, as Jesus indeed is. According to Isaiah, the entire earth, not just humanity, will be full of the knowledge of the Lord and no one and nothing shall hurt or destroy any part of it. How this looks when it comes to completion, I cannot begin to understand, being a child of this sinful world* But I trust in the promise and look forward to its fulfillment!

 

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*Maybe it will look something like this :)