It is one of my favorite visions of the future
and I marvel at the mind of the prophet who brought it to life by putting it to
pen. The One who delights in the Lord will pair wolves with lambs, leopards with
goats, calves with lions, bears with cows, infants with adders. It’s a recipe
for carnage, but in the imagination of the prophet the predator lies down with
the prey for a nap and not for lunch. The accepted order of the natural world is
radically transformed by the One upon whom the Spirit of the Lord finds a
resting place so that hurting and destroying will have no place on the holy
mountain because hurting and destroying have no place in the Lord. In some small
way I lived the hope of Isaiah’s vision when our Belgium sheep dog Gretchen did
her best to kill our lamb Leah. Both were named. Both were loved. If I could have
imagined and created a world where that would never happen I would have. But
then I’d like to say hurting and destroying have no place in me but that would
not be true. In a world where the innocent are preyed upon by the wicked I know that at some level my desire for justice satisfies a need
for retribution and that even a self-proclaimed pacifist has a tipping point.
But that knowledge does not diminish the desire for the peaceable kingdom.
Rather it heightens it. The One upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests will create a world, a new reality, to do
what we can never do. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Hi. Can you tell me about the lion and lamb having a cocktail? Who's the artist? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI would also like the artist and title. I produce our church bulletin and like to give credit where credit is due whenever possible when I use an illustration for the cover. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFound the artist through Google image search: Will Bullas. Here's the page with info on him and this artwork: http://www.shafferfineart.com/The_Art_of_Will_Bullas.htm
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