Try to imagine a world in which the wolf and the lamb will share the same stall. The leopard and the baby goat will sleep together. A little child will put halters on a lion and a calf and lead them around. The lion will eat straw like the oxen. A little child will reach down into a cobra's den and not be harmed. That's what the world will be like one day, according to Isaiah the prophet. At some future time the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the oceans are with water; then no creature shall harm any other creature if all of God's earth.
This vision strains my imagination because for 13 years I owned a German Shepherd dog which was at least 50 percent wolf. Sometimes when there was a full moon, my dog would offer up such wolf-like howls that it sent shivers up and down spines far and wide, and all the neighborhood cats had panic attacks. I had to shut up my dog in order to quiet him. My dog was terribly misnamed. He was a big, burly, 100- pounds of muscle, but we called him "Precious." I mean, you expect a "Precious" to be a miniature poodle, or a Pekinese, or a toy terrier, but not a massive creature who just a generation or two from a wolf. Precious attacked cats instinctively. I think in his genetic computer, a cat resembled a rabbit, and therefore was perceived as suitable prey. When I imagine what the world will be like one day when Jesus Christ returns in final victory, I see Precious cuddling up with a cat and licking it affectionately rather than hungrily.
How and when will the prophecy of Isaiah become a reality? Remember, the Bible does not say that Isaiah's golden age will come through the achievements of people. It will become a reality when Jesus returns in the clouds with great power and glory for all the world to see. But until then, there will be wars and rumors of war. Nation shall rise up against nation. Therefore, we should be wise as snakes but innocent as doves.
It is somewhat sad to realize that until Jesus returns, there will be always be a Saddam Hussein type around to disturb the peace. Because of sin, nations will always be squabbling. Yes, it helps to have a United Nations, a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and a strong military; but there will be no golden age of peace until Jesus returns in glory.
In the meantime what are we do to? Sit around and wait for Jesus to return in glory? Oh no, we have work to do. We are to establish beachheads for God's coming kingdom. Even if we can't win a final victory over evil, we can at least accomplish a spiritual D-Day. In order for that to happen, we must reconcile the wolf and the lamb inside us. I refer to the inner life of every person.
There is a tiger within you and me that wants to snarl at people on the other side of the political or ideological fence. There is a wolf within us that re-opens old wounds and past failures even within our own households, just to make sure that even those nearest to us know we haven't forgotten their failures; maybe forgiven, but not forgotten.
There is a cobra within us that lies in wait for people who are different from us, so that we can catch them fulfilling our prejudices about them. There is a bear within us that gives other people only once chance to disappoint us; and if they do, we reject them forever.
An Army staff sergeant from McComb, Mississippi was the third soldier at Aberdeen proving Ground to be convicted in a sex scandal. In his plea for mercy, he said, "I got the devil in me. I got out of my character. I lost the ground I was standing on." Each of us could offer similar testimony. But you say, "wait a minute, Bill. Look at all the beautiful capabilities of human beings. We rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan. We have a United Nations, a Head Start program, and the Red
Cross." That's right. Man is more than a beast, but he is not an angel. Both the wolf and the lamb are within us. What a bundle of contrasts we are!
Edward Sanford Martin has described all of us with these words:
"Within my earthly temple there's a crowd;
There's one of us that's humble, one that's proud,
There's one that's broken-hearted for his sins,
There's one that unrepentant sits and grins."
What are we to do with ourselves, with this bundle of contradictions, with this combination of wolf and lamb? Only through yielding oneself to Jesus Christ can we be fundamentally changed. When we repent of sin and claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, his Holy Spirit begins to restrain the beast within us and to unleash the angel. Have you made that discovery yet? You could today. Once you do, the beast within is restrained, and the angel is unleashed. Then we become Jesus' advance troops, working behind enemy lines, preparing for that great day when Jesus will return in all his glory and the entire earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
Some years ago a new Christmas custom began in the New England area. Some Christian families there decided to limit their outdoor decorations to a single white candle in each window. That candle declared that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. It affirmed that Jesus alone is Lord. This style of decorating caught on and spread across the country. It is the opposite of the gaudy and tacky style that is popular in many places. The single candle in the window is beautiful in its simplicity. It declares that in this home and in these hearts, Jesus Christ comes first.
Anytime a person claims Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, he or she resembles that single candle, a sentinel for the Kingdom of God, a clear sign to the world that one day Jesus will return in glory. Then the wolf and the lamb will lie down together. "Every knee shall bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."