Clip Art for Wolf Lies Down With the Lamb

home  >  articles  > The Lion Shall Lay Down Together With the Lamb – Explained

What does the Bible mean by the expression the lion and lamb shall lay downwardly together?! Written past Dr Andrew Corbett, President of ICI Theological College Australia, and author of the popular commentary on the Book of Revelation- The Most Embarrassing Book In The Bible

The Lion Shall Lay Down Together With the Lamb – explained.

The "lion and the lamb shall lay downwards together" is often cited a prophecy speaking of a literal utopia on world to come – a Aureate Age – referred to as 'The Millennium'. It is argued that since so many of the prophecies regarding The Christ'due south first appearing were fulfilled literally, surely such prophecies of a Golden Age will also be fulfilled literally. This however-to-come Golden Historic period ("The Millennium") is spoken of as "Paradise Restored" – an age of Paradise on earth where there will be no death, sorrow, pain or sickness. The prophets described this era with the expression, "the lion and the lamb shall lay down together…" Only there is a slight, ever and so slight, problem with this: the expression,the lion and lamb shall lay downwards together does not occur in the Bible! The closest we can get to it Isaiah xi:half-dozen.

¶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie downwardly with the young goat,
and the calf and the panthera leo and the fattened calf together;
and a lilliputian child shall pb them.
Isaiah xi:6

I was with a group of pastors recently in Sydney where one of them quizzed me well-nigh the prophecy in the Old Testament referring to the king of beasts and lamb laying down together. I gently pointed out that this expression doesn't announced in the Bible. They immediately challenged my assertion. I quoted Isaiah 11:6 and pointed out that information technology refers to thewolf and the lamb not thelionand the lamb. I pointed out the significance of this prophecy and its most probable interpretation. They said that they would bank check this out when they returned abode to their computer and I assume correct me if they could bear witness me wrong. After 7 years, I haven't heard from them.

It's interesting how many things are cited every bit if they are in the Bible. Similar,1 shall put a one thousand to flying and 2 shall put 10 thousand to flight is often quoted by leadership teachers nigh the power of an individual being exponentially multiplied when in a squad. But how many realise this commendation refers to what State of israel'south enemies could do to them if they broke Covenant with God (non what they would practise to their enemies)? (Deut. 32:30)

The item almost-biblical-expression in question is used to promote "Pre-Millennialism" which is the thought that Christ volition return and set a Golden Age on world for a thousand years where even commonly carnivorous animals volition become vegetarian. This thought has gained much popular paperback-theology endorsement. But I am proposing a quite different view for your consideration.

In Tom Wright's book, "Justification", the principal exegete and Biblical scholar describes the difficulty in challenging a view of Scripture which is almost universally accepted and taken for granted, in the same way that information technology must have been difficult for Copernicus to convince the world that the Lord's day did not revolve effectually the world – only rather, that the earth revolved around the Sun. "Look" Copernicus'southward objectors and scoffers might have contested, "Each morning the Sun comes upwards so each evening it goes down. There y'all take it! The proof! The Lord's day goes around the earth." But despite the objective data presented by Copernicus, the general perception continued and his objectors preserved the status quo, at to the lowest degree for a while.

Peradventure in a similar manner, what I am proposing might run across with similar Copernican-type objectors. I am going to attempt to testify that Isaiah eleven:6 should not be taken in a wooden literal sense. Having already shown that the expression the panthera leo shall lay downwards with the lamb… does not occur in the Bible, I am going to fence that neither is the very concept proposed – a Golden Historic period on earth, called the Millennium – to be what the Bible teaches.

"The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall consume straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,"
says the LORD.
Isaiah 65:25

The Book of Isaiah employs metaphors. Metaphors are word pictures. The Promised Messiah is described in Isaiah as a "tender shoot" or a "root" (incidentally, both metaphors occur in Isaiah 11). These word pictures of the Christ paint Him as the promise of Israel and Ane who would be born equally a child and abound. The item metaphors in question: the wolf, is oftentimes used in the Old Testament to speak of Israel's enemies. For instance, Jeremiah speaks of State of israel's enemies equally a lion, a wolf, and a leopard.

¶ Therefore a king of beasts from the forest shall strike them downwards;
a wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
A leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall exist torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are great.
Jeremiah five:6

Similarly, Israel is frequently described as lambs, or sheep. To speak of wolves and lambs laying downward together, is to describe the effect of the New Covenant. That is, the largely ethnically-centred Old Covenant, would one mean solar day be replaced by the for-all-the-world-New-Covenant where Jew and (the previously hostile enemy) Gentiles are brought together under the same Covenant.

¶ Therefore remember that at one fourth dimension you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the mankind by hands— remember that you were at that fourth dimension separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But at present in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near past the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made united states both one and has cleaved down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Ephesians two:11-14

The context of Isaiah 11 is the ministry and achievement of the Messiah. The resultant New Covenant would make peace betwixt formally hostile enemies. There are some cute prophetic metaphors in Isaiah 11 which describe this. Such as verse xviii, The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. This is not a picture of a Utopian Golden Era, referred to equally The Millennium, rather it was a prophetic motion-picture show of the resultant peace from the spread of the New Covenant. How far will this New Covenant spread?

…for the world shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters comprehend the sea.
Isaiah 11:9b

The Book of Revelation explained

Of course, these various ideas come to touch how we understand the Volume of Revelation. Some volition go along to think that the Bible forecasts an earthly Utopia just as some connected to retrieve that the Sunday went effectually the earth in Copernicus's day. To be sure, one day Christ volition return, as the ancient creeds say, to judge all people and bring our dimensions to an cease. In a sense, the New Heaven and the New Earth speaks of the New Covenant but it ultimately speaks of a futurity when –

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
Revelation 21:4

In the meantime, the wolf lays down the lamb every time an Arab and a Jew find a common bail in knowing Christ every bit the Promised Prophet, Messiah and Saviour. And this is happening today perchance more than people realise.

-Dr. Andrew Corbett

POSTSCRIPT

Several people have written to me asking about this event and whether I accept heard of 'the Mandela Effect'. This, they claim, is some kind of supernatural force which has dramatically changed certain Biblical passages (such as Isaiah eleven:half-dozen, the i I have discussed here) plus sure other facts of history. For example, I received this feedback January 5th 2019-

If y'all research the miracle known as "The Mandela Outcome" you will sympathise why so many Pastors knew the different wording of the Biblical passage about the lion and the lamb.
The Bible appears to be under assault by forces across our comprehension but the trouble may go further downwardly the rabbit hole than demonic forces, if that's possible.
Report CERN and breakthrough computers for other possibilities. Also, written report the multiverse nature of reality which seems to exist moving or floating, which changes, and repeatedly alters everything from famous quotes to geography.
The idea of and then many people having a failed retentiveness of the same quotes or events does not withstand the scrutiny of statistical analysis.
Specifically, it is statistically impossible for millions of people to share the same false memory of only certain events.

And I received this feedback on March 30th 2017-

I know for a fact tgr Bible apply to say the Lion volition lay with the lamb. When CERN started messing with dark matter they found in2012 Satan was unleashed and alot of the bible has changed. Look at the Lords prayer. Look up the mandela effect. Delight research information technology

And on March eighth 2019, I received this odd and confused feedback-

In regards to the Lion and the lamb verses Is now proverb wolf and the lamb. In Christianity they believe in some futurity messiah to come save His people and judge the World. At present nosotros know Jeremiah 3:eight states God divorced Israel and in New testament God replaced Israel with Gentiles. But in Isaiah 66 God is pissed off at those who ate pork. In fact, Revelation ii-3 speaks of God judging pergamon Anti Kenti for mixing God's religion with World and called it synagogue of Satan. Thyatira was given a hazard to apologize, but didn't so she falls back under the Iron Scepter. At present Vatican ruled with Iron Scepter and God ruled Israel with Fe scepter. Have your choice. True Christianity lived obediently and by religion they obeyed. So nosotros accept a debacle. I remember in one/two peter the exact phrase, "Practise non forget first generation world." But now information technology'due south not there in any translation. I fifty-fifty remember debating my dad over it. And you lot take the Codex Gigas the huge Book named Satan'southward Bible. ten pages are missing. Simply here is my affair. Quondam Testament is proven Accurate, new attestation proven accurate. But the Bible really inverse. So are the prophecies still the same has anyone noticed these changes? Right now I continue hearing almost Come out of her my people. Revelation 13 if you link Dan 2&7 with it leads you to a time line where Catholicism killed 100 meg saints over trying to kill Christ and Christian and Bible. French Revolution killed The Bible for 3.5 years and to some it will happen again in Israel. Now rev 9:11 says they aligned themselves with Abaddon. Abaddon is equal to The Father Is Don. Don translates to Yisrael. So what gives? There are thousands of references to Yisroel and very few to Yisrael. Has the Bible been Hijacked past Satan? Nosotros demand people searching.

At that place are several logical reasons why this proposed conspiracy theory is completely implausible. Apart from the fact that we take Biblical manuscripts of both the Onetime and New Testaments which engagement back to antiquity – and they exactly match what we have today, including the volume of Isaiah – and especially this passage, which verifies the point I have made in this article. What this all illustrates is that when someone claims that the Bible says something without giving the chapter and poetry, it'southward best to ask them for the chapter and verse! It also highlights that our memories can distort history. In that location is no footage of the first World Merchandise Centre Belfry existence striking. Just in that location is of the second – I recollect being in my hotel room in Republic of indonesia and watching information technology live on CNN! However, even President G.W. Bush referred to the live footage of the first tower being hitting because he had confused his recollections of that fateful day. This was not the 'Mandela Consequence' or whatsoever supernatural spell being cast, this was only what nosotros are all susceptible to when it comes to how our memories work. This natural ability to change what we call back what nosotros recollect nosotros just saw is highlighted every fourth dimension a Thou Slam tennis role player calls for a Hawk Center replay of whether his concluding shot was in or out. Despite the thespian or the lines-person beingness convinced of what they just saw a few seconds ago, the Hawk Eye replay frequently stuns them with where their shotactually landed.

In didactics hermeneutics, one of the first things I instruct my students to practise is to determine what the Biblical text really says – not what we think information technology says! This is the signal of my volume The Most Embarrassing Verse In The Bible where I talk over how people have read into the Bible what they pre-supposed information technology said rather than considering what itreally says.

-A.C. March 9th 2019

Isn't this just ridiculing others? Feedback received from Thousand.M. on June 14th 2019 –

"On the panthera leo and lamb commodity I accept a few comments. When a writer ridicules those who don't concur with him, that is usually where I stop reading. (Non-Copernicus types). Resorting to that tactic by and large means a weak argument.

What about Isaiah 65:25. "The king of beasts shall eat straw like the bullock."

I likewise disagree with your adding the word "spiritual" before death where yous quote Paul in Corinthians. Where in the Bible does it actually say that Adam died spiritually. Everybody knows what death means. If Paul meant something else he would take said then. Changing the words of Scripture is the sign of a cult.

I know you are Christian from what you have written, only I don't agree with you lot. I'thousand non stupid nor uninformed." -K.M.

Love 1000.,

Thank you lot for your contact.

Firstly, I agree with you that ridicule is a poor and even a non-argument. I'thou not sure where the ridicule is in my argument though. I have made an exegetical argument, not a ridiculous i. The main signal, which y'all have seemed to overlook, is that what is cited as being in Scripture is non there. The closest verse is the 1 I cite-

¶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall prevarication downwards with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little kid shall atomic number 82 them.
Isaiah xi:vi

Secondly, Isaiah 65:25 reinforces my argument that Isaiah has painted a give-and-take picture of what God'southward redemption will accomplish. Which is why I cited information technology and addressed information technology in the article.

Thirdly, I cannot encounter where in this commodity I refer to First Corinthians 15 and "spiritual death" every bit you take cited. But, the Biblical fact is that Adam did not immediately die physically – just eventually did. This physical expiry was ensured by the Lord when He barred Adam and Eve from re-entering the Garden of Eden and partaking of the Tree of Life which would have sustained the concrete life. Ephesians two:1-5 describes the spiritual death nosotros are all subject to because of the Fall instigated by Adam. Spiritual death, as with any death, is as is described in James 2, a 'separation'.

In lite of this, it is audio exegesis.

-A.C. 14th June 2019

The Most Embarrassing Volume In The Bible, eBook, by Dr. Andrew Corbett

I have written a fuller caption of the book of Revelation in my eBook – THE Nigh EMBARRASSING Book IN THE BIBLE (click hither to read a preview). The awarding from the Book of Revelation is that despite what appears to be an impotent Church struggling to serve an apparently impotent Christ, the Church building is in reality fabricated upward of overcomers who lay down their lives gladly to promote Christ and His Gospel. In so doing, the Kingdom of Christ is extended, prayers are offered and heard, miracles are graced, and the believer can dice with infinite promise that their Lord will keep them for eternity and clothe them with a new body which can not be discipline to pain, injury, sorrow, or sin. With this knowledge we can endure momentary hardship during the brevity of this life on earth. We tin be assured that our greatest delights and deepest moments of fulfilment are yet to come in the life to come.

¶ "Truly, truly, I say to y'all, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead volition hear the vocalisation of the Son of God, and those who hear will alive.
John 5:25

Amen.

Dr. Andrew Corbett, Legana, Tasmania, Commonwealth of australia, August 15th, 2011

thomasbearile.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.andrewcorbett.net/articles/lion-and-the-lamb/

Share this post