Isaiah 11:6 says, “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; and the calf and the young lion together”. Theologians typically interpret by following a specific system (ie literal or symbolic). That often leads to a lot of confusing conclusions. For example, many theologians interpret this scripture literally and ‘futurize’ it since ‘literal’ isn’t a current reality. The footnote of my bible says (referring to Isaiah 11:6); “Messiah’s reign in the yet future millennial kingdom will be characterized by harmony in the whole creation”.
IF that is true, it should be CONSISTENTLY true, right? Let’s examine our text a little more closely. According to our scripture text, WHEN does this happen? Isaiah 11:1 says, “there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots”. Have you ever heard of a ‘geneology tree’? Well, that is what God is referring to. When did/will this happen? Acts 13:22,23 (reciting the history of the Jews) says, “…he raised up unto them David to be their king…and said I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart…Of this man’s seed HATH (past tense) God raised unto Israel a Savior, JESUS”. Our text was a prophecy of what was to happen when Jesus came. Now, the latter part of Isaiah 11:4 says, “…and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked”. Now, literalize this in your mind. Imagine Jesus going around slaying wicked people just by breathing on them. No! This is a metaphorical expression that means the very words that Jesus speaks have great power! For example, Jesus slayed the wicked by His simple yet powerful words...“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”.
MY system of interpretation is simpler. I seek to determine the intended meaning of the scripture. What was God trying to say in this scripture? Sometimes he was speaking literally, sometimes he was speaking metaphorically. How do you know which is which? The best answer to that question is personal intimacy with God. There is no formula in existence to detour around this basic truth. The heart cry of everyone who wishes to understand God’s Word should be (Psalms 119:18) ‘open thou mine eyes that I might behold wonderous things out of thy Word’. God speaks through His Word! But also draws us to Him when we READ and OBEY His Word! To understand God’s Word, we must read God’s Word! So, I believe the SAFEST ‘interpretation system’ is letting scripture interpret scripture. Can we better understand our text by allowing scripture help us interpret scripture? I believe so. I wish to share with you, by the scriptures, three things our text teaches us that Jesus came to accomplish.
First, JESUS CAME TO CHANGE OUR NATURE! Scripture teaches that people often display an ’animal-like’ nature in their endeavor to get their way. 2 Samuel 23:20 says, “Benaiah slew two lionlike men of Moab”. Some people are like a lion. They are aggressive. They use the threat of intimidation to impose their will on others and overcome opposition. We all know people like that. We call them ‘bullies’. They possess a lionlike spirit. Luke 13: 31,32 (Jesus speaking about King Herod) says, “Go tell that fox…”. Did Jesus mean King Herod was a literal fox? No! He meant he was crafty like a fox. Crafty people use misrepresentation and distortion of the truth to get their way. A good example of a 'foxy' reply would be, “but I didn’t inhale”. We’ve all heard stories of bears who, driven by an insatiable lust for food, ransack campers, tear up campsites, and even kill families just because they get in the way. People act like bears when, driven by an addiction, they rip and tear everything in their way, sometimes even hurting deeply the very ones they love in pursuit of self gratification. Psalms 140:1-3 (The Living Bible) says, “O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent, who plot and stir up trouble all day long. Their words sting like poisonous snakes.” A good example of this would be a salesman who comes knocking on your door. He tells you he represents a Vinyl Siding Company. He tells you it would normally cost $12,000 to replace the siding on your house. He tells you he would like to do it for half the cost. He says he’ll come back next week to do the job, but that he needs a down payment of $2,000 to secure the deal. You pay him $2,000 of your hard earned money and never see him again. You feel like you’ve been snakebit! There are many people who act like animals in their everyday living, and we know it. We have to be very careful when we go out in public because ‘it’s a jungle out there’!
Mark 5:4 says, “he had been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains were plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him”. What kind of animal were they trying to domesticate? A horse? An elephant? A lion? Mark 5:2 says, “when he was come out of the ship there met him out of the tombs a MAN with an unclean spirit”. People act like animals to the hurt of multitudes of people all around them, not because they had bad parents, not because they have bad genes, not because of our bad economy, but because of an unclean spirit! Wouldn’t our society be a safer place to live if there was a way to tame animal-like people and make them safe to be around? Mark 5:8 says,(Jesus speaking) “come out of him thou unclean spirit”. Afterwards the man was found to be in his right mind.
Isaiah 11:6 says, “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard with the young goat, the calf with the lion”. Many of us here in Worship Service this morning used to behave like an animal. We were not safe to be around. But we met a man called Jesus one day and HE cleansed us of our unclean spirit. Now we (previously possessing all different kinds of animal natures) are dwelling together in harmony! Why? Because Jesus changed our nature!
Second, JESUS CAME TO CHANGE OUR EGOS! The latter part of Isaiah 11:6 says, “and a little child shall lead them”. If you’ve ever tried to lead a donkey you know how difficult it can be because they tend to be very stubborn. They like their independence. We all like our independence. We all tend to have ego problems. We all tend to think we know more than we really do. We all tend to think others know less than they really do. The hardest person in the world to teach anything to is the person who already knows it all. But when Jesus changes our nature, he also changes our spirit. He makes us willful followers! John the Baptist summed it up when he said, "He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease". In order for 'Christlikeness' to grow in each of us, we must first choose to empty ourselves of ourselves!For must people that is a difficult thing. For Christian people, that should be an easy thing. The great thing about being a Christian Leader is having Christian believers who are such willing followers. That isn’t part of our nature. That is a work of God! Jesus humbles our spirit and gives us a ‘teachable spirit’. Doing church work (developing Christian disciples from Christian believers) would be impossible without teachable people.
Third, JESUS CAME TO CHANGE OUR PURPOSES! We all have a purpose. Most of us have the purpose or ultimate goal in life of being prosperous, having a great family, and staying healthy. Isaiah 11:10 (New Living Translation) says, “In that day(Jesus) will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, for the land where he lives will be a glorious place.”
Imagine a recessed part of Africa where there are multitudes of wild animals. These wild animals are frequently killing the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. Now imagine an amazing animal tamer comes along and domesticates a specific region. Don’t you think the surrounding inhabitants would want to relocate to that community for the safe haven of rest it offers? Well that is exactly what the body of believers are supposed to represent to the rest of the world. In a society filled with beastly people who make everyday living dangerous to the rest of us, Jesus has created a safe haven of rest. It’s called the church. The safe environment we find in the church in sharp contrast to the jungle environment we find outside of the church serves as a raised up banner offering security to everyone. That is why ‘the nations will rally to him’. This will only happen IF and WHEN the 'jungle world' sees there is actually a 'haven of rest in the midst of the jungle'! That is where you and I come in. When Jesus redeems us from our old nature (nobody knows how ‘animal-like’ we used to be better than ourselves) he fills us with such an overwhelming sense of gratitude we make it OUR MISSION in life to WORK for the advancement of HIS kingdom. We subordinate our purposes in life to the great and noble ideal of working to advance His purposes!
Has Jesus changed your nature yet? Has Jesus changed your ego yet? Has Jesus changed your purpose in life yet? Aren’t you tired of living in the jungle? Aren’t you ready for the safety and security that Jesus offers?
