Does the wolf already dwell with the lamb? - An Accessible Utopia

The Peaceable Kingdom and the Accessible Utopia of Isaiah 11

This is a prayer meeting. There will be lots of prayer. However, we do want to keep the preaching of the Word. So there will be preaching of the Word regularly in this service. This is not just a utopia that exists somewhere far off in the distant future, but I believe this is a utopia that has been brought about by the power of the gospel in Jesus Christ and is accessible to every one of us today.

And so I want us to look at this and to understand that though we may not be able to see this utopia because it is not fully visibly manifest, I've got it. I've got it on. Are we good? Okay. All right.

Even though this is not fully visibly manifest, that it does in fact exist. And as we open our spiritual eyes, hopefully we can see this utopia as something that we can live in and that we can enjoy more and more as we are opening our spiritual eyes to see it.

So just beginning here in verse 6 and looking at some of the imagery, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and the little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze, the young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. You have all these pictures of animals that don't normally dwell together. You have wolf and lamb, leopard and goat, lion and calf, child together with them all, cow and a bear, and the lion being like an ox.

The predator no longer chases prey. The prey are no longer chased by predators. What is being described here is a restoration of the Garden of Eden. You know, before the fall, before sin, there was no death in the world and there was only peace and harmony, even among the animal kingdom.

Even in the animal kingdom, you would see this kind of peace. I don't know if the lion actually ate straw, but it would not eat an ox. Now, on a first reading, you might look at this, you know, as we try to interpret what this is talking about.

We might look at this and we might say, you know, this restoration of the Garden of Eden, this is talking about the future that we have after Judgment Day when we're all in new heavens and new earth that have been completely renewed, when all of this is done away with sometime in the future.

Now, that is a reasonable way, I think, to read this on an initial reading. However, no one that I've read that seriously studies this passage thinks that, even among the diverse opinions on the end times.

So, and I'll show you why. If you go ahead and turn over to Isaiah 65, the reason why this is not a description of that future is because you see this continued in Isaiah 65. Look at the very last verse, verse 25.

He's appealing to the same imagery from back before in, you know, in chapter 11, which is near the beginning of Isaiah. Here he's coming back to that at the end. And if you look at the beginning of the section, verse 17, you see, I created new heavens and new earth, right?

And these are images that might further confirm, yes, this seems like this far-off distant thing. But the reason why few people, very few people would… scholars would suggest that is if you look down at verse 20, it says, "'No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days.

For the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner, a hundred years old, shall be accursed.'". Right? So it's describing sinners. It's describing people who die at the ripe old age of over 100, right?

This is… this cannot be a literal description of that future time, right? Because if it were a literal description of that future time, we know that there will be no more death, and this is describing death.

So the universal… and, you know, I'm not as well read as I could be, but from what I understand, the universal interpretation of these passages is they are not talking about future time, but they are talking about the the millennial kingdom, the millennium, as described in Revelation 12.

Now there are different thoughts on when that millennium is. If you've been following along in the home groups, you know that the millennium is not necessarily… is not… people have different views on the millennium, right?

So there's three main views. There's amillennialism, postmillennialism, and premillennialism. And what, without describing each of those, what unites premillennialism and postmillennialism is they believe in a future millennium.

And amillennialism teaches that the millennium has existed ever since Jesus inaugurated the kingdom, that he is reigning now. And so while we could… I wouldn't be able to go through all the various proofs we've been going through as we've tried to present amillennialism in the home groups.

However, what I will say is that, first of all, you have here a description of when that takes place. In verse 1 of Isaiah 11, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And then in verse 10, in that day the root of Jesse shall stand for a signal of the peoples. Right? John talks about that being fulfilled in the cross of Christ, that he gathers people to himself and he calls people to himself.

The whole context of Isaiah 11 is the cross of Christ ushering in this utopia. Now, I'll also add that the New Testament talks about two ages, right? This age and the age to come. It does not envision a third age that sits between this age and that final age.

So just another reason to think that this is not talking about some future millennial kingdom, but this is talking about the millennial kingdom that has been ushered in through Jesus Christ, through him being crowned king sitting in the heavens.

Contentment in Christ Instead of the World

Now, as you think about that in this light, think about your contentment. You know, where do you find your contentment? If this is the experience that the gospel ushers in, then our contentment should be found in Christ.

It's very easy to find contentment in the world, but those kind of contentments are at odds with one another. The more you become content with the world, the more discontent you'll become with Christ and the things of his church.

The more you become content with Christ and the things of his church, the less you'll be content with the world. Do not spend your time building up contentment for the things of the world. Build your contentment in the things of God.

And ask yourself questions like, how often do you need to be walking with God to feel content? What's the answer to that? Is it once a week? Maybe you think the good Christian answer is once a day. You need to be walking with God continually.

You need to find your contentment in him, not just in a weekly recharge or anything like that. Your contentment needs to be found in the Lord or else you are going to find your contentment elsewhere, and you will miss out on what is being described here, this utopia.

I'd like to go ahead and read the next verse. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. Describes a child playing next to a cobra.

You know, once again, this is a picture of the Garden of Eden being restored. There is a… one thing that… there's a lot of things that unite this section of Isaiah from chapter 7 to 12, but one of those things is a motif of children.

I don't know if you've picked up on that, but there was Mehershal El-Hashbaz, there was Shir Jashub, the two children of Isaiah. Isaiah talks about his children later and says, you know, I and the children God has given me, which Jesus… sorry, it's quoted later as Jesus saying it in Hebrews 2.

There's… son has been given to us in Isaiah 9, and here we have children once again. And I think there is a… I think there is a reason that we see that theme that, you know, the image of a child provokes thoughts of… thoughts of hope, of restoration.

I think there's something going on with that artistic imagery that's being chosen of a child. But here we see that restoration of Eden. Anytime you see the world at odds, anytime you see even the animal kingdom at odds, that is a reminder of the problem of sin.

The other day, just this past week, I saw two squirrels fighting on a fence. That is a reminder that we live in a fallen world. There was a news article that was floating around about a woman whose… a bear had attacked her dogs, and the bear was on top of her fence, and she pushed the bear off, not even realizing it was a bear at first.

That is evidence that we live in a fallen world. There are reminders everywhere that we live in a fallen world. And if you were outside, you know, just out in this patio here, and you saw a child playing next to a rattlesnake, how quickly would your soul sink and you feel like you need to do something?

There would be just so much fear because you know you live in a fallen world where danger happens, where animals and humans are at odds. We talked this morning about the dominion man was given over the creatures and how that dominion has been compromised because of the.

So generally, while we have dominion over the creatures, animals attack back. But the child, the child would not be afraid. The child would be trusting, and the child in this picture is perfectly trusting.

You know, part of this image that's being painted is of a people, children, who are able to trust that nothing is wrong, who are able to trust perfectly in the Lord. We must trust the Lord. If you want to experience this utopia, you must trust the Lord.

Prayer, Trust, and Walking with God

Now, something is difficult when talking about trusting the Lord. It's always—I think people have a difficult time knowing how to measure whether or not they trust the Lord. If they take one action versus another, well, were they trusting the Lord in the matter?

Because God doesn't call us to just sit there and do nothing. So how do you know whether or not you are trusting the Lord? I think there's actually a very easy way to measure this, and that is your prayer life.

Just look at your prayer life, and you will know whether or not you trust the Lord. Are you going to God in prayer? Are you trusting him? That will come out in your prayer life. And this is, this is so essential.

You know, and I see this in my own life. Pastors are called to devote themselves to the ministry of the Word of God in prayer. Now, I think as much as I can with my schedule, I do a decent job of laboring in the ministry of the Word of God.

I think there is a lot of room to grow with prayer. Pray for me. Please pray for me. You want your pastors praying for you, so pray for me that I would grow in prayer. But I ask that you would be praying as well.

Pray. You know, hopefully this doesn't hit too close to home, but consider this. On Wednesday nights, back when we were meeting in person on Wednesday nights, there were only a few people that come. It was often speculated, well, you know, it's a long distance for people to travel.

But then, you know, we went online for a year, and who was it that showed up? That's roughly the same people. You know, there's all kinds of excuses one can point to. Their commute, they can point to, you know, I can point to my schedule.

There's just all kinds of kinds of things you could point to to explain why prayer isn't a priority. But if we are to be children trusting in the Lord, and you know, Jesus said that we must be like this child when he had that child.

We must be like the child. We must be trusting, trusting the Lord. The next verse says, "'They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.'".

So why is it that the animals do not hurt humans? Why is there peace in the world? There's peace because the knowledge of the Lord has covered the earth. Now the knowledge of the Lord, the knowledge of the Lord is what keeps us from having our own falsehoods that lead to destruction.

You know, Romans 1 talks about people and their unrighteousness suppressing the truth. If we have a knowledge of the Lord, then we do not suppress the truth. We must grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

However, this knowledge of the Lord is not only a blessing, it is also a curse for many, and I would like to show you that in Habakkuk. Habakkuk 2 verse 12 says, "'Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!

Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.'".

You see, Habakkuk says the same thing, but what is the context he says it in? He says that this expansion of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea, that guarantees destruction for all God's enemies.

It guarantees that any worldly pursuit is futile. This is a blessing for some and a curse for many. How do you know whether you're part of that blessing or that curse? The answer is knowledge of the Lord.

We must know him. If you, maybe you've heard of Jesus, maybe you have studied much of Jesus, but if you have not been transformed by him, if you have not placed your trust in him and him giving you his Holy Spirit, he will say to you on that final day, as he said himself, I never knew you.

Depart from me. You must know him. You must have placed your trust in him so that his sacrifice counts for your good. Otherwise, it does nothing for you. Now, maybe you are one who already knows the Lord in this sense, but you, as you've been listening to this, say, you know, church, that does not feel like a utopia to me.

It feels quite different. Ask yourself whether or not you would grow in your experience of that utopia if you knew the Lord more and more. If you want better access to that utopia, you must gain it through an increased knowledge of the Lord.

You know, we have a motto here, a deeper knowledge of Christ, and that's not just about studying the Bible. It's about walking with him daily. It's about experiencing his goodness and mercy, but it is not less than reading the Word.

You must be in the Word. You must be learning more about him. Otherwise, you are not going to experience his peace. You are going to experience the dystopia that you physically live in, and you will not as much experience the kingdom of God, this utopia, that you otherwise would.

So if you grow disgruntled about your experience as a Christian, as is a great temptation, right? The Christian life is hard. There are many difficult things that—trials that God has placed in our path for our good, and it is easy to interpret those negatively, to not trust in the Lord, to feel tossed and thrown about.

And if you are not growing in knowledge of the Lord, if you are not trusting in his sovereignty, your experience of that is only going to be interpreted as dystopia. This is all dystopia. However, if you trust in the Lord, if you know that he is doing good, you will have peace in the matter.

You will be anxious for nothing, as Christ commanded, because you will be trusting in God, your Father. And this dystopian world that we live in will spiritually be a utopia. Now, I'm not guaranteeing that every Christian is going to have some kind of perfect experience where, you know, they don't encounter melancholy and depression.

They don't have difficult and stressful times. But if you are walking with the Lord, the kind of peace and joy you can have is—this poetic imagery is what's describing that. If you believe the word of God, this is there.

This is present for you, even if you don't see it. Verse 10. In that day, the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Christ’s Kingdom, the Nations, and the Easy Yoke

So here we have—I think you may have heard Pastor Josh before talk about an inclusio, right? You have a repeated statement at the end of a section that lets you know that we're finishing off what we started.

So in verse 1, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. In verse 10, in that day, the root of Jesse. So here you have the beginning of the section, end of the section. So this is all talking about the same thing.

This is all talking about the arrival of Christ and the kingdom that he is ushering in. He ushers in this kingdom, and by dying on the cross, he gathers peoples to himself. He is a signal for the nations.

The nations inquire of him. And is not that the case? You know, if you're doubting what the right interpretation of that is, of this passage is, you know, is that not the case that Jesus has been a signal for the nations?

And the nations have come to him. And more and more do they, as the knowledge of God covers the earth as the water spread over the sea. While the world rages on and in no sense diminishes geographically and in quantity, Christ's church has grown and grown.

And the waters cover the sea, and the experience of those who are in that is one of peace and joy. It says, his resting place shall be glorious. Now, it is not certain whether this resting place is referring to his resting place as he sits at the right hand of God, or whether or not it's talking about the resting place that he offers.

Now, given all the imagery we see here, you know, the branch bearing fruit and things, other scriptures talk about the kingdom of God being like the tree that the birds come and nest in its branches and things.

Given that, I think there's a lot of good reason to take the latter interpretation. This is talking about the resting place that he offers. His resting place is glorious. Those who come to him, the burdened, those who are laboring, Christ offers a light burden, an easy yoke.

Those who come to him, though it is difficult in some senses, because of the knowledge that God is providing, because of the peace we can have with him and that we can have with each other, being a part of the same kingdom, it is a marvelously easy yoke.

When we are trusting in him, we begin to experience this utopia. And as he is a signal for the peoples, as the nations inquire of him, this lets us know that we have the great privilege of not only enjoying these promises, but of sharing them with others.

You know, we are not made to be a people who enjoy things on our own. Even the most selfish person, that's very rare, that you would find someone who wants to be, you know, a hermit and not share life with another person.

This is something we were created for, and God has not only created us for this, but given us the most wonderful thing to share with others. And if you've, you know, sat in a sermon where a common, you know, question to provoke your conscience is, you know, whether or not you share the faith with your co-workers, etc., and you've always felt deficient and not known what the answer is when you try to answer that question, consider this.

How much do you enjoy this utopian experience that's described here? How much is that your reality? And is that the reason that you struggle to answer that question satisfactorily to your consciences, to satisfy your conscience?

If one does not think much of the Christian experience, right? If the Christian experience feels like dystopia and does not feel like the joy and peace that we have here, it's not something that you're going to be eager to share with other people, right?

Who wants to share that? But the more we have the knowledge of God, the more we know the goodness and mercy of God in life trials, the more this is something that we will want to share with other people.

The more we have God's goodness, the more we look to the Son and see what it is he has done for us, the more excitement you are going to have about that. So if you've ever struggled to answer that question, consider this the first step in considering the remedy, is do I cherish this enough to want to share it?

Why do I not cherish it enough? How can I cherish it enough? What is required for the waters to cover the sea and me? That knowledge might be so intense that it's not that joy and experience of living and walking with the Lord is so real that I would want to share this with others.

So as we consider this passage, ask yourself whether or not the Christian life has been a utopia or a dystopia for you. And if it has been a dystopia, or if maybe you're not even a believer, the dystopia would be definitely your life experience.

And if you consider it, you consider the death and the fallen world, no one can deny that this is a imperfect place. If you want something more, you must know the Lord. You must trust in Jesus Christ, the only Savior.

And if you would like more peace in your life, if you would like more joy in walking with the Lord, then I would ask you to consider why it is that you do not have that. And I would ask you to go to the Lord and trust, to walk with him more regularly and find that you will become more content, you will become less discontent with the things you experience, you will experience what we see here poetically imagined in this passage.

Prayer for Greater Sight, Peace, and Growth in the Word

Let's pray. Dear Holy Father, we thank you for the great wonders, the joy and peace that we have in the gospel. I ask that you would allow us to see these things more, though they are not visible to us, though they are not fully manifest.

And I pray that as people go home this week, as they spend time in the Word and prayer, that they would grow closer and closer to you. They would look more and more to your Son, and not by their own efforts, not by their own studies and prayers, but by your good grace that this reality would become more real to them.

In Jesus' name, amen.