Some Thoughts From Isaiah

I’ve been reading in Isaiah lately because it’s one of the books of the Bible that I have not read all the way through. The rest of the Bible I’ve read through, I was just missing Isaiah. Anyway, I came across this verse the other day and it fascinates me.

Isaiah 11:6-The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

This is written in the future tense and it refers to the time of the ideal king. We as Christians refer to the ideal king as Christ himself. So according to this verse when Christ is in charge peace will prevail. Enemies will no longer exist, because there is only one purpose. Sworn enemies such as the wolf and the lamb will no longer be enemies. They will live together in peace.

The last part of the verse also struck me because of the image of the little child. When I think of a little child I remember the story of Jesus telling his disciples that in order to enter the kingdom of God, they must become like a child. Little children are supposed to lead this unlikely bunch of participants. This shows me that leaders in the church are supposed to be as humble, gentle, listening child that they are called to be.

The hard part of this verse is in the implications it presents. If we as ministers are supposed to portray Christ and become like the little child, are we going to endure all the battling that occurs in Churches and between denominations? This verse is an ideal situation, but it is in no way a reality. The wolf is eating the lambs; not praising God with the lambs. Just read different Baptist blogs. We like to wolf eat just like the rest of them.

I think the point is this: ministers are supposed to be looking beyond the politics and just be the humble servants that they’re supposed to be. There’s no room for pride or arrogance in the ministry. There’s no time or place for it. Our perception needs to look beyond ourselves. We need to be bigger than the ugly politics and fighting, and just be the gentle children like this verse. We need to somehow get the sworn enemies to look beyond the problems and differences and just be one family.