This title which is oft quoted by Christian groups that believe in the Millennium Reign of Christ / Jehovah, is first of all misquoted, and secondly probably totally misunderstood by the majority.
Taking first the quotation, in Isa. 11:6 the words are "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb", and the verse goes on to say, "and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a youth shall lead them".
In Isa. 65:25 "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock". The fact that the wolf is quoted instead of the lion, does not in any way diminish the impact of the carnivore lying together with the herbivore without one harming the other.
The inference has been and is in most teaching on this subject, that because this is in the Millennium reign of Christ / Jehovah for 1000 years; that somehow Satan's freedom was linked to carnivore activity. This is almost certainly erroneous. The order and type of the animals and their food chain activity was designed by Jehovah at the Creation, and permission for meat to be eaten was given to Noah after the flood.
The fact that the unnatural situation as we would perhaps view it, that the wolf and the lamb are somehow changed from the natural instinct clearly has significance, and also clearly is in the Millennium Reign only. A careful reading of Isa. 11 shows that the context of the two animals dwelling together is in verse 9 "In all My Holy Mountain"! The same statement is repeated in Isa. 65:25 and in the same context.
Some may argue that the Holy Mountain of Jehovah / Messiah is the whole world, but that is clearly not Scriptural. In Zech. 8:3 and elsewhere the Holy Mountain of Jehovah / Messiah is of special significance. The fact is that wherever Jehovah resides is of special Holy significance (Ex. 3:5), and therefore the norms that prevail for the areas away from Jerusalem, even in the Millennial cannot prevail for Jerusalem "(MY HOLY MOUNTAIN)". Some would also argue that the whole of the future Israel could be termed Holy Mountain because Jehovah / Messiah is dwelling in the land. However, in Zech. 8:3, Jerusalem is specifically referred to as the "City of Truth and the Holy Mountain", that it is Jerusalem alone in its high geographical position.
One is then left with the interesting question as to why killing of animals and the natural order of killing as we know it now, does not exist at that time in Jerusalem and environs. This is almost certainly due to the fact that all killing and the shedding of blood of animals or man will be righteous in Jerusalem, due to the apparent fact from both Ezek. and Zech. and elsewhere that animal sacrifices are re-instituted in the new Jerusalem Temple, (Ezek. 41 - 45; see specifically 43:18 & 45:17). It is a further fact that false prophets in Israel / Jerusalem (perhaps in the whole world will be put to death at that time) Zech. 13:3-4.
IN CONCLUSION therefore it is clear and precise in Scripture that the wolf and the lamb, therefore any carnivore and herbivore residing in Jerusalem and environs will not follow the pattern of activity and feeding that exists in the world at present.
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