Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together. Isaiah paints an idyllic picture of what a famous painting called “The Peaceable Kingdom.” He envisions a time when conflict and violence will cease. Alas, such a kingdom is far from us. As a comedian once observed: the lamb might lie down with the lion but the lamb won’t get much sleep. Besides the elements of nature living in harmony Isaiah envisions a human society which is “peaceable.” For that to happen, the Prophet observes that coming righteous one “shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.” We might not be able to do much to get lions and lambs on equal terms but we can as a church and as a society work to provide more justice of the poor and the afflicted. There are economic predators in the world today who are just as ruthless in getting what they want, treating any who are in their way as prey. We move a little closer to Isaiah’s vision when all God’s children are given the opportunity to share in the bounteous goodness of God in an equitable way.
