Lions, Tigers and Bears; Oh My! (Isaiah 11): 4 of 5

In returning to the beginning of Isaiah 11:1, what precedes this verse immediately in chapter 10 is language spoken using some of the most highest and loftiest of figurative expressions found ever in the prophets, and this isn’t the only time. In this case, it is language concerning the Assyrians: “See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One” (vv. 33-34; cp. w/Ezk. 31:3). Like a felled tree the nation of Israel would likewise be cut down by heathen armies and laid to ruin, no more to be seen (at least not for a while). But out of this stump and felled kingdom of David, the Messiah (in Isaiah 11:1) would begin to arise. Such was the state of David’s empire when Christ came on the scene. The kingdom was in total ruins, and the Jews were under the rulership of the Romans. And it is from this lowly and humble estate that the Messiah would arise to rule over all of the heavens and the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. Surely, He who is Mighty has done great things!

I won’t belabor with verses 2-5, seeing that others have already ably explained them, and for which there is pretty much no disagreement over. And verses 6-9 regarding the wolf, the lion and the lamb, etc., have already been pretty much covered. But I would just like to interject here a few more comments by Albert Barnes concerning all of this. A dispensationalist that I mentioned earlier said, “A Scripture cannot be taken spiritually first, unless of course it violates natural laws or other Scriptural truth.” Well, for a lion to eat straw like an ox, violates just such laws.

Consider these words of Albert Barnes:

In this, and the following verses, the prophet describes the effect of His reign in producing peace and tranquility on the earth. The description is highly poetical, and is one that is common in ancient writings in describing a golden age. The two leading ideas are those of “peace” and “security.” The figure is taken from the condition of animals of all descriptions living in a state of harmony, where those which are by nature defenseless, and which are usually made the prey of the strong, are suffered to live in security. By nature the wolf preys upon the lamb, and the leopard upon the kid, and the adder is venomous, and the bear, and the cow, and the lion, and the ox, cannot live together. But if a state of things should arise, where all this hostility would cease; where the wild animals would lay aside their ferocity, and where the feeble and the gentle would be safe; where the adder would cease to be venomous, and where all would be so mild and harmless that a little child would be safe, and could lead even the most ferocious animals, that state would represent the reign of the Messiah. Under His dominion, such a change would be produced as that those who were by nature violent, severe, and oppressive; those whose disposition is illustrated by the ferocious and bloodthirsty propensities of the lion and the leopard, and by the poison of the adder, would be changed and subdued, and would be disposed to live in peace and harmony with others. This is the “general” idea of the passage. We are not to cut the interpretation to the quick, and to press the expressions to know what particular class of people are represented by the lion, the bear, or the adder. The “general” image that is before the prophet’s mind is that of peace and safety, such as that would be if a change were to be produced in wild animals, making them tame, and peaceful, and harmless.

These passages are beautiful, and highly poetic; but they do not equal the beauty of the prophet. There is an exquisite sweetness in the passage of Isaiah—in the picture which he has drawn—particularly in the introduction of the security of the young child, which does not occur in the quotations from the pagan poets.

That this passage is descriptive of the times of the Messiah, there can be no doubt. It has been a question, to what particular part of his reign the prophet has reference….

The eye of the prophet is fixed upon the reign of the Messiah, not with reference to time, but with reference to the actual facts of that reign….Under the reign of the Messiah, he saw that this would occur. Looking down distant times, as on a beautiful landscape, he perceived, under the mild reign of the Prince of peace, a state of things which would be well represented by the wolf dwelling with the lamb, the leopard crouching down with the kid, and a little child safe in their midst….The essential thing, therefore, in the prophecy, is the representation of the peace, safety, and harmony which shall take place under the Messiah….

That it does not refer to any literal change in the nature of animals, so that the ferocity of the untamed shall be wholly laid aside, the disposition to prey on one another wholly cease, and the poisonous nature of the adder be destroyed, seems to me to be evident:

(a) Because the whole description has a highly figurative and poetical cast.

(b) Because such figurative expressions are common in all poetry, and especially among the Orientals.

(c) Because it does not appear how the gospel has any tendency to change the nature of the lion, the bear, or the serpent. It acts on men, not on brutes; on human hearts, not on the organization of wild animals.

(d) Because such a state of things could not occur without a perpetual miracle, changing the physical nature of the whole animal creation. The lion, the wolf, the panther, are made to live on flesh. The whole organization of their teeth and digestive powers is adapted to this, and this alone. To fit them to live on vegetable food, would require a change in their whole structure, and confound all the doctrines of natural history. The adder is poisonous, and nothing but a miracle would prevent the poisonous secretion, and make his bite innocuous. But where is a promise of any such continued miracle as shall change the whole structure of the animal creation, and make the physical world different from what it is?

....The fair interpretation of this passage is, therefore, that revolutions will be produced in the wild and evil passions of men—the only thing with which the gospel has to do….

The wolf - in the Scriptures, is described as ravenous, fierce, cruel; and is the emblem of that which is wild, ferocious, and savage among human beings; Genesis 49:27: “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf”; Ezekiel 22:27: “Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey”; Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (John 10:12; Matthew 10:16; Luke 10:3; Acts 20:29). The wolf is described as sanguinary and bloody, Ezekiel 22:27.…Zephaniah 3:3: “ Her judges are evening wolves, they gnaw not the bones until tomorrow.”

The lamb- Everywhere the emblem of mildness, gentleness, and innocence; and, therefore, applied often to the people of God, as mild, inoffensive, and forbearing.

And the leopard - represented as extremely cruel to man. It was common in Palestine, and was an object of great dread [Note: Joseph A. Alexander in his commentary on Isaiah sees this Hebrew word as referring to “the leopard…the panther, and perhaps the tiger,” vol. 1, p. 253, though no “tigers” are noted to have existed in Palestine]….

With the kid - The young of the goat; Genesis 37:21; Leviticus 23:19; Luke 15:29. Like the lamb, it was an emblem of gentleness, mildness, and inoffensiveness….

And the calf - Another emblem of inoffensiveness and innocence.

And the young lion….It is employed as emblematic of dangerous enemies [in] Psalms 34:2; Psalms 35:17; Psalms 58:7; [Note: it is also used of the ferocity of any king, including Christ, the “lion” of Judah, who is also pictured as a “lamb”]….

And the fatling - The calf or other animal that was well fed, and that would be therefore particularly an object of desire to a wild beast. The beauty of the image is heightened, by the circumstance that now the ravenous beast would live with that which usually excites its keenest appetite, without attempting to injure it….

And the cow and the bear shall feed - That is, together. Animals that by nature do not dwell together, where by nature the one would be the prey of the other, shall dwell together—an image of safety and peace….

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox - This cannot be taken literally, for such an interpretation would suppose a change in the physical organization of the lion - of his appetites, his teeth, his digestive organs—a change which it would be absurd to suppose will ever exist” (Barnes Notes, Isaiah).

Matthew Henry also notes:

That there should be great peace and tranquility under His government; this is an explication of what was said in ch. 9:6, that He should be the Prince of peace. Peace signifies two things:—

1. Unity or concord, which is intimated in these figurative promises, that even the wolf shall dwell peaceably with the lamb; men of the most fierce and furious dispositions, who used to bite and devour all about them, shall have their temper so strangely altered by the efficacy of the gospel and grace of Christ that they shall live in love even with the weakest and such as formerly they would have made an easy prey of. So far shall the sheep be from hurting one another, as sometimes they have done (Eze. 34:20, 21), that even the wolves shall agree with them. Christ, who is our peace, came to slay all enmities and to settle lasting friendships among His followers, particularly between Jews and Gentiles: when multitudes of both, being converted to the faith of Christ, united in one sheep-fold, then the wolf and the lamb dwelt together; the wolf did not so much as threaten the lamb, nor was the lamb afraid of the wolf. The leopard shall not only not tear the kid, but shall lie down with her: even their young ones shall lie down together, and shall be trained up in a blessed amity, in order to the perpetuating of it. The lion shall cease to be ravenous and shall eat straw like the ox,….A generation of vipers shall become a seed of saints, and the old complaint of homo homini lupus—man is a wolf to man, shall be at an end. Those that inhabit the holy mountain shall live as amicably as the creatures did that were with Noah in the ark, and it shall be a means of their preservation, for they shall not hurt nor destroy one another as they have done. Now, (1) This is fulfilled in the wonderful effect of the gospel upon the minds of those that sincerely embrace it; it changes the nature, and makes those that trampled on the meek of the earth, not only meek like them, but affectionate towards them. When Paul, who had persecuted the saints, joined himself to them, then the wolf dwelt with the lamb….(2) Safety or security. Christ, the great Shepherd, shall take such care of the flock that those who would hurt them shall not; they shall not only not destroy one another, but no enemy from without shall be permitted to give them any molestation” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Isaiah to Malachi, vol. 4, pp. 58-59).

Note: As a side bar, some more verses that make use of such imagery as depicted above are in: Amos 9:3b; Jer. 8:17; Psm. 58:3-6 (cp. 57:4); Zeph. 3:3; Isa. 43:18-21; 65:25; (Ezk. 34:25, 28, in context here in Ezekiel, Christ is pictured as a Shepherd over his “sheep,” protecting them all from “wild beasts,” and again, all to be understood as “figurative” language). See also Dan. 7:5-6; Tit. 1:12; Lke. 10:19; Mat. 18:3-4. See also footnote below regarding the imagery of Joel’s “locusts” in chapters 1-2. These “locusts” are not literal locusts that so many commentators have mistakenly said they are, but is a descriptive term for the northern armies God would send in judgment upon Israel, ravaging everything in their path.[1]

Now verse 10, of Isaiah chapter 11 (as noted earlier by Paul in Rom. 15:12), forms the backdrop and basis for understanding all that has preceded, and all that is to follow. This is very important for us to take note of here. In order to understand the nature of Christ’s kingdom here we need to be mindful of this, and all that has been said so far, in order to buttress all that will be said going forward. An earthly rule and reign of Christ is just out of the question; for if it were to be an earthly rule and reign, Christ said in Jhn. 19:36 that His servants would have fought to prevent His arrest by the Jews in order to establish it. All this should have become very clear to us by now that Christ's kingdom, rule and reign is NOT to be a physical one here on earth like all of the other kingdoms of this world.

One of the inspired interpreters in the New Testament, the apostle Paul, said that this time being spoken of here, and referred to as, “in that day” here in Isaiah, is the day in which the Church age began and was to continue from thereon out. It was to be the day when all barriers and hostilities between even the Jews themselves (as seen even with the Samaritan Jews), and even between both Jews and Gentiles, that would all one day come to an end. It is an era where those in Christ’s kingdom would neither “hurt” nor “destroy” in His “holy mountain,” and which “mountain” according to Heb. 12:22 (and elsewhere throughout Scriptures) we have come to ascertain as the Church and kingdom of Christ in all the earth. As mentioned before, it is the same “mountain” spoken of in Dan. 2:35 and verse 44 that is said to encompass the whole earth. Such language describes something that is to be understood beyond anything earthly, literal or natural; but something ethereal, spiritual, and supernatural. “Mountains” in Scripture are repeatedly used figuratively as terms for kings, kingdoms and people, and for which no one would seem to argue. So then why are so many still interpreting all of this literally? As said before, the expanse of this kingdom of Christ's is described in terms of a great mountain that “fills the whole earth” (another physical impossibility), or as Isaiah says it in another way, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” This was to be realized by the fact that this “mountain” or “kingdom,” which is Christ’s Church, would be everywhere all over the earth before Christ’s Second Coming.

Now notice in verse 11, that Isaiah again says, “in that day.” Now remember, this is describing the same time period that Paul described as occurring right now. Isaiah chapter 12 even concludes all of this, by wrapping it all up with the very same terms: “In that day you will say: ‘I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation’” (vv. 1-3). “In that day you will say: ‘Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted’” (v. 4). And it is “in that day” (the day of salvation now) that “with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (v. 3). This day is upon us NOW, brethren.

Now this is where it all becomes a little sticky for some people in verse 11 and thereon. In verse 11 the Lord again says to us through Isaiah that “in that day” (the day we are living in now) that “the Lord will reach out His hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea” (v. 11). This is the same “remnant” that Paul describes in Romans 8-11, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Here though, in verse 11, Isaiah speaks of God’s remnant first from out of the Jews (sound familiar?). They are the same ones described as assembled from these regions on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts who were saved (2:8-11, 41).

Verses 12 through 13 in Isaiah here still continue the same narrative that began in verses 10 through 11. So, again, keep this in mind as we study the rest of these verses so as to not stray off the track of what the Lord is trying to tell us here. In verse 13, “envy” or “jealousy,” one of the sins that Paul describes in 1Tim. 6:4, Tit. 3:4 and elsewhere, will “depart” or “vanish” out of this remnant chosen out of Ephraim. “Judah’s enemies (or adversaries, literally, “out of,” or from within Judah) will be cut off,” thus describing all the evil and ungodly Jews who were against Christ and His remnant, and who would eventually be destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. This “remnant” out of Ephraim “shall not envy [or be jealous of] Judah, and Judah shall not vex [or be hostile] towards Ephraim.” Some of these “brute beasts” no less, as even the apostles describe them that use to tear, bite, and devour one another, are now all reclining with each other at the Lord’s table, and all feasting on the same fodder that the Great Shepherd of the sheep supplies for them. “Ephraim” and “Judah” are dwelling together as one stick with one leader (Ezk. 37:17; Hos. 1:11). Judas, on the other hand, was “cut off” from the rest, as were many in 70 AD who were not of “the Way” as mentioned earlier in Isaiah 35:8, and also in Acts 9:2; 19:9.

When coming to this next section, we must keep in mind how Isaiah, and all the prophets, begin to use historical events as symbolism to portray spiritual concepts and ideas under the Messianic rule and reign of Christ. They become highly figurative expressions (or words) to portray "spiritual truths," by the use of what should now be quite evident and understood to as, “spiritual words.” This is a very important principle to understand in interpreting a lot of what God through His prophets has to say to us (as even seen also in Joel 3 and Zechariah 14). It is a very important revelatory "key" to our understanding the parables and riddles of God above who is all wise. Otherwise, we will err on the side of humanism with too strict of a “literalism,” and miss what God is truly trying to say to His Church here, and not about natural Israel in the future at all. In keeping to form, these are God's “parables” (or stories) which He uses to portray a lot of His spiritual truths and ideas.

Now remember, we are still in “that day” when verses 14-16 continue, “They” (the remnant out of Ephraim and Judah which are the representative tribes of the northern and southern kingdoms), “will swoop down on the slopes [or shoulders] of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder [or spoil] the people [lit., “the children”] of the east; they will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the [children of the] Ammonites will be subject to them.” All this takes us back to v. 10 again, where Christ is said to become an “ensign” (or banner; LXX: semeion) to the Gentiles to rally around (as He was to be also for His remnant out of the Jews in v. 12), using the Jewish apostles and converts to “spoil” the kingdoms and peoples of Satan, releasing Christ’s “other sheep” (Jhn. 10:16; 17:20-21) and once-bound people from the enemies clutches (see also Mat. 12:29; Mk. 3:27; Col. 2:15 and Eph. 4:8). Joel, I believe, alludes to this idea when he says, “I will sell your [the Gentiles] sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they [in turn] will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away” (3:8). Keeping in mind that we are talking about Christ's current rule and reign here, these who are "sold," as God says elsewhere, "without money" (cp. Isa. 52:3; 55:1), are all the first Gentile converts of Jewish believers who would eventually go out an evangelize the world. Isaiah 43:4 and 14b also seem to allude to this idea, when God says there, “I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life….I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians.” And once again the Lord says in the CONTEXT of saving Gentiles from all the nations in Isaiah 49:22-23, “Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce? But this is what the Lord says: Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save” (vv. 24-25).

Keil and Delitzsch have this to say with regards to this "warfare" language being used here in Isaiah, and even elsewhere in the prophets when it has to do with Christ's current rule and reign:

How does this warlike prospect square, however, with the previous promise of paradisaical peace, and the end of all warfare which this promise presupposes (cf., Isaiah 2:4)? This is a contradiction, the solution of which is to be found in the fact that we have only figures here, and figures drawn from the existing relations and warlike engagements of the nation, in which the prophet pictures that supremacy of the future united Israel over surrounding nations, which is to be maintained by spiritual weapons.[2]

Now this idea of Christ being set as an “ensign” (or “sign”) among the Jews and them going forth unto the Gentiles, is again beautifully portrayed for us in some of the most wonderful poetic language in Isaiah 66:19-21:

I will set a sign [LXX: semeion] among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. They will proclaim My glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels, says the Lord. They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites, says the Lord.

Much more could be said on Isaiah 65-66, for which time and space just will not permit, suffice it to say that, whatever one thinks of the “wolf and lamb” who “will feed together,” and “the lion” eating “straw like the ox” in Isaiah 65:25, we must also think similarly as to how we came to understand such wording in Isaiah chapter 11. And whether one thinks here in chapter 65 that all of this is to be at a later period or time, is a moot point, for these same individuals brought together here in Isaiah chapter 11 are the same individuals envisioned dwelling together in the new creation in Isaiah 65, and not in a future earthly millennial reign. If anything, the Lord is talking about us who are His new creations now, and not at some point and time in the future; and, again, using very highly figurative and apocalyptic language, following again with an explanation to us of what He means by this: "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I CREATE, I will CREATE [New] Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over [New] Jerusalem and take delight in My people" (Isa. 66:18, 19a). This "Jerusalem" that God "creates" (which is synonymous to the "new heavens and new earth" in verse 17 with regards to spiritual Israel born from above, as opposed to the "old heavens and old earth" of natural Israel born from below) is in fact the New Jerusalem born from above whom the inspired writers of the New Testament say is the Church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles (cf. Gal. 4:26; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10). This is the "new" thing that God creates, being emphasized over and over again in the New Testament. The old heavens and earth of natural Israel's former days and glory are superseded with the new heavens and earth of spiritual Israel's future days and glory; with the latter being more glorious than the former (see footnote below for more on this).[3] And just as a side bar here, “dust being the serpent’s food” in Isaiah. 65:25c speaks of the humble and lowly position that the old Serpent, the Devil, is being brought down to, and will be further brought down to when all of this is said and done. And a thorough word study on “dust” will give evidence to this idea of someone being brought low, humiliated, and humbled.

Going back to verse 11, the Lord had said, “in that day” (our day) that this gathering or rallying together unto Him of His “remnant” would be a “second” recovery. This “second” recovery He likens in verse 15 unto the days when natural Israel was delivered from the Egyptians (which was their first ever recovery). That this is not the recovery from Babylon, is clear, for that recovery was never on such a magnitude as this one being described here in Isaiah, nor did they themselves ever recover or gain back the regions spoken of here occupied by the Gentile nations. And nor does it seem to be necessarily a second one after the recovery from Babylonian, as Joel 3:1 in the KJV would indicate; for according to Keil and Del., and more modern translations, this verse in Joel does not denote a restoration from a captivity, but a restoration of "fortunes," and of spiritual fortunes at that. The analogy used in Isaiah here though seems evidently to be taken from the imagery of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (commonly understood as a type of deliverance from spiritual sin and bondage), with an added feature: the drying and breaking up of the river Euphrates into seven streams so that men can cross over it in order to venture and rally around the banner and ensign raised on Christ's holy mountain where New Jerusalem, His Church, presides. Zechariah 14 also refers to this in a figure where a remnant (or the "survivors") from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship King Jesus, the Lord Almighty, to celebrate (spiritually speaking) the Feast of Tabernacles. Joel is in agreement with both Isaiah and Zechariah here, where the Lord also says through him, "Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, My holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her (the "dogs" and all those outside this holy city in Rev. 22:15)....A fountain will flow out of the Lord's house... Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations" (3:17, 18, 20). Again, most of the older commentators likewise see all of this as referring to the days of the Church, and not of a future rebuilding or restoration of all these Old Testament institutions. The New Jerusalem of today is not the latter Jerusalem of yesterday. The New Jerusalem of today is enjoined upon by all the nations of world and not just with the Jews, which the Jews of today and many in the Church believe is all about natural Jews in the future.

This idea of a “second recovery” here in Isaiah of our day being likened unto the first one in Egypt, is seen in a couple of more places in Scripture. Jeremiah, in referring to the days of Christ’s messianic rule and reign writes:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a Righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. So then, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,” but they will say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.” Then they will live in their own land (23:7-8).

Furthermore, this “living in their own land” isn’t to be understood as the land of Palestine, but looks forward to the day when all God’s people in this Messianic rule and reign of David’s Righteous Branch will be “saved” and “live in safety,” not only all over the world, but in the heavenly land that Abraham and all his spiritual descendants look forward to some day. For “people who say such things show that they are looking for a country [or fatherland] of their own. If they had been thinking of the country [land] they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country [land]—a heavenly one…” (Heb. 11:14-16). Remember, we are talking about the current Messianic rule and reign of Jesus, so we need to be careful when reading such passages (like in Jeremiah above) that we do not take them too literally with regards to just natural Israel and Palestine. Jesus said that the meek in His kingdom, “will inherit the earth (or land)” (Mat. 5:5). When this verse, taken from Psm. 37:11, is read in that context, one would “naturally” think that this was speaking of just the land of Palestine. But Jesus takes it to mean all the land in all the earth, the very thing also promised to Abraham when he was told that he would be “a father of many nations”: “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” (Gen. 13:14-15, ASV). And just when you think that "all the land" is just Palestine, this promise was reiterated to Jacob: “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14, ASV). Jesus affirmed all of this when He said to the carnal unbelieving Jews: “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Lke. 13:28-29).The days of just residing in Palestine are over with; the world is now our oyster. And even the world is not enough, for one day we will reside in a "heavenly" country.

Again, Isaiah speaks of this “second recovery” in Christ by using the analogy of God's people coming out of Egypt in 43:16-21:

This is what the Lord says—He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls [all “night” creatures in Isa. 34:14], because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise. (and notice here: “the wild animals” and creatures of the dark will honor the Lord).

Once again, Isaiah writes:

Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away (51:10-11).

Now keep in mind here that we are still “in that day” of Christ’s church and talking about people “drawing water from the wells of salvation,” which use to be an arid and dry wilderness, and in which this fulfillment is now being realized in Christ's people. God is again still using very highly symbolic and figurative language here. The context in which all this is written demands that it be so. We are not talking about there being a physical and literal way out of Egypt or Assyria by God literally drying up the tongue of Red Sea, or by literally making a way for God’s chosen ones to come out of Assyria by literally diverting the waters of the Euphrates River. With the means of travel that we have today, such a thing wouldn’t be necessary in our day and age anyway, even if one were to understand all of this literally. It just makes no sense at all to understand this language "literally" speaking. For example, just earlier, in Isaiah chapter 10, God speaks through the prophet Isaiah using the exact same figurative language concerning the overthrowing of the Assyrians: “The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when He struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt” (v. 26). This never happened “literally.” Here such language is being used to describe the overthrowing of the Assyrians, whereas in chapter 11, that same language is used to describe the deliverance of all of God’s holy ones. Judgment is depicted for one, deliverance for the other. Natural Israel’s deliverance, and Pharaoh’s demise, were both used as “types” for these spiritual “antitypes” that were to come of Christ redeeming His people. Even the "Euphrates" and the "Nile" river are figures for the Assyrians in Isaiah 8:6-8 and the Egyptians in Ezekiel 30:12 whom the Babylonians back in those days would, again in a figure, "dry up." So, what God is saying here in Isaiah is that He is going to make "a way" (or a "highway" of "holiness" as in Isa. 35:8) where these nations would no longer hold God's remnant in a way that they had before. The strong man has been bound by a Man stronger than he, and the Lord is taking the people of His possession as His plunder; "not by might, nor or by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord. God is in essence telling Satan to let His people go. And they are coming to God's house by the droves. It almost seems effortless, by the fact that the people are said to be able to cross over only in "sandals." All hindrances and obstacles have been removed, the call has gone out where "God now calls all men to repentance" (Acts 17:30), and "the children of God scattered abroad" throughout all the world in Jhn. 11:52 have now begun to come unto the house of the Lord, unto the God of Jacob, where He now teaches us His ways and we all now walk in His paths. Out of Zion, God's Church, comes forth His law, and the Word of the Lord from this Jerusalem from above wherein Jesus is "the Way, the truth and the life."

Is it all starting to make a little more sense now? There is no sense like God’s sense on something—all other sense is utter nonsense! (click here for part 5)




Footnotes:


[1] Here in Joel, “locusts” are understood by many to be literal locusts, but this is not to be the case. Here again, another one of God's prophets is speaking in highly figurative and descriptive language describing the northern armies that were to pounce upon Israel and bring utter devastation into all the land, consuming everything in their path. Isaiah likewise refers to Cush as the land of “whirring wings” and as “swift messengers” (Isa. 18:1-2). The imagery that Joel uses in his prophecy here, and elsewhere, is immense. In Joel 2:2, the prophet speaks of a “large and mighty army coming,” and in verse 25 this “great army that I sent among you” is the same army in verse 20, called “the northern army” that God would also drive away from them after they would be used by Him to meet out His judgments upon Israel. Before this army a “fire devours,” behind them “a flame blazes;” before them “the land is like the garden of Eden” just ripe for stripping bare, whereas behind is left utter devastation, depicted as “a desert waste—nothing escapes them,” (v. 3). It is the same nation of whirring wings that Joel describes in 1:6-7: “A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.”

Isaiah 33:4; Jer. 51:27 and Nah. 3:15-17 are additional interpretive “keys” into understanding all of this imagery. Isaiah declares, “Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it.” Jeremiah likewise writes, “Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.”

Nahum also affirms:

There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and, like grasshoppers, consume you. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts! You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more than the stars of the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away. Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day—but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where (3:15-17).

Here Nahum says the “guards” (or soldiers) are “like locust,” and the “swarms” of locust are evidently what Joel also describes in 1:4 and 2:25 as the “officials” of the land (the “nobles” in Nah. 3:18). The “great” locusts in Joel points to the king and his leading rulers (the “king of Assyria” and his “shepherds” or rulers in Nah. 3:18), while the “young” locusts are most likely his young warriors or soldiers as described in Nahum above as the “guards.” The “other” locusts in Joel here must be the rest of the people in the land invading Israel who take their share of the plunder (referred to as “the people” of the king of Assyria in Nah. 3:18). And what is interesting about Nahum is that he says the Assyrians who are likened unto grasshoppers, will themselves be “cut down” by “grasshoppers” no less (v. 15; kind of similar to Moses’ serpent swallowing Pharaoh’s magician’s serpent). Again, this is something that does not “literally” occur. But such language is not foreign for God to use or out of character with Him, for in His sight we are all even like “grasshoppers” (Isa. 40:22). And as was said before, God often says things in such a way that help to point us in a direction so as to not understand things in such a overly-literalistic manner.

Joel uses a lot of such imagery in his prophecies here, and it is no simple task to decipher for the untrained eye or ear. In fact, from chapter 2:28 through chapter 3, Joel’s prophecy concludes with the coming days of the rule and reign of Christ during the Church age (from its beginning to its end). The language in the Hebrew seems to support this also, as noted by Keil and Del.: “The notice as to the time points back to the “afterward” in Joel 2:28: ‘in those days,’ viz., the days of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. This time is still further described by the apposition, “at that time, when I shall turn the captivity of Judah,” as the time of the redemption of the people of God.” As noted before in my article above, Joel describes this time that we are now living in as the age when “in that day [a phrase commonly used for the days of the Messiah] the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk [reminiscent of Isa. 55: 1]; all the ravines [the dry, lowly and thirsty places in the valleys] of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house [His temple, the Church] and water the valley of the acacias” (3:17-18), which is a type of tree reminiscent of God's people in Isa. 41:17-20 (see esp. v. 19). All this was to be “in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem” (3:1), and the same days in which God was going to pour out His Holy Spirit upon all flesh (2:28-32). These blessings upon the Jews are the “fortunes” that were to be restored in the land. It was then, as it still is today, being fulfilled all over the land, which is now all over the land of the world.

In consideration of Joel’s latter words above, is God concerned about a literal house that is to be His in the days to come, wherein literal water flows out to water a literal valley, so that literal acacia trees can grow? What would be the purpose of giving a prophecy like that? It makes no sense at all, especially when we are speaking about Christ’s kingdom, rule, and reign. And that is just the point God is making here. He is again saying things that make no sense, naturally speaking, but are only to be understood, figuratively speaking. And as one will recall, it was the wood of the “acacias” that was commanded by God to be used to build much of the furniture in the tabernacle of Moses, which we all know by now was a type and shadow of the spiritual realities to come in Christ and His Church. It was also the branches of the “acacias” that were used, among other tree branches, to make the “booths” to dwell in during the Feast of Tabernacles. Trees are many times used throughout the prophets and psalmists to denote “people” and the natural tabernacles of our bodies of both Christ and His Church, and for which we are to dwell in during our sojourning here on earth before entering our “heavenly land” or “country” (Heb. 11:16), similar to natural Israel before entering the promised land. The Scriptures liken God’s people unto “oaks,” “palms,” “pine,” “olive,” “myrtle,” and “fir” trees (to name just a few) planted by the rivers of water wherein their roots go down deep to drink from the wellsprings of life (the spiritual water of life, or “living” water), wherein their leaves do always remain green and flourishing, and never dry up, in contradistinction to those who are not in Christ, dwelling in a dry and thirsty land, and whose leaves do wither and fade.

Solomon had engraved “palm trees” into the wooden walls and wooden doors of the temple made of cedar and olive wood and had it all overlaid with hammered gold, a beautiful picture of Christ in us and we in Christ (1Ki. 6:29-34). The people of God are even said to be “engraven” into the palms of God’s hands in Isa. 49:16. What else could all this mean except to describe a closeness and proximity to one another; being described with words just too beautiful beyond description, and almost too marvelous for words to express. Even the “open flowers” described here in the book of Kings just mentioned above reminds us of Aaron’s rod that budded, and how we all like branches with the life sap of God’s Holy Spirit bud forth and bear fruit. Again this is beautifully described by Isaiah: “In days to come Jacob will take root [in Christ], Israel will bud and blossom [as an “open flower”] and fill all the world with fruit” (27:6).

These “valleys” in Joel that these “acacias” grow in are the same valleys that John the Baptist referred to which were also to be “filled in” or “raised” up. They are birthed and grown up in Christ in a state of humility, they are raised in honor and glory. John cries:

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation (Lke. 3:2-6).

Everything that John mentions here, Isaiah elaborates on further, using them as descriptive terms for the days of the Messiah, even saying: “And a highway will be there; it will be called a Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in the Way; wicked fools will not go about on it” (35:8). Again he says concerning mountains and valleys:

The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day….I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up….I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. (2:11-17; 49:11; 42:15-16).

And finally Isaiah says concerning these “rough” and “crooked roads”: “The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, You make the way of the righteous smooth.”

More could be said on all of this, but space does not permit me to do so. Maybe at another time and at another place. Hopefully I have given you some food for thought though. I would suggest that you start by reading many of my articles for bits and pieces scattered throughout my writings on all of these thoughts, including my article on Rejoicing in the Feast of Tabernacles for a further explanation on some of these things. Matthew Henry and John Gill also have some keen insights into many of these things, but were also left scratching their heads on some of these issues, especially concerning Joel’s prophecy in chapter three. But if one understands the context in which many of these prophecies are written (which is during the Church age, under the current Messianic rule and reign of Christ), then they won’t venture far from a path in beginning to formulate and understand these “dark sayings of the wise” that Solomon referred to. May God bless you and increase you in the knowledge of Himself and what He is doing in and through His Church.

[2] Public domain at www.biblehub.com.

[3] There are many verses in the Old Testament where God refers to other nations, and even natural Israel's theocracy with its leaders and people, as "the heavens and the earth." They are: Deut. 32:1; Isaiah 1:2; 13:13 (said of the Babylonian's whom the Lord would "shake" to the core from it's leaders above, or the "heavens," to its people below, or the "earth"); 44:23; 49:13; Jer. 2:12. All of this language of God's is synonymous to the sun no longer giving its light, the moon becoming dark, and the stars falling to the ground. See my article, The Coming of the Son of Man, which is a commentary on Matthew 24 which talks about all of this concerning the sun, moon and stars. Time and space will not permit me to talk about all of that here.