“The wolf and the lamb shall feed together …”
(Isa. 65:25, NKJV)
There is still much to say about the symbolism around animals in Scripture; we were merely looking at the fantastical animals and the demonic manifestations to which some are linked, for greater clarification of our last few teachings. The prophetic animals found in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation require a study in themselves, but there is also an entire ark of animals to which we devoted no attention, and which can be very interesting from a symbolic point of view. We’ll take up that avenue of enquiry when it again becomes relevant.
Remember – we were last engaged in the final stretch of untangling Isa. 34:6b-7: “For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness.” It was the tracing of the etymological meaning of bulls that brought us to the unicorn and the other fantastical (in the original sense of the word) animals, those Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (to steal the title of J.K. Rowling’s 2001 novel).
In the teaching of Day 1639-1641 the following was used as a mast Scripture, although we did not discuss it at the time: “Search the LORD’S book, and read it. Not one of these animals will be missing. Not one will lack a mate, because the LORD has commanded it, and his Spirit will gather them together.” (Isa. 34:16, BBE). Herein lies an immense key. Just as we pointed out earlier around the spirit of perversion, it is sent by God, as Isa. 19:14 (AMP) also makes clear: “The Lord has mingled a spirit of perverseness, error, and confusion within her …” Take note – it is the working of the Lord. Likewise, it is the Spirit of God who is in control of the demonic manifestations. This sounds blasphemous, but it is true! Various Scriptures in the Old Testament underscore this, for instance Judg. 9:23, where it notes: “God sent a spirit of ill will.” [Also see 1Sam. 16:14-16; 18:10.] In the New Testament, in 2Thess. 2:11, Paul also makes this clear: “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie …”
God is thus also behind the events in Isa. 34:6b-7, and even though it may seem as if the “good” animals are being punished, this is not the case.
From Gen. 2:19 we know that the Lord God formed from the earth all the animals of the field and the birds of heaven – the English word animal derives from the Latin word anima, which means “air, breath, soul” (Webster). After God had created the animals, He declared “that it was good” (Gen. 1:25). Man had the authority to name them, in other words, to determine their identity: “And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name [= identity].” (Gen. 2:19). Thus, man was appointed by God, Gen. 1:26 notes, to rule over the fish of the ocean and the birds of heaven and over the livestock and other animals that walk the earth. This special bond between man and beast extends further than the fact that both were created from the dust of the earth (Gen. 1:24; 2:7), and that both possess the “breath of life” (Gen. 7:15). “Beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl” all praise the Name of the Lord (Ps. 148:10 & 13).
Robert Bolt, in his famous drama A Man for All Seasons, explains through one of his characters, Sir Thomas More, that God created animals “for their innocence”. Herein lies great truth. All animals have their own particular nature, and their being is aligned with their (given) identity – they are not inherently good or evil. Although the animal, as part of the creation, also became subject to mortality after the fall, there is a focused hope of changing this status quo; Rom. 8:19-21 explains this in beautiful terms: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
Animals carry the burden of mortality without having contributed anything to its cause. It is a terrifying truth. For this reason, specific animals could also be offered as innocent sacrifices in the Old Testament dispensation – “the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh …” (Heb. 9:13). [The fact that a distinction is made between pure and impure animals was specifically because the latter was not suitable for human consumption (Lev. 11:1-47; 20:25; Deut 14:3-21), for no other reason. In the New Testament, no animal’s meat is impure – Mark. 7:5; Acts 10:14-16; Rom. 14:14; 1 Cor. 10:25; 1 Tim. 4:4-5, even if some types of food are obviously not suitable for human use, such as that of scavenging animals.]
In Gen. 9:12, when God promises that He will make a covenant that promises that the earth will not be destroyed by water (see the teaching of Day 713-716), it becomes a covenant between Him and man, but also between “every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations”! Therefore, it is also undeniable proof that God will never allow the earth to be destroyed by physical fire, as animals will then (again) have to suffer innocently. The fire with which Jesus consumes the earth will not consume the animals.
The prophet Jonah’s fiery wrath directed at God, after God allowed the tree under which he was hiding to die, explains God’s position of grace around creation, nature and animal: “Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’ But the Lord said, ‘You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?’” (Jon. 4:9-11). The last three words with which this book concludes emphasize the fact that God even considers the livestock – they are high on his agenda!
Earlier, when Jonah went to preach in Nineveh, and the people repented, even the king, the decision was made that innocent animals must also be punished: “by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.” Obviously, it was not necessary for the animals to repent, as they did not carry any blame – they were, in all aspects, innocent! To have animals wear mourning garments and to restrict their food is the pinnacle of man’s religious arrogance.
When Asaph, in his repentance before God, calls out, “I was like a beast before You” (Ps. 73:22), it is alas man’s invalid excuse that he does not have control over his carnal nature. I specifically say carnal nature and not animal nature, as this concept does not exist in the Bible. If any translation (specifically the LITV, the MJKV and the Geneva) uses the term beastly with regards to people, it is meant to evoke folly, and not unbridled passion, and is actually an incorrect translation.
In 1Cor. 15:46b a very important spiritual-typological key is presented in the Bible: “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.” When spiritual matters or processes, even identities or groups identities, are presented in the Bible as animals, it is not meant to symbolise man’s carnal, or animal nature. If a quality or characteristic of an animals is highlighted with regards to man, it is not a case of that quality or characteristic necessarily being good or evil; it is after all Man who attributed that quality to the animal! For instance – if it is said of someone, as in Jer. 13:23 – “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?” it is not saying anything about either a person from Africa with a black skin, or about a leopard’s apparent inability to change, although it has been appropriated as a proverb to mean exactly that! We understand the beautiful image of Jesus that is symbolized as Lamb, and easily accept it (John 1:29; 1Cor. 5:7), but we struggle to also see Him as the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5), because the devil is also compared with a “roaring lion” (1Pet. 5:8). The apostle Peter warns about the latter, because the devil desires to consume man, but this is exactly what the Lion of Judah does, too – He is a young lion, “fresh from the kill” (Gen. 49:9, MSG), “a lion ready to eat your victim” (CEV). The nature or identity of the animal is not directed by good or evil, and Prov. 12:10 (MKJV) hits the nail on the head: “A righteous man understands the soul of his animal …”
For this reason, Isa. 11:6-9 is a preview of what will happen in the kingdom of Christ, when death is no longer (Rev. 21:4): “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
What a beautiful image of peace on earth – pleasure in both man and animal (Luke 2:14). This song that the choir of angels sang with the birth of Jesus had Isa. 65:25’s wondrous restoration on earth in purview: “‘The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,’ says the Lord.” Animals are clearly the co-inheritors of the new creation! As they were part of the original creation, they are now also part of His eternal creation.
[For interest sake: nowhere in the Bible does it note that the lion will lie with the lamb! For years we sang the words of the song Peace in the Valley with great yearning, which notes, “the lion shall lay down with the lamb”. May paintings imagine this scenario, and although it has gained an idiomatic foothold, it is indeed not a Biblical image.]
In the previous teaching, we pointed out that the concept wilderness means “among the wild beasts”! If one then understands that each person who accepts Jesus as Saviour is called out of Egypt, the kingdom of darkness, and after becoming born again enters the desert or wilderness, then it starts to become very clear why there is such an immense struggle against the wild animals. In the story of Jesus on the mountain of temptation, we read in Matt. 4: 1: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” But note: The Spirit of God leads you into the wilderness!
Hos. 2:14-17 makes it clear why God follows this route: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ or I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.” The desert experience that believers undergo is a process of ridding you of all things that allows idolatry to function in your life. In this process, “wild animals,” or demonic elements, are used by God.
Your obedience determines how long you remain in the wilderness. God intended for the Israelites to make the trek through the desert in 11 days (Deut. 1:2); it eventually took them forty years. In the next teaching we conclude this argument.
- Selah: Are you still in the desert?
- Read: 14-22.
- Memorise: 14:3 (What an important verse this is! Please ponder this, too.)
