UTOPIA……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Isaiah 11:6-9

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
⁷ Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

St. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a patriot, lawyer, and scholar.  He was at one time Lord Chancellor of England.  He was a devout Roman Catholic and was executed in 1535 at the order of King Henry VIII.  He is noted as the author of one book, Utopia.

More is an example of the fascination this subject Utopia has for many.  Plato wrote, The Republic and many others have written on this interest.  But it is more than an interest, it is a consuming fascination for men in general.

Much of millennialism is taken up with a Utopian sentiment.  Following the extremes of a crude and literalistic Rabbinic Judaism, Christian writers have made claims for millennial health, wealth, and happiness that seem to go far beyond anything the Scripture will support.

The verses in Isaiah 11 are quoted as support by some of the literalists for their ownership of millennial glory.  This is not hard to see.  These verses are a statement of a peaceful and prosperous earth than lends itself to Utopian expectations. 

The issue fairly stated is whether the description is to be understood literally or is a description of the great change Messiah will accomplish at His advent?  Is there anything in this context that would alert the reader of how it is to be understood?

There seems to me to be two keys to this passage.  First is the statement in Isaiah 11:1-2.  This prophecy of the Lord’s advent is put in what is contemporaneous with VSS 6-9.  The sense is that the advent in 11:1 is causative to all involved in the VSS 6-9.

Secondly VS 9B, “For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.”, have the best fulfillment in the New Covenant guarantee that all God’s children will have the knowledge of that as described in Hebrews 8:10-11.  “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.  And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
¹¹ “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them.”

This fulfillment lies in the expanding knowledge and commitment to the Gospel.  The earth’s fullness of this knowledge is no guarantee of universal enlightenment without exception but assures us that Acts 1:8 is continually being accomplished.  ”   

Please read Rev. 14:6 and give it your attention.