Restoration
Last week I was taking care of my dog-niece. Java is an adorable little black ball of fluff with a highly excitable personality. Contrast that with my cat, Major. He is an orange tom with a laid-back character. He only moves when he’s imagined something bit him on the tail!
Java is ultra-protective over her food dish, and anytime Major gets remotely close, chaos ensues as Java chases Major from the kitchen, where finally, Java will lie down to protect her dish. Major, who probably has no idea what just happened, will find a quiet corner of my closet to sleep off the sudden burst of energy he had to use.
One morning, my husband took Java outside before he left for work. He then brought her back to the bedroom (it was only 4:30 am!) to curl up on the bed with me. Unbeknownst to him, Major had sneaked into the bedroom for his water dish (in the bathtub), and then he closed the door. What happened next was straight out of the Garfield comic books…Dog and cat met on top of the bed (really on top of me), and they began to disagree. So I had to break up the disagreement and realize there would be no more sleep.
So when I came across this verse, I immediately thought of this incident. Isaiah 65:17-25 tells us about a new heaven and earth. Isaiah tells us that wolves and lambs will eat together in this Eden-like restoration. We know full well that this would never happen in this world. Wolves hunt lambs, but here they live together in tranquility. Another predator, the lion, will no longer crave “the kill” of fresh meat but contently eat straw like other animals. So the only creature that will not be changed from its current condition is the serpent. This creature will continue to eat dust as it did in Genesis 3.
Looking forward to the promise of God found in Isaiah, we can easily imagine a time when there is no hate among God’s creatures. This future reign is described more fully in Isaiah 11. What an incredible day that will be when we are in an ideal world under the rule of King Jesus, where we will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord in a new heaven and a new earth!
