Is. 11-13
Isaiah 11:6-8 speaks of predators dwelling in peace with their prey and young children not needing to fear dangerous snakes. Then verse 9 says, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” It was that statement about all of creation having the knowledge of the LORD that jumped out at me this morning. It seems to say that the result of truly knowing God is life and peace. I saw this in stark contrast to the result of knowing good and evil which, of course, was the promise of the ‘forbidden fruit’ that Eve took in the Garden of Eden. Knowing good and evil led to death and destruction.
I get the sense that the word “knowledge” in these instances goes way beyond a mere awareness. I believe there is a quality of intimacy in it, like when the Bible speaks of a man ‘knowing’ his wife. And so what you choose to know intimately directly impacts your outcome. Whatever is “full of the knowledge of the LORD” has no room for evil. Thank God that He has a plan – a plan that Isaiah speaks much of – that will flush out the evil so that ALL of His creation can be filled with the knowledge of Him. Until that plan comes to full fruition, I strive to know God as intimately as I can, for He alone is my salvation against the death and destruction that still fills the earth.
Eph. 2
Interesting – Paul’s words to the Ephesians here describe a partial fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He talks about how we were once dead in sin, filled with the spirit of evil and carrying out our own desires. But God gave us Christ, who fills us with the knowledge of God, that we might dwell in peace with those from whom we were once separated (His people). He speaks specifically here of how the uncircumcised Gentiles were made one with the circumcised Jews through the work and the grace of Christ. They were once enemies – just as the predators and the prey that Isaiah spoke of – but are now both a part of the same whole and filled with the same Spirit of God. The same concept applies to each of us who moves past our enmity with the truth to become a part of the family of God.