the lion will lay down with the lamb
The week before Christmas our chuch choir performed a beautiful Advent cantata which I had the privilege of participating in as a reader. I was struck by a few passages from Isaiah which were featured in the arrangement and how much application the book has, not only to us as followers of a Messiah who came as a humble baby in a manger, but also to God's creatures and the hope He has in store for them.
Here are a few of the most memorable verses which point to that hope, grounded in the coming peaceful reign of Christ:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6, ESV)
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
... with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
... The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:1-6, ESV)
“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
... The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD. (Isaiah 65:17, 25; ESV)
I've wanted to share some modern-day glimpses of that peaceable kingdom to come, which I've been collecting over the last several months with your help, and this seemed like an appropriate moment to do so! So here are several heartwarming and smile-inducing examples of interspecies friendship and bonding:
- Five goats and five sheep help guide Sissy, a blind 15-year-old quarter horse at Deer Haven Ranch north of Yellowstone, a private animal rescue sanctuary which recently took all of them in.
- A dog and piglet, Susie and Tabitha, get a kick out of rough-housing together at Hillside Animal Sanctuary in the UK.
- An owl and a cat, Fum and Gebra, enjoy playing and hanging out together; and Annie the dog (perhaps somewhat nervously) tolerates some careful grooming by Artemis the owl by way of his beak and talons:
- Herbie and Jabby, a horse and puppy, enjoy some cuddling (if hyperactive on the part of the dog) together.
- An orphaned 6-month-old baboon adopts an orphaned bush baby (or galago) at Kenya Wildlife Service center.
- A sheep bravely helps an orphaned elephant calf overcome his grief and begin to thrive again at Shamwari Game Reserve near Cape Town, South Africa (a National Geographic video):
- Shooter, a massive elk at an Idaho zoo, gently rescues a marmot from his watering trough.
- A cat appears to help soothe a crying baby to sleep.
- And finally, even more wonderful stories, videos and photos are available at MSNBC.com's "Unlikely Friends: Why We Love Odd Animal Pairs," and in several of our previous blog posts as well.
Thanks very much to Connie, Ginni, Karen, Lee, Michael, Michel, Holy Cuteness and others for passing along these stories and clips!
("Peace" by William Strutt, 1896, via Wikimedia Commons)
January 16, 2012
Reader Comments (2)
I love that painting you have there! I use it as a icon on my last.fm account.
That's great, Kimmo! I remember this piece of art from my childhood, I'm not sure whether from a book or maybe hanging on a wall - Ben