The wolf and the lamb shall graze alike,
and the lion shall eat hay like an ox
[but the serpents food shall be dust.]
None shall hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the
Lord.
Merely slaughtering an ox is like slaying
a man;
sacrificing a lamb, like breaking a
dog's neck;
Bringing cereal offering, like offering
swine's blood;
burning incense, like paying homage
to an idol.
Since these have chosen their own ways
and taken pleasure in their own abominations...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI must confess that the church that I attended for twenty years liked to quote the, "wolf and the lamb shall graze alike, and the lion shall eat hay like an ox", and they also enjoyed talking about the peace of Jesus Christ in so called warm and fuzzy ways. What however was unfortunate is that because they never read any other section of scripture they had been without a clue as to what these things meant in a larger context. Isaiah 65 starts out in verse one by saying, "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name I said, ‘Here am I, here am I’" (NIV)
God revealed himself to those whom did not seek him, and thus Isaiah 65:2-16 teaches us that the knowledge of God is not sufficient for salvation (the people that knew God in these verses defile his name even though they know him). Next Isaiah 65:17-25 teaches us that God will thus create a new heaven and a new earth, and in that context we read this written about God’s chosen ones whom he says, "…my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their own hands" Isaiah 65:22 (NIV) Next we read beginning in Isaiah 66:1-2 "This is what the Lord says: "Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hands made all things, and so they come into being?" "This is the one I esteem he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." (NIV) Overall, next what we see is that the scripture goes on to condemn sacrifice in Isaiah 66:3 (NIV).
The remaining portion of Isaiah 66 talks about Christianity emerging through Zion giving birth to a son and through her giving birth to the rest of her children (also spoken about in Revelation), and the chapter ends talking about the work of the apostles brining Christianity to Greece and other such places and finally God brings many of his back to Jerusalem (this I believe is the new Jerusalem). Overall, the point in all of chapters 65 and 66 is not that anything was wrong with the Mosaic system of sacrifice, but what was wrong is that people approached God through knowledge of him while their hearts had been far from him (this made the work of Jesus Christ a necessity). (Consider the nation born in a day through the child that was born (this was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead)).
Thank you,
Mathew Enoch Mount
mmount@essex1.com
Animal sacrifice hurts.
ReplyDelete