The Peaceable Kingdom and the Knowledge of God Text: Isaiah 11:6-9
Introduction: The World God Intends
We live in a world that is red in tooth and claw. Nature itself seems to be a constant, bloody conflict. Predators hunt, the weak are devoured, and even the ground beneath our feet brings forth thorns and thistles. In the world of men, it is no different. Nations rage, politicians scheme, families fracture, and the human heart is a cauldron of envy, strife, and malice. This is the world as we know it, the world under the curse, the world groaning in travail. And because this is the world we have always known, we have a hard time imagining anything different. Our eschatologies, our visions of the future, are often shaped more by the morning headlines than by the hard promises of Almighty God. We have been conditioned to expect defeat, to manage decline, and to huddle in our holy bunkers waiting for the rapture plane.
But the prophet Isaiah will not have it. He will not allow our imaginations to be so shrunken and domesticated. In this glorious passage, he paints a picture of the Messianic age, the reign of the Branch from the stump of Jesse, that is so radical, so contrary to our fallen experience, that we are tempted to dismiss it as mere poetry or relegate it to some far-off, disconnected eternity. But that is a profound mistake. This is not a description of heaven after the universe is dismantled. This is a description of the earth, "My holy mountain," when it is transformed by the reign of Christ. This is a prophecy about the effects of the gospel.
Isaiah is describing the fruit of Christ's kingdom, a kingdom that was inaugurated at His first coming and is, right now, progressively extending its influence over the entire globe. This passage is a direct assault on all forms of pessimistic, retreatist Christianity. It is a promise that the gospel does not just save souls for an ethereal afterlife; it saves creation. It restores peace, not just in the human heart, but in the created order itself. What Isaiah describes here is the power of the knowledge of God to fundamentally reorder reality. This is not a fairy tale; it is the blueprint for the future of the world we are living in now.
The Text
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 young boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing baby will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh As the waters cover the sea.
(Isaiah 11:6-9 LSB)
The Great Reconciliation (v. 6-8)
Isaiah begins with a series of stunning, almost unbelievable, images of peace in the animal kingdom.
"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 young boy will lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)
Let us be clear. The enmity between the wolf and the lamb is not an accident. It is a deep, instinctual reality that defines their very natures. The wolf is a predator; the lamb is prey. Their relationship is one of violence and death. Isaiah is telling us that in the kingdom of the Messiah, this fundamental antagonism will be undone. The word for "dwell" here means to sojourn as a guest. The wolf will be a welcome guest in the lamb's house, not an intruder.
This is not simply about animals getting along. This is covenantal language. The imagery describes the effects of redemption. When the Apostle Paul speaks of the gospel's effect, what does he say? He says that Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, making one new man out of two, thus establishing peace (Ephesians 2:14-15). He is talking about Jews and Gentiles, mortal enemies, being reconciled in the body of Christ. The wolf and the lamb lying down together is a picture of that. It is a picture of the gospel reconciling the most hostile parties imaginable. It is the hardened Roman centurion and the persecuted Christian slave worshiping together at the foot of the cross. It is the Crips and the Bloods finding brotherhood in Christ. The gospel changes natures.
And notice who is in charge of this peaceable kingdom: "And a young boy will lead them." This is a picture of radical inversion. In the fallen world, strength, ferocity, and power rule. The lion is king. But in the kingdom of Christ, the government is placed on the shoulders of a child. This points directly to the Messiah, who was born a helpless babe in Bethlehem. It also points to the nature of His kingdom, where the greatest is the servant, and the humble are exalted. It is a kingdom where strength is found in weakness, and true authority is not in the sharp tooth, but in the gentle hand.
The prophet continues, piling up the impossible images.
"Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox." (Isaiah 11:7)
The cow and the bear, the lion and the ox. These pairs represent domestic tranquility and savage wildness. In the Messiah's kingdom, the distinction is erased. The bear's ravenous appetite is tamed, and the lion, the very symbol of predatory violence, becomes a vegetarian. This is a picture of the curse being rolled back. The original diet of all creatures in Genesis 1 was vegetarian (Genesis 1:29-30). The introduction of bloodshed and carnivory was a consequence of the Fall. Isaiah sees a future where this consequence is reversed.
Is this to be taken with a flat-footed literalism? Yes and no. The primary meaning is spiritual. It describes the taming of savage human hearts by the gospel. Men who were once lions, devouring others through violence, greed, and ambition, are transformed into gentle oxen, content to eat straw and serve their master. But we should not be too quick to spiritualize it all away. The redemption Christ purchased is for the whole creation, which groans, awaiting its liberation (Romans 8:19-22). As the gospel advances and human culture is increasingly discipled, we should expect to see real, tangible effects in the created order itself. A world filled with godly, responsible stewards will see nature begin to flourish in ways we can scarcely imagine.
The climax of this imagery involves the most vulnerable of humans and the most insidious of creatures.
"And the nursing baby will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den." (Isaiah 11:8)
This is where the prophecy hits closest to home. The serpent is the symbol of Satan, the deceiver who brought death into the world. The enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is the central conflict of all history (Genesis 3:15). The venom of the snake is a picture of the lethal poison of sin and death. And here, Isaiah says that in the Messianic kingdom, that threat is neutralized. A helpless infant, a nursing baby, can play safely at the very source of the danger. A toddler can reach his hand into the viper's nest without fear.
This is a picture of the absolute triumph of the gospel over the power of Satan. Jesus, the seed of the woman, has crushed the serpent's head. The fangs have been pulled. The poison has been rendered inert. For those who are in Christ, the mortal threat of sin and death has been abolished. We can now handle what was once deadly. "They will pick up serpents with their hands," Jesus said, "and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them" (Mark 16:18). This is not a command for snake-handling revivals; it is a promise of the spiritual invulnerability of the redeemed. The Accuser has been disarmed, and his greatest weapon, death, has lost its sting.
The Engine of Transformation (v. 9)
In the final verse of our text, Isaiah reveals the cause, the engine, that drives this incredible transformation of all reality.
"They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh As the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9)
First, he summarizes the moral and spiritual effect of Christ's reign: "They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain." The "holy mountain" is Zion, the place of God's dwelling, which in the New Covenant expands to encompass the entire earth. This is a promise of global sanctification. The violence, the predation, the corruption that characterized the fallen world will cease.
But how? What is the mechanism? It is not a government program. It is not a UN resolution. It is not better education. The reason for this global peace is given in the second half of the verse, introduced by that crucial word, "For." The peace is the effect; the knowledge of God is the cause. The world will be transformed because "the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh."
This is not a mere intellectual acquaintance with facts about God. The Hebrew word for "knowledge" (da'ath) implies a deep, personal, relational, and covenantal understanding. It is the knowledge of God that comes through the gospel of His Son. It is knowing Him as Father, Redeemer, and Lord.
And what is the extent of this knowledge? It will be "as the waters cover the sea." Think about that image. The waters do not just sit on top of the sea. They do not form a thin veneer. They fill the sea. They saturate it. They define its very nature. You cannot go to the sea and find a dry spot. You cannot plumb its depths and escape the water. This is a promise of total, global, comprehensive saturation. The knowledge of God, through the gospel, will so permeate human culture, society, and thought that it becomes the defining characteristic of the world. This is the central promise of postmillennialism. We are not fighting a losing battle. We are on the side of an inevitable, global victory. Christ must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25), and this is how He does it, through the irresistible advance of the knowledge of Himself.
Conclusion: Your Labor is Not in Vain
This glorious vision from Isaiah is not meant to be a pleasant daydream. It is marching orders. It is the fuel for our evangelism, our discipleship, our cultural engagement, and our hope. The reason the wolf lies down with the lamb is because someone preached the gospel to the wolf. The reason the child is safe from the viper is because the knowledge of Christ has filled that home and that land.
Every time you share the gospel with a neighbor, you are spreading the knowledge of the Lord. Every time you teach your children the Scriptures, you are extending the borders of this peaceable kingdom. Every time you work diligently and honestly in your vocation, you are rolling back the curse and demonstrating the goodness of God's created order. You are part of this great project of filling the earth with the knowledge of God.
The world we see on the news is the old world, the groaning world, the world of the wolf and the viper. But the world that is coming, the world that is already breaking in all around us, is the world Isaiah saw. It is a world remade by the gospel. It is a world where peace flows down like a river. It is a world saturated with the presence and glory of our King. Therefore, do not lose heart. Your labor in the Lord is not in vain, for He has promised that the knowledge of Him will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.