Isaiah 11:6-10 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 11:6-10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 6The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Verse 7The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. Verse 8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. Verse 9They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Verse 10On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Devotion
In our baptismal liturgies we recount all the ways God has delivered God’s people through water. From the waters of creation, to Noah, to the Red Sea, to the birth of Jesus, water is the uniting symbol of creation, deliverance and salvation. Now we read that the coming of the kingdom of God brings about not only individual deliverance and re-creation but creation-wide peace. As water covers the sea, so we wait for those days of our deliverance, re-creation and salvation, when the knowledge of God covers all the earth so that peace will be a daily reality.
Prayer
As those who are called to God’s kingdom, may we continue to proclaim the peace of God so that the knowledge of God will cover all the earth as the water covers the sea. Amen.