June 5, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,’ so said God.” (Isaiah 65.25)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Isaiah is shown contrasting images which help the people understand the power of reconciliation. The wolf in the world preys upon the lamb. The lion would prey upon the ox. The serpent was the enemy of all living things. God declares this is not the way it is meant to be in His Kingdom in Heaven. It is also the way it is meant to be on earth. It will be that way when all things are reconciled. That can only happen when God restores the courses of life and the people recognize it for themselves, too. We were given this vision of reconciled contrasts in Isaiah 11 which concluded with “…and a little child shall lead them.” (11.6-9) This, of course, speaks to the truth of the first coming which sadly the diverse parties represented by the various animals as illustrations could not reconcile. At least, the lack of reconciliation came from those who would not see the “boy who would be the king of righteousness” as the Messiah. There were many of those nations, the reference more intently upon the dispersed Jews throughout the then-known world, who did receive the gospel and were reconciled to one another in a community of faith. They were also reconciled to God and found the blessing of eternal life in their world and, for many who were killed, in the next. They would be the forefront of the 144,000 mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

The vision in both Isaiah 11 and 65 speak to a reality which ultimately will not be denied. Predators, opposing nations, will become as one against the community of faith. Jesus spoke of “nation rising against nation.” (Matthew 24.7) The insanity of believing one could control another for its own benefit instead of making peace and relying on God to “redeem, reconcile and restore” (the theme of Isaiah from the start) leads to such war. We have seen it sadly from the beginning of humankind outside of the Garden. Actually, we saw it in the Garden as “the serpent” waged war against God on earth as it did in Heaven. The enemy of God is cunning and willful. When we reflected upon the change of all living things in the days of restoration where infants would not perish and the old would live fruitful lives and the young would live out the fullness of their days to a hundred years, I did not draw attention to the change of the enemy of God. In the Garden, “the serpent” is remembered first as a beautiful and “wise” creature. We ought to remember that Satan, the cast out Lucifer, was a gloriously created being in Heaven. He was adorned with beautiful jewels and instruments of such musicality to fill all of Heaven. He was the “worship leader” of Heaven…until he no longer worshiped God. On the day when he grew weary of praising God and desired instead to praise himself, the glory of God which shone round about him begin to fade. His beauty became different. He was still attractive and wonderful but in a dark way. He used that dark charm in the Garden to draw attention to himself. We could here remember the saying “all that glitters is not gold.” For his rebellion on earth as he had rebelled in Heaven, he was cast out with a curse to slither on earth like a serpent. He had chosen his worldly fate similar to what Pharaoh did when he sought to curse the first born of the Hebrews. Moses warned him that the penalty he spoke would be the penalty God would return. The result was the death of all the firstborn of Egypt. What happened in time was the fall of the Egyptian dynasties to be lost in the dust of time. Remnants of a past glory and power is all that remains. We may marvel at them but let us never forget the lesson they teach. That lesson is repeated here in Isaiah 65.25 as “the serpent is left to feed only upon dust.” Dust represents that which is dead and has no life in it. The serpent, Lucifer/Satan, wanted and wants nothing to do with God. It is the penalty he called upon himself. All those who forsake God lose the spirit of vitality and life within them. Their souls become empty, hungering for that which they have refused and now cannot enjoy. Their lives are nothing more than the “dust from which they came.” All that is left for them and their “master” is searing desert and waterless dust. The contrast is complete. The choice is made.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free in Jesus’ name. AMEN.