And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely (Hosea 2:18).
What a promise is this! The end of war. No more munition factories. No more inconceivable sums of military preparations. Peace even with the beasts of the earth, the fowls of heaven, and the creeping things on the ground. Real peace, world peace, eternal peace! But notice, it does not come from any association of nations. It does not come even from the will of people in their own works, but from God. "I will make a covenant," says the Lord. "I will will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth." To His followers Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" (John 14:27). It is by this miracle of inward peace--first, peace with God, and then peace with one another--that the lives of God's children are transformed, and through them the world. It is only when the entire world is filled with people who have peace in their own hearts that there will be peace in the world. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked" (Isa. 48:22).
In Kensington Garden, London, there is a picture of Waterloo a good while after the battle has passed. The grass and flowers have grown over the field. There is a dismounted cannon, and a lamb has come up from the pasture and lies sleeping at the very mouth of the cannon. So, when our souls stop warring with God, instead of the announcement "The wages of sin is death" come the words "My peace I give unto you." When sin is finally destroyed, war will be destroyed. The Isaiah's dream of 2,500 years ago will come to pass, for "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2:4). May God hasten the day.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence" (Ps. 140:13).
What a promise is this! The end of war. No more munition factories. No more inconceivable sums of military preparations. Peace even with the beasts of the earth, the fowls of heaven, and the creeping things on the ground. Real peace, world peace, eternal peace! But notice, it does not come from any association of nations. It does not come even from the will of people in their own works, but from God. "I will make a covenant," says the Lord. "I will will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth." To His followers Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" (John 14:27). It is by this miracle of inward peace--first, peace with God, and then peace with one another--that the lives of God's children are transformed, and through them the world. It is only when the entire world is filled with people who have peace in their own hearts that there will be peace in the world. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked" (Isa. 48:22).
In Kensington Garden, London, there is a picture of Waterloo a good while after the battle has passed. The grass and flowers have grown over the field. There is a dismounted cannon, and a lamb has come up from the pasture and lies sleeping at the very mouth of the cannon. So, when our souls stop warring with God, instead of the announcement "The wages of sin is death" come the words "My peace I give unto you." When sin is finally destroyed, war will be destroyed. The Isaiah's dream of 2,500 years ago will come to pass, for "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2:4). May God hasten the day.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence" (Ps. 140:13).
RSS Feed
