A Word About Peace

Again, I ran across the idea that the Scripture about beating the swords into plowshares means that God is telling us to do that now (and you, you naughty children, are ignoring that Scripture and disobeying God’s plan for humanity).  That’s from Isaiah 2, describing what the world will be like under the reign of Christ.  It is echoed in Micah, with the same predictive, not commanding intent.  In Isaiah 11 there is a similar passage describing how lions will lie down with lambs, and young children will safely put their hands in snake’s dens.  I’m pretty sure God isn’t commanding that we bring the lambs and children to such places now.

Just for good measure, the prophet Joel also tells of a time when people will beat their plowshares into swords, in preparation for the final battles of the world.  It’s one more example of people seeing what they like, in the Scriptures and in the word peace.