Tabernacles Central

God says,

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

Isaiah 11:6

For many years, even during Bible College, I thought (as you may also), that the lion lays down with the lamb.  It sounds pretty good doesn’t it.  Kind of poetic and powerful. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah, we are his lambs.  However, that is not what the scriptures really say, for the wolf dwells with the Lamb.

Likewise, when it comes to prophecy, we all tend to look at things from our current perspective.  Often times, unless we really think it through, our perspectives come from what others tell us.  Therefore, a lot of assumptions are made, most based mainly on nothing more than what feels right.

It is the wolf, not the Lion, that lays down with the lamb

In this passage, the very nature of the wolf and lamb changes.  Whereas now, wolves eat lambs and lambs fear wolves, in that day, God restores harmony in His holy mountain.  Do you remember what I said about the original house of God in the sides of the north, on the mountain of the Most High in Eden? This is what our Father restores and that is why all things are made new, including the behavior of animals towards each other.

Now, here is what God says,

“And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

Isaiah 11: 8,9

This scripture speaks about the New Heavens and New Earth.  During the millennium, which is basically a reset for Israel, God does not change the nature of animals.  The curse is reversed only during the restoration of all things, i.e. in the world to come. 

Therefore, here is a truth,

“Isaiah 11:8 is the proof text that there will be children born into the New Heavens and New Earth.”

Just like Mark 12:26,27 is the proof text that God accepts both monogamous and polygamist, Isaiah 11:8 proves that procreation happens in God’s new creation. God doesn’t care if His truth offends our ethnocentric viewpoints, or even if it changes our concept of what heaven will be like. All that matters to our Lord, is that we come to know Him as He truly is.

We have all heard the saying “heaven on earth”. We identify with this notion simply because there was a time when heaven was on earth, in Eden. It was a place of total peace and harmony. All animals dwelt peacefully in their natural, God-given order. No death, no pain, no sorrow existed in all God’s holy mountain. It is that harmony God intends to restore on the New Heavens and New Earth.

The restoration of all things

People, perhaps because of a Victorian mindset about purity, assume that there is no procreation in the world to come. We all become like the angels, which people assume are asexual. They assume that physical intimacy is somehow inherently sinful and, therefore, has no place in God’s perfect order. However, physical/spiritual intimacy is central to this creation, therefore it will be central in the world to come too.

New Jerusalem currently resides in heaven. After the rebellion and Adam’s sin, God took it from earth. However, the city of God does not remain in Heaven forever, it comes back down to God’s new Eden in the same way it left. Every rapture demonstrates one fact; what goes up must eventually come down.  When the city of God comes down out of heaven to earth, God will say once again, “Go forth, be fruitful, and multiply.”  The saints will mate, conceive, and bear children in the new creation just as they did in the old. The only difference will be there is no pain in childbirth, and the conception rate returns to normal. This is how God will bring forth after His kind.

Hiding from the truth

Today, we don’t know many of the things of God, though they be right in front of us, because we have been programmed to see only what others deem acceptable. The Holy Spirit speaks to us often, but every time His Spirit leads contrary to what we believe, we stop and go no further.  Therefore, though the truth is right in front of our eyes, we close them and do not see because we will not see.

Children of the Most High

All forms of intimacy existed in Eden, therefore all forms of intimacy will be restored in the world to come.  From a handshake to a hug, from a holy kiss to bearing children, all will be made new and blessed by our Lord.  Once God restores innocence, we will find out that so much of what we thought forbidden was, in fact, His will all along.

SEOI