Egypt, Assyria and Israel. Instead of fighting one another, these nations will travel together, serve together and receive God’s blessing together. God says of them: “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” Think about that. Nations that have historically been divided by borders, culture, religion, politics and conflict will one day co - operate under God’s government. There will be no racial or national superiority. There will be no striving for dominance. Instead, there will be cooperation, service and mutual re- spect under God. God will bless these nations as they learn to live according to His way. We can already see a small preview of this within God’s Church. People from different cultures, nationalities, ages and backgrounds come togeth- er to worship God and serve one an- other. Today, only a relatively small number of people are learning to live this way. But one day, Egypt, Assyr- ia, Israel—and every other nation— will learn the way of peace. The Nature of People The third area is perhaps the most personal: people striving against peo- ple. Families argue. Friends become enemies. Coworkers compete against one another. Neighbors fight over seemingly insignificant things. Look outside the window and everything may appear peaceful. But go inside almost any home on the block, and there may be a husband and wife ar- guing about something. Drive down the street and there may be people fighting over a parking space at Walmart—or becoming an-
leopard will lie down with the young goat, and a child will safely lead them. The bear and the cow will feed together, and even the lion will eat straw like the ox (Isaiah 11:6-9). A child will be able to play near the cobra’s den without fear. That may not sound quite as pleasant as the others—but the point is clear! Animals will finally know peace. The fear, violence and hostility that char- acterize much of the animal kingdom today will no longer dominate. God’s Kingdom will bring restoration to the entire creation. The Nature of Countries Currently, nations are constantly striving against nations. Consider the famous statue displayed at the Unit- ed Nations that depicts the concept of beating swords into plowshares. The statue represents mankind’s desire to transform weapons of death and de- struction into peaceful and produc- tive tools. The idea comes directly from Isaiah 2:4 describes a future time when nations will: “...Beat their swords into plow - shares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, nei - ther shall they learn war any - more.” But who are we kidding? Is the world accomplishing this today? Is man- kind even moving in that direction? In reality, there is very little financial incentive in the plowshare business. There is far more money to be made in developing new weapons, new mil- itary technologies and more efficient ways to wage war. Humanity contin- ues to search for better ways to make war. Military spending throughout the world is enormous. Technology has advanced to the point where wars can increasingly be fought remotely, with drones and other weapons con- trolled from thousands of miles away. Robotic systems are also being devel- oped that can run, jump and eventu- ally perform military functions on the battlefield. This sounds an awful lot like Isaiah 59’s description of those who “make haste to shed innocent
blood,” does it not? A Future of Peace Between Nations
Isaiah 19:23-25 describes a remark- able future relationship between
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A Good Report, Vol. 2 No. 3
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