He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4\u00a0<\/sup>but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5\u00a0<\/sup>Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6\u00a0<\/sup>The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7\u00a0<\/sup>The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8\u00a0<\/sup>The infant will play near the cobra\u2019s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper\u2019s nest.
9\u00a0<\/sup>They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.<\/p>\n
Reflection<\/h3>\n
Although we often think of the Lion lying down with the lamb – this imagery does not We can push imagery too far but there is an element of the human condition within these verses. The rich and powerful who exploit their contacts and positions, those prepared to exploit the vulnerable for financial gain, those prepared to kill and destroy to get their own way, often so that they can become rich and powerful exploiters themselves. These are perhaps the wolves of our time.<\/p>\n Our passage today prophecies the time when we will be at peace both in the natural world and as humanity.<\/p>\n We work for that day in our passion for truth and justice and in all of our choices in life. What we buy, who we vote for, how active we are in lobbying for change. These all reveal the Spirit of God at work in us. “May he rule, may he reign in our lives”.<\/p>\n We spend a few moments in stillness as we remember times when we have truly opened ourselves to God’s desire for truth and justice.<\/p>\n I chose as my carol today a worship song for which I wrote additional Christmas words, many years ago. Those of you who know me will know that I love using and singing worship songs as well as hymns but they are often too short!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/wolf-5585443_960_720.jpg\")
<\/a>exist in the Bible. The two occurrences of this image of peaceful co-existence in Isaiah refer to the wolf and the lamb. However, it is a powerful image of peace and of a return to the harmony of creation.<\/p>\nStillness<\/h3>\n
Carol<\/h3>\n