Picturing Peace

What’s the value of trying to picture a “peaceable kingdom,” where lambs lie down with lions? How is this helpful? Why did God inspire the Biblical writers to paint these dramatic other-worldly pictures?

I can think of a time when using my imagination caused me trouble. After graduate school, I was excited to get a job as a Foreign Service officer at the Department of State and I imagined a great career as a diplomat and foreign policy expert. But after four years I knew I was in the wrong place and left the State Department to become a teacher, which I later discovered was my real passion.

Others I know dreamed about a person they wanted to marry, but the image they dreamed up was impossible to find in reality. Or, like me, they imagined a perfect job, a pathway to success, but it never worked out like they imagined.

In the last post, we noted that God used Old Testament prophets as his spokesmen for judging Israel and Judah for their sins. The prophets cried out against the evil acts of the people who attended worship services, but whose lives were contradictions to what they said they believed.

But the prophets did something else. In addition to proclaiming judgment, which did not make them popular people, they also offered hope. And that hope was to be found in a Messiah who would bring in the ‘Kingdom of God.” This Messiah would be a “Prince of Peace (shalom).”

Let me give you an example. One of the harshest critics of Israel was the prophet Isaiah, but he was also a man who described a future “Kingdom of Righteousness” in which the Messiah would rule in justice. Listen to these beautiful words: “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. . . . My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” (Isaiah 32: 1-2 and 18).

If you have ever been to the desert areas in Israel or to some of the desert areas in southwestern United States, you can picture what Isaiah is talking about. When people are trying to eke out a living in a dry and barren land, shelter from the hot sun and fresh water are amazing gifts. That’s what Isaiah was promising God’s people.

The key point is this: The prophets were foretelling the arrival of Jesus who would be the “Prince of Peace,” and Jesus would introduce God’s Kingdom in dramatic new terms.

For those of us from Christian families, we have often heard these familiar verses from Isaiah in the weeks leading up to Christmas:

“For unto us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (shalom).
Of the increase of his government and peace (shalom)
There will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6-7a)

From now on, when you hear or read these words, think about this prophecy in the context of Isaiah’s teaching about shalom. Jesus was coming to show us a new way to live, first by his actions and then by his teaching.

Although using our imagination can sometimes get us in trouble, especially if we have a rich fantasy life, the prophets drew these “peace pictures” to give us hope. Even in times of revolution, tsunamis, economic downturns, unemployment or corrupt rule by autocrats, we must not give up hope, because the Prince of Peace has promised to be with us.

So What?

• Dr. Craig Barnes, my former pastor, has written: “Faith is almost a synonym for vision. It is what allows us to see, to witness, God’s presence. Faith allows us to survive, even enjoy, today because we’ve seen that which is not apparent – God is with us.” Biblical faith is grounded in the promises and then the arrival of a Messiah, a “Prince of Peace.”

• To be peacemakers in our broken world, we need to be “agents of hope” in a culture where the default position is cynicism. And to be hopeful people we need three qualities -- imagination, understanding and passion -- if we are to make a difference in our world. Maybe that’s part of the reason why the Old Testament prophets painted these “peace pictures.”

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