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You asked

how do new testament ideas of unity relate to these old testament prophetic visions?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Isaiah 11:6-9

The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze; their young ones will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play near the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.

The prophet Isaiah, writing in Judah in the 8th century BCE, envisions a future era of peace and justice ruled by a descendant of David. This passage describes the harmony that will characterise this new age, extending even to the natural world.

What does this vision of universal peace and harmony stir in your imagination about a unified future?

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Read alongside it

  • Isaiah 2:2-4

    This passage also describes a future time of peace where nations will no longer wage war.

  • Ephesians 2:14-16

    Paul speaks of Christ breaking down dividing walls and creating one new humanity.

  • Revelation 21:1-4

    This New Testament vision describes a new heaven and new earth where God dwells with humanity, ending sorrow and pain.

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