Latest / HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN® / Jesus Never Said that Series Ep 8 of 10: “The Lion Will Lie Down With the Lamb”

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Jesus Never Said that Series Ep 8 of 10: “The Lion Will Lie Down With the Lamb” · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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Hey, just to let you know on Half-Faith, Let It Begin, we got the Half-Faith,
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Let It Begin brand new hats.
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If you want one, check it out, www.halffaithletitbegin.com.
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Go to the Half-Faith gear, and I will also tell you, if you email me,
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angel, at halffaithletitbegin.com, I guarantee you that one of you are going to get this hat for free.
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Let's get started. Another episode starts right now.
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You've heard it in church. You've seen it online. Maybe even said it yourself.
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You know, it sounds biblical. But is it?
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Welcome to Jesus Never Said That, a special series from Have Faith, Let It Begin.
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I'm Angel Santana. Today, we're gonna go beyond the quotes, cliches,
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and assumptions to discover what God's word actually says.
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So grab your Bible, bring your questions, because Have Faith,
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Let It Begin starts right now.
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Welcome to Half-Faith, Let It Begin. This is Ariel Santana.
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Can you believe I'm seven years old already? I'm old enough now to introduce my dad.
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Ladies and gentlemen, your host, my dad, Angel Santana.
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Two thousand came and the spark was lit.
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He walks the road.
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Walks the road been used in Christian artwork. It's been printed on cards.
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It's become one of the most recognizable images of biblical peace.
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And if I asked a room full of people, where does the Bible say the lion will lie down with the lamb?
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Somebody would probably answer Isaiah.
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And they'd be close Because Isaiah absolutely contains a beautiful prophecy
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involving animals that would normally be enemies living together in peace.
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Here's the surprise. The Bible never actually says the lion will lie down with the lamb.
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So what does it say?
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Well, grab your Bible. Here's what Isaiah 11 says.
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Before we read it, here's today's heart check. How often do I remember what
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I think the Bible says instead of checking what it actually says?
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That's really what this series, entire series of 10 episodes that we're trying
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to do. this is episode eight, by the way, has been about.
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Sometimes we're not intentionally twisting scripture. We've simply heard something
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so many times that our brain fills in the blanks.
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Someone quotes it. We hear it in a sermon. We see it online.
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We repeat it and somebody else repeats it. And eventually we stop checking.
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So here's a habit I want us to develop. Whenever somebody says,
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the Bible says, including me, don't be afraid to ask where.
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That's not disrespectful. That's not biblical.
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That's not a biblical. What's the word I'm looking for?
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Criticism. No, it's biblical curiosity. So as I'm in school,
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I'm hearing these phrases and I'm starting to ask questions and I'm that by
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opening the Bible and I read it myself, that's when I realized some of these
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things are not actually in the Bible.
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What Isaiah, now getting back to Isaiah, is actually saying,
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let's take a look at it. Isaiah 11, verse six.
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The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
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the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them. Wait a minute.
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Read that first part again. The wolf will live with the lamb,
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not the lion will lie down with the lamb.
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The wolf is paired with the lamb, the leopard with the goat.
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And the lion doesn't or does appear actually in the passage.
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So the lion does appear in the passage, but alongside the calf and the yearling.
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So the lion didn't disappear. somewhere along the way, our collective memory
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simply rearranged the animals. And honestly, I understand why.
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A lion and a lamb make a powerful image.
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One represents strength, and the other, vulnerability.
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One predator, one prey.
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And throughout scripture, both lions and lambs carry powerful imagery.
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So over time, that pairing became deeply embedded in Christian culture.
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But it still isn't what Isaiah 11, 6 actually says.
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But don't miss the bigger message. Now, here's where I don't want us to make a mistake.
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We could end the episode right here and say, gotcha, it's a wolf, not a lion, ha ha ha, no.
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But then we'd be missing something far more important than identifying the correct animal.
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Because Isaiah wasn't giving us a zoology quiz. He was giving us a vision of hope.
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Go back to the beginning of Isaiah 11, verse 1 says, a shoot will come from, let's start over.
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A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse from his roots and branch will bear fruit.
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Christians have historically understood this passage as pointing toward the
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coming Messiah from the line of David.
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Isaiah is describing a ruler characterized by righteousness,
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justice, faithfulness, and the spirit of the Lord.
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Then comes the extraordinary picture of creation, transformed.
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Animals that should be enemies aren't enemies anymore. Predator and prey exist together.
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A child can be among them without fear.
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You know, something has changed.
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Peace has replaced hostility. That's the bigger message. So what kind of peace?
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You know, we often think that peace means nothing bad is happening right now.
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But biblically, peace goes deeper.
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As I'm learning Hebrew, the Hebrew idea of shalom carries the sense of wholeness, completeness.
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Well-being, and things being made right.
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Isaiah is painting a picture of the world no longer ruled by the hostility and
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destruction we know so well.
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Think about our world. War, violence, division,
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families not speaking, communities fighting, people divided by politics,
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People divided by race. People divided by religion.
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People who can't even disagree anymore without treating each other like enemies.
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And then Isaiah gives us this image. Enemies at peace. That's not cute artwork. That's radical.
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The prince of peace. And who brings this kind of peace? Isaiah points us toward God's promised king.
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Earlier, in Isaiah 9, verse 6, we hear these famous words.
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For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given.
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And among his titles, Prince of Peace, as Christians, we see the fulfillment of that hope in Jesus.
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And here's where the prophecy becomes personal.
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Jesus becomes, well, Jesus doesn't simply promise peace someday.
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He begins creating peace in us and through us now.
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Jesus says in Matthew 5, verse 9, Blessed are the peacemakers,
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for they will be called children of God. Notice, not merely blessed are the people who like peace.
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But not merely blessed are the people who like peace,
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peacemakers, people who participate in it, people who bring reconciliation into
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divided places, Jesus, lion and lamb.
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And there's another reason I think the lion and the lamb image became so powerful
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in Christianity because scripture eventually uses both images for Jesus.
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I mean, in John 1 verse 29, John the Baptist sees Jesus and says,
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look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Well, Jesus is the lamb.
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But then go to Revelation 5.5. Jesus is described as the lion of the tribe of Judah.
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Lion and lamb. Strength and sacrifice. Victory and humility.
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Both images ultimately point us toward Christ. So while the lion will lie down
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with the lamb, Isn't it an actual Bible verse?
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I'm confused. So while the lion will lie down with the lamb isn't an actual Bible verse,
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it's understandable why those two images become so powerful together in Christian imaginations.
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But again, beautifully symbolized, or maybe I should say symbolism,
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isn't the same thing as quoting scripture accurately. That's the lesson.
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And as I was reading my material, personal reflection came to me.
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I actually love this example because it's different from some of the others we've covered.
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Nobody needs to feel embarrassed for thinking the Bible says this.
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This isn't about catching people,
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making a mistake. It's about learning how easily our memories can blend.
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Scripture, tradition, artwork, sermons, songs, and things we've heard throughout our lives.
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And eventually, it all starts sounding like one big Bible verse.
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I've had moments myself where I've thought, I know that's in the Bible there somewhere.
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Then I look and I realize, wait, that's not actually what it says.
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And that's okay. The problem isn't realizing we remembered something incorrectly.
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The problem would be refusing to check.
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And that's why I keep saying, just open your Bible.
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Don't just take my word for it. Look, read, fact check if you want to call it
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that. Ask questions, learn.
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How are we going to live this out? So how do we take Isaiah's vision of peace and actuality,
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and live it, right? Well, there's a couple of things. First,
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become a peacemaker. Is there unnecessary conflict in your life?
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Maybe there's somebody you've been avoiding. Maybe there's a conversation that needs to happen.
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Maybe there's an apology that needs to be made. That's number one.
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Number two, stop feeding division.
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Before sharing that angry post, before responding to that comment before jumping
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or joining the argument, ask, am I bringing peace or adding gasoline?
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Third, learn to disagree without dehumanization.
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Dehumanizing. Somebody can disagree with you and still deserve dignity.
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That's powerful. Somebody can disagree with you and still deserve dignity.
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And fourth, remember where true peace comes from.
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Peace isn't pretending problems don't exist. It allows Christ to shape the way
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we respond to them. So here's your faith challenge.
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I want you to think about one relationship where there is tension,
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nothing dangerous, nothing where healthy boundaries need to be ignored.
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Just somewhere that unnecessary distance, resentment or disagreement.
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Then I want you to ask God, is there a step toward peace that you want me to take?
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Maybe it's a phone call. Maybe it's a text. Maybe it's an apology.
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Maybe it's simply deciding that you don't need to win the argument anymore.
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And maybe reconciliation isn't impossible.
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And maybe it isn't possible right now.
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That's okay. You cannot control another person's response. But you can ask,
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God, am I doing my part to be a peacemaker?
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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for...
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Just being you. And thank you for the fact that we can open scripture,
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ask questions and learn something, even discover that something we've believed
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for years wasn't written quite the way we remembered it.
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Give us humility when it happens. Make us students of the word, your word.
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Help us not simply repeat what you've heard or what we've heard.
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Teach us to read, to study, to understand.
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And Lord, thank you for Isaiah's beautiful vision of peace. Our world desperately needs peace right now.
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Our communities need peace. And our families need peace.
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And sometimes, our own hearts need peace.
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Jesus, Peace of Prince, begin with us.
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Where there is bitterness, bring healing. Where there is division, bring understanding.
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Where reconciliation is possible, give us courage to pursue it.
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And make us peacemakers in the world that has become very good at making enemies.
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May our lives point toward the day that when you make all things right.
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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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I'm getting a phone call. They can wait. They can wait.
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Let's go to the takeaway for today. Does the Bible say, this has probably happened
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in the first time in every nine years. The lion will lie down with the lamb.
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Not exactly. Isaiah 11, I lost my turn of thought. 11 verse six says,
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the wolf will live with the lamb.
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The lion appears too, but the famous pairing isn't what scripture actually says.
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But don't miss the bigger message. Isaiah is giving us a breathtaking vision of God's peace.
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Hostility ends. Enemies live together. Creation is restored.
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And God promises King reigns in the righteousness.
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So today's takeaway is this. Don't get so distracted correcting the animals
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that you miss the promise.
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God's story is moving toward restoration. And until that day,
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Jesus calls us to become peacemakers.
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This has been episode eight of Jesus Never Said That. a special series from
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Half Faith, Let It Begin. Remember, we have 10 episodes here.
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We have plenty more to go. And today's episode gives us another reminder that
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something can communicate a beautiful and biblical idea without actually being a Bible verse.
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Know the difference, open your Bible, read the context, and don't be afraid
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to discover something new.
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Next time on Have Faith, Let It Begin, Jesus Never Said That series,
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it's episode nine. We're two away from the end.
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We're tackling a phrase that sounds wonderful. God just wants you to be happy. Really?
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Does he? Now, God isn't against happiness. Never said that.
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Joy is all over scripture. But
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what happens when the thing that makes me happy takes me away from God?
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What happens when happiness and holiness point in a different direction?
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Does God want something deeper for us than simply feeling good?
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We're going in that direction. We're going there in episode nine because it's
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called God Just Wants You to Be Happy.
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And trust me, this conversation may challenge the way we think about what it
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actually means for God to want what's good for us.
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Next time on Jesus Never Said That.
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Because remember, it sounds good. It might even sound Christian,
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but is it actually biblical?
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Never forget, have faith, let it begin.