Peace on Earth While All Become Vegetarians

The Millennial Kingdom Reign of Jesus Christ

...Animals Become Peaceful

Now regarding the character of the Millennial kingdom, the book of Isaiah is rich with kingdom prophecies. In Isaiah 11:6-9 it is revealed that "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

First of all, we see that animals that are presently carnivorous, will begin to eat vegetation only, so that the animals will not fear one another or harm people. Many have taken this passage and tried to spiritualize (allegorically interpret) the truth away from it, saying it is not literal. However, not only will all animals literally be herbivores in the future, but all animals once were herbivores, since neither man nor beast ate animal flesh prior to the great flood.

Genesis 1:29-30 "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so."

 Notice that the beasts are neither given for Adam's food, nor for one another's food. Both Adam and the beasts are given the herbs and fruits to eat. So man and beast were all vegetarian. However, God changed things after the great flood.

In Genesis 9:2-3 God says to Noah, "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."

So the animals began to fear man, because man was given permission to eat the animals. This is also when many animals became carnivorous. Further scriptural evidence of animals becoming peaceful in the kingdom will be provided in the next section.

The world we live in today is filled with people who deny the deity of Jesus Christ, including many who even deny the existence of God. But that will not be the case in the kingdom. Isaiah 11:9, quoted above, states that, "... the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

Life Spans Increased

Here is another passage which is loaded with information. Isaiah 65:20-25 says, "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."

There are many key statements in this passage. We see a great increase in life spans. Like the previously mentioned Isaiah 11 passage which says that "... the leopard shall lie down with the kid ...", many have taken what this passage says about the long life spans and tried to spiritualize (allegorically interpret) the truth away from it, saying it is not literal. However, not only will life spans literally be longer, but this too was this way before the great flood.

In the genealogy from Adam to Noah given in Genesis 5 and 9:29, there are extremely long life spans. When we exclude Enoch who was taken by God (Genesis 5:24) at the age of 365 years and Lamech who died at the age of 777 years, we find that all of the other eight lived between 895 and 969 years. After the great flood, there was a rapid drop in life span to a little over 400 years. Around the time of the tower of Babel, life spans dropped to a little over 200 years. Then they began to slowly decrease to more modern life spans over a period of hundreds of years.

Of course many will say that the idea of humans having lived for more than 900 years is ridiculous. However, the following factors produced great changes in man's environment and/or lifestyle. Without speculating on the positive or negative effects these factors may have had on life span, some of them are: (1) Prior to the flood it did not rain on the earth, rather the earth was watered by mist that came up from the ground (Genesis 2:5-6). (2) As previously mentioned, it was after the great flood that man began to eat meat for the first time (Genesis 9:3). (3) The removal of the vast layer of waters above the firmament (Genesis 1:7 and 7:11) may have effected the sun's rays, the earth's magnetic field, or the air pressure. (4) After the flood, the human race was replenished through only eight people (Genesis 6:18) which required the marriage of some near relatives. These factors and others not contemplated here may have had a tremendous effect on human life. We are not capable of determining what all of the effects might be, except to say that the ramifications would be great. So we should take God at his Word (something we should do anyway) when He tells us about the life spans of those who lived before the flood and those who will live in the coming kingdom.

In the Isaiah 65:20-25 passage we also see normal, everyday life taking place. 

This passage also provides further evidence of carnivorous animals becoming herbivores, which we have already discussed.,

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The Millennial Kingdom Reign of Jesus Christ