Hi Tom, I like very much your idea of the cultural metaphor...and a good one too, for us to aspire towards...reflecting more the overall message of the whole Bible than a literal verse.
Thanks, Virginia, but it's really not my idea. When I post a sentence or a group thereof in italics, it means that I am quoting from the link I list.
If I do not post a link, you can google whatever is in italics to find the site from which I got the information.
Here's the line from the link that comes immediately after "It has become a cultural metaphor." It’s musical. Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, all covered the Thomas Dorsey song "Peace in the Valley." The song includes the words: “The bear will be gentle, and the wolves will be tame. And the lion shall lay down by the lamb, oh yes.”
And...where you able to download that issue on color?
They probably don't know the verse well enough and are incorrectly paraphrasing maybe? The only verse I know of like that reads: "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." It's in Isaiah and is pretty widely believed to refer to Jesus and possibly Judas.
I gotta confess that in all my decades on this planet not a single soul has ever walked up to me in the street and said, "Hey, Didge! The lion will lay down with the lamb." I sincerely hope that nobody ever does.
It's not a big deal though: lots of things get misquoted over the years. People misremember a quote, repeat it, and somebody else passes it on. Happens in lots of areas.
It's Isaiah 11:6 King James Bible 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.
It kinda means the same thing. I can see where people can get it mixed up. http://www.learnthebible.org/the-lion-and-lamb.html
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 25, 2017 3:44 PM MDT
In the 19th century Americans started moving west and three institutions went with them. There was vaudeville, traveling entertainment. There was lyceum, traveling education and culture. And there was the itinerant preacher, offering a new style of preaching called "hell fire and brim stone". It was very entertaining, only loosely based on scripture, and pastors didn't even try to compete. Instead they switched to preaching public morality and philosophy. Eventually an entire generation grew up not knowing the first thing about the religion they claimed to believe. That is why most Christian churches don't teach doctrines, and most members don't know what they are supposed to believe.
Perhaps someone was going from memory and confused lion with wolf or something? Either way it looks like the point is that even the animals will be at peace when Jesus takes over the affairs of the earth.
(Isaiah 65:25) The wolf and the lamb will feed together, The lion will eat straw just like the bull, And the serpent’s food will be dust. They will do no harm nor cause any ruin in all my holy mountain,” says Jehovah. (Isaiah 11:6) The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them.
Why wouldn't a serpent have the same right as any other animal and human, from God's creation, in God's holy mountain, to eat the same straw? The wolf, lion, and leopard, are more likely to do harm and cause ruin in the holy mountain, than the serpent. The continuous accumulation (for eternity) of animal and human defecation and urine, is more like to harm and cause ruin to any mountain. I'm hoping JW's will take on the task of cleaning after these beasts and maintaining the landscape for the feasts celebrated by humans, as illustrated in JW material.
I really think that most is just have heard it over and over and just never actually looked it up. I was in that category for years. And as someone said earlier the phrase is used in a song that was released by some older country singers. So they heard it in the song and never verified it.