Contemplative Bible Reading

Micah 4:3 (New Living Translation)

The Lord will mediate between peoples
and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore.

At first, I thought this was the famous phrase that is at the United Nations and all that. Everyone quotes this when they want a handy cliche about the world’s nations living in peace even for just a short time.

All those quotes, however, point to Isaiah chapter 2. The Isaiah passage is identical in at least this one verse.

The Old Testament prophets were told by Jehovah God the Creator that there would be a time when He would rule the nations and they would all live at peace with one another. These poetic lines described the situation as mankind no longer needing any weapons of war. The metal, that precious item, would be changed into implements for farming.

Well, we aren’t there yet. God’s promise remains for us to come to pass one day.