Isaiah 11:9 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." How do they cover it? 1. Completely. There are no gaps or interspaces. The sailor is glad to get out into the open sea. Near the land he is watchful, but when his pathless track lies far from the shore he is more at ease. 2. They cover it, too, abundantly. There is nothing scanty about the sea The average depth, geographers tells us, is about thirteen times the average height of land above sea level. 3. They also cover it helpfully. The waters seem to sever country from country, but, really, they are the best means of bringing far separate lands into communication with each other. What a grand picture, then, is here suggested with regard to the knowledge of God! It will cover the earth completely. All shall know Him from the least to the greatest. It will be an abundant knowledge. As it is, the earth is full of the glory of the Lord. Everywhere, God. The cataract utters forth God. "Every common bush afire with God," but too often we only "sit round it and pick blackberries." It is one thing for God to be everywhere, it is another thing for God to be recognised everywhere. It will also be a helpful knowledge. It will not lead us to make less of this world's duties, but more. As the waters that seem to separate, yet connect all the more closely, remote lands, so the more truly men know God, the better will they know each other, and the grander will seem the duties of the common day. One great blessing resulting from that knowledge is specially mentioned in the chapter — "They shall not hurt nor destroy." It is something one can hardly imagine, that beautiful time when nature shall no more be "red in tooth and claw." It may be but a poetical description of the peace and harmony of the Messiah's kingdom. But there is one part, at least, will be literally true. However it be with regard to the attitude of beasts to men, or to each other, man's attitude to the beasts will be one of thoughtfulness, gentleness, and mercy. It is said that a man's dog should be the better for his Christianity, and so it will. "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." And, of course, still more will it be true that man's attitude to his fellow man will be what it ought to be. One of the saddest thoughts in connection with this earth of ours, as it is, is the frightful callousness and unconcern with regard to human life where God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is not known. Think of a country like Dahomey, where the most prized ornaments are human heads stuck on poles along the highways. The Church of Christ may be far from perfect in our own day, but, at least, it stands for much that is beautiful and helpful among men, and it labours and prays for the fulfilment of its hope that righteousness and peace shall at last e universal. One comprehends that the Church — even the visible building of stone and lime — stands for some measure of realised blessing among men, by even such a simple story as that of the shipwrecked mariners, in doubt as to what sort of coast they had been cast upon, — whether the inhabitants were cannibals, or with some humanity in them, — and whose fears were quite relieved when one of their number, who had climbed a neighbouring hill, came rushing back, shouting, "It's all right. We are safe. I saw a church spire in the distance." The most practical and visible result of the universal knowledge of the Lord will be that men's relationship to each other will be of the happiest and most helpful kind. (J. S. Maver, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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