Hi all
Please let me share an interest that has been consuming me of late
‘The Lamb will lie down with the Lion’
We are told that this might not be an exact quote from the Bible but a combination of ideas from a couple verses in Isaiah. But of this I am not convinced. I will let you be the judge.

Isaiah 11:6 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.

Isaiah 65:25 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

Taking any number of commentaries on these passages, they will all tell you that this deals with the kingdom age on this earth. The ferocious beasts like the lion will live in perfect harmony with the lamb laying down together. This is when Jesus’ millennial kingdom will have come.

While I do not deny the accuracy of the interpretation offered above, I have been struck of late by something I believe The Spirit to be revealing which I had previously never seen. Hiding things in plain sight seems to be something the Father seems to enjoy..until he provides us ‘with eyes that see’
In Mark 4 v12 Jesus explains why he teaches in parables and concludes with the following
‘so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving and ever hearing but never understanding’ That is until God gives us the vision

Isaiah 11:6 particularly interested me. It states ‘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.’ Was this a parable like Jesus talks of in Mark 4v12?
The particular part that I was led to was The lion and the fatling lying together’ Having no idea what a ‘fatling’ was meant I had to do some research. This is what I discovered

Dictionary.com defines Fatling as follows
Historical example The ‘fatling of the flock’ has been sheared closely..Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

British Dictionary definition for fatling
1. Noun A young farm animal fattened for killing

fatling in the Bible

1. A fatted animal for slaughter 2 Sam. 6:13; Isa. 11:6; Ezek. 39::18 meaning fattened cattle and lambs.

It was with some awe that I saw that the Lion and the Lamb mentioned in these Millennial passages might be the two identities and elements of God’s Messiah The Kingly Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Suffering servant the Lamb of God. The millennial age marks the time when these two aspects of our Saviour are finally restored to a peace and unity as humanity now is finally recovered to the Father. God’s work is done.
I am not denying the established orthodoxy on the Millennial age where hostilities that once existed because of sin will be corrected. But I think to see the God of all creation finally enjoying a Sabbath rest from his work is awesome.

Finally just as Genesis 3:14 stated and Isaiah 65 confirms in the millennial kingdom ‘dust shall be the serpent’s meat’ It is complete !! The Kingly Lion lays down with the Fatling Lamb.
Love and kind regards to all
Ozzie