Baptist City Blog

Peace is Not So Peaceful

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."

One of the main desires of the world is world peace. One of the mantras of the politician is to bring peace. Preachers desire that there is peace among each other. Pastors desire to have peace in their church. Parents desire to have peace in the home. The desire for peace is certainly a great desire; however, peace is not an object that you just give away. Peace is the byproduct of following certain actions.

In the verse above, we see the epitome of peace. Imagine the wolf and the lamb living together in peace. Imagine the leopard and the young goat lying down with each other. Imagine a lion and a young calf playing together. To top it all off, imagine a child leading all of these animals. That is what God said will happen one day. However, you will find in verses 4-5, that peace is not obtained in a peaceful way. In order to have peace, there are some things that must be present for peace to be discovered.

First, justice must be present to have peace. God teaches that if you want peace then you must be fair in your judgment. You can't let the poor be punished more, or less, because of their condition. Everyone must be treated fairly. It does not matter what the place is, if people are not treated in a fair manner, then you will not have peace. A nation that gives to the poor and takes from the rich will not obtain peace. A home where one child is treated differently than another will not have peace. A church where one class of people are treated differently than another class will not have peace. Justice must be present to have peace.

Second, punishment must be present to have peace. This sounds strange, but God said the "rod" must be used. The "rod" is a symbol of punishment. So, to have peace people must be punished for doing wrong. If people never get punished when they do wrong, then peace will not be present. Though administering punishment is never easy, if you want peace then you must punish the wrong doer.

Third, rebuke must be present if you want peace. God says that we must "reprove" fairly to have peace. This is simply rebuking someone when they do wrong. This is actually a step before punishment. If a parent never rebukes their child, then that child will bring unrest to the home. Reproving someone is rebuking them and instructing them in the rebuke. In other words, it is telling people why they are wrong. If someone never knows why they do wrong, then they will do wrong again.

Fourth, wickedness must be removed. This is not popular, but this is why capital punishment must be administered to those who kill people. This may seem inhumane to some, but this is what brings peace. If wickedness is not removed, then it will only breed more wickedness. You cannot allow wickedness in a society and have peace.

Fifth, righteousness must be present. Right living always brings peace. Yes, you must tell people not to do things, but you must also tell people what they must do. Righteousness is doing right acts. You can say that you don't do certain things, but what do you do that is right? Righteousness is more than removing the vices of sin. It is doing acts of right to others. Peace will not be present until people get busy doing right acts.

Last, it takes God's Word to have peace. Throughout these verses you see God's Word is present. That means if God's Word is present, then He is present. A home, church, society or nation can only have peace when they make God's Word a part of their daily lives. Peace is a wonderful thing to desire, but you will never obtain peace without God's Word.