Isaiah 11:6-9 (Minor and Major Fulfillment of Prophecy)-Modified Talk

Numerous Bible prophecies have a minor and major fulfilment; they are fulfilled in spiritual and physical senses. Isaiah 11 illustrates this principle since the prophecy applies to ancient Israelites, to our modern spiritual paradise as Jehovah's Witnesses, and to the coming earthly paradise. Tonight, we learn how the knowledge of Jehovah fills the earth today, but also how divine knowledge will pervade the earth during Jesus’ millennial reign.

Read Isaiah 11:3-5:

"And he will find delight in the fear of Jehovah. He will not judge by what appears to his eyes, Nor reprove simply according to what his ears hear. He will judge the lowly with fairness, And with uprightness he will give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth And put the wicked to death with the breath of his lips. Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, And faithfulness the belt of his hips."

Isaiah chapter 11 is a messianic prophecy: it speaks about the glorious reign of Jesus Christ.

Notice what kind of judge that Christ will be in the earthly paradise. Unlike human judges today, Jesus will be impartial and he will not judge based on outward appearances or external factors. Rather, Christ will judge the “secret person of the heart” (1 Peter 3:4). In this way, he sets an example for Christian elders, who must judge all sortsd of matters in the congregation today.

Christ gives reproof (correction) “with uprightness,” which serves as a model for how elders should offer counsel to erring sheep.

Counsel should be given with mildness, and for the benefit of Jehovah’s people. However, Jehovah’s knowledge fills the earth in other ways. Please turn to Isaiah 11:6-8 and let’s read those verses together:

"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. The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull. The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake."

How will this prophecy be fulfilled?

It might seem difficult to believe that wild animals will be at peace with humans (including young children), but scientists who have carefully studied wild animals report that they do have a "tremendous capacity for warm affection.” Therefore, it’s not totally surprising when Isaiah prophesies that a little boy will lead wild animals, and “a weaned child” will place his hand “over the den of a poisonous snake.” Our Grand Creator Jehovah can remove some of the fear that animals began to experience after the flood of Noah’s day (Genesis 9:2-3). Hosea 2:18 prophesies that humans and beasts will one day “lie down in security” when knowledge of Jehovah fills the earth.

Finally, Isaiah speaks of how divine knowledge will affect humans in Isaiah 11:9, if you’ll turn there with me:

"They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea."

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We see a threefold fulfilment with this verse. When the Israelites were released from Babylon by Cyrus the Great in late 538 or early 537 BCE, they did not have to fear wild animals or beastly men. In today’s spiritual paradise where divine knowledge has become abundant, we already witness violent humans becoming peaceful. Beastly men have forsaken their violent ways because they’re taught by Jehovah; however, the prophecy also will be fulfilled in the paradise earth where humans will practice no harm or ruin in Jehovah’s holy mountain:

“In the new world, we will experience to the full the blessings of the spiritual paradise. Then, our spiritual paradise will have its perfect counterpart—a literal paradise under the rulership of God’s Kingdom. During that time of global restoration, Jehovah will continue to mold earth’s inhabitants, educating them to a degree that we might now find hard to imagine" (Watchtower, June 16, pages 8-9).