The wolf also shall, etc. "Then shall the wolf," etc. - The idea of the renewal of the golden age, as it is called, is much the same in the Oriental writers with that of the Greeks and Romans: - the wild beasts grow tame; serpents and poisonous herbs become harmless; all is peace and harmony, plenty and happiness: -

Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni Occidet.

Vega. Eclog. 4:24.

"The serpent's brood shall die. The sacred ground

Shall weeds and noxious plants refuse to bear."

- Nec magnos metuent armenta leones.

Virg. Eclog. 4:22.

"Nor shall the flocks fear the great lions."

Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circum,

Nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat: acrior illum

Cura domat: timidae damae cervique fugaces

Nunc interque canes, et circum tecta vagantur.

Virg. Georg. 3:537.

"The nightly wolf that round the enclosure prowled,

continued...

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...

Ezekiel 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land...

Hosea 2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven...

Acts 9:13-20 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem...

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters...

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead...

Galatians 3:26,27 For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus...

Ephesians 4:22-32 That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts...

Colossians 3:3-8 For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God...

Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy...

Philemon 1:9 Yet for love's sake I rather beseech you, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

16

Revelation 5:9,10 And they sung a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for you were slain...

The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations, …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Thou Shalt not Commit Adultery.
In this Commandment too a good work is commanded, which includes much and drives away much vice; it is called purity, or chastity, of which much is written and preached, and it is well known to every one, only that it is not as carefully observed and practised as other works which are not commanded. So ready are we to do what is not commanded and to leave undone what is commanded. We see that the world is full of shameful works of unchastity, indecent words, tales and ditties, temptation to which …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

The Child-Life in Nazareth
THE stay of the Holy Family in Egypt must have been of brief duration. The cup of Herod's misdeeds, but also of his misery, was full. During the whole latter part of his life, the dread of a rival to the throne had haunted him, and he had sacrificed thousands, among them those nearest and dearest to him, to lay that ghost. [1084] And still the tyrant was not at rest. A more terrible scene is not presented in history than that of the closing days of Herod. Tormented by nameless fears; ever and again …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah