Isaiah 65:24

The earth will freely give its produce, and all evil will be removed, just as Isaiah said … for God has refashioned such a world in his kingdom just as it had been made in the beginning before the first-made human being ruined it, who after he had disobeyed the word of God all things were spoiled and ruined and cursed by God’s word: “the earth will be cursed in your works.” The former shape of this world will become the kingdom of the saints and the liberation of the creatures.

Through all of these events is demonstrated the change of evil beings into good, who will be innocent once their old violence has been laid aside. This does not happen outside the holy mountain of the Lord, but on it, that is, in the church and within the profession of the mountain of him by whom the king of Tyre was wounded. He who was cast down from the mountain without hands “grew into a great mountain and filled the world.” Let us inquire of the Jews about this passage, along with all Christians who still feed on the chaff of the Scriptures, which, once separated from the grain by the Lord’s winnowing fork, will be given over to wind and fire. Let us ask them: what blessedness should be attributed in the thousand-year reign to Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the city of the presiding Messiah? What blessedness to the most holy temple, where the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the cow, serpents and people will eat and dwell together? Are these the only creatures that are to be judged harmless to those who will dwell on the holy mountain of the Lord? Are we to understand from this, therefore, that everything outside of the mountain is to be killed and that all the earth will be denuded of wolves, lions, bears, panthers, serpents, with other animals, and of the immense forest and the desert of Egyptian solitude, which is fertile with poisonous animals? Are we to understand that the holy city is not only for the ultimate happiness of man, but also will be a home for beasts and serpents, such that, according to the prophecy above, “the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard with the goat, and the bull and the lion and the cow and the bear will rest together, and a small child will rule them and an infant recently weaned will put his hand in the den of the asp.”

(Verse 23 onwards) For according to the days of a tree, the days of my people will be, and the work of their hands will grow old with my chosen. They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth children in trouble, for they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants will be with them. And before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They shall do no harm, neither shall they kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. LXX: For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people: and the works of their hands shall be multiplied. My chosen ones shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for a curse: for they are the seed blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer them: while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together: the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat dust like bread. They will not harm or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord. The dwelling and plantation of the righteous will be eternal, so that the days of the life of my people may be compared to the days of the life of the tree, about which it is said in the Psalms: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), triumphing over their adversaries daily and displaying the emblem of victory. However, if we read it according to the Septuagint, we understand 'the days of the life of the tree,' which conveys more the meaning from the Hebrew rather than the words, and we understand it as the tree of life that was situated in paradise. So that Adam would not extend his hand to live, he was driven out of paradise (Genesis, III). In the custody of which, Cherubim, that is, a multitude of knowledge, and a fiery sword was placed to guard the way of the tree of life, so that Adam, who was in sin and not yet aware of his sins, would not eat from it and die from the death of impenitence, desperation, and pride. Solomon explains more clearly what this tree of life is, who, discussing the wisdom of God, says: The tree of life is for all who approach it, and who rely on it, as a firm foundation on the Lord (Proverbs III, 18); there is no doubt that it signifies the Word of God, who himself is the way and wisdom, and speaks of himself: I am the life (John XI, 25). And as the Prophet sings: You have made everything in wisdom: the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24); and the Apostle Paul: Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). The works of the people of God will also not grow old, but will be renewed daily, so that they do not walk in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit (Romans 7). Just as through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man, many will be made righteous. Certainly, this must be said, that the works of those whose house is founded upon rock endure forever, and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3): and on the contrary, the works of those whose house is founded upon sand perish in a sudden tempest; and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with wood, hay, and straw. Does it not seem to you that their works grow old every day, who, forgetting the past, extend into the future? Both the old and the new are called the Testament: not that the old one perishes, but that the new one does not succeed it. This can also be said in accordance with the Hebrew, that the works of the people and of those who believe in Christ are the fruits of the Apostles, that is, of the elect of God, and are stored in their treasuries. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20). These people will not labor in vain, as the Jews once labored; but they will eat the labors of their hands. They will not generate in confusion or in curse, and, as is more expressly put in Hebrew, into non-existence, which in their language is called Labala ( Al. Labaala), that is, that they should cease to be and have an end to their substance: for which reason Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted it as hastening: so that they should not believe without reason, but imitate Nathanael, who was praised by the voice of the Lord, Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47), who sought Christ by the authority of the Scriptures and desired to know about the prophets, saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And the meaning is: How do you bring the Messiah to me from Galilee and Nazareth, when I know that he was promised to come from Bethlehem in Judah? Therefore, the apostles and apostolic men will generate children in such a way that they instruct them from the Holy Scriptures, so that they do not imitate the curse of the Jews, but rather say with the Prophet: From your fear, Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have given birth and brought forth (Isaiah 26:18). For it was said of them: Blessed shall be the offspring of your womb (Deuteronomy 28:4). These are the sons of Abraham, who do his works: and in the old history they are called the sons of the Prophets (John VIII): such as in the new Testament the apostles begot (Acts XVI), Paul begot Timothy, Luke, and Titus, and many others; Peter begot Mark the evangelist, and the others, whose blessed seed is, and thus far blessed, and the sons remain of their sons. Concerning whom the Prophet says: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, he will greatly desire his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. (Psalm 112:1-2) And elsewhere: Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:4-5) On the contrary, it is said of Judas, the traitor, and all who are like him, Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. Let his children wander and beg; let them be driven out of their ruined homes. (Psalm 109:9-10) For the end of a wicked generation is the worst. They conceive sorrow and give birth to iniquity. Concerning them it is written: Behold, he travailed with injustice, he has conceived sorrow, and has brought forth iniquity (Psalm 7:15). But if this is said of the wicked, how then did Samuel, a blessed and righteous man, beget wicked sons who did not walk in their father's ways (1 Samuel 8)? And David, from whose seed Christ was born, begot two sons, Amnon and Absalom, one of whom became the murderer of his brother and the other the murderer of his father (2 Samuel 13, 15, and 16)? From all these things we learn that sons and grandsons should be understood according to what we have said. Therefore, Paul also begets sons until Christ is formed in them, and Onesimus is begotten in chains (Gal. IV). When they cry out, they are immediately heard, and when they speak, the Lord will say, 'Here I am.' All these things we also see fulfilled according to the letter in the Acts of the Apostles. For all the nations could not have believed in such a short time unless their faith had been somehow forced out by the miracles of signs. For while the Apostles and apostolic men were speaking and shouting out, the Lord would respond with the greatness of signs, such as when Dorcas rose up at the prayers of Peter (Acts 9), when the father of Publius on the island of Melita, who was suffering from fevers and dysentery, which are diseases that are contrary to each other, was healed by the prayers of Paul (Acts 28), and when the whole world declared that gods were walking among men (Acts 28). At that time, the wolf and the lamb were grazing together, the persecutor Paul and the disciple Ananias (Acts 9). That wolf, of which it is written: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27); or as it is said in Hebrew, he will divide the spoils. Whose teaching was the food of believers, and who triumphed over vanquished adversaries in the whole world. But all who believe are lambs, who follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Apoc. XIV), whom the Lord handed over to Peter to feed, saying: Feed my lambs (John XXI, 16). The lion also, like an ox, will eat straw, when the most eloquent men, once powerful in the world, submit themselves to rusticity, so that they may not feed on worldly eloquence, which trickles like honey from the lips of a harlot, but rather follow lowliness and straw in history until they earn the wheat of understanding with much labor and industry. Concerning these straw and wheat, Jeremiah speaks: 'What has straw to do with wheat?' says the Lord (Jeremiah 13:28). And it must be considered that it is not the ox that turns into madness, but the lion that is transformed into gentleness. The serpent that observed the heel of the man, and whose head was observed by the man, will by no means be nourished by the destruction of others, but will eat the earth, or rather dust, as bread (Genesis 3). Or certainly it must be understood that the devil, who previously fed on the deaths of men, will only devour those who are dust and earth: through which everything demonstrates the transformation of evils into good, those who are innocent will be, with the ancient ferocity abandoned: not outside, but on the holy mountain of the Lord, that is, in the Church, and in the confession of that mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded, and having been cut from the mountain without hands, grew into a great mountain, and filled the world (Daniel 2). Let us ask in this place the Jews, and all those who still eat the chaff of the Scriptures under the name of Christian, which will be separated from the wheat in the Lord's winnowing fan and will be delivered to the wind and the flames, how the beatitude is to be estimated, namely in the thousand-year kingdom, on Mount Zion, the city of present Christ's Jerusalem; and in the most august Temple, will wolves and lambs, lions and oxen, serpents and humans eat together and live together in harmony? And will these (i.e. the holy ones) alone be harmless, who have dwelt on the holy mountain of the Lord? From which we understand that all who are outside the mountain are to be killed. Therefore, the entire world will be laid bare for wolves, lions, bears, leopards, and serpents, and all other beasts; and the vast forests, and the Egyptian wilderness, which is fertile with venomous animals, and the city of the holy ones will be a dwelling not only for humans, but also for beasts and serpents, as according to the earlier prophecy, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the goat, the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall all die together. And a little child shall lead them, and an infant shall put his hand into the hole of the asp, and shall destroy the brood of the reptile in its lair. (Isaiah 11) And the cause of such great happiness is because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

This is a prediction Isaiah made previously after having announced the growth from the stem of Jesse. Now, we see the fulfillment of this prophecy as rulers and ruled, kings and servants, wise and foolish will share a common table—that is, the teaching of the Spirit. For he calls those who live in moderation lambs, whereas those with high ambitions are wolves. The lion is the one exalted to royal status, cattle are those worthy of the priesthood, and straw is the food of cattle. The lion will no longer be a carnivore but shall share the food of the cattle.

“And the serpent shall eat dust as bread.” This is the food that the righteous Judge has assigned to it from the beginning: “On your breast and belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life.” And so Isaiah calls the common enemy of humanity a serpent. He has subjected him to the ancient curse. This is similarly indicated in the passage that follows: “They shall not injure or destroy on my holy mountains, says the Lord.” All strength had been removed from him, not only from the fact that he crept on the ground but also that the saints had trampled him under foot and the wood of the cross crushed him.