Reversing the call of Joel 3:10, the passage in Isaiah notes: 'They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.'
Particularly beloved is the prophecy found in Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Taking its cue from this famous verse, the presentation will also feature a selection of agricultural tools from Isaiah's time, as well as ancient emblems of peace.
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
Isaiah, a prophet in the eighth century BC, speaking to a nation that was under threat from both internal turmoil and an external military power, said: "They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they train for war any more."
Inspiration for the project came from the biblical reference in Isaiah (2.4) `..and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.'
Images of militaries engaging in rescue work may feel contrived, but they still offer a dim vision of what biblical prophets (and nonviolent activists) have long envisioned: The beating of swords into ploughshares, of spears into
pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4).
A world without war, where the lion and lamb feed together and swords are beaten into
pruning hooks, is part of God's call to peace but I think the peace God calls us all to is not an absence of something but a positive, tangible state that transcends boundaries personal and political.
I have a dream that swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into
pruning hooks, that My children will know they are members of one family, the human family, God's; family, My family."
Thus will the words of the Prophet be fulfilled: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation and they shall not learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4)
THEY shall beat their swords into ploughshares,and their spears into
pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation,neither shall they learn war any more ...
Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said: "People shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise sword against another, nor shall they train for war again." (Isaiah, 2:4).
That's enough for the bean-counters to reach for the
pruning hooks.
It is about discerning the
pruning hooks of the enemy and disempowering them before they rob us of the joy of knowing God's call in our lives.
Also, fuel for reactor electric plants will be those plowshares and
pruning hooks beaten from the world's nuclear swords.
The conversion from simple sword and spear production to that of plowshares and
pruning hooks poses less of a challenge than the one faced by producers of military electronics.
