Skip to main content

Swords into Ploughshares! (Isa 2:4)

Have you ever wondered what it means the prophecy of Isaiah which reads “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks? Well, it simply means that a situation of war will be turned into a situation of peace. But why swords and ploughshares? The sword in the bible was an instrument of war. But not just war. It was a symbol of violence. The first story of violence in the Bible was that of Cain and Abel (Gen 4), when an elder brother killed his own younger brother. The ploughshare was a farming implement. The first farmer was Adam, the father of Cain and Abel, whom YHWH commanded to till the garden of Eden and care for it (Gen 2:15). The prophecy of Isaiah is thus a vision of a return from violence to what God originally intended – the peace of Eden. This is what God intends for us this week. May God banish from your heart every violence and return  you to the peace in which you were created.

Comments

  1. Amen...
    I guess the country Ghana and Africa at large needs this peace of Eden too... may God banish any form of violence, especially in the coming year of elections, and return us into the peace in which He created us. Amen...
    For Ghana and Africa we pray, in Jesus name. Amen.

    Thank you Father...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rev. Fr. Michael Mensah, SSD Fr. Michael Kodzo Mensah is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana. He is a Biblical Exegete and holds a Doctorate in Sacred Scriptures from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, Italy. He is currently a Formator and Academic Dean of St. Paul’s Catholic Seminary, Sowutuom in Accra, Ghana.

…they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Mt. 2:11)

Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant king born in Bethlehem. But is that the first time someone brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to Israel? By no means!  We could recall an episode in 1 Kgs. 10 in which a certain queen of Sheba having heard of the wise king Solomon also brought gifts to him. The passage recalls that she brought gold and a large quantity of spices. In fact, in Isa. 60:6, there is a veiled reference to this episode when it mentions that gold and frankincense will be brought to Jerusalem from Sheba. Again, in 1 Kgs. 10:25, myrrh is mentioned as one of the gifts brought to Solomon. So why gold, frankincense and myrrh? Gold is definitely a royal gift. Solomon was a King and a wealthy one too. Gold was an acknowledgement of his economic prowess and of his good fortune. Frankincense was also expressive of another reality. In 1 Kgs. 8, Solomon had just built a temple; one that had g...

THE BOOK IS HERE!

Breaking The Word (Year A) is the first in the series of a three-volume work dedicated to the explanation of scripture readings for Sundays and Feast days, according to the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. The author leads the reader to discover new insights into these passages of Holy Scripture by returning to the original texts in Hebrew and Greek as the basis for the interpretation of these passages.  The book is thus the perfect study manual for both preacher and student not only in terms of content but also in terms of the exegetical methods which the author employs on every page of this work. It is also the perfect companion for everyone of Christ’s faithful who feels that restless desire to go deeper below the surface of the Word of God proclaimed on Sundays and Feast days.