“For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD” (Isa 11:9)

The passage of Isa. 11:1-10 is one of the most beautiful passages in the entire bible. The passage speaks about the coming of the Messiah with most idyllic language:

⁷ The cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play over the den of the adder; the baby will put his hand into the viper's lair. ⁹ No hurt, no harm will be done on all my holy mountain, for the country will be full of knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:7-9 NJB)

The scenes described are unmistakable. They are those of the garden of Eden, where there was no hurt and no harm. The Messiah is filled with knowledge (Isa. 11:2), the same gift that was lost through the misadventure of Adam and Eve.

What then is the way of return to Eden? The way of return is the way of conversion. John the Baptist in the Gospel invites us to return to the wilderness. The wilderness symbolizes Sinai, the place where Israel as a nation was born. It is the place where God revealed himself and his word to Moses and where Israel promised to do whatever He said (Exo. 20:19). It is to the wilderness that John invites us, not to meet Moses, but this time, to encounter the Word made flesh himself.

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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.

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.

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.

BREAKING THE WORD

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