Humanity is in desperate need of peace. We need peace between nations. Peace between neighbours. And we need peace of mind.
Yet this peace seems elusive. On a national front, Russia has just invaded Ukraine; there are tensions over China’s desire to take back Taiwan; the pushing of Iran for influence in the Middle East; and North Korea continues to test ballistic missiles. Significant world powers are only ever a few steps away from military conflict. On a neighbour front, the West’s move towards identity politics, where we are dividing our society into tribes, vying for rights, and setting them against one another, resulting in a more conflict-filled culture. And on a personal front, after a global pandemic, our mental wellbeing is at an all-time low, with loneliness and depression crippling individuals. Will peace in all these areas ever be possible?
The answer to this question is no, not with Man. But there is good news! Individual and universal peace is coming soon to Earth. A peace that will be agreed by all humanity—a treaty that will be made with all those living— will once and for all bring peace between nation, neighbour, and peace of mind.
This peace for all mankind will finally come when Jesus the Messiah returns to establish His kingdom on Earth, making a new covenant with all humanity.
Every day when Christians pray the words from the Lord’s prayer “Thy kingdom come”, we admit that we need God’s help to bring peace to all people on Earth. Peace does not come naturally to mankind but instead, because of our pride, greed, and selfishness, we war. But for true peace to come, we need God’s peace, joy, love, and leadership —His mind and heart—His Spirit, which imparts His nature and character.
Millions of people are today living in situations of war, famine, poverty, and injustice. War is the result of a struggle for power and of greed; it is the result of the wrong use of the free will God has given mankind. But when God’s kingdom comes, He will enter into a treaty of peace with all peoples on Earth. This is the hope for the future expressed in the Messianic prophecies of the Bible: that God will establish His good rule and government on Earth.
“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.”
There is a hope-filled prophecy in the Bible that describes such a treaty as a ”covenant of peace”—this phrase is only used three times in Scripture. The prophet Ezekiel uses it twice (the only other use comes from the lips of Isaiah). Writing to the whole of Israel in captivity in Babylon, Ezekiel is inspired to write God’s promise:
“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.’ ”
Ezekiel 37:26-28
But what is this covenant of peace?
As we have discussed in an earlier blog, the concept of peace from the Hebrew meaning of the word (the language used in writing the Old Testament) is rich in meaning and diagnostic of mankind’s condition. Peace in Hebrew is about being in a state of completeness and wholeness, a state of wellbeing. However, this being complete and whole does not come from material possessions, money, our spouse, comfort, promotions at work—we all have a spiritual hole in us, a need for something which can only be satisfied by something bigger than us, something spiritual. This peace—complete wellbeing—is offered to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. For in acceptance of His death we are reconciled to God, and saved by His resurrection by receiving the Holy Spirit—God’s nature—as He lives in and through us, transforming us into the image of God—our true purpose.
Peace is only possible in proximity to God. It is the personal presence of God with us that allows the possibility of peace. The words ”I will be their God, and they shall be My people” is the most basic covenant formula—the very formula that existed in Eden, when we walked personally with God and He with us. It is this restoration of harmony and relationship that heals something in us that is broken. It is God with us and in us that is the necessary component for humanity to heal and be at peace with their Maker, neighbour, and self.
But there’s another dimension to achieving this covenant of peace on Earth.
These words above from Ezekiel are the epicentre and prelude to one of the most stunning prophetic visions in Scripture—the vision of a restored people, in a restored land, with a restored Temple. This vision describes detail and beauty in equal measure from chapters 40 to 48. But why is this covenant of peace linked so closely with the promise of a ”sanctuary in their [Israels] midst”?
The answer to that lies in the revelation of the purpose of this House of God. This future house will be one of education, administration, and worship, helping change our hearts from stone to flesh and transforming us into the image of God. Because from this house God ”will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths”. The hearing and heeding of God’s way of life will lead to peace between nation, neighbour, and peace in our own minds.
Throughout history, millions of people have looked to this time, when God will intervene and lead mankind to live at peace. Truly it is a day to look forward to!
