What About the Future?

Why is peace between man and beast so appealing? It is because humans were originally created to be at peace with the animals, even those categorized as wild.

When God made the first man and woman, he put them in a paradise area of the earth to enjoy life. It was his purpose for them to have children and to expand the boundaries of that original Paradise until it encompassed the whole earth. In that entire realm, mankind was to have the animals in peaceful subjection.

The Genesis account states: “Let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth. . . . After that God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.”​—Genesis 1:26-31; 2:9.

This subjection of the animals was not to be with brutality. Humans and animals were purposed to live together in peace. This can be seen by the fact that when the animals passed before man to be named, he was not armed. And there was no mention of fear displayed by either man or beast.​—Genesis 2:19, 20.

Original Purpose to Be Fulfilled

Happily, that original purpose of God will soon be carried out, when all man-made governments have been replaced by the Kingdom of God, which rules from heaven. (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:9, 10) With God-rule totally reestablished over the entire earth, God’s original purpose for earth and its human and animal inhabitants will proceed to be fulfilled.

The transforming effects of God’s righteous rule are nicely described in many Bible prophecies. For example, note what Isaiah wrote under inspiration: “The wolf will actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”​—Isaiah 11:6, 7, 9.

Other prophecies also show the profound peace that will exist in God’s new world. In this regard Micah foretold: “They will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble.”​—Micah 4:3, 4.

None of the wild animals will then disturb mankind’s peace, for God’s prophetic word says: “I will conclude with them a covenant of peace, and I shall certainly cause the injurious wild beast to cease out of the land, and they will actually dwell in the wilderness in security and sleep in the forests. . . . And they will actually prove to be on their soil in security.”​—Ezekiel 34:25, 27.

So the peace and harmony throughout that restored Paradise will be complete. That is why conditions there could be described in the last book of the Bible this way: “‘[God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’ And the One seated on the throne said: ‘Look! I am making all things new.’ Also, he says: ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’”​—Revelation 21:4, 5.

Yes, faithful and true. This means that we can depend on God’s promises, for unlike imperfect humans, he has the power, the wisdom, and the determination to carry out his purposes. As one of God’s faithful servants in ancient times said: “Not one word out of all the good words that Jehovah your God has spoken to you has failed. They have all come true for you. Not one word of them has failed.”​—Joshua 23:14; see also Isaiah 55:11.

We can have the same confidence that soon, in God’s new world, his original purpose for this earth, for humans, and for animals will be fulfilled. God-given peace will become an earth-wide reality. And not only will such peace reign among humans but it will also be reflected in the animal realm.