Return to the ... wild?

Tonight I joined my wife on a trip to the art museum. We took part in a joint book/art discussion. The book was "Born Free", which might be remembered for the movie adaptation (I hadn't read or seen either, but I think everyone can hum the title line from the soundtrack). What interested me was the discussion among those who came and the staff at the museum. A central theme was the question of domestication. The book, "Born Free", is an autobiography written by a European woman who traveled to Africa around the mid 1900's and there raised a lioness cub. Though treated in many ways as a pet, eventually she and her husband allowed the lioness to "return to the wild". I was struck with the quote. Is that a "return"?

During a portion where we were shown an exhibit from the natural history museum and addressed by one of the educators there, I learned about something new. From the 1950's to the 1970's, the Soviets ran a program attempting to tame foxes through selective breeding. The result, following about 40 generations of selection, is a fox that is domesticated. In some ways, it doesn't fit with my mind to think of a fox that is also tame. It's almost an oxymoron, right? A sharp sphere, or  a black light, or Microsoft Works. But, it exists! A fox which acts like a dog, is kind to humans, obeys commands. But this got me thinking, how do we think about a certain, well-known passage?

Isaiah 11:6-7
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
  and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
  and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
  and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
  their young shall lie down together;
  and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The picture of what the shoot of Jesse, Jesus Christ, brings is peace amongst mortal enemies. But, also, there seems to be a return. None of them eats meat, but returns to eating only vegetables. This is a return to the Garden. There, God gave only plants for food for all creatures; for man (Gen. 1:29) and for animal (Gen. 1:30). This is the way things started, without animals eating other animals. But, there's something more.

In the Garden of Eden, God gave Man (Adam and Eve) dominion over all the other creatures. In Gen. 1:26, 28, God made man to rule over all. Wouldn't it seem that God made all the animals domesticated? They were made for Adam to rule from the beginning. The reason why the idea of a tame fox -- or a tame lion who could lie down with a lamb -- is so foreign to us is that Adam sinned. We do not live in paradise, but in a fallen world. What is normal for us is actually not normal. God cursed the ground for Adam's sin, that it would bring forth thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:18). In so cursing His creation, God allowed the creation which had been placed under Adam to rebel. This is the curse. Isaiah speaks of such reversal occurring as a curse, in which the creatures take dominion in cities previously inhabited by humans.

Isaiah 13:21-22
But wild animals will lie down there,
  and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
  there ostriches will dwell,
  and there wild goats will dance.
Hyenas will cry in its towers,
  and jackals in the pleasant palaces;
  its time is close at hand
  and its days will not be prolonged.

But, again, the promise is that Man is restored to dominion in Jesus Christ. Man -- rightfully, justly, and without exploitation -- ruling over the creatures for eternity. In the New Heavens and the New Earth, will there be lions? I think so, but they will be the lions perhaps in a way we haven't seen. They will be lions who are a delight to mankind and who do not kill their fellow creatures. They will be made new even as we and the rest of creation are made new. Praise Jesus Christ!

So, thinking again about the lioness in "Born Free" "returning to the wild". I don't look forward to a day when all the zoos are emptied as the animals "return to the wild". I look forward to the greater day when all creation no longer groans (Rom. 8:22), when the ground ceases rebelling with thorns and the animals cease rebelling with violence. The lion (and fox and wolf) will lie down with the lamb. And those who are righteous in Christ will all dwell in the light of the Lamb (Rev. 21:23).