Wolf

The wolf was the shepherd’s nightmare: a swift, cunning hunter that struck the flock especially by night, scattering and tearing the defenceless sheep. Its very nature was predatory, the opposite of the gentle lamb.

So Scripture makes the wolf the picture of those who prey on God’s people. Jesus warned of “false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,” and Paul cautioned that “grievous wolves” would enter the church, not sparing the flock. The hireling flees when he sees the wolf coming, but the good shepherd stays.

Yet the prophets hold out a stunning reversal for the age to come: “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,” all predation undone in the peace of the Messiah’s reign. The wolf names a present danger to be guarded against — and a hostility that God has promised one day to heal entirely.