Composer: Ross F. Jutsum
Performer: Rene Becktold (vocals)
Group: The Young Ambassadors
“It Won’t Be Long Now” performed by the Young Ambassadors.
This song reflects the hope of the coming World Tomorrow—a future time of peace, unity, and restoration described in the Bible. Its imagery is drawn from Book of Isaiah 11, which portrays a world transformed, where humanity and the natural world dwell together in harmony:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them…” (Isaiah 11:6, KJV)
The lyrics echo this vision, expressing the hope that war, fear, and division will give way to peace—when people of all nations join hands, children live without fear, and even the fiercest animals no longer harm one another. The recurring image of a child among the animals symbolizes innocence, safety, and a restored world where nothing is destroyed.
This presentation features a filmed performance recorded in the early 1980s at Ambassador Auditorium. The video was restored from VHS and upscaled to 4K at 60fps, while the audio was restored from a higher-quality cassette tape recording, preserving more musical detail than the original broadcast audio.
The goal of this restoration is not to modernize the performance, but to present it as faithfully and clearly as possible—presented as you’ve never seen it before, using original archival sources and careful restoration.
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
(Isaiah 11:6 KJV)
LYRICS:
It won’t be long now
Till the world is at peace
Till troubles have ceased
It won ‘t be long
It won’t be long now
Till the beauty we see
For the whole world will be
It won ‘t be long
The lamb will peacefully dwell with the lion
The leopard will lie down with the kid
The wolf and the bear will no longer be wild
Little child, it won ‘t be long now
It won’t be long now
Till all people join hands
From many a land
It won’t be long
It won’t be long now
Till the children will smile
And laugh all the while
It won’t be long
The lamb will peacefully dwell with the lion
The leopard will lie down with the kid
The wolf and the bear will no longer be wild
Little child, it won ‘t be long now
Little child, it won ‘t be long now