This is the end of our 4-part Advent series in the book of Isaiah, and also the end of our series “In God We Trust” where we were reminded time and time again to place our trust in God alone. As part of Advent these four weeks, we have considered themes of waiting, beholding God’s beauty, God’s judgement, and salvation, etc.
Christmas can be a wonderful season of celebration, rest, precious time with family and friends, holidays, “let’s pick it up in January” messages at work, etc. Or at other times, Christmas seasons can disappoint us (it is not all that fun), or maybe we are just not in a jolly mood because things haven’t really changed for us except that there are more lights around. Work is just as busy and life is just as hard. In fact it is harder cause it seems that others are having a great time while our misery continues.
Do you enjoy the wonderful time and feels that the Christmas season brings, and in many ways, don’t want it to end? Come January however, what shall we be glad in? What will give us lasting joys and hope? What does God promise to those who trust in him? What is the outcome for those who have waited patiently for God’s salvation?
This is what Isaiah 35 addresses for us, and helps us see how God will renew all of creation and redeem/ransom a people for everlasting joy in his presence.
(A) The Promised Renewal of Creation (Isa 35:1-2b, 6b-7)
In the preceding verses, we’ve read about how God’s sword “descends for judgment upon Edom” who are descendants of Esau and represents all in opposition to God and His people (Isa 34:5). God will judge all his enemies (“Edom”) for the cause of Zion (Isa 34:8).
We also read of a description of Edom (Isa 34:9-14), where streams are turned into pitch (asphalt, tar, bitumen, etc.), soil into sulphur, land becomes burning pitch (Isa 34:9). The land lie waste, none should pass through it forever and ever: desolate and empty for eternity (Isa 34:10). Wild animals will come to dwell in it (Isa 34:11,14) and it will be filled with the hawk, porcupine, jackals, hyenas, etc. It houses no nobles, no princes, no kingdom nor civilization (Isa 34:12) and thorns, nettles and thistles grow (Isa 34:13).
This presents a pattern of destruction and de-creation. It brings to mind Genesis 3:17-18, God brings about the curse of the ground where thorns and thistles grow. We remember that in God’s judgment against sin, creation is cursed. Therefore, the immediate context of our passage is God’s terrible judgment on those opposed to him. The outcome is only of desolation forever and ever.
We pick up in Isaiah 35:1-2b, with a description of the lands. We see how “the wilderness and dry land shall be glad” and the “desert rejoice and blossom like the crocus” (Isa 35:1). It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing (Isa 35:2a). This is not just a flower or just a patch of flowers, but it is fields and fields of flowers. Can you imagine this in the wilderness, dry lands and desert? These are places you find cracked soil, sand, barrenness, lifelessness, etc. If you watch documentaries, they always tell you how hard it is to survive in the desert and what traits each creature has in order to survive there. This is what Isaiah is talking about here.
Further, waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert (Isa 35:6b). We read of how burning sand turns into a pool, thirsty ground springs of water, signifying abundance and overflow (Isa 35:7a). What used to be a haunt of jackals (dry lands, deserts) shall become reeds and rushes (plants you will find beside ponds or water bodies), once again signifying the presence of life (Isa 35:7b). Isaiah also uses Lebanon, Carmel (“garden-land”), and Sharon to depict this picture of beauty and lushness (Isa 35:2b).
Isaiah presents an interesting picture here. The wilderness, deserts and dry lands are places where you are trying to survive, not places where you would expect to find blossoming flowers in abundance, rejoicing, joy and singing, waters breaking forth, etc. Only God can bring about this sort of transformation and renewal.
How, then, can we understand this in the wider biblical context? Romans 8:19-22 helps us to understand this. What does it mean for creation itself to be rejoicing and singing? Isaiah 35:2b has an interesting picture of the land rejoicing. Is creation sad in the first place? As we had read earlier in Genesis 3:17-18, creation itself (“the ground”) was cursed. The ground instead of being fruitful and yielding fruit will grow thorns and thistles. Romans 8:19 tells us that even as we wait on God’s salvation, creation is waiting for “the revealing of the sons of God”. Creation was subjected to futility, bonded to corruption, groaning in the pains of childbirth (Rom 8:20-22). Therefore, Isaiah 35 here speaks about the end of the groaning, and in its place rejoicing, singing, and new life. God’s promised salvation reverses all the curses of Genesis 3, and renews not just people but also creation itself.
When God redeems, He doesn’t just redeem a people, but also the whole of creation! What a wonderful picture we have here!
(B) The Promised Renewal of the Redeemed (Isa 35:2c-6a)
Isaiah also calls the people to strengthen the weak hands (Isa 35:3a), indicating their ability to take action. They are also to make firm the feeble knees (Isa 35:3b) to have stability and persistence. He calls them to say to those who have an anxious heart: “Be Strong; fear not!” (Isa 35:4a), seeking to address anxious hearts to be strong and not fear. He calls them to seek mental, emotional and spiritual strength.
What is the reason for this? God’s people are to “behold” God coming with vengeance and recompense, and we know from Isaiah 34:8 that this is for the cause of Zion, his people (Isa 35:4b, cf. Isa 34:8). This is a God that comes to save. This is the reason that Isaiah calls God’s people to be strong, to not fear because God’s salvation is sure (Isa 35:4b). God’s people are to trust in His promises today because we know of His faithfulness.
How can we apply this passage today? Isaiah 35 is quoted in Hebrews 12:7-13, and reading the passage in Hebrews can help us think about how to apply this. God’s people are a weak and unsteady people even as they struggle to trust God in the context of the Assyrian crisis. These verses are meant to be an encouragement to them and can be for us too. The book of Hebrews applies these verses to the perseverance of Christians in light of God’s discipline of his children. In our “struggle against sin”, we suffer earthly trials and affliction but not “to the point of shedding your blood” like Christ did in our place (Heb 12:4). This discipline is “for our good”, and “that we may share his holiness”. It also yields the “peaceful fruit of righteousness”.
These verses call to attention the importance of encouragement. Do we remember to encourage our brothers and sisters in their walk with God to “strengthen the weak hands, make firm the feeble knees, and be strong and fear not”? Do we share our lives with our church family, that we give those around us opportunities to encourage and to be encouraged? You don’t need to be ministry leader, or lead a care group to be an encourager, all you need is love for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Our confidence today comes from the sure fact that God has come to save us. As we have just celebrated Christmas, we remember Christ’s first coming, and we know that God is true to his promise to his people here in Isaiah 35. God does come to save us in Christ and He has not gone back on his word to save His people. It encourages us to endure earthly trials because there is a fruit that comes from it.
What shall happen for God’s people? They “Shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God” (Isa 35:2c). They shall see how beautiful God is, as He truly is. This beauty, majesty, glory will be revealed to God’s people. God is inherently glorious and majestic, whether we see it or not. This is a repeated theme in Isaiah, where the people’s spiritual blindness will be lifted. The eyes of the blind opened, ears of the deaf unstopped (Isa 35:5) and the lame man shall leap like a deer, tongue of the mute sing for joy (Isa 35:6a). The transformation of God’s people is also physical (although this can be taken spiritually) and there will be no more illness or weaknesses for God’s people. This is a picture of total healing that comes for God’s people: spiritual and physical.
This is a beautiful picture and hope for all of us today. Are you suffering from some form of illness or medical condition? God’s word promises that in His salvation, he will heal us and remove all handicap.
Even if you are a healthy young person today, are you struggling with your walk with God? This promise won’t be precious to us until we realise that we are:
“the blind”, unable or unwilling to see God’s glory and worth;
“the deaf”, unable or unwilling to hear God’s word with trust and obedience;
“the lame”, unable or unwilling to do God’s work;
“the mute”, unable or unwilling to praise God and give Him the glory.
We pray that God will be gracious to open our eyes and ears, to draw our hearts to yearn for him more and more.
These verses also remind us of Jesus’ own earthly ministry. In Matthew 112-5, we read exactly of these things happening during Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptist was enquiring if Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah), and Jesus’ reply to him was Matthew 11:5. Surely, John the Baptist knew his Old Testament, and this points us once again to God’s faithfulness to his promises. We can surely trust God’s word!
Jesus the Christ is God’s fulfilment to his promises to save and renew His people in Isaiah 35. 2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us that God saves and renews us by shining into our hearts the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Christ is the way that God reveals His glory to us, and the way that God will save and renew us
(C) The Assured Joy and Gladness of the Redeemed (Isa 35:8-10)
Isaiah 35:8 speaks of a highway that is literally a raised causeway that is unmissable and clearly visible (Isa 35:8a). It will be “there” in the renewed environment that we’ve been talking about. Remember also how highways leading to Jerusalem were used for pilgrims on their way to the temple for feasts. This is a path of rejoicing and worship. There will also be no danger or threat for those walking on this highway and they are certain to reach their destination, without attack by lion nor ravenous beasts (Isa 35:9a).
This highway will be there in the rejoicing environment that is renewed by God. Called “the Way of Holiness”, a requirement to travel on it is holiness — to be set apart — and nothing unclean shall walk on it (Isa 35:8b). This idea of clean and unclean is not about hygiene but about Old Testament laws about what is clean and unclean. Anything unclean cannot approach the Holy God. The Old Testament Law gave God’s people a way to approach their Holy God.
This shall belong to those who walk on it, the holy (Isa 35:8c) and “even if they are fools, they shall not go astray”. The path is so obvious that fools will not go astray and cannot miss it (Isa 35:8d). “Fools” also tell us that walking on this path is not about human intelligence or ability, and the people who walk on this path are not walking because of their own strength or know-how.
But who are the ones who shall walk there?We’ve seen that they are holy, but we also read of how they are the redeemed (Isa 35:9b-10a). The word for “redeemed” here refers to the Old Testament law where the next-of-kin has the right to take up the needs of relative as if it were his own (.f. Lev 25:25). These needs included buying back a relative’s property, marrying his widow, etc. This points us to the fact that the people who walk on this path are not there by their own doing. They are redeemed by someone else. They are the ones ransomed by the LORD (Isa 35:10a) and are walking on this highway because of the grace of the LORD to redeem and to ransom them.
One Bible commentator put it this way: The LORD identifies himself with them as a next-of-kin does and acts on their behalf. That is exactly what God does when he sends his Son Jesus Christ to die in our place. He dies in our place for our sins that we might have life. He paid our debt on the cross that we may be freed from sin. If you were wondering, who can be holy that this highway belongs to them? It is the redeemed and ransomed people of God through Christ
Where does this lead to? This highway leads to Zion, where God dwells with his people. It leads to the presence of God himself (Isa 35:10b). The ones who walk this highway arrive with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, thus, they are not just happy but are “forever-happy”.
Let us take a moment to consider what that even means. We have no clue what it feels like to be “forever-happy”. To be so will mean to never be discontented, to never be sad, to never be down. Every day is the best day ever. The NIV translates it as “gladness and joy will overtake them”, indicating how they will be overwhelmed by joy and gladness. We are also told that sorrow and sighing shall flee away. There will be no more “sian-ness”, no more sadness.
We started tonight asking ourselves what we will be glad in come January? It’s not about the Christmas feels, because we will be disappointed soon. Things can easily fall apart as soon as the year starts.
In our entire series of “in God We Trust”, we have been reading again and again about trusting in God and nothing else. What is the point of trusting God? Isaiah 35 wraps it up beautifully for us It is for our everlasting joy in God’s presence that we trust in Him. Nothing else can give us this joy and gladness. In Isaiah 35, God renews all of creation, renews his people’s weaknesses and gives them everlasting joy in his presence. Nothing can prevent them from reaching their destination, no danger, no foolishness on their part, but all the redeemed and ransomed will return to Zion.
Isaiah 35 is the Old Testament’s version of Revelation 21-22. Even as we have just celebrated Jesus’s first coming, will we not wait eagerly for his return? Only then we will have everlasting joy and gladness