Isaiah Chapter 35 : Introduction
In Isaiah Chapter 34 we have the LORD speaking through His servant Isaiah the prophet and His message was one of His divine judgements against the nations but also the judgement against Islam. In fact the main focus of Isaiah Chapter 34 is the demise of Islam and the desolation of Saudi Arabia and the city of Mecca, the harlot of Islam as defined by the radical Jihad-minded Islamic world. God takes Islam out big time because of what they have done to His people Israel and to the Body of Messiah spiritually grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel. In fact the fiery judgement upon Saudi Arabia will leave the whole desert region a desolate wasteland as the oil reserves under the sand burn out of control making the whole region uninhabitable for humans.
There is no chapter and verse divisions in the manuscripts of the Old Testament before they were inserted in the 13th Century, so Isaiah Chapter 34 and 35 lay back to back and are spiritually fused together. In Chapter 34 we see the justice and righteousness of God which are the foundation of His throne displayed in judgement, however in Chapter 35 we see the mercy and covenant love of God for His people whom He has redeemed by the blood of the Messiah our Lord Jesus.
As Luke records the prophecy of Zechariah concerning the Messiah; “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant—As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—Salvation from our enemies, And from the hand of all who hate us; To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days” (Luke 1:68-75).
This prophecy applies to the faithful remnant in Israel and to the Body of Messiah spiritually grafted into Israel. In that day there will be only one shepherd and one flock. As the Lord Jesus said; “I have other sheep (Gentiles) that are not of this fold (Israel). I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). He also said; “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). With these things in view let’s now look at our text…
Isaiah Chapter 35 : Exposition:
1. The Splendour of the Redeemed (Vss.1-2)
(Vs.1-2) “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendour of our God.”
Here we have described a reversal of the land of Israel since 1948 when the nation was reborn in a day (Isaiah 66:8-9), with the arid wastelands becoming fruitful and with flowers blooming in the desert and the agricultural industry growing. In the coming Millennial Messianic Kingdom the regeneration of the earth with occur, a restoration of the state of things that existed in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man. Israel in that day will have been fully restored nationally and spiritually and will be the praise of the whole earth as the Messiah will be reigning on David’s throne at Jerusalem. This will be the LORD’s doing.
Israel will no longer be a nation trodden under the feet of the Gentile pagan nations but be the head and not the tail of the nations of the world (Isaiah 2:1-5) (Micah 4:1-5). Today we see a harbinger or foreshadowing of this regeneration of all things on earth in the way the Israelis have turned the desert places into places of greenery and fruit bearing trees, having regenerated the land that was once desolate. Where there was once wilderness and baroness there is now fruitfulness and cultured landscapes in many places.
However, Israel as a nation for the most part spiritually speaking is still in a parched land, a spiritual wilderness that seems to have no exit for the nation as we see Israel’s enemies gathering on all sides to destroy Israel if they can. It is like an olive tree that has leaves but no fruit. When the Lord Jesus cursed the fig tree He was not cursing the Jews but cursing the practice of a works based righteousness which nullified the righteousness that comes from God by faith and not by works that man produces (Romans 3:19-26) (Ephesians 2:8-9). The fig tree the Messiah cursed had leaves which represented good works; however there was no fruit, which represents the fruit of the indwelling Spirit of God. The Israelites had an abundance of religious activity in Jesus’ day but no spiritual fruit of that righteousness that comes from faith and produces the spiritually fruitful works God requires and accepts. Once again let’s be clear, the Messiah our Lord Jesus was not cursing the Jews personally as a people but cursing their actions in relying upon their own self-generated religious works of the flesh without the Spirit. It was their ultimate rejection of the Messiah that brought about 70AD.
Today through applied pressure the LORD is bringing His people to the point where they will see their own spiritual dryness and aridness, and that their good works cannot save them from their enemies, and cry out to Him in their time of extremity, and He will send the Messiah our Lord Jesus back who will have a reunion with His long lost brothers in the flesh in the same way Joseph was reconciled to his wayward brothers who had sought to kill him and had been estranged from Joseph for a long time (Zechariah 12:10-13:1). Just as the parched dry land of the desert wilderness that will blossom with abundant fruit so the redeemed Israelis will bear spiritual fruit in abundance and will rejoice greatly, and shout for joy because of their salvation that they have experienced by the hand of the Messiah who has bled and died for their sins. It will be a remnant and they will inherit the Millennial Messianic Kingdom. When this day comes all Israel will be saved, in other words there will not be one Jew left alive on earth that will not be saved.
Despite what we see today with all of the troubles facing Israel, and despite the growing anti-Semitism and replacement theology within wider Christendom, God has not finished with Israel! As Rabbi the apostle Paul writes; “…a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins”… from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:25-29).
We are also told that when Israel has been spiritually restored that the glory of Lebanon will be given to it and the splendour of Carmel and Sharon will see the glory of the LORD and the splendour of our God. Carmel and Sharon had lain desolate (Isaiah 33:9), and Lebanon will become a glorious place (Isaiah 29:17). At present Lebanon is a war torn land but this will be changed in the Millennium after the Messiah has come back. The glory of the LORD and His redeemed people will see the LORD turn these places into very beautiful and fruitful lands that reflect the glory and the splendour of the LORD. The redeemed in Israel will cultivate the land as Adam cultivated the land in the Garden of Eden before the fall. In the Millennial Messianic kingdom there will be no place on earth as beautiful as the Land of Israel! It will be Eden restored and for the redeemed remnant of Israel life from the dead!
Added to this, all those the Messiah has redeemed by His blood in their glorified bodies on earth will shine as beacons of God’s light and grace to the people to be born in the Millennium. The glorified saints in their immortal, indestructible bodies will intermingle with the humans born during the Millennium. Some will say this is not possible, yet we see the Lord Jesus after His resurrection having a gloried body, the same as we will have at the rapture and resurrection (Philippians 3:21). The Lord Jesus after His resurrection in His glorified resurrected body was able to intermingle with His disciples and eat with them, and so likewise all who have been redeemed by the blood of Messiah will shine with the glory and splendour of the LORD, intermingle with the people born in the Millennium, and the nations will see it and the earth will be regenerated and renewed. This will be the splendour of the redeemed!
2. The Strength of the Redeemed (Vss.3-4)
(Vs.3-4) “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.”
Isaiah knew that judgement was coming to the people of God who had spiritually backslidden by and large. However, there was a faithful remnant remaining faithful to the LORD, but were under pressure from those who had turned away from the LORD. God was encouraging His faithful remnant to stand strong in faith and by faith continue to strengthen their feeble hands weary with just hanging on despite the coming judgement upon the nation. They were to steady the knees as they prayed daily for the LORD to revive His people and spare them from the King of Assyria threatening Jerusalem. They were to be strong and not to fear because God would come with vengeance, with divine retribution and come to save them. In Isaiah chapters 36-37 we see how the LORD delivered His people from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, according to the Word which the LORD spoken through Isaiah.
Today, when you look at what is happening to Israel and to the wider Body of Messiah the enemies of God and His people are like a gathering storm that has started to break over them. What is happening to Israel is also happening to the Body of Messiah. Israel and the Body of Messiah are like two sides of the same coin, separate and distinguishable from each other but one people in Messiah. The faithful Body of Messiah has been spiritually grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel. Satan is targeting Jews and Christians today.
As we see the end of this age rapidly approaching and evil abounding and persecution of Israel and the Body of Messiah increasing in frequency and intensity, as New Covenant believers in Messiah, redeemed by His blood and indwelt by His Spirit to help us, we need to be strengthening our feeble hands through His power as we live by faith and not by sight. We are to steady the knees when praying and apply God’s promises to our fearful hearts counting on the fact that the Messiah knows how to rescue the godly in trial and to hold in reserve the evil for judgement when He comes back with divine retribution to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father in heaven. The rescue is coming!!!
Just as the armies of the Assyrians gathered against Israel and came right up to the very gates of the city of Jerusalem, so the armies of the Islamic Antichrist will be laying siege to Jerusalem and the people in the city fearful and in emotional pain and abject fear with strong men grabbing their stomachs like a women in labour at what they will be facing from the armies of the nations. At this time when it looks like all hope is gone for Israel, the Messiah will suddenly come in the clouds of heaven with the armies of heaven to unleash His vengeance and retribution on those who have dared to divide up His land and persecute His people (Joel 3:1-3,12-16).
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble will be a time of great trial and stress for Israel, for the Body of Messiah and for the Gentile world, but the people remaining in the city of Jerusalem will be saved out of this time of great Tribulation (Jeremiah 30:1-10). They will see Him, the Messiah our Lord Jesus, whom they have pierced with their sins and turn back to Him with tears of repentance and joy, having been reconciled to their long lost brother in the flesh, their redeemer (Zechariah 12:10-14). Their enemies will be destroyed before their very eyes (Ezekiel 39:4-7). When the dust of battle settles and all of their enemies lay dead on the mountains of Israel, the people of God will enter into the Messianic Millennial Kingdom that the Messiah will inaugurate. In the end the only hope for the world preventing the annihilation of all flesh on earth (Matthew 24:21-22), will be the Second Coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus. This blessed hope will be the strength of the redeemed.
3. The State of the Redeemed (Vss.5-7)
(Vss.5-7) “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.”
In His first Coming the Messiah our Lord Jesus gave physical sight to the physically blind, but more importantly He gave spiritual sight to those who were spiritually blind. He opened the ears of those who were physically deaf so that they might hear physically and also gave spiritual hearing to those that were spiritually deaf, enabling them to hear God’s voice. Those who were crippled physically He healed physically, and they leapt for joy when they were healed. Spiritually, He gave those crippled by sin the power to walk in in the ways of God. Those who were physically dumb He gave them power to physically speak and to those who had no testimony for God, to have a testimony for Him, because He had saved them from their sins.
Whenever the Lord Jesus did a miraculous act or a physical healing it was to demonstrate a deeper and eternal spiritual truth and insight that only He could give as the Son of God. In Him as God the Son was the source of all physical and spiritual life because He was God the Son on earth who tabernacled with us in a fully human body, and equal with God His Father in heaven and co-creator with Him and with God the Holy Spirit. (John 1:1-3, 10) (John 4:13-14) (John 6:35-37) (John 7:37-39) (John 14:6) (Matthew 11:28-30).
To those in the parched desert of their unsaved soul, He gave them the eternal water of life, the Holy Spirit Himself, to satisfy their deep spiritual thirst. To those who were in a spiritual wilderness He gave them the living water of His Spirit to guide them in their walk with God. Those who were heavily burdened by the weight of their sins He lifted from them that heavy load and set them free to serve and to worship the Living God. To those under the power of demons and principalities, that had ransacked their lives, He healed and drove out those wicked spirits from them. In those places in their lives that were at one time the haunts where ‘Jackals’ (demonic powers) once lay, He caused life giving, life nourishing spiritual fruit to appear. Today the Lord Jesus has not changed as He is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
What He did when He was on earth He is still doing today by the power of His Spirit in the lives of unnumbered millions upon millions of people in every nation of the world. When the times of the Gentiles being saved has run its course God will turn His saving grace back to the people of Israel and they will all be saved and no Jew still, living on earth will be lost! (Romans 11:25-27). Indeed this will be the state of the redeemed.
4. The Stronghold of the Redeemed (Vss.8-10)
(Vss.8-10) “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
The day will come when men and women on earth will walk in the way of holiness, it will be the highway that links heaven with earth. Only those redeemed, cleansed and sanctified by the blood and the Spirit of Messiah will walk in this way God has ordained for those who worship and serve Him and who have been reconciled to Him through saving faith in His One and only begotten Son, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus. They will walk in that way in the Messianic kingdom of God and have access to His Millennial temple at Jerusalem. This will be a foreshadowing of those who will enter into the New Jerusalem after the millennial age has come to a close. Nothing spiritually defiled or unclean will be able to enter that eternal city that will descend from heaven to earth at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 22:14-15).
At the commencement of the Messianic age Jews from every corner of the earth will come home to Jerusalem as foretold in the Hebrew prophets in scripture (Isaiah 11:10-16) (Jeremiah 31:7-14) (Ezekiel 36:8-38; 37:15-28). For the Jews returning from the lands where they were held captive will come home to Him, the Son of righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings. As the prophet Micah declares; ““But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall. Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts” (Micah 4:2-3).
The redeemed Jews will be singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb along with all of the redeemed saints of God having also been redeemed by the blood of Messiah (Revelation 15:3). In that day there will only be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16). Indeed as the Messiah our Lord Jesus said; “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).
At present in this wicked and perverse generation we have wicked fools, Satan roaring like a lion going around seeking whom he can devour with his demonic hordes ranging to and fro with him across the surface of the earth, and existing in the atmosphere which is the domain of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:2b). At present, as those the Messiah has redeemed by His blood, we are constantly engaged in a wrestling match every day with these rulers and authorities and powers of this dark world, and against every spiritual force in rebellion against God in the unseen spiritual realm.
Every day without fail we are to be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power by putting on the whole of God’s spiritual armour and be praying constantly in the Holy Spirit for ourselves and for all the saints of God if we are to maintain spiritual victory in our lives over these dark spiritual forces and principalities in the unseen spiritual realm and have victory over the world, the flesh and the devil himself (Ephesians 6:10-18).
When the Messianic Millennial Kingdom of God has been inaugurated on earth after the Messiah our Lord Jesus has returned, the redeemed of all the ages both Jew and Gentile as one new man in Messiah in their resurrected glorified bodies, will co-reign with the Messiah on earth (Revelation 5:10). They will be able to go up to Jerusalem and to enter the Holy City and the Millennial Temple to worship the Messiah sitting on the throne of David at Jerusalem. The redeemed and the rescued will indeed walk there and will enter Zion, the place where the Triune God abides, with singing and everlasting joy that will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
In the final and eternal state following the Millennium the city of God the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to earth. In that day everything will be new including the universe. As the apostle John writes; “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4). This will be the stronghold of the redeemed! Amen!
