Introduction.

The future of Zion.

We can see Chapter 35 as the second appendix to chapter 33 (the first appendix being chapter 34). In chapter 34 we saw the fertile Gentile lands become desolate at the hand of Adonai. In chapter 35 we see the land of Israel which had been made desolate by the Assyrians, bloom and flourish. This is the future glory of Israel; the desert transformed into a fertile land.

Outline of Chapter 35.

Verses 1 and 2. The desert of Israel blooms. The previously luxuriant Edom has become a desert. In Messiah’s reign, Israel will become a flourishing garden.

Verses 3 and 4. This will be a revelation of the glory of Adonai who takes His vengeance against Israel’s enemies. This prophecy will encourage the downhearted.

Verses 5 – 7. These verses prophesy healing for the people and the land.

Verses 8 – 10. The return of Adonai’s redeemed people; with assurance of safety; perfect restoration and great joy.

Verses 1 and 2. The desert of Israel blooms.

The previously luxuriant Edom has become a desert. In Messiah’s reign Israel will become a flourishing garden.

Verse 1.

“The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them. And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.”

The elements of creation cannot, of course, “rejoice”, but the Spirit of God will make the land fruitful again.

The joy will be that of those people who were previously oppressed.

Dramatic changes in the land are to come in the messianic age.

Isaiah 32: 15.

“Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest …”

Isaiah 41: 19.

“I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together.”

Isaiah 30: 23, 24.

“Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; it will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures. Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured fodder which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.”

Verse 2.

“It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing, the glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.”

This is the reversal of the judgment of chapter 33.

Isaiah 33: 9.

“The earth mourns and languishes, Lebanon is shamed and shrivelled; Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.”

The regions mentioned in verse 2 are usually noted for their agricultural fertility.

This is to be restored and enhanced in the messianic age because of the Lord’s presence.

Isaiah 40: 5.

“The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Israel will recognise that the earth’s newfound fruitfulness is coming from the Lord and attribute to Him the appropriate credit and praise.

Verses 3 and 4. Prophecy that encourages the downhearted.

Verses 3 and 4.

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”

We previously noted that the “vengeance” of Adonai is just; saving those who are wronged and punishing guilty offenders.

These verses are to give reassurance to those who are struggling. Messiah will come and, in that day, justice will be restored.

The future change in Israel’s international role is intended to give strength to the discouraged among the people; the long-oppressed people of Israel.

Isaiah 34: 8.

“For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

Psalm 145: 19.

“He will fulfil the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.”

Isaiah 33: 22.

“For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.”

Verses 5 – 7. Prophecy of the healing of the people and of the land.

Verse 5.

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”

This prophecy of healing saw fulfilment in the physical and spiritual healings of the Lord Yeshua.

Luke 7: 22. When the disciples of John the Baptist sought confirmation that Messiah had come.

“Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised …”

We can also see the reversal of the spiritual condition of Isaiah’s contemporaries.

Isaiah 29: 10.

“For the Lord has poured out on you the Spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes … and He has covered your heads.”

Verses 6 and 7.

“Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters will burst forth in the wilderness; and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.”

These verses show both the physical healing of individuals and the revival of the land because of the abundance of the precious commodity of water.

Isaiah 41: 18.

“I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”

This coming reversal of climatic conditions, after the desolation which Adonai had brought on the land, is seen in that the “habitation of jackals” has become a fertile well-irrigated landscape. “Reeds and rushes”, of course, grow in water.

Verses 8 –10. The return of Adonai’s redeemed people in safety and joy to enjoy perfect restoration.

Verse 8.

“A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.”

Israel had had a great return to the land from slavery in Egypt.

In the future from Isaiah’s viewpoint, there would be the return from exile in Babylon. But this verse refers to a further future return in the end-times from the entire world.

The “Highway of Holiness” is exclusively for Adonai’s redeemed people who have survived the tribulation. They return from world-wide dispersion and are guided and protected on their journey by the Lord Himself.

This secure route is in sharp contrast to the travel difficulties of the time of judgment.

Isaiah 33: 8.

“The highways lie waste, the travelling man ceases …”

This return will be much easier.

Isaiah 11: 16.

“There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.”

Verse 9.

“No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there …”

“The redeemed” were previously mentioned in Isaiah 1: 27.

“Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness.”

No dangerous beasts are to threaten the safety of the travellers on the “Highway of Holiness”.

Leviticus 26: 6.

“I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid. I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.”

Ezekiel 34: 25.

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.”

Verse 10.

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Gladness will replace all sadness in the day of Israel’s restoration.

Isaiah 30: 19.

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more …”

Isaiah 65: 19.

“I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping will no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.”

Isaiah 25: 8.

“He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth …”