Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose- I noted that the preceding pictures of desolation concerning Edom have within them the hint that even the most heavily judged and condemned areas will be revived in God's Kingdom (see on Is. 34:13,15,17). In this case, this prophecy would flow on seamlessly from that.
Isaiah 35 is an evident prophecy of the future Kingdom of God on earth.
But it is replete with connections with the prophecies of Judah’s
restoration from Babylon in Isaiah 40-55: Water in the wilderness =
Is. 41:18,19; Is. 43:19,20; Is.
44:3; Is. 50:2; Is. 51:3;
God’s glory revealed (Is. 35:2) = Is. 40:5,9; Time of judgment and
recompense (Is. 35:4) = Is. 40:10; Strength to the faint-hearted (Is.
35:3,4) = Is. 40:9, 29-31; A highway for the return to Zion (Is. 35:8) =
Is. 40:3. The conclusion from this is surely that the way home from
Babylon to Judah was to be seen as the entrance into the Kingdom age.
Which is why I suggest that a Messianic Kingdom could’ve come at the
restoration. Isaiah’s predictions about the return from exile in Babylon
(Is. 49:6), the freedom of the land from foreign dominance (Is. 53:8,11),
the repopulation of Jerusalem (Is. 54:1), rebuilding the temple (Is. 53:5)
etc. all came true at the return of the exiles; but those same prophecies
speak of the resurrection of the dead (Is. 42:11; Is. 45:8; Is. 49:8),
Messiah teaching the Law to Israel, all the world coming to accept
Israel’s God and coming to worship in the new temple etc. The prophecies
of the restoration of the exiles from Babylon are inextricably connected
with these things. And yet they didn’t happen; and even those aspects
which did, only came true to a very limited extent- solely because of
Israel’s indolence, and the fact the majority of the Jews remained in
Babylon.
Isaiah 35:2 It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and
singing. Lebanon’s glory will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and
Sharon; they will see Yahweh’s glory, the excellence of our God-
The blossoming here and in :1 is surely to be understood in the
context of Is. 27:6. Israel will fill the face of the world with spiritual
fruit – and this will be the fruit of the taking away of their sin, and
their experience of repentance (Is. 27:6,9 RV).
Isaiah 35:3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees-
see on Job 4:3-5. "Palsied knees" (LXX); "knees that tremble
with weakness" (GNB). The wonder of the Kingdom situation is that the
spiritually weak will be strengthened. But we can live the spirit of the
Kingdom life now; for these words are quoted in Heb. 12:12,13 about life
lived in Christ and His Spirit right now. "Feeble" is s.w. "stumbled" (Is.
59:10); it generally refers to spiritual stumbling, not least for those
who stumble over the rock of Christ (s.w. Is. 8:15; 28:13). The
strengthening of the week or even those who have been condemned for their
sins but want to repent... is one of the most wonderful experiences to
behold. We will see on :3 that the same category is there in view. The
good news of the Kingdom is far from just the change of earth's physical
environment; more essentially is it about the change of human hearts. And
this was the good news of the Kingdom which the Lord taught in His
parables, which are largely about this rather than what the future Kingdom
will physically be like. The good news for those in the new covenant is
that they will no longer "stumble", s.w. "feeble" (Jer. 31:9). "Weak
hands" carries the idea of those who are "idle" (s.w. Ex. 5:17), and the
phrase "weak hands" is also translated "slack hands" (Josh. 10:6; 2 Sam.
4:1). The idea is that the spiritually weak minded, directionless and
uncommitted will be mentally transformed. This is clearly the work of the
Holy Spirit working upon the human spirit; and that is exactly what the
new covenant promised Judah, in Ez. 20, 36 and Jer. 31. This is what could
have happened to Judah in captivity, but they refused the potential
strengthening. And Hezekiah, the 'strengthener of Yah', didn't do this
work of strengthening in Isaiah's time (s.w. Is. 51:18), even though he
was the parade example of physical 'weakness' being 'strengthened' (s.w.
Is. 39:1). The weak hands could have been strengthened at the restoration
(s.w. Zech. 8:9,13), but again, the huge potential strengthening was not
made use of.
Isaiah 35:4 Tell those who have a fearful heart, Be strong, don’t be
afraid- "Fearful" is the word for "rash" and as noted on that word on
Is. 32:4 these are those who were impatient with God's apparent lack of
response (Is. 5:19 s.w.). One of the greatest joys of the Kingdom will be
the power of God's Spirit to transform the hearts of those who appear
totally unspiritual and short termist in their judgments. See on :3.
They now do not need to fear condemnation; they have been transformed by
the gift of the new heart and new eyes which is part of the new covenant.
We’re familiar with the references to God hardening the heart of Pharaoh
(Ex. 14:8 etc.). However, the same Hebrew words occur in a positive
context- for God also hardens or strengthens the hearts of the righteous
(Ps. 27:14; Is. 35:4). Indeed, Is. 35:4 speaks of how the righteous
shouldn’t have a fearful / weak or [Heb.] ‘fluid’ heart, but rather a
hardened one. Clearly enough, God solidifies human attitudes, one way or
the other. This is a sobering thought- for He is prepared to confirm a
person in their weak thinking. But on the other hand, even the weakest
basic intention towards righteousness is solidified by Him too.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will come and save you- This is the final "day of vengeance" (Is. 59:17; 61:2; 63:4; Mic. 5:15), both on the "sinners in Zion" of Is. 33:14 (s.w. Lev. 26:25), and upon the abusers of Israel (Dt. 32:41,43). The final coming of God will be in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus, at the last day. "Retribution" is s.w. "benefit in 2 Chron. 32:25; in the immediate context, Hezekiah did not render back according to the benefit or retribution given in healing him, and so the possibility of the Kingdom then didn't transpire and is deferred to the last day.
Isaiah 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the
deaf will be unstopped- As noted on :3,4,6, we have here language
relevant to the spiritual healing of God's people, although that will be
physically articulated in the healing of the physically impaired. The
blind and deaf in Isaiah are the spiritually blind and deaf whose eyes
will be opened so that they may "hear the words of the book" (Is. 29:18;
42:16,18; 43:8).
The teaching of the Lord Jesus included frequent quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament. When we go back and read around the contexts of the passages He quoted, it becomes apparent that He very often omits to quote the negative, judgmental, or conditional aspects of the blessings which He quotes. Consider the way He quotes Is. 29:18; 35:5,6 and 61:1 in Mt. 11:4,5. These are all talking about Messianic blessings. But they are embedded amidst warnings of judgment and the conditionality of God’s grace. Likewise Luke records how Jesus read from Is. 61:1,2, but He stopped at the very point where Isaiah’s message turns from promise to threat. None of this takes away from the terrible reality that future failure is a real possibility, even tomorrow. We can throw it all away. We may do. We have the possibility. And some do. There is an eternity ahead which we may miss. And each one who enters the Kingdom will, humanly speaking, have come pretty close to losing it at various points in his or her mortal life.
Isaiah 35:6 Then the lame man will leap like a deer and the tongue of the
mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams
in the desert- As explained on :3-5, the deaf and lame are
spiritually deaf, and they shall be spiritually cured; and that will be
reflected in the healing of the physical environment. The waters and
streams may be literal, but they essentially refer to the water of healing
coming from Messiah, as mentioned in Rev. 22:2; Jn. 7:38. The lame men primarily in view are those of Is.
33:23 who went out to gather the prey of the Assyrians. But they refer
also to the
latter day lame of Jer. 31:8, who like Jacob bear the marks of their
spiritual weakness and are repentant, throwing themselves upon Yahweh's
grace. The Lord's healing of the lame who then jumped
indicates that this Kingdom language started to have a foretaste in His
work (Mt. 21:14; Acts 3:2-10). As noted on Is. 33:23, Judah were not then
the lame repentant Jacob as they were intended to have been. And so these
possible fulfillments are delayed until the last days.
The Babylonian Account of Creation claims (Tablet 4, line 137) that Marduk
cleft Teammate, the ocean goddess, with his sword. The Biblical idea of
Yahweh cleaving the waters clearly picks up this idea (Hab. 3:9; Ps.
74:15; 78:13,15; Ex. 14:16,21; Jud. 15:19; Is. 35:6; 48:21; 63:12; Neh.
9:11). But these passages largely refer to the miracle God did at the Red
Sea, bringing about the creation of His people out of the cleft waters of
the Sea. Again, pagan creation is reinterpreted with reference to a
historical, actual event in the experience of God’s people.
Isaiah 35:7 The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground
springs of water. Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of
jackals, where they used to lay- These "jackals" are those envisaged
living for 'ever', for generation after generation, in the judged cities
of Edom. But it seems those areas will be revived. Areas so heavily
condemned and judged will in due course be brought under God's glory. The
water source is the stream envisaged as flowing from Zion in Ezekiel and
Revelation. This could have happened literally had Judah built the temple
system as commanded in Ez. 40-48. Hence LXX "a fountain of water shall be
poured into the thirsty land; there shall there be a joy of birds, ready
habitations and marshes".
Isaiah 35:8 A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called The
Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who
walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there- I noted on :3-6 that
what is primarily in view is the spiritual healing of people; this highway
may be literal, but it is essentially spiritual. This prepared
highway is a major theme of
Isaiah, e.g. Is. 26:7 "The way of the just is uprightness; You who are upright make
the path of the righteous level". This is the language of Is. 40.
The way was open for the exiles to return as righteous, justified by
faith, to a restored Zion; and if they made that journey, Zion's gates
were open to them (see on Is. 26:2). That way was potentially prepared at
the restoration, as LXX clarifies: "the dispersed shall walk on it, and
they shall not go astray". But the exiles chose to remain in Babylon and Assyria,
and those who did return did so without accepting the call to repentance
which is part of the making straight of the path to Zion. But it was all
potentially prepared. It is for us now to walk in that path likewise to
Zion. In the future it seems there may be literal highways prepared
leading to Zion for the repentant remnants of the nations (see on Is.
11:16; 19:23; 35:8; 62:10; Jer. 31:21).
Isaiah 35:9 no lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on
it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there-
LXX "the redeemed and gathered on the Lord's behalf, shall walk in it";
GNB "Those whom the LORD has rescued will travel home by that road". The
return of the exiles is clearly in view. But despite such a highway with
such protection being potentially available, they chose not to make the
journey, and to act as if they had not in fact been "redeemed" from the
lands of their exile. The lions and wild beasts clearly refer to the
aggressive nations, who will be no more; and this will be reflected in the
Kingdom by the animals also being at peace with each other and with man.
Isaiah 35:10 Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to
Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain
gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away- There was
great joy at the time of the first Purim in Esther's time when sorrow was
turned to joy (s.w. Esther 9:22), but the people
did not return. The restoration was intended to be the time when sorrow
was turned to joy (Jer. 31:13 s.w.). But as we can, they forgot the price aid for their ransom and
remained in slavery. And those who did return didn't do so with the voice
of joy, but with nervousness and then complaining about the famine, bad
harvests and diseases they and their crops were smitten with on returning.
The eternal joy spoken of here will come true only at the return of the
Lord Jesus. Joy by its nature is temporal in this life, because of our
emotional structure; we cannot maintain such experiences of joy in a
permanent sense. But this is the wonderful nature of salvation. "Sorrow
and sighing" is the same phrase used about David's feelings because of his
sin with Bathsheba (Ps. 31:10). As noted throughout Is. 35, the essential
theme is of internal spiritual transformation, and no longer experiencing
the effects of sin; for that is the greatest "joy".
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