Isaiah 35, Highway of Holiness

The previous chapter prophesied a traumatic bloody judgment on Edom, who represented the enemies of Jerusalem. After that depressing chapter, we explode into a joyful description of a fruitful and beautiful future time.

Isaiah 35:1-2, Bursting into bloom

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 splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the LORD,

    the splendor of our God.

In a future day, the desert and parched lands will burst into bloom. Motyer says that in Old Testament Israel, Lebanon represented abundant fertility, Carmel order and Sharon, beauty.

There are echoes of Deuteronomy 8:15-16 here.

Isaiah 35:3-4, Strengthen feeble hands

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.”

Meanwhile, as we wait for that future day, Isaiah tells the Israelites to strengthen the feeble hands, steady the trembling knees and fearful hearts.

Isaiah 35:5-7, Healed

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 that future miraculous day, the blind and deaf will be healed. The lame will jump for joy and the mute speak. (All of this was attributed to Messiah Yeshua in the gospels; see Luke 7:18-23.) And the dry and thirsty desert will be quenched by flowing streams.

Isaiah 35:8-10a, A highway

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.

In that day there will be a beautiful highway, a highway of Holiness, safe and secure, for all that YHWH has rescued.

The word "redeemed" in verse 9 is a variant on gaal (or goel), the same word that runs throughout Ruth 4.

Isaiah 35:10b, Dancing into Zion

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 remnant will dance their way into Zion. Similar joyous entries into Zion are described in Isaiah 51:11 and 61:7.