Strengthen the weak hands and confirm the tottering knees.
Isaiah 34 is a chapter of judgment. Isaiah 35 turns to blessing. The call to strengthen weak hands belongs to that turn.
Isaiah 35 gives a picture of the blessing that follows the judgment. Even the wilderness is blessed, and that blessing depends on the blessing of Israel. The redeemed of Jehovah will go up with joy in full security to Zion, and all mourning will pass away for ever.
Readers have applied this chapter to almost anything. One writer asks a sharper question: what does it definitely mean?
Theological prejudice is strangely blinding. The devout J. A. Alexander says that the chapter may be applied, without any change of its essential meaning, to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, to the calling of the Gentiles, to the whole Christian dispensation, to the course of every individual believer, and to the blessedness of heaven. Since it has been so applied, certainly it may. But the question is, what is its definite meaning? The chapter before gives the awful judgment that awaits the earth in one aspect of it. This one gives the deliverance of creation, and especially of Israel, that follows in that day.
These words do not push strong people to try harder. They speak to a small, frightened group holding on while they wait.
Isaiah 35:3-4. The feeble remnant are encouraged while waiting for the Lord, who will surely come with vengeance. The ransomed of the Lord come to Zion with songs. It is a Jewish deliverance.
Verse 3 gives the command. The next verse gives the reason: God Himself is coming. That is news, not advice. The same writer turns it into a question for the reader.
"Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you'" (v. 4). This announcement restores the faithful remnant. Is it also for us the greatest source of joy? Or would His coming feel like being torn away from the earth, instead of lifting us up to set us where our treasure is? The Spirit and the bride say, Come. Do we?
Commentators link the healing promised here to what Jesus did in His ministry.
The miracles of Jesus worked every kind of cure. They were a sample of what His redemption will do for all creation, and so they are called powers of the world to come (Romans 8:19-22; Hebrews 6). When He appears there will be deliverance, and the evil will be taken away… Jesus will use this power in full when He returns. But He will work on quite a different plan from the one He followed in Judea during His ministry. It will no longer be the Holy Spirit awakening souls for spiritual joys. It will be the deliverance of creation from the slavery of corruption.
The change reaches the people, not only the land.
The vengeance of God will mean deliverance for Israel, and safety. But not only that, since they themselves will be transformed. They will see spiritually, they will hear, they will sing with gladness, and all their hopes will be realized.
Hebrews 12:12 takes up this language for Christians. One writer walks through the picture limb by limb.
"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." In the knowledge of God there is no room for discouragement. Hands are for active work. Our knees should be strong enough to let us stand with firm decision. Our feet are for walking, and should have "straight paths," so that there is no aimless wandering, but definite purpose. An uneven, twisting path would itself discourage "what is lame." We may discourage others when we fail to hold fast to the straight paths of the Word of God.
Strengthening others is not done by lecturing them. It starts with what feeds your own soul.
We are "to watch" with such courage that our clear joy and blessing make the weak feel that it is their own sure portion too. Then strength and healing come to them instead of discouragement. But for this there must be personal dealing with God. Our own souls must feed on what raises them above the troubles of the day. We must feed on the Word of God itself, rather than on human thoughts about it… Vast multitudes of God's people are crying out, genuinely and pitifully, for real help. They want food; they are discouraged; and our watchful enemy is alert to trip them up.
- Weak — these words go to a small, feeble remnant waiting for God, not to the confident and capable.
- Word — what strengthens them is an announcement, not advice: their God is coming to save them.
- Whole — His coming changes the land and the people. They will see, hear and sing, and Jesus' miracles of healing were a sample of it.
- Wide — readers apply this chapter to almost anything. One writer presses for its definite meaning: deliverance for creation, and above all for Israel, after judgment.
- Work — Hebrews 12:12 gives the same command to Christians. Hands are for work and knees for standing firm. To strengthen others, feed first on the Word of God.
Say to them that are of a timid heart, Be strong, fear not; behold your God vengeance cometh, the recompense of God! He will come himself, and save you.
Chapter 34 ends in judgment on the nations, and chapter 35 opens on restoration. Verse 4 speaks into that gap, to people whose hearts are giving way: how can vengeance be the comfort offered to the fearful?
One writer marks where this chapter stands, and what order God works in:
This final chapter of the first great part of Isaiah's vision brings forward what follows the great judgments of the day of the Lord. Those judgments come when our Lord Jesus Christ appears from heaven in flaming fire. This answers once more the unscriptural view that the coming of the Lord in judgment means the complete end of the world. After the ruin of judgment comes the glory of restoration.
The two halves of the verse are not in tension. What falls on the oppressor is the very thing that lifts the oppressed:
The curse of Genesis 3:17-18 will be lifted, so that even the deserts will be richly fruitful. The vengeance of God will mean deliverance for Israel, and safety. But not only that, since they themselves will be transformed. They will see spiritually, they will hear, they will sing with gladness, and all their hopes will come true.
Another writer warns against softening the promise:
Divine vengeance on the enemies accompanies their salvation. Take all its fullness of meaning: it will be accomplished to the letter. God will prove that not a word of His mercy to Israel and their land can fall to the ground.
God does not send a deliverer; He comes in person. One writer sets this verse beside chapter 40 and notes which age it belongs to:
It is striking to read in Isaiah 35:4, "Behold, your God! Vengeance comes" (which in no way describes the gospel, but fully describes the future kingdom), "the recompense of God. He will come Himself and save you"; and in Isaiah 40:9-10, "Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with might, and His arm shall rule for Him." The same Spirit, the same hand wrote both passages.
This is one link in a chain running through the whole book. The same writer traces the refrain across Isaiah's sections — chapter 12, chapter 25, chapter 33 — and places our verse in the series:
Again in Isaiah 35:4, "Be strong, fear not; behold, your God: vengeance is coming, the recompense of God! He will come Himself, and save you."
The verses that follow promise miracles when He comes. One writer treats those miracles as proof of who the Coming One is:
We only need to look at Isaiah 35:4-6 for the proof. Miracles would bring in the kingdom, and the One who acted this way was the God of Israel come to save them.
One healing in particular carried that proof:
We have not, I believe, one case of curing the blind before Christ came. It was a miracle which, according to Jewish tradition, was reserved for the Son of David. He it was who, according to Isaiah 35, was to open the eyes of the blind. The Lord puts the blind receiving their sight as the first outward miracle to show that He truly was the Christ who was to come.
Commentators are careful here: the miracles were a sample, not the fulfilment. As Gaebelein puts it, Jesus did these signs to prove He held the power of the kingdom, "however Isaiah 35 looks forward to the kingdom, which is yet to come."
The verse is not a private meditation. Someone is told to say it out loud to frightened people, and the message itself is what strengthens them:
This announcement restores the faithful remnant. Is it also for us the greatest source of joy? Or would His coming feel like being torn away from the earth, instead of lifting us up to set us where our treasure is? The Spirit and the bride say, Come. Do we?
- Fear — The verse speaks to people whose hearts are giving way. It does not scold their fear; it gives them something to look at.
- Behold — The cure for fear is a Person, not information: "Behold your God." The same cry comes again in Isaiah 40, from the same hand.
- Vengeance — What sounds like a threat is the rescue. The blow that falls on the oppressor is the same act that frees the oppressed and transforms them.
- Himself — He does not send help; He comes. The miracles of Jesus showed that the God of Israel had come to save.
- Fulfilment — The miracles were a foretaste. The kingdom this chapter describes is still to come. Judgment first, then restoration glory — and not one word of God's mercy will fail.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped;
Isaiah 35 paints a desert bursting into flower, and in the middle of that scene stands a promise about human bodies. Everything hangs on one word, "then" — so the questions are what this healing waits for, and whether it is meant literally, spiritually, or both.
The verse hangs on the announcement just before it: God Himself will come with vengeance and salvation. The healing follows that arrival, and it reaches the land and the people together.
Once God has stepped in, the blessing for Israel and the land that Isaiah 35 predicts will come. The picture is a lovely one — a delightful scene of earthly blessing. The curse of Genesis 3:17-18 will be lifted, so that even the deserts will be abundantly fruitful. God's vengeance will mean deliverance and safety for Israel. But not only that, since they themselves will be transformed. They will see spiritually, they will hear, they will sing with gladness, and all their hopes will be realised.
When Jesus healed, He did what this verse describes. Yet the chapter itself looks further on, to a kingdom that has not begun.
His miracles are also touched on. In chapter 35 we read: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy." When He appeared among His people He did these miracles to prove to the nation that He had the power of the kingdom in His hands. But Isaiah 35 looks forward to the kingdom, which is still to come.
What changes is not the power but the conditions around it. Christ healed while Satan was still loose in the world.
When Christ was here, He displayed the "powers of the world to come," or of the kingdom, casting out evil spirits and healing people. When that day arrives, Satan will be in the bottomless pit.
John the Baptist sent men to Jesus with a question, and the answer pointed to what they could hear and see. The first item on that list carried a weight only readers of Isaiah would feel.
They were to go and tell John what they heard and saw; and there we have what the Old Testament had predicted as the signs and effects of the Messiah's power. I believe we have not one case of curing the blind before Christ came. It was a miracle which, according to Jewish tradition, was reserved for the Son of David. He it was who, according to Isaiah 35, was to open the eyes of the blind. The Lord puts the blind receiving their sight first among the outward miracles, to show that He was really the Christ who was to come.
One miracle in Galilee stood as a pledge of something far larger.
In the day of God's glory on the earth, this constant burden of the spiritual heart will certainly be removed. The sigh or groan of the needy and of the prisoner will no longer be known. Then will come the fulfilment of that prophecy of which this Galilean miracle was the pledge: "Behold, your God … will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened … and the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing … and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
The words invite a spiritual reading. Commentators welcome it, but not as a replacement for the plain sense.
Healing the blind was a marked work of the divine Messiah. So Isaiah predicted in his earlier announcement (Isa. 35:5): "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened"… Without doubt we are justified in giving the widest scope to the language used; but the figurative in no way sets aside the literal.
The same promise covers a nation's blindness, which also has an end date.
What a change from their state when they said, "He had no beauty that we should desire Him." That belonged to the day of their national blindness as pictured in Isaiah 53. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened" (Isaiah 35:5). Then the period of their judicial blindness will be ended (see also Rom. 11:25-27).
- The cause. The healing begins with "then" — it follows God's own coming to save, not human progress.
- The gift. Opened eyes and unstopped ears come with a lifted curse and a transformed people who see, hear and sing.
- The proof. Giving sight to the blind was the sign held back for the Messiah, which is why it headed Christ's answer to John.
- The pledge. One healing in Galilee was a pledge of the whole promise: the day when sorrow and sighing flee away.
- The reach. The literal sense stands, and the spiritual sense stands with it — including the end of a nation's blindness toward her Messiah.
then shall the lame [man] leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and torrents in the desert.
Isaiah 35 follows a chapter of unsparing judgment. Then the scene changes: a desert blooms, a crippled man leaps, and a silent tongue breaks into song. Is this poetry about better days, a picture of the miracles Jesus did, or a promise God will keep to the letter?
The healings and the streams belong to a set time. A storm comes first. Then God shows what He delights in.
Whatever sin and misery Satan had brought into this world, God will show by this that goodness and mercy are His own delight. This is the time that is coming for the earth, though a terrible storm ushers it in. … God's vengeance on the enemies goes together with Israel's salvation. … Take it in all its fullness of meaning: it will be accomplished to the letter. God will prove that not one word of His mercy to Israel and their land can fall to the ground.
The verse compares the healed man to a deer. That animal was known for the way it moved.
In predicting God's blessing upon Israel in a future day it is said, "the lame man shall leap like a deer." The deer are remarkable for their pleasing form, their graceful movements, and their great agility.
The man who could not walk does not just walk. He moves with grace and speed.
Jesus opened blind eyes and freed silent tongues. One writer weighs what those miracles proved, and what they did not yet bring.
His miracles are also touched upon. In chapter 35 we read: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing." When He appeared among His people, He did these miracles to prove to the nation that He held the power of the kingdom in His hands. But Isaiah 35 looks forward to the kingdom, which is still to come.
The healings also work as a diagnosis. One writer sees in the mute man, silenced by a demon, a picture of the nation that would not praise its King.
Instead of praising their King, Israel was mute, and is mute now. But the demon will be cast out. Then Israel will speak His praises and sing the new song to the Lord. What a day it will be, when mute Israel is at last the people "formed to show forth His praise!"
The second half of the verse widens the scene from bodies to the land itself.
We know from Scripture that great physical power will attend this coming kingdom. As prophets sing, the wilderness "shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." The lame shall leap as the deer, and the tongue of the mute shall sing. The cow and the bear shall feed together, and the wolf shall lie down with the kid. Nature in all its order shall own the presence of the Lord. … As creation has already felt the bondage of corruption, it shall then feel the liberty of glory.
The bodily wonders wait for that day. Something matching them is happening now.
These were true cases of physical healing. In dealing with them our Lord was fulfilling what Isaiah 35:5-6 had predicted of Him long before. This kind of miracle has ceased for the present, and will reappear when God sets up the Millennial kingdom. But meanwhile the spiritual wonder happens before our eyes every day. The grace of God is revolutionising men's lives all the time: it makes the dead alive, gives the blind sight, and makes the mute both speak and sing.
Isaiah names who this refreshing is for, and that sets a condition.
When "the lame man" shall "leap like a deer," then "in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." But all this refreshing that Isaiah predicted is for "the ransomed of the Lord," and for no others. So only repentance and a complete turning round would bring such times. If that took place, God would send Jesus Christ to bring them to pass.
- Storm first. The leaping and the singing come after judgment. God uses that contrast to show that goodness and mercy are His delight.
- Sample given. The miracles of Jesus proved that the kingdom's power was in His hands. Isaiah 35 still points ahead to the kingdom itself.
- Song restored. The mute tongue pictures a nation that would not praise its King; the promise is that it will one day sing.
- Ground healed too. Streams in the desert show the cure reaching past human bodies to creation. Creation has felt the bondage of corruption; it will feel the liberty of glory.
- Ransomed only. The whole refreshing belongs to "the ransomed of the Lord." Repentance and turning are the road into it. Meanwhile grace works the same wonder in changed lives every day.
And the mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water in the habitation of wild dogs, where they lay down, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Isaiah 35 pictures a ruined land coming back to life when God comes to save. Verse 7 raises three questions: is this a real change to the earth, when does it happen, and who gets to enjoy it?
Older translations read "parched ground" where the ESV has "burning sand." One writer says that word means more than dryness:
The figure in verse 7 is a striking one, for the word translated "parched ground" really means a "mirage" — the strange appearance of what looks like a lake in some dry region, but which is only an illusion. The illusion that poor Israel has pursued, while away from God, will cease, and a real lake of refreshment take its place. We may well use the same figure in the gospel today, since men are chasing after an illusory satisfaction and joy in a variety of ways, while lasting satisfaction is only found in Christ.
The verse names the one thing a desert lacks, and the one thing that would transform it:
Through changes in the earth's surface the desert will have water again, and there is no fertiliser like that precious liquid. … Think what will happen when the mighty stretch of the Sahara is changed like this. Think of all the Arabian and Syrian Deserts, and all the desolate parts of the earth changed in the same way.
The second half of the verse names a place already known for ruin. Where the ESV has "jackals," older translations read "dragons":
The word may mean any great serpent or sea monster, a symbol of a huge destructive creature. Scripture says that nations doomed to destruction and desolation, including Jerusalem, become homes of dragons: Isa. 34:13; Isa. 35:7; Jer. 9:11; Jer. 10:22; Jer. 51:37.
The haunt of jackals becomes wet ground where reeds and rushes grow. The reversal is that complete.
The drought goes back to something older than bad weather. One writer points to the curse on the ground, and to what God will do with it:
Now observe what is going to happen in that day. God will remove the curse entirely. He eased it in part in Noah's day, but He will end it completely in Messiah's day… The Lord puts His hand upon the face of creation in that day.
One commentator says the promise reaches further than good crops. He grants that people apply the chapter in many ways, then asks what it actually means:
It is not mere fertility, but the restitution of all things when that day comes on earth: every joy, fruitfulness, and beauty… Some say that, without any change of its essential meaning, it may be applied to the return of the Jews from Babylon, to the calling of the Gentiles, to the whole Christian age, to the course of every believer, and to the blessedness of heaven. As it has been so applied, certainly it may; but the question is, what is its definite meaning?
The same writer says when this change comes, and how far it reaches:
Scripture reserves the mighty change for the appearing of the Lord, when we appear with Him in glory. Then at once, but not till then, God will set creation free from its bondage to corruption and bring it into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
The chapter itself limits the promise. One writer connects it with Peter's call for repentance:
We cannot say whether Isaiah 35:6-7 was in Peter's mind as he spoke about "the times of refreshing." But it does seem it must have been in the mind of the Spirit who was speaking through him… But all this refreshing predicted by Isaiah is for "the ransomed of the LORD," and for no others. So only repentance and a complete turning round would bring such times; if that took place, God would send Jesus Christ to bring them to pass.
- Mirage → pool. The word behind "burning sand" pictures a shimmering illusion of water. God puts a real lake in its place. Men still chase illusions, but lasting satisfaction is in Christ alone.
- Pool → pasture. Water is the one thing a desert lacks. Even the haunt of jackals, a standing symbol of a doomed land, turns to reeds and rushes.
- Pasture → curse removed. The change goes deeper than the weather. God eased the curse on the ground in Noah's day; He removes it when Messiah reigns.
- Curse removed → creation freed. This is not just good crops. It is all things restored, and it waits for the appearing of the Lord, not for slow improvement.
- Creation freed → for the ransomed. The refreshing belongs to "the ransomed of the LORD" and to no one else. The road to it is repentance and turning back to God.
And a highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness the unclean shall not pass through it; but it shall be for these. Those that go [this] way -- even fools, -- shall not err [therein].
Isaiah 35 paints blessing right after a chapter of judgment. Through that renewed desert God lays down a road. The verse raises two questions at once: what kind of road is a "Way of Holiness," and who is fit to walk on it?
One writer places the chapter in its setting:
Isaiah 35 gives a picture of the blessing that follows the judgment — the blessing even of the wilderness, which depends on the blessing of Israel. The redeemed of Jehovah will go up to Zion with joy, in full security, and all mourning will pass away for ever.
One writer refuses to let the picture mean anything and everything. The question is not what the words will fit, but what they mean:
It is not mere fertility, but the restoring of all things when the day comes on earth: every joy, fruitfulness, and beauty. How blinding is the theological prejudice of the pious J. A. Alexander! He says that, without any change of its essential meaning, the chapter may be applied to the return of the Jews from Babylon, to the calling of the Gentiles, to the whole Christian age, to the life of every believer, and to the blessedness of heaven. It has indeed been applied in all those ways. But the question is, what does it definitely mean?
God's first purpose for His people was separation from evil. Their sin delayed that purpose, but never cancelled it:
But one day they will walk that way as the ransomed of the Lord, returning and coming to Zion with songs. That way bears witness that God's first purpose for them is never set aside, but is finally carried out. That purpose is their separation from evil, which their sin has only spoiled for a time.
The unclean are shut out, yet the road is not a prize for the qualified. Redemption opens it, and holiness follows:
How blessed is the thought that our whole pathway is a blood-sprinkled one — that is, a way of holiness; a redeemed way for a redeemed people (Isa. 35:8-10). Just as truly as we have been redeemed from the guilt of sin, so truly are we marked out for obedience to God.
The promise to fools is the startling part. One writer takes it as God's pledge that His people need never be unsure of the path He wants them to walk:
God has prepared a pathway for His redeemed in which they may walk with all possible certainty, calmness and fixedness. Every child of God and every servant of Christ has the privilege of being as sure that he is in God's way as that his soul is saved… The same authority that assures us that "whoever believes in the Son of God has eternal life" also assures us that there is a way so plain that travellers, even fools, will not go astray on it.
Plainness, though, is not the same as automatic. The same writer names what keeps a person from wandering off a road that is already clear:
All I want is a single eye, a will that is subject to Him, a teachable spirit, to be led rightly. If I truly want to be guided rightly, my God will guide me. But if I am looking to men, if mixed motives govern me, if I am seeking my own ends and interests, if I am seeking to please other people, then heavy clouds will settle down on my path.
Why wait for the desert to bloom before walking this road? The Way is already here, in Christ:
But He is this and more, now, to all who believe in Him. Faith is glad to acknowledge all that He is, as God is glad to make it known, even when unbelief disowns Him, slights Him, and casts Him out. So He is the one Divine Way. There is no other, and He is entirely enough for anyone who has no strength or wisdom or worth of any kind. Christ is the way now for the steps of those who know Him, the wisdom of God in an evil world. He Himself is the highest and perfect expression of that wisdom, and so He is open to a beginner in faith just as much as to an apostle.
- After judgment, a road. Isaiah 35 shows the blessing that follows judgment. It ends with the ransomed going up to Zion in full security, all mourning gone for ever.
- A real road, not a mood. The chapter has one definite meaning: the restoring of all things on earth. It is not a picture that fits anything you please.
- Named for what God finishes. The name shows God's first purpose for His people — separation from evil. He never sets it aside; He finishes it.
- Redeemed first, holy after. The path is blood-sprinkled: a redeemed way for a redeemed people. Redemption is what marks a person out for obedience.
- Wide enough for a fool. The way is so plain that even a fool need not lose it. It asks a single eye and a teachable spirit. And the Way itself is Christ, open to the newest believer as much as to an apostle.
No lion shall be there, nor shall ravenous beast go up thereon, nor be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there].
This verse closes Isaiah's picture of a restored land. It tells us two things about the road home: what will not be on it, and who will be. Commentators ask why God shuts out every predator, and who "the redeemed" are.
Judgment fills the chapter before. One writer sums up what comes after it:
Isaiah 35 gives a picture of the blessing that follows the judgment. It is blessing even for the wilderness, and it depends on the blessing of Israel. The redeemed of Jehovah will go up with joy in full security to Zion, and all mourning will pass away for ever.
Many read this chapter as a picture of the Christian life, or of heaven, or of the church. One writer answers that this dodges the real question:
Theological prejudice is strangely blinding. A pious commentator, J. A. Alexander, says that without any change in its essential meaning, this chapter may be applied to the return of the Jews from Babylon, to the calling of the Gentiles, to the whole Christian age, to the course of every individual believer, and to the blessedness of heaven. It has been applied in all those ways, and certainly it may be. But the question is: what is its definite meaning? The chapter before shows one side of the awful judgement that awaits the earth. This chapter shows the deliverance of creation.
The missing lion is one small piece of a much larger change:
The mighty and blessed transformation which the Lord will then bring about for the lower creation is only part of a still grander prospect. That is the reconciliation of all things (Col. 1:20). Then the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, even the universe, will be headed up in the Christ, the Heir of all things (Eph. 1:10), the Head over all to His body the church. But here it was enough to give the earthly side of glory. It is the common point where, we may say, the bright visions of all the prophets meet.
The verse promises a road with nothing on it to harm the traveller. But the travellers are not left as they were:
After God steps in, the blessing for Israel and the land promised in Isaiah 35 will come to pass. He will lift the curse of Genesis 3:17-18, so that the very deserts turn fruitful. His vengeance will mean deliverance for Israel, and safety. But not only that: they themselves will be changed. They will see spiritually, they will hear, they will sing with gladness, and all their hopes will come true.
Isaiah 35:9 is one of many promises about a redeemed Israel. One writer names what all of them rest on:
The word is used very often in the Psalms and Prophets for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth (Ps. 103:4; 107:2; Isa. 35:9; 43:1). All of it, however, rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.
Commentators differ over how far this chapter applies to believers now. The writer above pressed for its definite meaning. Others take the road into present Christian life. One links the holiness of the road to the price paid for those who walk it:
How blessed is the thought that our whole pathway is a blood-sprinkled one — that is, a way of holiness; a redeemed way for a redeemed people (Isa. 35:8-10). Just as truly as we are redeemed from the guilt of sin, so truly are we marked out for obedience to God.
Another writer contrasts Israel's walk on that road with the believer's walk today:
In such beautiful language the prophet describes the highway on which Israel will yet walk. They will walk it when they see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of their God. For them it will be sight. But we have not yet seen the Lord whom we love, so for us it is faith. We walk not by sight but by faith, and without faith we cannot take one step on the saints' highway.
- Judgment clears the road. The judgment of the chapter before clears the way for this safe highway. Deliverance and safety come after God acts.
- Redemption opens the road. The Psalms and Prophets promise Israel's rescue again and again. It all rests on blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was only a sample and a pledge.
- Holiness marks the road. It is a redeemed way for a redeemed people. As surely as God redeems us from the guilt of sin, He marks us out for obedience.
- Nothing dangerous walks the road. The missing lion points to a wider change in creation — part of the reconciliation of all things in Christ, the Heir of all things.
- Joy waits at the end of the road. God protects the travellers and changes them too — seeing, hearing, singing, with every hope come true.
And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35 answers a chapter of judgment with a picture of blessing. Verse 10 is its last line, and it promises a homecoming to Zion with everlasting joy.
The chapter is not a change of subject but a sequel. One writer sums up the chapter:
Isaiah 35 gives a picture of the blessing that follows the judgment. Even the wilderness is blessed, and its blessing depends on Israel's. The redeemed of the Lord will go up to Zion with joy and in full security, and all mourning will pass away forever.
So the song of verse 10 belongs to the far side of judgment.
A ransom means a price was paid. One writer shows what this future deliverance rests on:
There is another use of divine power, still future, that is called redemption... The same principle applies to the word's very frequent use in the Psalms and Prophets for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth... But it all rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.
So the exiles who trudged home from Babylon were a down payment, not the payment. The full return waits for the display of that same power:
God's judgments will swiftly work to untangle good from evil. They will vindicate all that is good and condemn all that is evil. Then "songs and everlasting joy" will replace the "sorrow and sighing." Christ's second coming will bring about redemption by power.
The ransomed are not only set free; they arrive somewhere. The name of the place tells you what waits there:
Isaiah 35:10 gives an idea of what Zion means... It is the place of grace. It connects with redemption and joy and gladness. Sorrow and sighing ceasing tells of the unmixed happiness that grace will bring us to.
Every deliverance so far has run out. One writer marks the difference:
When He puts on strength and acts in the future day, there will be a far greater deliverance. The ransomed of the Lord will return to Zion with singing. Their joy will be everlasting. It will not be brief and fleeting, as every joyful deliverance in this sinful world has been so far. We today may call upon the Arm of the Lord to awake, only the language we use is, "Even so, Come, Lord Jesus."
The verse does not tell us to endure sorrow or explain it. Sorrow flees. That has a plain use for anyone suffering now:
Sufferings are short. "After you have suffered a little while" (1 Peter 5:10) — older translations say only "a while," but the Greek word means "a little." Our sufferings may be lasting, not everlasting. Persecution is harsh but brief; though it has a sting to torment, yet it has a wing to fly. "Sorrow and sighing shall flee away." It is only a while before the saints receive their release. They will weep no more and suffer no more.
This promise is not a general picture of a happy ending. It is tied to a real people and a real land:
This is how God will show that goodness and mercy are His own delight, whatever sin and woe Satan brought into this world... Divine vengeance on the enemies accompanies their salvation. Take it in all its fullness of meaning: it will be accomplished to the letter. God will prove that not a word of His mercy to Israel and their land can fall to the ground.
Commentators differ on how far Christians may take the verse for themselves. Some keep the promise for the earthly Zion. On that reading, "we can rejoice today in this forecast of the blessedness of the earthly Zion, while we remember with gladness that we are blessed 'with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ'" (F. B. Hole). Others apply the words to a heavenly hope: "the ransomed of the Lord will at last come to the heavenly city with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads" (Hamilton Smith).
- Ransomed — the joy belongs to bought people, and the price is His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was only a sample and pledge.
- Returning — Christ's second coming brings redemption by power. Judgment untangles good from evil, and songs replace sighing.
- Reaching Zion — Zion is the place of grace, where redemption, joy and gladness meet.
- Rejoicing — this joy is everlasting. Every earlier deliverance was brief and fleeting.
- Released — our sufferings may be lasting, but not everlasting. Sorrow has a sting to torment, but it also has a wing to fly.