May 11, 2025 • 46 mins
The most dramatic contrast in Scripture unfolds in Isaiah 34-35, where judgment and redemption stand side by side in God's divine plan.
One moment we're witnessing cosmic upheaval—blood-soaked mountains, dissolving stars, and a sky rolling up like a scroll—as God pronounces judgment on all nations that oppose Him. The next, we're transported to a flourishing wilderness where deserts bloom, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the redeemed walk a highway of holiness toward unending joy.
At the heart of this judgment stands Edom, representing all who trust in their wealth, strength, and self-sufficiency rather than in God. Their fate serves as both warning and promise: warning to those walking in pride and promise to those suffering under injustice that systems of oppression will not stand forever.
But the true power of these chapters lies in their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is the living water that transforms our desert souls into gardens. He is the healer who opens blind eyes and deaf ears. He declared Himself "the Way"—the very highway of holiness that early Christians were known for walking.
These twin chapters force us to confront the most important question: Where do we stand? Are we like Edom—proud, self-reliant, resistant to God? Or are we walking the Way that leads to Zion, where joy replaces sorrow and gladness overtakes sighing?
God's salvation isn't merely escape from judgment; it's entrance into fullness of life and restoration in His presence. What temporary struggles do you face today? What seems permanent that God might be preparing to transform? Take heart—the One who makes deserts bloom can surely make your wilderness rejoice.
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Doug McMasters (00:00):
Let's take our Bible and go to the book of
Isaiah.
The book of Isaiah.
We're going to be in twochapters this morning chapters
34 and 35.
These two chapters are acapstone of a long section that
we've been in for several weeksand even months, and that is
chapters 13, all the way up tochapter 35.
(00:22):
All the way up to chapter 35.
We said that this section, whichis oracles to the nations, is
bookmarked and bookended ratherby two sections a focus on King
Ahaz in chapter 7 to 12 and afocus on King Hezekiah, which
we'll be looking at in just afew weeks or for the next few
weeks, in chapters 36 to 39.
(00:43):
Chapter 7 to 12 with Ahaz andchapters 36 to 39 with Hezekiah.
We find two kings with twocrises, two prophetic
confrontations and two responsesAhaz fails in unbelief and
(01:04):
Hezekiah, though he falters,expresses faith and trust in God
.
And in the middle of this hasbeen this long section that
we've looked at chapters 13 to35, largely focusing outside of
Judah and off to the nations,but also bringing it back home.
At the same time, and in themidst of this larger section,
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we've seen two significantthemes one of judgment and one
of deliverance.
Now, of course, these themesare woven as a tapestry
throughout all of Scripture, butthey are very much in view at
the very front end of thissection of Scripture.
Isaiah itself could be dividedby those two themes.
(01:48):
Chapters 1 to 39 focus largelyon judgment.
Chapters 40 through 66 largelyfocus on deliverance.
Prophet Isaiah speaks in thefirst 39 chapters about
disobedience and idolatry andinjustice not going unchecked.
That God's wrath and hisjudgment are not arbitrary but
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purposeful for the bringing downof iniquity but also for the
purifying of a people inpreparation for deliverance that
will come, and that it extendsto the nations and not just to
the people of God under thesound of the word, to the
nations and not just to thepeople of God under the sound of
the word.
Wonderfully also intertwinedwith all of that expression of
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judgment and focus have beenthis glorious, red-hued thread
of salvation that we've seentime and time and time again in
Isaiah in these sections.
Now, soon, very soon, we'll bein chapter 40 to 66.
And as much as the emphasis hasbeen on judgment in the first
39 chapters, in chapters 40 to66, the larger focus will be on
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redemption and deliverance andwe'll see expressions of the
suffering servant.
We'll see statements of a newcovenant.
We'll see a glorious picture ofZion, of the heavenly Jerusalem
, in which God is bringing allthings not to destruction but to
restoration and renewal in anew heaven and a new earth.
(03:14):
These two chapters that we'reabout to dive into chapter 34
and chapter 35, stand as emblemsof all of Scripture, but all of
Isaiah as well Chapter 34 withits focus on judgment, and
chapter 35 with its focus onredemption.
The one hand, we're going tosee the inescapable hand of God
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expressing itself in judgmentand, on the other hand, we'll
see God's glorious activity ofredemption.
We'll find Edom singled out asrepresentative of the nations,
giving us an understanding thatthis imagery, chilling as it is,
is not abstract but real, it'scertain and it's coming, and
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that salvation is not abstractbut real and certain and coming.
The question that we havebefore us is will we walk in
chapter 34 and find ourselvesultimately facing the judgment,
or will we find ourselves withinthe context of God's glorious
promises of redemption, as heexpresses itself in chapters 35?
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The fate of the rebellious isclear, but the promise of
renewal is just as clear.
So, as we go into this chapter,I pray that we might bring
ourselves into it and askourselves, examining ourselves
in the light of these twochapters and discovering where
we will stand.
Will we remain in chapter 34 orwill we enter wholeheartedly
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into the promises of God inchapter 35?
So let's do that.
Let's go through these twochapters together.
Chapter 34, as I said, is God'sjudgment against the wicked, and
in this chapter he strips awayall illusion that rebellion
against God can go unanswered,all illusion that rebellion
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against God can go unanswered.
And we're going to see in thischapter three different aspects
of that.
We're going to see poeticdescriptions of judgment.
We're going to see a powerfuldisplay of judgment to the
people of Edom and we're goingto see a purposeful design of
judgment.
As we walk through it, we'regoing to understand that God
does not act capriciously orwithout purpose in these
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judgments.
The main focus of this is thepoetic expressions or
descriptions of judgment.
The imagery of chapter 34 isvivid.
Imagery of chapter 34 is vivid,even repulsively vivid if you
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think about it.
And these things are, yes,meant to shock and unsettle us.
They are meant to awaken us andthey are meant to cause us to
examine ourselves deeply,because judgment is unavoidable,
it is certain, and theconsequences are extreme.
Let's go through some of thesepoetic descriptions.
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And the first one we find is inchapter 34, in verse 3.
And it talks about there thestench of corpses in the
blood-soaked mountains.
Their slaying will be thrownout and the stench of their
corpses will rise.
The mountains will flow withtheir blood.
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It's an extremely descriptivestatement.
Why does it come?
Take a look at the first twoverses.
You nations, come here andlisten.
You peoples, pay attention.
Let the earth and all thatfills it hear the world and all
that comes from it.
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The Lord is angry with allnations furious with all their
armies.
With all nations furious withall their armies, he will set
them apart for destruction,giving them over to slaughter.
What is this image of stenchand blood-soaked mountains?
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It shows us that God is goingto bring all sin and all sinning
people to an end, in which hiswrath is outpoured upon them and
it is pervasive.
All the earth, all themountains will be stained with
blood.
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When we go to the book of Romans, in chapters one through three
particularly, we find theapostle Paul unpacking the
scriptures.
And he doesn't just look at acertain group of people and say,
look, how bad they are, hebrings the word of God forcibly
through, as it expresses itselfboth to Jewish people and to
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Gentiles, and he brings it to aconclusion.
He says what is this conclusion?
All have sinned and come shortof the glory of God.
Here Isaiah is speaking aboutall nations being liable to
judgment before a holy God, andthe effect of this is
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cataclysmic.
Take a look at the second imagein verse 4.
All the stars in the sky willdissolve.
The sky will roll up like astroll and its stars will all
wither, as leaves wither on thevine and foliage on the fig tree
.
This is not just poetic imagery.
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It speaks of the depth of God'sjudgment and it speaks of a
cosmic upheaval in whicheverything is brought to an end.
It is the very undoing ofcreation itself.
That's how unstoppable theforce of God's judgment is.
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And it shows us, in the starsfalling from the skies and the
sky itself rolling up as ascroll, that there's no power,
be it on earth or in theheavenlies, seen or unseen, that
can stand against God when heacts in judgment.
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But it also tells us that Godis going to bring something to
an end.
The scriptures tell us at thevery beginning, when Adam and
Eve disobeyed God, that theearth itself would be bearing
the consequences of theiriniquity, that the earth would
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grow thorns and thistles, thatit would become a place of
arduous labor, because the earthitself was receiving and
bearing the scars of humaniniquity.
And this creation that has beenbrought into the consequences
of our disobedience is alsogoing to be taken away and
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brought to an end.
This apocalyptic theme of theuncreation, of the destruction
and undoing of the things thathave been made is also found in
the book of Revelation, inchapter 6.
The sky receded like a scrollbeing rolled up, and every
mountain and island was removedfrom its place.
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Even the fabric of the heavenshas to respond to the voice of
God's judgment.
The very order of creation isunder his power and control, and
what we see here is the undoingof everything that seems
permanent.
A lot of things in this worldseem to be in the cycles of
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permanence of human behaviorthat nations rise and fall, that
families form and dissolve,that time marches on and that
the powerful take the place ofprominence, and that they exert
that power for the purposes ofself-satisfaction and gain.
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And we find people in places ofinjustice, bearing under the
weight of those powerful peoplewho don't use their positions
for the purposes of good but forthe purposes of their own
design and their own selfishness.
And what God is telling us here, when he expresses this kind of
judgment, is that those kind ofthings will also be brought to
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an end If the stars themselvesfall.
The power of human iniquityitself will come to nothing.
It will not reign.
All injustices, all iniquity,all of it will.
All inequity will be brought toan end and there will come a
day when righteousness andjustice and equity and love
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prevail.
I'm getting a little ahead ofmyself in chapter 35.
We'll see more of that in justa moment.
But another propheticdescription, another poetic
statement in verses five and sixthe sword of the Lord.
When my sword is drunk, it'sfilled in the heavens.
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Then it will come down on Edomand on the people I've set apart
for destruction.
The Lord's sword is coveredwith blood, it drips with fat,
with the blood of lambs andgoats and the fat of the kidneys
of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice inBasra, a great slaughter in the
land of Edom.
This graphic image just addsanother layer of emphasis to the
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completeness of God's justice,and that wickedness will be
fully dealt with In the book ofDeuteronomy, moses speaks these
very same words in chapter 32.
As surely as I live forever, Iwill sharpen my flashing sword
and my hand takes hold ofjudgment, and I will take
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vengeance on my adversaries andrepay those who hate me.
I will make my arrows drunkwith blood while my sword
devours flesh, the blood of theslain and the captives, the
heads of the enemy leaders.
This is a sobering thought.
This is a sobering thought, andhere Isaiah is echoing out what
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God said in Deuteronomy, thathis justice is both necessary
and purposeful and it will bringthose who stand against him to
an end.
Take a look at verse 8.
We see another one, for theLord has a day of vengeance, a
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time of paying back edom for itshostility against zion.
And then another one, in verses9 and 10, of streams turning to
pitch and dust into sulfur.
Edom streams will be turnedinto pitch or soil into sulfur.
Edom's streams will be turnedinto pitch or soil into sulfur.
Her land will become burningpitch.
It will never go out day ornight.
Its smoke will go up forever.
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It will be desolate fromgeneration to generation.
No one will pass through itforever and ever.
God's judgment is permanent anddevastating.
In verses 11 to 15 speak aboutthe chaos of that destruction
and it talks about wild animalstaking over the land.
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And we won't read all of that,but in it you'll see owls and
ravens and jackals and othercreatures and they're going to
stretch out over Edom andthey're going to be ruling it
where there are now, at themoment, people controlling it.
Edom at that time was a verystrong and prosperous place.
It rose up in its pride and itsarrogance because of its
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possessions and because of itsalliances.
And God says when judgmentcomes, there's going to be
nothing but a desert and jackalsscattering across it.
All of these images worldwide,even cosmic chaos, all result
from the hand of God'spunishment.
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And he brings all of thatuniversal expression down to one
group of people.
And this is the second part ofthis chapter Not only the poetic
demonstrations and displays anddescriptions, but the powerful
display of judgment found inEdom itself, at the heart of
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this chapter.
Edom, edom, edom, edom itselfAt the heart of this chapter.
Edom, edom, edom, edom isspoken with relentless detail
and vivid descriptions ofjudgment.
Why, why is Edom singled outhere as the one who will receive
all of this judgment?
Why, why is Edom's downfall thefocus of God in this place?
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Why does it stand as arepresentation of all peoples?
Well, we have to know thehistory of Edom.
Edom is a nation descended fromEsau, the twin brother of Jacob,
the father of Israel.
And their struggle between oneanother, between Esau and Jacob,
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started in the womb.
They weren't even born yet andthey were already at odds with
one another.
And it continued on throughtheir life and down through
their descendants and it shapedthe history of the people of
Israel, this hostility betweenEdom and Israel.
And geographically, edom sat atthe southeast of Israel and
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because it did, it controlled alot of the key trade routes and
fortresses.
And the Edomites pridedthemselves on their wisdom, on
their military strength, andthey even got to the place where
they thought they wereuntouchable.
And they even got to the placewhere they thought they were
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untouchable and because theywere so arrogant, it led them to
betrayal of their neighbors tothe northwest Israel.
They refused passage to Israel.
In the book of Exodus, inNumbers, chapter 20.
And they rejoiced inJerusalem's destruction.
You can read the book of Exodusin Numbers, chapter 20,.
And they rejoiced inJerusalem's destruction.
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You read the book of Obadiah inchapter one, you see them
laughing at the downfall ofJerusalem.
And because of this history,because of this animosity,
because of this arrogance,because of this refusal to help
people in need, because of theirlaughing and scorning at the
people of God even in theirweakest moments, edom now is
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emblematic of all of the nationsthat rise up against God.
They are the one nation whomost specifically and earnestly
set themselves against God's son, israel, and so God's sword
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descends upon them.
But the scriptures tell us thatthere's another son, and he is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the trueson.
And the scriptures tell us thatjudgment will come to all of us
, based upon what we do withthat son, the true son, the true
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Israel.
You see, it speaks to us today,this judgment.
This judgment tells us, asPsalm 2 says Kiss the son, lest
you fall under the wrath of God.
No force, no kingdom, no powerthat elevates itself against God
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and against his anointed willstand.
And just as Edom fell into ruin, every structure that's built
on pride, every structure that'sbuilt on injustice, every
structure that's built oninjustice, every structure that
stands in hostility to God andevery individual who stands in
opposition to the one Messiah,jesus Christ, will face this
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same judgment that's seen herein Edom.
We have to ask ourselves well,is this just simply about Edom's
arrogance?
Is this just about Edom's fulltrust in its strength and its
wealth?
Is this just about Edom and itsdeluded understanding of its
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self-sufficiency and itsposition to being invincible?
No, this is about us askingourselves am I arrogant today?
It's about us asking ourselveswhat do I rely upon?
My strength, my wealth, myingenuity, my self-sufficiency?
Do I stand as though I haveevery right to be confident in
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this world controlled by a holyGod, the way I live?
We must reflect upon thesethings, and so, when we read
chapter 34, we find poeticdescriptions of destruction.
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We find there that God alsogives us a pinpoint, designated
understanding of that judgmentthrough Edom itself.
But we also understand, throughreading this chapter, that
there is a prophetic andpurposeful design and God is
wiping away this universe of allthings that stand against him,
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and that he does so throughtemporal and eternal judgment.
His temporal judgment bringsnations to humility that once
stood in pride, but also eternaljudgment, where he takes people
and makes an everlastingjudgment upon them and the
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characteristic of their life.
The scope of the one is inhistory, the scope of the other
is a final assessment ineternity.
The purpose of the one is tohumble, to correct and even to
prepare for renewal.
The purpose of the other is tobring someone outside of time,
into the culmination of history,in an irrevocable judgment of
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separation from God himself, inwhich everything that God is
will be absent in their eternalbeing.
God who is love, god who isfull of joy and gives peace, one
who is kind and merciful andgracious, all the aspects of
God's holy character in thoseways are removed from those who
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enter into eternity and standingin opposition against God, to
speak of it as eternal flames isonly to give some real-life
descriptor of just horrific thatseparation from God is.
Chapter 34 is a soberingreminder and it should speak to
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us in several different ways.
If we're discouraged by thechaos that's around us, if we're
discouraged by the chaos that'saround us, if we are victims of
wickedness and injustice andinequity, if we are feeling that
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the vulnerability of thepowerful who holds sway against
us, chapter 34 is a word ofencouragement that those things
will not continue to reign, thatthose things will not rule
humanity forever, that therewill be an end of injustices,
there will be an end of inequity, there will be an end of this
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powerful display of pride andarrogance.
It will come to nothing,display of pride and arrogance.
It will come to nothing.
It will fall from the skies asharshly and as quickly as the
stars dissolve themselves.
But it also reminds us that ifwe're resisting God, if we are
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in those places of sinningagainst others because we are
not in alignment with God, thatthere's a warning for us that
God's judgments are not merelytemporary, they're eternal.
And if Edom, who was so full ofpositions of pride and
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arrogance and haughtiness, fell,so will we, so will we.
Chapter 35 takes a swift andsudden shift.
There's not even a segue ofmovement between the two Chapter
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34, filled with judgment,without a whisper of any hope.
And then you get to verse 1 ofchapter 35.
The wilderness and the dry landwill be glad.
The desert will rejoice andblossom like a wildflower.
It's hard, I have to say, evenfor me in this moment, to try to
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regroup my mind and my heartand my emotion coming out of
chapter 34, because it's soabrupt.
This is such a hard turn.
Thank God it's a good one.
Chapter 34 has drawn this grimpicture in which a world and a
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universe has been stripped bare,swallowed by fire, left to
decay in the wake of divinejustice.
And this shift, the wildernessthat was once bare and lifeless
in the previous chapter is nowerupting in beauty.
The dry and desolate land isnow bursting into bloom.
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What is this telling us?
God's ultimate purposes are oneof redemption and
reconciliation.
That we should, yes, heed thewarnings of judgment and flee
from the wrath to come.
But where do we go?
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We go into chapter 35, into thewarm embrace of promise and
redemption and hope.
This is the triumph of theredeemed, where sorrow breaks
into singing, where brokennessmoves into healing, where
despair rises to joy.
That's what this is, where Godinvites us to walk in the way of
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holiness.
Walk in the way of holiness.
This chapter, when we go throughit, you're going to find it,
lands in one place, jesus Christ.
Every one of these picturesthat we're about to look find
themselves with gloriousfulfillment in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
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Yes, he talks about wilderness.
Yes, he talks about wilderness.
Yes, he talks about blooming,but he's talking about a day in
which God will bring thesethings to bear on earth, in time
and space, through one person,jesus Christ, the one who
strengthens the weak and healsthe broken, the one who quenches
the thirst and opens the way,the highway.
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So as we go through chapter 35,if you can go with me, let's
move into it and the first thingyou see is the desert blooms.
The desert blooms, thewilderness and the dry land will
be glad.
The desert will rejoice and theblossom like a wildflower Verse
(27:26):
2,.
It will blossom abundantly.
It will also rejoice with joyand singing.
The glory of Lebanon will begiven to it, the splendor of
Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of theLord, the splendor of our God.
This land, this land just amoment ago, was soaked in blood.
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This land, a moment ago, wasthe habitation of jackals and
owls.
This habitation was nothing butan empty desert.
Not anymore.
Not anymore anymore.
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That which was once lifelessand hopeless and dry and empty
is erupting with life andvitality bursting into bloom.
It is a powerful picture ofGod's ability to restore
everything that looks lost.
Is your life destroyed, is yourlife completely barren.
There is hope in Jesus Christ.
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Jesus himself, when he came,spoke to a woman at the well,
rejected of many different men,rejected of the women in the
village.
She was in the middle of theday alone, grasping some water
in a time and a place wherethere ought to have been no one
there to get any water.
And Jesus speaks to her and heshows her the well and he says
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if anybody drinks the water thatI give, they will never thirst.
They will never thirst and thewater that I give will become in
them a spring of water wellingup into eternal life.
Jesus takes this picture of adesert turning into a blossomed
garden and a botanical displayof God's variegated creational
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ability and he says it's foundin Jesus Christ, who offers the
glorious life of the gospel.
And he said in John 7, whoeverbelieves in me, as scripture has
said, rivers of living waterwill flow from within them.
Everything about our life willbe transformed.
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When Christ rules the heart, hewill make the desert of our
very souls come to life.
This is why he said I've come.
John, chapter 10, I've come thatthey might have life, and they
might have it to the full.
Have it to the full.
What do I have to give up tobecome a Christian Is the wrong
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way to think.
What do you receive when youbecome a believer way to think.
What do you receive when youbecome a believer, the
wellsprings of God's gloriousactivity, to bring your life to
fullness and to completion intothe purposes for which it was
ultimately designed, to be ableto express yourself to all of
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the extent that God has made youfor.
To the extent that God has madeyou for, that's what it is.
Isaiah saw the wildernesstransformed.
Jesus brings a transformationto people.
Let's take a look at the nextimage in verses three and four
Strengthen the weak hands,steady the shaking knees.
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Say to the cowardly be strong,do not fear.
Here is your God.
Vengeance is coming.
God's retribution is coming.
He will save you.
After judgment, fear had set in, but Isaiah is calling to the
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people that the judgment willbring his people into a place of
confidence and hope.
Do not fear, your God will comeand he has come to save you.
This is the prophetic image ofGod interacting directly on
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behalf of his people to removeeverything from them that had
depressed them and to bring theminto the place of deliverance
by his very presence and thedirect hand of his actions as a
deliverer.
Hand of his actions as adeliverer.
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Scriptures tell us that on oneChristmas morn, a little baby
was born and his parents weretold that they were going to
name that child and they weregoing to call him Jesus, a
Savior, god who saves.
Why?
Because he is Emmanuel God withus.
And when Jesus came to thisworld, he came directly to the
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place where we live so that byhis direct hand he could save.
And those hands that came tosave us put themselves on the
cross and allowed them to benailed there so that he might
stand that place as a sacrificeand substitute for sinners, so
that we might be delivered.
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And so now the invitation comes.
Jesus says come on, come untome, all you that are burdened
and weary, heavy laden, and Iwill give you rest.
In 2 Timothy 1, paul remindsTimothy God has not given us a
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spirit of fear, but of power andof love and of a sound mind.
And these very words that arehere in Isaiah, chapter 35,
strengthen the weak hand, steadythe shaking knees.
Say to the cowardly, be strong,do not fear are brought to us
in the book of Hebrews, hebrews12, verse 12, strengthen your
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feeble arms and your weak knees.
And what is the argument of thewriter of Hebrews?
It is focus yourself on Christ,don't be led astray by anything
that would detract or denigrateChrist as Lord in your heart
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are.
Denigrate Christ as Lord inyour heart.
So strengthen your feeble armsand your weak knees by grabbing
a hold of Christ, who is yoursacrifice, who?
Christ, who is your salvation,christ who is your deliverance
and Christ who is your hope.
And the more you hold on to him, it is if your feeble arms and
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weak knees have found strength,because he will renew you from
the inside and strengthen you tolive your life well on the
outside.
Let's move on Isaiah 35, verses5 and 6.
Then the eyes of the blind willbe opened and the ears of the
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deaf unstopped, and the lamewill leap like a deer and the
tongue of the mute will sing forjoy, for waters will gush in
the wilderness and streams inthe desert, the parched ground
will become a pool and thethirsty land springs.
In the haunt of jackals andtheir lairs, there will be grass
, reeds and papyrus.
Of jackals and their lairs,there will be grass, reeds and
(34:49):
papyrus.
Jesus is restoring what'sbroken.
Jesus is filling what's empty.
Jesus is taking what seems tobe permanent and changing it.
The blind will see, the deafwill hear, the lame will leap,
(35:10):
the mute will shout.
They're no longer to beidentified by those things which
bind and restrict and mark them.
Now they're no longer blind,they're no longer deaf, they're
(35:30):
no longer lame, they're nolonger mute, because they have
eyes and ears and voice and legsof strength.
Jesus restores what is broken.
Jesus in this world, when heministered in his earthly
capacity, did exactly thesethings In Matthew 11 and verse 5
(35:51):
, the blind receive their sight,the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cleansed, the deafhear, the dead are raised and
the good news is proclaimed tothe poor.
Jesus came in order to changethe categories of people, to
(36:14):
change them from the blind tothe seeing, from the deaf to the
hearing, from the mute to thevocal, from the weak to the
strong, from the dead to thealive.
What's your problem today?
What's your debilitating,constraining force today?
(36:35):
Well, I'm just no, you're notjust.
With God's intervention,through Jesus Christ, there's no
locked in to anything otherthan the fact that he can unlock
every one of those closed doorsof you, every single one.
(36:57):
And Isaiah is prophesying therestoration of the broken, and
Jesus is the fulfillment of thatrestoration.
If you need wholeness, he isthe source.
If you're wounded, he is thestrength.
And again the waters flow.
We see it here again in versessix and seven, that dry land
(37:22):
once again streaming flooding,bringing life and abundance.
Revelation 21.
And verse 6,.
Jesus himself speaking there tothe thirsty, I will give water
without cost from the springs ofthe water of life.
When Christ rules a person,this life flows freely.
(37:48):
And then the highway of holiness.
The highway of holiness, verse8,.
A road will be there and a way.
It will be called the holy way.
The unclean will not travel onit, but it will be for the one
who walks the path.
(38:08):
Fools will not wander on it.
There'll be no lion there, novicious beast will go up on it,
they will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk onit and the ransomed of the Lord
will return.
And the ransomed of the Lordwill return.
(38:29):
Isaiah closes this wholesection of judgment to the
nations with a statement thatthe day is coming where there'll
be a return of the people ofGod on a highway of holiness, a
path set apart for those whowalk in the light of his
salvation.
And when we get to the NewTestament scriptures, it's no
accident that Jesus, the nightbefore he is crucified, looks at
(38:53):
his disciples and he says I amthe way, the truth and the life.
He is bringing this prophecy tofulfillment by speaking about
himself.
He is bringing this prophecy tofulfillment by speaking about
himself.
In Hebrews, chapter 10, it saysthat the way into the very
presence of God is to draw nearto God through the blood of
(39:16):
Jesus.
That way is his way, jesus' way, and so when you read the book
of Acts and if you've noticedthis, the phrase the way is used
multiple times.
It is the first characteristicand description of what the life
of the Savior brings to us.
(39:37):
Acts 9.2, paul seeks permissionto arrest followers of the way
in Damascus.
Acts 19.9, some in Ephesusrejected the way and speak
against it.
Acts 19.23, a disturbancearises concerning the way due to
(39:58):
the economic disturbance ofidol making.
Acts 22.4, paul recounts thepersecution that he did against
those of the way.
Acts 24.14, paul defendshimself before Felix, affirming
his faith as the way.
In Acts 24.22, felix, familiarwith the way, postpones judgment
(40:22):
against Paul.
The way, the way.
God has opened up the way intohis very presence through Jesus
Christ, because he is the wayand those who follow him are on
the way, and those who followhim are going toward the
(40:43):
destination that the way bringsthem.
And what is that destination?
Take a look the ransom to theLord will return and come to
Zion, to the very place of God'spresence, with singing crowned
with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtakethem and sorrow and sighing will
flee away.
(41:04):
This is the end, this is thedestination point, not chapter
34.
Chapter 35.
Chapter 34 makes you look atGod and say get me out of here.
And you find, even if you wentto the widest reaches of the
(41:27):
universe, to the most distantstar, it's going to fall and
I'll fall with it.
But then you come to chapter 35, and he builds this image of a
place where, ultimately, youcome into the presence of God
and there's no fear there,there's no sorrow there.
There's no sorrow there,there's no crying there, there's
(41:48):
no agony there.
There is joy and rejoicing andsalvation and life and singing
and abundance, all of it.
Here's the question.
Here's the question Am I Edom?
(42:10):
Am I that arrogant resister ofGod and his people?
Am I full of self-sufficiencyand pride?
I'll do it my way.
You stay on that way, you'llmiss this way.
Are we trusting in Jesus?
Am I?
(42:30):
Am I marching to Zion with joyin my heart that the highway is
opened and judgment is gone,because Christ has come to open
this up for me.
So here we have chapter 34 and35 in dramatic contrast judgment
and devastation, followed byglorious renewal and redemption,
(42:52):
with these glorious words atthe very end no lion will be
there, nor will any viciousbeast go up on it.
They will not be found there,but the redeemed will walk on it
safe and the ransomed of theLord will return and come to
(43:15):
Zion with singing, crowned withunending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtakethem, sorrow and sighing will
flee.
Here is the sweeping invitationof the celebration of salvation
, where every threat, everysorrow and every struggle is
(43:39):
gone and joy takes the placeforever On this place where no
hidden danger can ever attack usand no grief ever overshadow
our song.
It's not just escape fromjudgment, is it?
God's salvation is not justokay, you have a pass.
It's to bring you into fullnessin life, into full restoration,
(44:03):
into companionship in hispresence, with eternal joy, so
that your life might beswallowed up with triumph and
not loss.
This is God's redemption, thisis his promise.
And when we get to chapters 40,all the way to the end of
chapter 66, this is just goingto grow and grow and grow and
(44:25):
grow and grow as we see God, whowas the God not only of
judgment but of redemption.
Let's pray, father.
We thank you for our Lord JesusChrist, because without him
there would be no hope for us,there would be no chapter 35.
Without Christ, we would all becrying and agonizing and
(44:54):
speaking woes against ourselfbecause our doom would be sure,
because there is none righteousno, not one.
We would all be before thepresence of a, a holy God, with
our mouths stopped silent,recognizing that judgment was
just and certain.
We thank you, lord, that youdidn't leave us there and you
(45:19):
don't leave any human there,that you open up the invitation
of life through the propheticpicture of chapter 35.
This glorious image of life andvigor and strength and song of
healing and hope.
And, lord, I pray that all of usmight find ourselves in the way
(45:41):
who is Jesus Christ and that wemight be able to walk in the
way who is Jesus Christ and thatwe might be able to walk in the
way who is Jesus Christ andthat we might find the
destination of that pathwaywhere the way ends in the very
presence of God and in the Lamb.
Lord, I pray that all of usmight flee from wrath and run to
redemption, as it's offered tous today.
(46:03):
Whatever temporary judgments wehave faced, may they be the
very impetus to cause us tohunger and thirst for this truth
and this redemption, and may webe sobered by it to recognize
that whatever temporary ills weface are only meant to point us
to everlasting joy, but theyalso stand as a harbinger of
(46:25):
eternal judgment if we neglectthem.
Lord, may these eternal issuesof life move us today.
We pray for your glory and inChrist's name, amen.
Let's take our Bible and go to the book of
Isaiah.
The book of Isaiah.
We're going to be in twochapters this morning chapters
34 and 35.
These two chapters are acapstone of a long section that
we've been in for several weeksand even months, and that is
chapters 13, all the way up tochapter 35.
(00:22):
All the way up to chapter 35.
We said that this section, whichis oracles to the nations, is
bookmarked and bookended ratherby two sections a focus on King
Ahaz in chapter 7 to 12 and afocus on King Hezekiah, which
we'll be looking at in just afew weeks or for the next few
weeks, in chapters 36 to 39.
(00:43):
Chapter 7 to 12 with Ahaz andchapters 36 to 39 with Hezekiah.
We find two kings with twocrises, two prophetic
confrontations and two responsesAhaz fails in unbelief and
(01:04):
Hezekiah, though he falters,expresses faith and trust in God
.
And in the middle of this hasbeen this long section that
we've looked at chapters 13 to35, largely focusing outside of
Judah and off to the nations,but also bringing it back home.
At the same time, and in themidst of this larger section,
(01:25):
we've seen two significantthemes one of judgment and one
of deliverance.
Now, of course, these themesare woven as a tapestry
throughout all of Scripture, butthey are very much in view at
the very front end of thissection of Scripture.
Isaiah itself could be dividedby those two themes.
(01:48):
Chapters 1 to 39 focus largelyon judgment.
Chapters 40 through 66 largelyfocus on deliverance.
Prophet Isaiah speaks in thefirst 39 chapters about
disobedience and idolatry andinjustice not going unchecked.
That God's wrath and hisjudgment are not arbitrary but
(02:11):
purposeful for the bringing downof iniquity but also for the
purifying of a people inpreparation for deliverance that
will come, and that it extendsto the nations and not just to
the people of God under thesound of the word, to the
nations and not just to thepeople of God under the sound of
the word.
Wonderfully also intertwinedwith all of that expression of
(02:32):
judgment and focus have beenthis glorious, red-hued thread
of salvation that we've seentime and time and time again in
Isaiah in these sections.
Now, soon, very soon, we'll bein chapter 40 to 66.
And as much as the emphasis hasbeen on judgment in the first
39 chapters, in chapters 40 to66, the larger focus will be on
(02:53):
redemption and deliverance andwe'll see expressions of the
suffering servant.
We'll see statements of a newcovenant.
We'll see a glorious picture ofZion, of the heavenly Jerusalem
, in which God is bringing allthings not to destruction but to
restoration and renewal in anew heaven and a new earth.
(03:14):
These two chapters that we'reabout to dive into chapter 34
and chapter 35, stand as emblemsof all of Scripture, but all of
Isaiah as well Chapter 34 withits focus on judgment, and
chapter 35 with its focus onredemption.
The one hand, we're going tosee the inescapable hand of God
(03:36):
expressing itself in judgmentand, on the other hand, we'll
see God's glorious activity ofredemption.
We'll find Edom singled out asrepresentative of the nations,
giving us an understanding thatthis imagery, chilling as it is,
is not abstract but real, it'scertain and it's coming, and
(03:59):
that salvation is not abstractbut real and certain and coming.
The question that we havebefore us is will we walk in
chapter 34 and find ourselvesultimately facing the judgment,
or will we find ourselves withinthe context of God's glorious
promises of redemption, as heexpresses itself in chapters 35?
(04:23):
The fate of the rebellious isclear, but the promise of
renewal is just as clear.
So, as we go into this chapter,I pray that we might bring
ourselves into it and askourselves, examining ourselves
in the light of these twochapters and discovering where
we will stand.
Will we remain in chapter 34 orwill we enter wholeheartedly
(04:47):
into the promises of God inchapter 35?
So let's do that.
Let's go through these twochapters together.
Chapter 34, as I said, is God'sjudgment against the wicked, and
in this chapter he strips awayall illusion that rebellion
against God can go unanswered,all illusion that rebellion
(05:08):
against God can go unanswered.
And we're going to see in thischapter three different aspects
of that.
We're going to see poeticdescriptions of judgment.
We're going to see a powerfuldisplay of judgment to the
people of Edom and we're goingto see a purposeful design of
judgment.
As we walk through it, we'regoing to understand that God
does not act capriciously orwithout purpose in these
(05:30):
judgments.
The main focus of this is thepoetic expressions or
descriptions of judgment.
The imagery of chapter 34 isvivid.
Imagery of chapter 34 is vivid,even repulsively vivid if you
(05:52):
think about it.
And these things are, yes,meant to shock and unsettle us.
They are meant to awaken us andthey are meant to cause us to
examine ourselves deeply,because judgment is unavoidable,
it is certain, and theconsequences are extreme.
Let's go through some of thesepoetic descriptions.
(06:16):
And the first one we find is inchapter 34, in verse 3.
And it talks about there thestench of corpses in the
blood-soaked mountains.
Their slaying will be thrownout and the stench of their
corpses will rise.
The mountains will flow withtheir blood.
(06:36):
It's an extremely descriptivestatement.
Why does it come?
Take a look at the first twoverses.
You nations, come here andlisten.
You peoples, pay attention.
Let the earth and all thatfills it hear the world and all
that comes from it.
(06:57):
The Lord is angry with allnations furious with all their
armies.
With all nations furious withall their armies, he will set
them apart for destruction,giving them over to slaughter.
What is this image of stenchand blood-soaked mountains?
(07:20):
It shows us that God is goingto bring all sin and all sinning
people to an end, in which hiswrath is outpoured upon them and
it is pervasive.
All the earth, all themountains will be stained with
blood.
(07:41):
When we go to the book of Romans, in chapters one through three
particularly, we find theapostle Paul unpacking the
scriptures.
And he doesn't just look at acertain group of people and say,
look, how bad they are, hebrings the word of God forcibly
through, as it expresses itselfboth to Jewish people and to
(08:01):
Gentiles, and he brings it to aconclusion.
He says what is this conclusion?
All have sinned and come shortof the glory of God.
Here Isaiah is speaking aboutall nations being liable to
judgment before a holy God, andthe effect of this is
(08:22):
cataclysmic.
Take a look at the second imagein verse 4.
All the stars in the sky willdissolve.
The sky will roll up like astroll and its stars will all
wither, as leaves wither on thevine and foliage on the fig tree
.
This is not just poetic imagery.
(08:44):
It speaks of the depth of God'sjudgment and it speaks of a
cosmic upheaval in whicheverything is brought to an end.
It is the very undoing ofcreation itself.
That's how unstoppable theforce of God's judgment is.
(09:05):
And it shows us, in the starsfalling from the skies and the
sky itself rolling up as ascroll, that there's no power,
be it on earth or in theheavenlies, seen or unseen, that
can stand against God when heacts in judgment.
(09:26):
But it also tells us that Godis going to bring something to
an end.
The scriptures tell us at thevery beginning, when Adam and
Eve disobeyed God, that theearth itself would be bearing
the consequences of theiriniquity, that the earth would
(09:48):
grow thorns and thistles, thatit would become a place of
arduous labor, because the earthitself was receiving and
bearing the scars of humaniniquity.
And this creation that has beenbrought into the consequences
of our disobedience is alsogoing to be taken away and
(10:12):
brought to an end.
This apocalyptic theme of theuncreation, of the destruction
and undoing of the things thathave been made is also found in
the book of Revelation, inchapter 6.
The sky receded like a scrollbeing rolled up, and every
mountain and island was removedfrom its place.
(10:35):
Even the fabric of the heavenshas to respond to the voice of
God's judgment.
The very order of creation isunder his power and control, and
what we see here is the undoingof everything that seems
permanent.
A lot of things in this worldseem to be in the cycles of
(11:03):
permanence of human behaviorthat nations rise and fall, that
families form and dissolve,that time marches on and that
the powerful take the place ofprominence, and that they exert
that power for the purposes ofself-satisfaction and gain.
(11:26):
And we find people in places ofinjustice, bearing under the
weight of those powerful peoplewho don't use their positions
for the purposes of good but forthe purposes of their own
design and their own selfishness.
And what God is telling us here, when he expresses this kind of
judgment, is that those kind ofthings will also be brought to
(11:49):
an end If the stars themselvesfall.
The power of human iniquityitself will come to nothing.
It will not reign.
All injustices, all iniquity,all of it will.
All inequity will be brought toan end and there will come a
day when righteousness andjustice and equity and love
(12:14):
prevail.
I'm getting a little ahead ofmyself in chapter 35.
We'll see more of that in justa moment.
But another propheticdescription, another poetic
statement in verses five and sixthe sword of the Lord.
When my sword is drunk, it'sfilled in the heavens.
(12:35):
Then it will come down on Edomand on the people I've set apart
for destruction.
The Lord's sword is coveredwith blood, it drips with fat,
with the blood of lambs andgoats and the fat of the kidneys
of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice inBasra, a great slaughter in the
land of Edom.
This graphic image just addsanother layer of emphasis to the
(13:04):
completeness of God's justice,and that wickedness will be
fully dealt with In the book ofDeuteronomy, moses speaks these
very same words in chapter 32.
As surely as I live forever, Iwill sharpen my flashing sword
and my hand takes hold ofjudgment, and I will take
(13:27):
vengeance on my adversaries andrepay those who hate me.
I will make my arrows drunkwith blood while my sword
devours flesh, the blood of theslain and the captives, the
heads of the enemy leaders.
This is a sobering thought.
This is a sobering thought, andhere Isaiah is echoing out what
(13:49):
God said in Deuteronomy, thathis justice is both necessary
and purposeful and it will bringthose who stand against him to
an end.
Take a look at verse 8.
We see another one, for theLord has a day of vengeance, a
(14:11):
time of paying back edom for itshostility against zion.
And then another one, in verses9 and 10, of streams turning to
pitch and dust into sulfur.
Edom streams will be turnedinto pitch or soil into sulfur.
Edom's streams will be turnedinto pitch or soil into sulfur.
Her land will become burningpitch.
It will never go out day ornight.
Its smoke will go up forever.
(14:32):
It will be desolate fromgeneration to generation.
No one will pass through itforever and ever.
God's judgment is permanent anddevastating.
In verses 11 to 15 speak aboutthe chaos of that destruction
and it talks about wild animalstaking over the land.
(14:54):
And we won't read all of that,but in it you'll see owls and
ravens and jackals and othercreatures and they're going to
stretch out over Edom andthey're going to be ruling it
where there are now, at themoment, people controlling it.
Edom at that time was a verystrong and prosperous place.
It rose up in its pride and itsarrogance because of its
(15:18):
possessions and because of itsalliances.
And God says when judgmentcomes, there's going to be
nothing but a desert and jackalsscattering across it.
All of these images worldwide,even cosmic chaos, all result
from the hand of God'spunishment.
(15:39):
And he brings all of thatuniversal expression down to one
group of people.
And this is the second part ofthis chapter Not only the poetic
demonstrations and displays anddescriptions, but the powerful
display of judgment found inEdom itself, at the heart of
(16:03):
this chapter.
Edom, edom, edom, edom itselfAt the heart of this chapter.
Edom, edom, edom, edom isspoken with relentless detail
and vivid descriptions ofjudgment.
Why, why is Edom singled outhere as the one who will receive
all of this judgment?
Why, why is Edom's downfall thefocus of God in this place?
(16:25):
Why does it stand as arepresentation of all peoples?
Well, we have to know thehistory of Edom.
Edom is a nation descended fromEsau, the twin brother of Jacob,
the father of Israel.
And their struggle between oneanother, between Esau and Jacob,
(16:45):
started in the womb.
They weren't even born yet andthey were already at odds with
one another.
And it continued on throughtheir life and down through
their descendants and it shapedthe history of the people of
Israel, this hostility betweenEdom and Israel.
And geographically, edom sat atthe southeast of Israel and
(17:09):
because it did, it controlled alot of the key trade routes and
fortresses.
And the Edomites pridedthemselves on their wisdom, on
their military strength, andthey even got to the place where
they thought they wereuntouchable.
And they even got to the placewhere they thought they were
(17:29):
untouchable and because theywere so arrogant, it led them to
betrayal of their neighbors tothe northwest Israel.
They refused passage to Israel.
In the book of Exodus, inNumbers, chapter 20.
And they rejoiced inJerusalem's destruction.
You can read the book of Exodusin Numbers, chapter 20,.
And they rejoiced inJerusalem's destruction.
(17:49):
You read the book of Obadiah inchapter one, you see them
laughing at the downfall ofJerusalem.
And because of this history,because of this animosity,
because of this arrogance,because of this refusal to help
people in need, because of theirlaughing and scorning at the
people of God even in theirweakest moments, edom now is
(18:10):
emblematic of all of the nationsthat rise up against God.
They are the one nation whomost specifically and earnestly
set themselves against God's son, israel, and so God's sword
(18:31):
descends upon them.
But the scriptures tell us thatthere's another son, and he is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the trueson.
And the scriptures tell us thatjudgment will come to all of us
, based upon what we do withthat son, the true son, the true
(18:52):
Israel.
You see, it speaks to us today,this judgment.
This judgment tells us, asPsalm 2 says Kiss the son, lest
you fall under the wrath of God.
No force, no kingdom, no powerthat elevates itself against God
(19:15):
and against his anointed willstand.
And just as Edom fell into ruin, every structure that's built
on pride, every structure that'sbuilt on injustice, every
structure that's built oninjustice, every structure that
stands in hostility to God andevery individual who stands in
opposition to the one Messiah,jesus Christ, will face this
(19:37):
same judgment that's seen herein Edom.
We have to ask ourselves well,is this just simply about Edom's
arrogance?
Is this just about Edom's fulltrust in its strength and its
wealth?
Is this just about Edom and itsdeluded understanding of its
(20:00):
self-sufficiency and itsposition to being invincible?
No, this is about us askingourselves am I arrogant today?
It's about us asking ourselveswhat do I rely upon?
My strength, my wealth, myingenuity, my self-sufficiency?
Do I stand as though I haveevery right to be confident in
(20:22):
this world controlled by a holyGod, the way I live?
We must reflect upon thesethings, and so, when we read
chapter 34, we find poeticdescriptions of destruction.
(20:42):
We find there that God alsogives us a pinpoint, designated
understanding of that judgmentthrough Edom itself.
But we also understand, throughreading this chapter, that
there is a prophetic andpurposeful design and God is
wiping away this universe of allthings that stand against him,
(21:07):
and that he does so throughtemporal and eternal judgment.
His temporal judgment bringsnations to humility that once
stood in pride, but also eternaljudgment, where he takes people
and makes an everlastingjudgment upon them and the
(21:28):
characteristic of their life.
The scope of the one is inhistory, the scope of the other
is a final assessment ineternity.
The purpose of the one is tohumble, to correct and even to
prepare for renewal.
The purpose of the other is tobring someone outside of time,
into the culmination of history,in an irrevocable judgment of
(21:50):
separation from God himself, inwhich everything that God is
will be absent in their eternalbeing.
God who is love, god who isfull of joy and gives peace, one
who is kind and merciful andgracious, all the aspects of
God's holy character in thoseways are removed from those who
(22:14):
enter into eternity and standingin opposition against God, to
speak of it as eternal flames isonly to give some real-life
descriptor of just horrific thatseparation from God is.
Chapter 34 is a soberingreminder and it should speak to
(22:37):
us in several different ways.
If we're discouraged by thechaos that's around us, if we're
discouraged by the chaos that'saround us, if we are victims of
wickedness and injustice andinequity, if we are feeling that
(22:59):
the vulnerability of thepowerful who holds sway against
us, chapter 34 is a word ofencouragement that those things
will not continue to reign, thatthose things will not rule
humanity forever, that therewill be an end of injustices,
there will be an end of inequity, there will be an end of this
(23:19):
powerful display of pride andarrogance.
It will come to nothing,display of pride and arrogance.
It will come to nothing.
It will fall from the skies asharshly and as quickly as the
stars dissolve themselves.
But it also reminds us that ifwe're resisting God, if we are
(23:41):
in those places of sinningagainst others because we are
not in alignment with God, thatthere's a warning for us that
God's judgments are not merelytemporary, they're eternal.
And if Edom, who was so full ofpositions of pride and
(24:02):
arrogance and haughtiness, fell,so will we, so will we.
Chapter 35 takes a swift andsudden shift.
There's not even a segue ofmovement between the two Chapter
(24:24):
34, filled with judgment,without a whisper of any hope.
And then you get to verse 1 ofchapter 35.
The wilderness and the dry landwill be glad.
The desert will rejoice andblossom like a wildflower.
It's hard, I have to say, evenfor me in this moment, to try to
(24:51):
regroup my mind and my heartand my emotion coming out of
chapter 34, because it's soabrupt.
This is such a hard turn.
Thank God it's a good one.
Chapter 34 has drawn this grimpicture in which a world and a
(25:12):
universe has been stripped bare,swallowed by fire, left to
decay in the wake of divinejustice.
And this shift, the wildernessthat was once bare and lifeless
in the previous chapter is nowerupting in beauty.
The dry and desolate land isnow bursting into bloom.
(25:35):
What is this telling us?
God's ultimate purposes are oneof redemption and
reconciliation.
That we should, yes, heed thewarnings of judgment and flee
from the wrath to come.
But where do we go?
(25:57):
We go into chapter 35, into thewarm embrace of promise and
redemption and hope.
This is the triumph of theredeemed, where sorrow breaks
into singing, where brokennessmoves into healing, where
despair rises to joy.
That's what this is, where Godinvites us to walk in the way of
(26:22):
holiness.
Walk in the way of holiness.
This chapter, when we go throughit, you're going to find it,
lands in one place, jesus Christ.
Every one of these picturesthat we're about to look find
themselves with gloriousfulfillment in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
(26:42):
Yes, he talks about wilderness.
Yes, he talks about wilderness.
Yes, he talks about blooming,but he's talking about a day in
which God will bring thesethings to bear on earth, in time
and space, through one person,jesus Christ, the one who
strengthens the weak and healsthe broken, the one who quenches
the thirst and opens the way,the highway.
(27:06):
So as we go through chapter 35,if you can go with me, let's
move into it and the first thingyou see is the desert blooms.
The desert blooms, thewilderness and the dry land will
be glad.
The desert will rejoice and theblossom like a wildflower Verse
(27:26):
2,.
It will blossom abundantly.
It will also rejoice with joyand singing.
The glory of Lebanon will begiven to it, the splendor of
Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of theLord, the splendor of our God.
This land, this land just amoment ago, was soaked in blood.
(27:47):
This land, a moment ago, wasthe habitation of jackals and
owls.
This habitation was nothing butan empty desert.
Not anymore.
Not anymore anymore.
(28:13):
That which was once lifelessand hopeless and dry and empty
is erupting with life andvitality bursting into bloom.
It is a powerful picture ofGod's ability to restore
everything that looks lost.
Is your life destroyed, is yourlife completely barren.
There is hope in Jesus Christ.
(28:33):
Jesus himself, when he came,spoke to a woman at the well,
rejected of many different men,rejected of the women in the
village.
She was in the middle of theday alone, grasping some water
in a time and a place wherethere ought to have been no one
there to get any water.
And Jesus speaks to her and heshows her the well and he says
(28:55):
if anybody drinks the water thatI give, they will never thirst.
They will never thirst and thewater that I give will become in
them a spring of water wellingup into eternal life.
Jesus takes this picture of adesert turning into a blossomed
garden and a botanical displayof God's variegated creational
(29:20):
ability and he says it's foundin Jesus Christ, who offers the
glorious life of the gospel.
And he said in John 7, whoeverbelieves in me, as scripture has
said, rivers of living waterwill flow from within them.
Everything about our life willbe transformed.
(29:40):
When Christ rules the heart, hewill make the desert of our
very souls come to life.
This is why he said I've come.
John, chapter 10, I've come thatthey might have life, and they
might have it to the full.
Have it to the full.
What do I have to give up tobecome a Christian Is the wrong
(30:00):
way to think.
What do you receive when youbecome a believer way to think.
What do you receive when youbecome a believer, the
wellsprings of God's gloriousactivity, to bring your life to
fullness and to completion intothe purposes for which it was
ultimately designed, to be ableto express yourself to all of
(30:21):
the extent that God has made youfor.
To the extent that God has madeyou for, that's what it is.
Isaiah saw the wildernesstransformed.
Jesus brings a transformationto people.
Let's take a look at the nextimage in verses three and four
Strengthen the weak hands,steady the shaking knees.
(30:44):
Say to the cowardly be strong,do not fear.
Here is your God.
Vengeance is coming.
God's retribution is coming.
He will save you.
After judgment, fear had set in, but Isaiah is calling to the
(31:04):
people that the judgment willbring his people into a place of
confidence and hope.
Do not fear, your God will comeand he has come to save you.
This is the prophetic image ofGod interacting directly on
(31:29):
behalf of his people to removeeverything from them that had
depressed them and to bring theminto the place of deliverance
by his very presence and thedirect hand of his actions as a
deliverer.
Hand of his actions as adeliverer.
(31:51):
Scriptures tell us that on oneChristmas morn, a little baby
was born and his parents weretold that they were going to
name that child and they weregoing to call him Jesus, a
Savior, god who saves.
Why?
Because he is Emmanuel God withus.
And when Jesus came to thisworld, he came directly to the
(32:12):
place where we live so that byhis direct hand he could save.
And those hands that came tosave us put themselves on the
cross and allowed them to benailed there so that he might
stand that place as a sacrificeand substitute for sinners, so
that we might be delivered.
(32:33):
And so now the invitation comes.
Jesus says come on, come untome, all you that are burdened
and weary, heavy laden, and Iwill give you rest.
In 2 Timothy 1, paul remindsTimothy God has not given us a
(32:57):
spirit of fear, but of power andof love and of a sound mind.
And these very words that arehere in Isaiah, chapter 35,
strengthen the weak hand, steadythe shaking knees.
Say to the cowardly, be strong,do not fear are brought to us
in the book of Hebrews, hebrews12, verse 12, strengthen your
(33:24):
feeble arms and your weak knees.
And what is the argument of thewriter of Hebrews?
It is focus yourself on Christ,don't be led astray by anything
that would detract or denigrateChrist as Lord in your heart
(33:44):
are.
Denigrate Christ as Lord inyour heart.
So strengthen your feeble armsand your weak knees by grabbing
a hold of Christ, who is yoursacrifice, who?
Christ, who is your salvation,christ who is your deliverance
and Christ who is your hope.
And the more you hold on to him, it is if your feeble arms and
(34:05):
weak knees have found strength,because he will renew you from
the inside and strengthen you tolive your life well on the
outside.
Let's move on Isaiah 35, verses5 and 6.
Then the eyes of the blind willbe opened and the ears of the
(34:26):
deaf unstopped, and the lamewill leap like a deer and the
tongue of the mute will sing forjoy, for waters will gush in
the wilderness and streams inthe desert, the parched ground
will become a pool and thethirsty land springs.
In the haunt of jackals andtheir lairs, there will be grass
, reeds and papyrus.
Of jackals and their lairs,there will be grass, reeds and
(34:49):
papyrus.
Jesus is restoring what'sbroken.
Jesus is filling what's empty.
Jesus is taking what seems tobe permanent and changing it.
The blind will see, the deafwill hear, the lame will leap,
(35:10):
the mute will shout.
They're no longer to beidentified by those things which
bind and restrict and mark them.
Now they're no longer blind,they're no longer deaf, they're
(35:30):
no longer lame, they're nolonger mute, because they have
eyes and ears and voice and legsof strength.
Jesus restores what is broken.
Jesus in this world, when heministered in his earthly
capacity, did exactly thesethings In Matthew 11 and verse 5
(35:51):
, the blind receive their sight,the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cleansed, the deafhear, the dead are raised and
the good news is proclaimed tothe poor.
Jesus came in order to changethe categories of people, to
(36:14):
change them from the blind tothe seeing, from the deaf to the
hearing, from the mute to thevocal, from the weak to the
strong, from the dead to thealive.
What's your problem today?
What's your debilitating,constraining force today?
(36:35):
Well, I'm just no, you're notjust.
With God's intervention,through Jesus Christ, there's no
locked in to anything otherthan the fact that he can unlock
every one of those closed doorsof you, every single one.
(36:57):
And Isaiah is prophesying therestoration of the broken, and
Jesus is the fulfillment of thatrestoration.
If you need wholeness, he isthe source.
If you're wounded, he is thestrength.
And again the waters flow.
We see it here again in versessix and seven, that dry land
(37:22):
once again streaming flooding,bringing life and abundance.
Revelation 21.
And verse 6,.
Jesus himself speaking there tothe thirsty, I will give water
without cost from the springs ofthe water of life.
When Christ rules a person,this life flows freely.
(37:48):
And then the highway of holiness.
The highway of holiness, verse8,.
A road will be there and a way.
It will be called the holy way.
The unclean will not travel onit, but it will be for the one
who walks the path.
(38:08):
Fools will not wander on it.
There'll be no lion there, novicious beast will go up on it,
they will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk onit and the ransomed of the Lord
will return.
And the ransomed of the Lordwill return.
(38:29):
Isaiah closes this wholesection of judgment to the
nations with a statement thatthe day is coming where there'll
be a return of the people ofGod on a highway of holiness, a
path set apart for those whowalk in the light of his
salvation.
And when we get to the NewTestament scriptures, it's no
accident that Jesus, the nightbefore he is crucified, looks at
(38:53):
his disciples and he says I amthe way, the truth and the life.
He is bringing this prophecy tofulfillment by speaking about
himself.
He is bringing this prophecy tofulfillment by speaking about
himself.
In Hebrews, chapter 10, it saysthat the way into the very
presence of God is to draw nearto God through the blood of
(39:16):
Jesus.
That way is his way, jesus' way, and so when you read the book
of Acts and if you've noticedthis, the phrase the way is used
multiple times.
It is the first characteristicand description of what the life
of the Savior brings to us.
(39:37):
Acts 9.2, paul seeks permissionto arrest followers of the way
in Damascus.
Acts 19.9, some in Ephesusrejected the way and speak
against it.
Acts 19.23, a disturbancearises concerning the way due to
(39:58):
the economic disturbance ofidol making.
Acts 22.4, paul recounts thepersecution that he did against
those of the way.
Acts 24.14, paul defendshimself before Felix, affirming
his faith as the way.
In Acts 24.22, felix, familiarwith the way, postpones judgment
(40:22):
against Paul.
The way, the way.
God has opened up the way intohis very presence through Jesus
Christ, because he is the wayand those who follow him are on
the way, and those who followhim are going toward the
(40:43):
destination that the way bringsthem.
And what is that destination?
Take a look the ransom to theLord will return and come to
Zion, to the very place of God'spresence, with singing crowned
with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtakethem and sorrow and sighing will
flee away.
(41:04):
This is the end, this is thedestination point, not chapter
34.
Chapter 35.
Chapter 34 makes you look atGod and say get me out of here.
And you find, even if you wentto the widest reaches of the
(41:27):
universe, to the most distantstar, it's going to fall and
I'll fall with it.
But then you come to chapter 35, and he builds this image of a
place where, ultimately, youcome into the presence of God
and there's no fear there,there's no sorrow there.
There's no sorrow there,there's no crying there, there's
(41:48):
no agony there.
There is joy and rejoicing andsalvation and life and singing
and abundance, all of it.
Here's the question.
Here's the question Am I Edom?
(42:10):
Am I that arrogant resister ofGod and his people?
Am I full of self-sufficiencyand pride?
I'll do it my way.
You stay on that way, you'llmiss this way.
Are we trusting in Jesus?
Am I?
(42:30):
Am I marching to Zion with joyin my heart that the highway is
opened and judgment is gone,because Christ has come to open
this up for me.
So here we have chapter 34 and35 in dramatic contrast judgment
and devastation, followed byglorious renewal and redemption,
(42:52):
with these glorious words atthe very end no lion will be
there, nor will any viciousbeast go up on it.
They will not be found there,but the redeemed will walk on it
safe and the ransomed of theLord will return and come to
(43:15):
Zion with singing, crowned withunending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtakethem, sorrow and sighing will
flee.
Here is the sweeping invitationof the celebration of salvation
, where every threat, everysorrow and every struggle is
(43:39):
gone and joy takes the placeforever On this place where no
hidden danger can ever attack usand no grief ever overshadow
our song.
It's not just escape fromjudgment, is it?
God's salvation is not justokay, you have a pass.
It's to bring you into fullnessin life, into full restoration,
(44:03):
into companionship in hispresence, with eternal joy, so
that your life might beswallowed up with triumph and
not loss.
This is God's redemption, thisis his promise.
And when we get to chapters 40,all the way to the end of
chapter 66, this is just goingto grow and grow and grow and
(44:25):
grow and grow as we see God, whowas the God not only of
judgment but of redemption.
Let's pray, father.
We thank you for our Lord JesusChrist, because without him
there would be no hope for us,there would be no chapter 35.
Without Christ, we would all becrying and agonizing and
(44:54):
speaking woes against ourselfbecause our doom would be sure,
because there is none righteousno, not one.
We would all be before thepresence of a, a holy God, with
our mouths stopped silent,recognizing that judgment was
just and certain.
We thank you, lord, that youdidn't leave us there and you
(45:19):
don't leave any human there,that you open up the invitation
of life through the propheticpicture of chapter 35.
This glorious image of life andvigor and strength and song of
healing and hope.
And, lord, I pray that all of usmight find ourselves in the way
(45:41):
who is Jesus Christ and that wemight be able to walk in the
way who is Jesus Christ and thatwe might be able to walk in the
way who is Jesus Christ andthat we might find the
destination of that pathwaywhere the way ends in the very
presence of God and in the Lamb.
Lord, I pray that all of usmight flee from wrath and run to
redemption, as it's offered tous today.
(46:03):
Whatever temporary judgments wehave faced, may they be the
very impetus to cause us tohunger and thirst for this truth
and this redemption, and may webe sobered by it to recognize
that whatever temporary ills weface are only meant to point us
to everlasting joy, but theyalso stand as a harbinger of
(46:25):
eternal judgment if we neglectthem.
Lord, may these eternal issuesof life move us today.
We pray for your glory and inChrist's name, amen.
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