Isaiah 35 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes

Isaiah 35 Short Summary:

In chapter 35, Isaiah prophesied that God would turn the spiritual desert in Judah into an oasis of righteousness. God would make a highway for His redeemed people. They would walk in His ways, He would protect them, and they would make their way to Zion with joy and singing.  

Isaiah 35 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• The prophetic ministry of Isaiah spanned the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

• We do not know the exact date Isaiah spoke/recorded this prophecy.

KEY CHARACTERS:

• Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.

DEFINITIONS:

• Crocus (35:1) – A small flower appearing in a variety of colors. The Safron spice is harvested from one species of crocus.

• Carmel (35:2) – A mountain located in northern Israel along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

• Sharon (35:2) – A coastal plain, renowned for its beauty, that stretches from Mount Carmel to the city of Joppa.

OUTLINE:

• A HIGHWAY THROUGH THE DESERT (35:1-10):

  • Isaiah 35 is a prophesy about a desert transforming into a lush oasis.

  • The desert imagery was figurative language for a place where sin reigned and evil oppressed the land.

  • Much of the earth, including Judah, had been wasted by sin. It was like a desert, without life, because God was not welcomed there.

  • Isaiah prophesied that God would one day return to that place to transform it. He would breathe life into the land that humans and sin had destroyed.

  • Isaiah wrote, “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing” (35:1-2).

  • On that day, water would appear in the wilderness, the blind would see, the lame would walk, the anxious would take heart, and the mute would sing.

  • Sand traps would become pools of water with reeds and rushes.

  • God would make a highway through the land and call it the “Way of Holiness” (35:8).

  • The near fulfilment of this prophesied highway may have been the highway God made for the people of Israel and Judah to return from their captivity in foreign lands (something that had yet to happen in Isaiah’s time). Isaiah used similar “highway” language in Isaiah 11:12-16.

  • The prophecy likely also has a distant fulfillment in the work of the Messiah (Jesus) which we’ll discuss in the application section.

APPLICATION:

• Isaiah prophesied that God would “ransom” His people and redeem them.

• These redeemed would be guarded by God as they walked on the “Way of Holiness” to Zion.

• There are some very clear parallels between this language and the language of the New Testament.

• The Messiah came to save, redeem, and ransom men from sin.

• The Christian life was known to the early disciples as “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:23; 24:14, 22).

• The Way points people’s eyes backwards to Zion to the work of Jesus, and forwards towards spiritual Zion (“the heavenly Jerusalem,” Heb 12:22).

• Speaking of the Highway of Holiness, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Engineering has done much to tunnel mountains, and bridge abysses; but the greatest triumph of engineering is that which made a way from sin to holiness, from death to life, from condemnation to perfection. Who could make a road over the mountains of our iniquities but Almighty God? None but the Lord of love would have wished it; none but the God of wisdom could have devised it; none but the God of power could have carried it out.”