Isaiah: From Ruin to Renewal

Isaiah 34-35

Today, we begin in a desert wasteland and end up on the King’s Highway. It’s like a movie where everything is crumbling and then, suddenly, the whole story flips. Our study serves as a great reminder. God is about to transform a blown-up road into a highway called “Way of Holiness.” That’s the highway we always want to be traveling on!

So far in Isaiah, the focus has been on judgment for sin. The prophet has addressed God’s people directly (Isa. 1-12) and the powerful nations of the day (Isa. 13-35). Throughout the judgments, Isaiah frequently looked forward to the future kingdom ruled by the Messiah. Isaiah 34-35 serves as a fitting summary for this section. Isaiah 34 speaks of God’s judgment on the nations, while Isaiah 35 highlights the reign of the coming King. One commentator says it this way: “Chapters 34-35 present a striking contrast between a productive land turned into a desert (Isa. 34) and a desert turning into a garden (Isa. 35).[1] These chapters remind us that God is the sovereign King over all the earth, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

Isaiah gets to the point concerning the prospect of nations opposing God’s people.

Isaiah 34:1-2
Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. 

This prophecy is not focused on Assyria, but all nations. The whole world is called to judgment. The phrase “devoted them to destruction” denotes divine warfare and describes God’s destruction of all who oppose him (see Num. 21:2-3; Josh. 2:10; 1 Sam. 15:3). God’s judgment on nations in history foreshadows his judgment at the culmination of history.

Isaiah uses Edom to represent all nations opposed to God and his people. Throughout the Old Testament, Edom stands in opposition to Israel (Gen. 25:23; Num. 20:14-21; Mal. 1:2-3). When the Babylonians captured Jerusalem in 586 BC, the Edomites aided Babylon (Obad. 1:11-14; Ezek. 35:1-15). We often wonder why the wicked prosper, but make no doubt about it, God’s day of vengeance is on the way.

Isaiah 34:8-10
For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.  

God’s day of vengeance is a day of final justice that will end history (Isa. 59:17-18; 2 Thess. 1:6-10; Rev. 22:12). While depicting the reality of the nations’ demise, Isaiah appears to be foretelling hell when he describes Edom as a land that has become “burning pitch” (Rev. 14:9-11). The land will be destroyed (Isa. 34:11-17). There “is no one there to call it a kingdom” (Isa. 34:12). The obliteration will be permanent because “none shall pass through it forever and ever.”

Isaiah 35 describes the future reign of Jesus in contrast to the people and land devoted to destruction. Here are some highlights of this eternal kingdom:

• We will see the LORD’s glory, our God’s majesty (Isa. 35:1-2). 

The desert land “shall rejoice and blossom” with abundant flowers and “rejoice with joy and singing” (Isa. 35:1-2). This blessing and rejoicing will come from seeing the Lord and being with him forever. The entire earth will become a temple of God, filled with his glory (Isa. 6:3). 

• All the oppressed will be strengthened and healed (Isa. 35:3-7). 

Weak hands will be strengthened; weak knees will be firm (Isa. 35:3). The blind will see, the ears will hear, the lame will “leap like a deer,” the mute tongue will speak and “sing for joy” (Isa. 35:5-6). There will be “streams in the desert;” refreshment in the most barren land (Isa. 35:6).

Do you ever feel anxious? God will remove all the emotions that weigh us down. 

Isaiah 35:4
Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.

• There will be a “Way of Holiness” (Isa. 35:8-10). 

Here’s today’s Anchor Point.

Isaiah 35:8-10
And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 

The people who received this prophecy lived in fear. The Assyrians were at their doorstep, ravaging the land. Travel was unsafe. They found themselves under siege, wondering what would happen next.  But when Christ’s Kingdom comes, everything changes. A special highway will be established.[2]

In Isaiah’s time, there were special highways for kings, but this is the King’s Highway, which is open to all the redeemed. Those who don’t know the King cannot enjoy this journey. But the “ransomed” will travel with joy and gladness; all their sorrows will “flee away.”  

One more thing: the only way we enter this Way of Holiness is through Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one enters the Way of Holiness except through him (John 14:6). Are you sure that you have trusted in Jesus alone as the only way to have a relationship with the living God?

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 34-35, focusing on our Anchor Point: Isaiah 35:8-10. Consider God’s power to transform a wasteland into a place where sorrow flees.  

Talking to God:  Thank God for the Way of Holiness made possible by Jesus. 

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Every day is a day of spiritual renewal as we follow hard after Jesus.