Before beginning our study
of this chapter it is necessary to note that many commentators believe that
the Lord Jesus Christ will be personally reigning on the literal throne in
Jerusalem during the Millennium. Scripture however, does not support this
view, but rather contradicts it, see my comments on
Jeremiah 23:5 also available on
this web site.
35:1. “The
wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert
shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”
The description continues
to be of millennial conditions, the wilderness being the place of scant
vegetation, and the solitary place being the desert where virtually nothing
grows. Unlike Edom which will remain desert for ever, the rest of the
earth, including the wilderness and the desert, will become abundantly
fruitful.
35:2. “It
shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory
of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.”
The burgeoning earth will
evoke joy and singing on the part of the people, the fertility of Lebanon,
Carmel and Sharon, being typical of the whole millennial earth, with the
exception of Edom as already discussed.
35:3.
“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.”
The promise of coming
millennial abundance was given to energize and encourage the weak and
discouraged Israelites addressed by the prophet, and the same principle
applies to us during this present age in which cause for discouragement is
also rampant. But there is one important difference: we of this present
Church age have the promise of the Lord’s return to rapture us home to
heaven “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” 1 Corinthians 15:52, and
that glorious translation could occur even before I type the remainder of
this sentence, for every foretold sign relating to His coming has already
been fulfilled.
35:4. “Say to
them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will
come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, he will come and save you.”
We should never forget
that nothing happens apart from God’s permission or direction, His assurance
to His own being, “... all things” - even seeming adversities - “work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to his purpose,” Romans 8:28. We must remember however, that to
love God is to obey Him, the Lord Himself declaring, “If ye love me, keep my
commandments .... He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth me,” John 14:15,21.
His coming “with
vengeance” is the reminder that we are not to seek to avenge ourselves, but
to leave our case in God’s hands knowing that He will avenge every wrong
done to His own, as it is written, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I
will repay, saith the Lord,” Romans 12:19.
35:5. “Then
the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped.”
While this applies
literally to what will be in the Millennium, the spiritual application is to
the present: conversion opens blinded eyes, and unstops deaf ears, so that
the convert sees and hears God’s truth as he reads the Bible for himself, or
hears it ministered by others.
35:6. “Then
shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in
the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.”
The primary application
continues to be to what will be in the Millennium, but the spiritual
relevancy is to the present. The “lame man” is he who disobeys God, and the
dumb man is he who fails to understand that Christ is to be trusted and
confessed as personal Savior, and preached as the One Who will save all who
trust Him. Genuine conversion brings transformation. The convert will
trust and confess the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, and rejoice in the
salvation procured at such cost at Calvary, where the Lord by His death has
made salvation available to all who will confess themselves sinners, and
trust Him as Savior, the reality of their conversion being demonstrated by
obedient lives.
The former “lame man,” in
the changed activity of his life, and its accompanying joy, will spiritually
leap and sing, demonstrating the reality of his conversion by his new
lifestyle. Here in the wilderness of this world he will find daily cleansing
and refreshment in the living water of the written Word, and will make
himself available to God as a channel by which that living water will flow
out abundantly for the cleansing and refreshment of others here in this
spiritual desert.
35:7. “And the
parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water:
in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and
rushes.”
“... dragons” as used here
means jackals: wild dogs, unclean animals, and in Revelation 22:15
where they are used as types of unconverted men, it is written concerning
them, “For outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers,
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
The past tense “where each
lay” declares that they are gone: gone from the earth, but into hell,
not heaven.
The truth being announced
here is that when the Millennium begins all unbelievers will have been
removed from the earth and cast into hell to await ultimate consignment to
the eternal torment of the lake of fire; the blessed condition of the
Millennial earth being declared symbolically in the presence of grass, reeds
and rushes, all of these being indicative of abundant fertility.
35:8. “And an
highway shall be there, and a (raised) way, and it shall be called The way
of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those
(the believers): the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”
The highway mentioned here
is the roadway of life along which the people will walk in the Millennium,
so that it will be a higher more blessed way than that over which men have
walked in the preceding years, but upon it will be a raised pathway (the way
of holiness) upon which only believers will walk, for even in that glorious
age there will still be two classes of men: believers and unbelievers, the
one traveling to heaven, the other, to hell.
The latter part of the
verse means that the raised pathway will be available to believers only, for
it represents the separated life of the believer, the “narrow way” that
leads to heaven. The fools (unbelievers) will have no access to that raised
way.
“... shall not err
therein” is taken by some to mean that believers will not be making a
mistake by choosing it. By others it is understood to mean that fools,
i.e., unbelievers will not walk on it, and this latter seems the better
interpretation.
35:9. “No lion
shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be
found there; but the redeemed shall walk there;”
Beyond the mention of a
literal lion lies the spiritual reference to Satan who is described as a
roaring lion, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Peter 5:8.
Certainly he will never walk upon that elevated way.
35:10. “And
the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
This clearly describes the
Millennium, when converted Israel will be back in her own land as chief of
all the nations, and Jerusalem will be the center of world government.
