8 And a highway will be there; its name will be, The Holy Way; the unclean and the sinner may not go over it, and those who go on it will not be turned out of the way by the foolish.
Go in by the narrow door; for wide is the door and open is the way which goes to destruction, and great numbers go in by it. For narrow is the door and hard the road to life, and only a small number make discovery of it.
Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;
For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men, Training us so that, turning away from evil and the desires of this world, we may be living wisely and uprightly in the knowledge of God in this present life; Looking for the glad hope, the revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.
Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge: But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;
Who gave us salvation, marking us out for his purpose, not on account of our works, but in the measure of his purpose and his grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
Go through, go through the doors; make ready the way of the people; let the highway be lifted up; let the stones be taken away; let a flag be lifted up over the peoples.
And I will take the blind by a way of which they had no knowledge, guiding them by roads strange to them: I will make the dark places light before them, and the rough places level. These things will I do and will not give them up.
A voice of one crying, Make ready in the waste land the way of the Lord, make level in the lowland a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough places become level, and the hilltops become a valley,
And there will be a highway for the rest of his people from Assyria; as there was for Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt.
And it will come about that the rest of the living in Zion, and of those who have been kept from destruction in Jerusalem, will be named holy, even everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem:
And at your back, when you are turning to the right hand or to the left, a voice will be sounding in your ears, saying, This is the way in which you are to go.
They will not be in need of food or drink, or be troubled by the heat or the sun: for he who has mercy on them will be their guide, taking them by the springs of water. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways will be lifted up. See, these are coming from far; and these from the north and the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
And I will say, Make it high, make it high, get ready the way, take the stones out of the way of my people.
Put up guiding pillars, make road signs for yourself: give attention to the highway, even the way in which you went: be turned again, O virgin of Israel, be turned to these your towns.
By the new and living way which he made open for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a great priest over the house of God, Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water: Let us keep the witness of our hope strong and unshaking, for he is true who has given his word:
But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven. In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.
But having faith in his word, we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth, which will be the resting-place of righteousness.
And nothing unclean may come into it, or anyone whose works are cursed or false; but only those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life.
This is the law of the house: On the top of the mountain all the space round it on every side will be most holy. See, this is the law of the house.
Good and upright is the Lord: so he will be the teacher of sinners in the way. He will be an upright guide to the poor in spirit: he will make his way clear to them.
The opening of your words gives light; it gives good sense to the simple.
I go in the road of righteousness, in the way of right judging:
The highways are waste, no man is journeying there: the agreement is broken, he has made sport of the towns, he has no thought for man.
Your people will all be upright, the land will be their heritage for ever; the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, to be for my glory.
And I will give them one heart and one way, so that they may go on in the worship of me for ever, for their good and the good of their children after them: And I will make an eternal agreement with them, that I will never give them up, but ever do them good; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not go away from me.
In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping and making prayer to the Lord their God. They will be questioning about the way to Zion, with their faces turned in its direction, saying, Come, and be united to the Lord in an eternal agreement which will be kept in mind for ever.
The law of the Lord is good, giving new life to the soul: the witness of the Lord is certain, giving wisdom to the foolish.
Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.
On that day all the bells of the horses will be holy to the Lord, and the pots in the Lord's house will be like the basins before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of armies: and all those who make offerings will come and take them for boiling their offerings: in that day there will be no more traders in the house of the Lord of armies.
See, the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel, that is, God with us.
If any man is ready to do God's pleasure he will have knowledge of the teaching and of where it comes from--from God or from myself.
For by his act we were given existence in Christ Jesus to do those good works which God before made ready for us so that we might do them.
Because it is God's purpose that our way of life may be not unclean but holy.
This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them. They will never be in need of food or drink: and they will never again be troubled by the burning heat of the sun: For the Lamb who is on the high seat will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water: and God will make glad their eyes for ever.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 35
Commentary on Isaiah 35 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 35
Isa 35:1-10. Continuation of the Prophecy in the Thirty-fourth Chapter.
See on Isa 34:1, introduction there.
1. solitary place—literally, "a dry place," without springs of water. A moral wilderness is meant.
for them—namely, on account of the punishment inflicted according to the preceding prophecy on the enemy; probably the blessings set forth in this chapter are included in the causes for joy (Isa 55:12).
rose—rather, "the meadow-saffron," an autumnal flower with bulbous roots; so Syriac translation.
2. glory of Lebanon—its ornament, namely, its cedars (Isa 10:34).
excellency of Carmel—namely, its beauty.
Sharon—famed for its fertility.
see … glory of the Lord … excellency—(Isa 40:5, 9). While the wilderness which had neither "glory" nor "excellency" shall have both "given to it," the Lord shall have all the "glory" and "excellency" ascribed to Him, not to the transformed wilderness (Mt 5:16).
3. Strengthen … hands … confirm … knees—The Hebrew for "strengthen" refers to the strength residing in the hand for grasping and holding a thing manfully; "confirm," to the firmness with which one keeps his ground, so as not to be dislodged by any other [Maurer]. Encourage the Jews, now desponding, by the assurance of the blessings promised.
4. fearful—"hasty," Margin; that is, with a heart fluttered with agitation.
with—the Hebrew is more forcible than the English Version: "God will come, vengeance! even God, a recompense!" The sense is the same.
5, 6. Language figuratively, descriptive of the joy felt at the deliverance from Assyria and Babylon; literally, true of the antitypical times of Messiah and His miracles (see Margin references, Mt 11:5; Lu 7:2; 2Jo 5, 8; Ac 3:2).
6. leap—literally, "fulfilled" (Ac 3:8; 14:10).
sing—joyful thanksgiving.
in … wilderness … waters—(Isa 41:18).
7. parched ground—rather, "the mirage (Hebrew, Sharab, 'the sun's heat') shall become a (real) lake." The sun's rays refracted on the glowing sands at midday give the appearance of a lake of water and often deceive the thirsty traveller (compare Jer 2:13; Isa 41:18).
dragons—rather, "jackals."
each—namely, jackal.
grass—rather, "a dwelling or receptacle (answering to the previous habitation) for reeds," &c. (which only grow where there is water, Job 8:11). Where once there was no water, water shall abound.
8. highway—such a causeway (raised way, from a Hebrew root, "to cast up") as was used for the march of armies; valleys being filled up, hills and other obstructions removed (Isa 62:10; compare Isa 40:3, 4).
way of holiness—Hebraism for "the holy way." Horsley translates, "the way of the Holy One;" but the words that follow, and Isa 35:10, show it is the way leading the redeemed back to Jerusalem, both the literal and the heavenly (Isa 52:1; Joe 3:17; Re 21:27); still Christ at His coming again shall be the Leader on the way, for which reason it is called, "The way of the Lord" (Isa 40:3; Mal 3:1).
it shall be for those: the wayfaring men—rather, "He (the Holy One) shall be with them, walking in the way" [Horsley].
though fools—rather, "And (even) fools," that is, the simple shall not go astray, namely, because "He shall be with them" (Mt 11:25; 1Co 1:26-28).
9. No lion—such as might be feared on the way through the wilderness which abounded in wild beasts, back to Judea. Every danger shall be warded off the returning people (Isa 11:6-9; Eze 34:25; Ho 2:18). Compare spiritually, Pr 3:17.
10. Language: literally, applying to the return from Babylon; figuratively and more fully to the completed redemption of both literal and spiritual Israel.
joy upon … heads—(Ps 126:2). Joy manifested in their countenances. Some fancy an allusion to the custom of pouring oil "upon the head," or wearing chaplets in times of public festivity (Ec 9:8).