Isaiah 35

Isaiah 34 depicts the nations and Edom being judged and laid waste. Chapter 35, by contrast, celebrates the restoration of the dry land and the return of the redeemed people. It closes the prophetic section of chapters 1–35, immediately before the book turns to the prose narrative about Hezekiah in chapters 36–39.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 The wilderness and the desert rejoice and blossom like the rose, receiving the glory of Lebanon and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They see the glory of the LORD.
• Verses 3–4 The weak hands and feeble knees are to be strengthened. Those of a fearful heart are to be told, "Fear not," because God will come with vengeance and will save.
• Verses 5–7 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame will leap, and the tongue of the mute will sing. Waters will break out in the wilderness, the parched ground will become a pool, and where jackals once lay (KJV "dragons"), grass with reeds and rushes will grow.
• Verses 8–10 A highway will be there, called "The way of holiness." The unclean will not pass over it, nor will any ravenous beast go up on it; only the redeemed will walk there. The ransomed of the LORD will come to Zion with songs, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 35:4 "Fear not: behold, your God will come … he will come and save you": This verse shows that the restoration described throughout the chapter springs from God's own coming.
• Isaiah 35:6 "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart": The promises of healing in verses 5–6 echo Jesus' answer to John the Baptist (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22).
• Isaiah 35:10 "And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs": This verse is repeated in nearly identical words in Isaiah 51:11.

People and Places

• The LORD: Portrayed as the one who comes in person to save his people.
• Lebanon: A mountainous region north of Israel, renowned for its cedar forests.
• Carmel: A mountain range extending toward the Mediterranean, used as a symbol of fertility.
• Sharon: A fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast.
• Zion: A name for Jerusalem, the place where God dwells.

Points for Reflection

• Contrast with chapter 34: The desolation of Edom and the blossoming of the wilderness form a deliberate pair.
• Perspectives on fulfillment: Many interpreters regard the return from the Babylonian exile as the primary background of this prophecy. Christian tradition reads these promises as beginning to be fulfilled in Jesus' healing ministry.
• Differences in eschatological views: Dispensational premillennialists tend to read the passage as a restoration to be literally fulfilled during the millennial kingdom. Amillennialists and adherents of covenant theology tend to read it as a restoration that begins in the church and will be consummated in the new heavens and the new earth.
• Connection to the New Testament: It is commonly held that "the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees" in Hebrews 12:12 draws on verse 3.
• Question of authorship: The vocabulary and themes of this chapter are close to those of chapters 40 and following. For this reason, some scholars date it to the same period as chapters 40–55. Other scholars regard the entire Book of Isaiah as the work of a single prophet.
• What the text does not specify: The text does not identify where "the way of holiness" is located, and it refers to the one who comes only as "your God."

In the Korean Church

• The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) assigns Isaiah 35:1–10 as the Old Testament reading for the Third Sunday of Advent in Year A, and churches that follow the liturgical calendar use this passage.
• The imagery of flowers blooming and waters springing up in the wilderness is frequently cited in sermons on comfort and restoration.