Isaiah 35:1 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we see a desert land blooming. In the previous chapter, a rich and crowded country was turned into a terrible wilderness. Here, by contrast, a wilderness is turned into good land. When Judah was freed from the Assyrian army, the parts of the country that had been made like a wilderness by their violence began to recover and bloom like a rose.

The same thing happened when the gospel came to the Gentile nations, who had long been like a wilderness and brought no fruit to God. Then joy came with it (Psalm 67:3, 4; Psalm 96:11, 12). When Christ was preached in Samaria, there was great joy in that city (Acts 8:8). Those who sat in darkness saw a great and joyful light, and then they blossomed, meaning they gave hope of much fruit. That was the aim of gospel preaching, to go and bring forth fruit (John 15:16; Romans 1:13; Colossians 1:6). Blossoms are not yet fruit, and they often fail, but they are made for fruit.

God’s saving grace turns a soul that was once a wilderness into one that rejoices with joy and singing, and blossoms richly. This flourishing desert will receive all the glory of Lebanon, with its strong and majestic cedars, and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon, with their grain and cattle. Whatever is truly valuable in any system is brought into the gospel. All the beauty of the Jewish church is taken up into the Christian church and appears in greater fullness, as the apostle shows at length in Hebrews. Whatever was excellent and desirable in the law of Moses is carried over into the gospel order.

We also see the glory of God shining out. “They shall see the glory of the Lord.” God will reveal himself more than ever in his grace and love toward people, and he will give them eyes to see it and hearts to feel it rightly. This is what makes the desert bloom. The more we see, by faith, the glory of the Lord and the greatness of our God, the more joyful and fruitful we will be.

Then the weak and fearful are encouraged (Isaiah 35:3, 4). God’s prophets and ministers are especially charged to strengthen weak hands and comfort those who were still shaken by the fear of the Assyrian army, with the promise that God would return to them in mercy. This is also the purpose of the gospel. It strengthens those who are weak and confirms them. Weak hands cannot work or fight, and can barely be lifted in prayer. Feeble knees cannot stand, walk, or run the race set before us. The gospel gives us strong reasons for courage and shows where our strength is stored up.

Among true Christians, many still have weak hands and feeble knees. They are only babes in Christ. Yet it is our duty to strengthen one another (Luke 22:32), not only to bear with the weak, but to do what we can to make them firm (Romans 15:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14). We also ought to strengthen ourselves, lifting up the hands that hang down (Hebrews 12:12), and using the strength God has already given us.

The gospel also gives courage to those who are timid and discouraged. It speaks to those who have a fearful heart because they know their own weakness and the strength of their enemies. The word translated “hasty” means those who are quick to run at the first alarm and give up the cause, who say in their panic, “We are cut off and undone” (Psalm 31:22). The gospel has enough in it to quiet these fears. It says, and lets them say to themselves and to one another, “Be strong, do not fear.” Fear weakens us. The more we fight against it, the stronger we become for both doing and suffering. And for our encouragement, the One who says, “Be strong,” has already laid help for us on one who is mighty.

Finally, we are given assurance that a Savior is coming: “Your God will come with vengeance.” God will appear for his people against their enemies, and he will repay both the injuries done to them and the losses they have suffered. The Messiah will come, in the fullness of time, to judge the powers of darkness, strip them of their power, and display them openly in triumph. He will also reward those who mourn in Zion with rich comfort. He will come and save us. The saints of the Old Testament strengthened their weak hands with this hope.

He will come again at the end of time in flaming fire, to give trouble back to those who troubled his people, and rest to those who were troubled, a rest that will be both the end of all their suffering and the full reward for it (2 Thessalonians 1:6, 7). Those whose hearts tremble for the ark of God, and who care deeply for his church in the world, may quiet their fears with this truth: God will take the work into his own hands. “Your God will come,” the one who pleads your cause and owns your interest, even God himself, who alone is God.