Isaiah 35

Verses 1-10, “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It 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, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

After being destroyed in judgment, Judah will be restored by God. Not only will the earth rejoice to see it, but the people will also be restored when He gives them strength once again. You see, God's purpose in chastening us is not to destroy us, but to correct us so that we may be healed spiritually and become fruitful once again.  Hebrews 12:11‭-‬13, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”  Those who are humble and fear God, will be encouraged and strengthened by God; but this is not the case for those who are prideful, with no fear of God.

When God does the healing, you can also be sure that it will be done thoroughly. The blind, deaf, and lame will be healed showing His miraculous powers. A road to righteousness will be established for those who are not unclean, and they will not depart from it. What a contrast that is to the path that leads to salvation for us, which is so easy to depart from. It is a difficult way with a narrow gate, and many obstacles along the way aiming to derail us.  Matthew 7:13‭-‬14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  This is why we must be willing to lay aside sins and things that weigh us down and threaten our ability to finish the race. Otherwise, our walk with the Lord will have been in vain. Hebrews 12:1‭-‬2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”