Jan 22 - Promises for God's People

Read Isaiah 35:3-10

Context: Chapters 34-35 of Isaiah concludes a long prophecy (starting in chapter 28) where God gives the news of terrible times for Israel. Each major section starts with "woe to" and then goes on to list a specific group and tell of the disasters to overcome them. The last "woe," however, goes to the destroyer, and God tells of the redemption to come after the disaster. Today's reading comes under the heading "Joy of the Redeemed."

Text:
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. [a]
9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (NIV)
Footnotes:
Isaiah 35:8 Or / the simple will not stray from it
taken from www.biblegateway.com

Can you imagine being told in very graphic terms that an unimaginable disaster would befall you? In current culture, this would be the same as saying that we would be taken away to a third world country with no power, no cars or public transportation, no stores, no running water, and no control over our lives. Yes, that even means no Super Bowl!

God has given the Israelites a view of their future and He's also been specific about why this tragedy will befall them. Yet He continues to have compassion on His people. He tells them the end of the story, when they will be redeemed and will return to 'most favored nation' status. I don't know about you, but it makes difficult times much easier to bear if I know that they will end and there will be rejoicing on the other side. He has given them hope...that can help people make it through the worst of days.