Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who have an anxious heart,

“Be strong; fear not!

Behold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.”

Isaiah 35:3-4

Chapter 35 is a great description of what life will be like after the coming of Messiah. Though the bulk of what this passage deals with has to do with the future that will come after the lord returns, some of it has impact and import for us today.

The passage describes some of what we have already looked at in our study of Isaiah… The dessert blooms, the wilderness blossoms, lame walk, blind see, people are healed; we see restoration in an unprecedented way, all that God has made being returned to the state that God created it in.

In this passage we see the ransomed of the Lord (those bought by the precious blood of Christ) singing a song of celebration as they return to Zion, the city of God. They walk on the “Highway of Holiness” and have God’s everlasting joy resting upon them. Sorrow and sadness have fled forever, and they have been replaced by eternal joy and gladness.

This return to “Zion” by the ransomed of the Lord, and the “goodies” that accompany it are yet another example of the “already but not yet” aspect of God’s kingdom. We have ALREADY been ransomed, and in many ways we walk that “Highway of Holiness” even now. Jesus referred to it as “The Narrow Road”. Yet, we still experience sorrow and sadness, because our salvation has not yet been completed. We still live in a fallen world, and we still carry with us a very real sin-nature. For us, we will see the FULL fulfillment of this passage one of two ways:

1. We die, journeying onward to heaven. One day, we will return from heaven to earth with Christ to establish His reign and rule. Then we will see this passage walked out LITERALLY rather than FIGURATIVELY.
2. Jesus will appear to take His bride, we will be caught up into the air with Him, the events of  the book of Revelation will unfold (all a part of God’s process of replacing the “kingdoms of this world” with “the kingdom of our God”) and we will return with Him to see this marvelous kingdom established.

Either way, it will be pretty exciting!

Now, what does all this have to do with the passage I quoted above? Simply put, the passage above has MASSIVE RELEVANCE to our lives today. In the epistle to the Hebrews these verses are quoted in a passage that ultimately culminates in our arrival, In Christ, to the spiritual mount Zion.  The message is clear: Take heart! Don’t lose the focus you have on what God has given you in Jesus, His MESSIAH! Keep your eyes on Him! Encourage those among you that a day is coming when Jesus Christ will set ALL THINGS RIGHT!!!

So friends, take heart. Though the days grow dark, the world wax cold, and the love of many dissipate… The future is BRIGHT! God has radical plans to redeem and restore; radical plans to establish a kingdom WITHOUT END! We sit right in between His first and second coming, and we feel that tension. Look forward in hope, and as you strengthen weak hands and feeble knees, remember the message of hope we have been given, and invite others to join you on the “Highway of Holiness”, Where sorrow and sadness become joy and gladness.