Isaiah 35:1-10

¹ Wasteland and dry land will be glad and desert will rejoice and blossom like the crocus. ² It will blossom lavishly, and it will greatly rejoice with rejoicing and exulting. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Yahveh, the majesty of our God. ³ Strengthen weak hands and make staggering knees rock-solid. ⁴ Say to those whose hearts are rushed, “Be strong; you must not fear! Watch! your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution will come and save you.” ⁵ Then blind eyes will be opened, and deaf ears will be opened. ⁶ Then a lame one will leap like the deer, and a mute tongue will sing for joy, because water will break forth in the wasteland and streams in the desert. ⁷ And the parched ground will become a pool, and a thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place is in a settlement of jackals; grass will become like a reed and a rush. ⁸ And a highway will be there, and a way, and it will be called the way of holiness. The unclean will not travel through it, but it is for they who walk the right way; and fools will not wander about. ⁹ No lion will be there, and no ferocious wild beast will go up it. It will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk there. ¹⁰ And the ransomed of Yahveh will return, and they will come to Zion with rejoicing. And everlasting joy will rest on their head; joy and gladness will come upon them, and sorrow and sighing will escape from them.

not whisked off

Isaiah’s message was not that the ransomed of the LORD were to be whisked off to heaven. They were going to return to Zion with everlasting joy. Jesus’ first ministry on earth was a foretaste of the kind of restoration and revival proclaimed here. God will come in vengeance, visiting his retribution (4), then the highway will be there, and the ransomed will return, with singing.

We will see this event. The LORD’s vengeance will come upon all those who rejected his Messiah. His ransomed ones will return to a redeemed, restored, resettled and sanctified earth. The joy we will know will be like coming home to a home that we never had. It will be like returning to a place better than we ever thought possible. But it will be the world intended for us by our creator.

LORD, come and restore.