June 12 – Isaiah 35
We have skipped a few chapters once again, so if you want to read all of Isaiah, go ahead and read the ones I skipped. But here we are at Chapter 35. If ever there were a “cheer up, better times are coming” passage, this would be it. I love how Isaiah describes our future. He even declares as he writes what he has seen that it is to encourage us who are tired and who have “weak knees.” Haha! Have you ever had your knees turn to jelly when you were afraid? I have. I know there are supposed to be two responses to danger, flight or fight, but I often choose the least wise course of action: freeze. Due to those weak knees. OY. It is cheering to read of better days ahead, isn’t it?
As Isaiah describes pools of water in wasteland and singing in Jerusalem with no more sorrow or mourning, I wonder what God allowed him to see that enabled him to share so much beauty with us. Did he walk the roads of Judah in the new earth and see the joy on every face? Did he get to touch the water that rushed in to fill the barren places. Did he watch the flowers bloom in the desert? Hard as it must have been to be a prophet in a dark time, those visits to Heaven must have been absolutely breathtaking. I am sure they are what gave him the courage to keep on prophesying and to not worry overly much about his future. He’d seen it. It was awesome!
One of the best chances for a Christian to witness to the truths of God’s Word happen at the very end of their life. How does a Christian face death? If we have faith to believe what Isaiah saw, we will be slightly apologetic to our loved ones as we wait eagerly for Christ to take us home!
My verse: Isaiah 35:2 “Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God.”
My response: What a beautiful description of a renewed and restored earth – an abundance of flowers and singing and JOY!! Father, all those years ago, these words brought hope to Isaiah and his listeners, and today they bring me hope as well. Someday, those long ago listeners and this present day Sharon will be there, singing with joy amidst the abundant flowers – praising You in all Your glory and splendor … oh Lord, haste that day!
