Reflection on Isaiah 35:1-10

 

Isaiah 35:1-10 (NRSVue)

 ¹ The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
  the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
 like the crocus ² it shall blossom abundantly
  and rejoice with joy and shouting.
 The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
  the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
 They shall see the glory of the Lord,
  the majesty of our God.]]

 ³ Strengthen the weak hands
  and make firm the feeble knees.
 ⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
  “Be strong, do not fear!
 Here is your God.
  He will come with vengeance,
 with terrible recompense.
  He will come and save you.”

 ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
 ⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
 For waters shall break forth in the wilderness
  and streams in the desert;
 ⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool
  and the thirsty ground springs of water;
 the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp;
  the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

 ⁸ A highway shall be there,
  and it shall be called the Holy Way;
 the unclean shall not travel on it,
  but it shall be for God’s people;
  no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
 ⁹ No lion shall be there,
  nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
 they shall not be found there,
  but the redeemed shall walk there.
 ¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
  and come to Zion with singing;
 everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
  they shall obtain joy and gladness,
  and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Reflection

“If you want to understand who Isaiah is preaching to in Isaiah 35, take a visit to any of our military or VA Hospitals,” the army chaplain said. 

And what would you see if you visited military or VA Hospitals?  You would see men and women who cannot see because of the explosion of a roadside IEDs.  You would see those who cannot hear because the intense pressures of bombs on delicate ears.  You would see women and men without limbs, learning to do the simple task of walking all over again.  And post-traumatic stress disorder will have led some men and women to turn away from the outside word, rendering them mute …unable to speak…unable to cope with life.  You would see all these wounded heroes and more.  You would see those who were once strong but are now feeble.  You would see those who struggle to walk.  You would see those who drop to the floor out of fear whenever a loud noise bursts through the peaceful scene.  You would see people whose bodies and memories have been deeply wounded by an enemy.

“And once you have seen these brave souls, read Isaiah 35:2b-6 again, and you will understand.”  And so, the Bible is pulled out, and the words start to preach their good news.

“They shall see the glory of the Lord,

  the majesty of our God.

 ³ Strengthen the weak hands
  and make firm the feeble knees.
 ⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
  “Be strong, do not fear!
 Here is your God.
  He will come with vengeance,
 with terrible recompense.
  He will come and save you.”

 ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
 ⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:2b-6).

In a world that speaks highly of the warrior, but simultaneously forgets them with hands, hearts, and money, Isaiah has a message for those who have been wounded by trauma and war.  “They shall see the glory of the Lord” (Isaiah 35:2b).  The Lord “will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4).

The Lord does not forget.  The Lord does not betray.  The Lord does not walk away.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:5-6).

The chaplain explained, “All of the talk about waters quenching parched lands and talk of straight roads leading home only make sense if you have been thirsty in battle, searching for relief, wandering across blood stained fields, and wishing for a road that can finally deliver you from that hell and take you home.  Would it not be nice if the Lord sent waters to cleanse lands and wounds at the same time?  Would it not be nice to finally see a path that leads back home?”

Before my conversation with the military chaplain, the imagery simply struck me as beautiful poetry, which it is.  But it had never really struck me just how much these words are a vital promise from the Lord to very real, battered and broken people, who desperately need to hear good news.  They are promises that God gave to people who actually existed back in the ancient world who were beaten down, battered, and broken by an enemy.  And they are promises that God gives to us still today when we are beaten down, battered, and broken.  They are promises that ring clearly in the ears of those wounded warriors from battles past.

In Jesus, we see that ^“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11:5).  It is Jesus who promises: “Everyone who drinks [normal, well water] will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Our parched lands, parched bodies, and parched souls will be restored again.  A spring of water from Jesus will rush into our hearts, flooding it with love and restoration.  On that day it will be said of all healed and restored heroes that “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).