From biblegateway.com:
Reading 6: God Will Come to Save
In another prophecy Isaiah said that the coming Messiah would heal people and perform other miracles. When Jesus came, he did all the things that Isaiah had talked about hundreds of years before.
Isaiah 35:1-10
Joy of the Redeemed
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
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;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the LORD has rescued 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.
Further Study
JUST THE FACTS
How would the desert and wilderness rejoice? (vv. 1 - 2)
What would happen to blind people? Deaf people? Lame people? (vv. 5 - 6)
What would be the name of the highway? (v. 8)
LET'S TALK
A "contrast" shows the differences between two things, such as the contrast between desert land and land that has plenty of rainfall. How many contrasts can you find in this passage?
Who will walk on the Way of Holiness? How do you picture this? What will it be like?
WHY THIS MATTERS
God promised that the Messiah's coming would change people in many ways. The Messiah would heal, perform miracles and bring salvation to everyone who believed in him. When Jesus the Messiah came, he brought a new kingdom into being.
POINTS OF INTEREST
35:1 The crocus mentioned here is not the early spring flower that we are familiar with. Rather it refers to the saffron crocus, a spring flowering herb used to produce saffron powder, which is used in cooking. This flower is fairly common in Palestine today.
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