Isaiah 34:9

These verses in Isaiah chapter 34 continue to tell us about the period of the Great Tribulation that will take place in the end-times. The age of Grace in which we now live will end, and it will be followed by the period of time called the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation will be a time of judgment. Tremendous destruction will take place. The Bible says in Isaiah 34:9-17, “And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.” The reason that these verses emphasize that wild animals will live in the land where God’s judgment has come is because this means that no people will live there any more. The people will be gone because they will have been destroyed.

The Bible does tell us about God’s judgment because judgment will come against those who refuse the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. But the Bible also tells us about the future blessings that God has planned. Isaiah chapter 34 is about the time of judgment: the Great Tribulation, but Isaiah chapter 35 is about the time of blessing that will follow the Great Tribulation. The Bible says in Isaiah 35:1, “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” The land became a wilderness and a desert because of the sin of the people, and because of God’s judgment that must come against sin. There may come a day when you must suffer sorrow, and sadness, and regret, and even shame. But by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, your sorrow can also be turned to joy. The One who can make the desert blossom like the rose can also bring a song to your heart, even though your heart may be heavy for the moment.

Remember that this promise in Isaiah 35:1 will not be fulfilled until after the Great Tribulation. Any prosperity that currently is found in the state of Israel is not a fulfillment of this promise. Some people have misused this verse and have said that some of the current agricultural successes in Israel are a fulfillment of the phrase “and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” The prosperity that God eventually brings to the nation of Israel will be much greater than can be found there today.

The Bible says in Isaiah 35:2-3, “It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.” The words “Carmel” and “Sharon” are used in these verses in order to emphasize how great the blessings will be. Carmel means “orchard,” and Sharon means “fertile plain.” This is a great message and a wonderful message: the fact that God has such a beautiful future planned for His children through the grace that is in Jesus Christ. There will be abundance everywhere. There will be “joy and singing.” No more sorrow, no more sadness, no more poverty: only gladness. We can take this positive message about the future to every believer, even to those who have “weak hands,” and “feeble knees.”

Because of the promises of God about the future, we have a positive message about the future for every believer. The message that we have for every believer is given in Isaiah 35:4, “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.” We are weak, but God is strong. Therefore, when we trust in Him, we become strong through faith. If you are strong in faith in what the Lord Jesus Christ can do for you, then you are strong. If you do not have that kind of spiritual strength through faith in the Lord, then you will fear. You will fear someone or something. But God does not want us to fear. He tells us in the book of Isaiah, “Fear not.” Jesus said the exact same thing to His disciples. The Bible says in Luke 8:50, “But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.”

The promise about the future includes the fact that God will bring the justice that wrongdoers deserve. That is why Isaiah 35:4 speaks of “vengeance” and “recompence.” The tables will be turned. No one will get away with anything. All things will come to the light. Everyone will give an answer before God. Those who are filled with deception and lying and hatred will pay for what they have done to innocent people. They will pay because God sees and God knows, and the day of His vengeance is coming.

The Bible says in Isaiah 35:5-7, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.” It would not be very thorough to write about the future Kingdom of God without being reminded of the things that Jesus has done to make that kingdom possible. When Isaiah 35:5 tells us about “the eyes of the blind” being opened and “the ears of the deaf” being unstopped, we are being told about the things that Jesus did for people who looked to Him for help. Jesus does the things that no one else can do. He heals, He saves, and He forgives. In other words, Jesus does the things that only God can do. Of course, the great miracles that Jesus performed had a symbolic meaning to them. A blind person needs to have his eyes opened in order that he can see. Jesus opened the eyes of the blind. We too are blind. We cannot see what we need to see. We do not understand what is really going on around us. But if Jesus would open the eyes of our understanding, then we would see. We would know what we need to know. That is why it says of Jesus in John 1:4-9, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” We are told what Jesus said about Himself in John 8:12 where it is written, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 35:8-10, “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Peace and safety, joy and gladness, holiness, no sorrow nor sadness. That sounds like a great place. It will be. That is the kingdom that Jesus promised to those who trust in Him. Notice that there is a highway in the kingdom called “the way of holiness.” The first words used in these verses to describe the kingdom of Christ is called “the way of holiness.”

There are at least two important aspects to the fact that the highway in the kingdom of Christ is called “the way of holiness.” For one thing holiness is required to enter into the kingdom of heaven. That presents a real problem for human beings because we are sinful. That is why we need a Savior. The salvation that Jesus gives to believers is so complete that once saved by faith, God accounts righteousness and holiness to the account of the sinner. That is called imputed righteousness. We do not have the holiness that we need to get to heaven, so God gives it to us freely through faith in Christ. The Bible says in Romans 4:3, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” The way to heaven is the way of holiness, and the means of obtaining that holiness is through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said about Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

There is a highway in the kingdom of God called “the way of holiness.” Heaven is a holy place. There will be no unholiness in heaven. That is why it says in Revelation 21:27, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” One of the things that can make life unpleasant in this world are the sinful things that people do. If only there was no lying, or cheating, or stealing, or manipulating by people; how wonderful the world would be. It will be wonderful in heaven because none of those sinful things will exist there.

There is a close connection between holiness and heaven. Therefore, if you consider yourself to be on your way to heaven through faith in Christ, your goal should be to pursue a holy life. If you are going to be holy in heaven, then you should be as holy as you can be in this life also. A Christian should always be involved in some amount of self-examination. What is there about your life that you need to change so that you can be truly leading a more holy life? Perhaps there is something that you are doing that you need to stop doing. Perhaps there is some place where you are going, and you need to stop going there in order to lead a more holy life. On the other hand perhaps there are things that you need to do more of in order to be more holy: like more prayer or more Bible study. The Bible says in First Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

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