Chapter 35
I think 34 ended with prophecy about the wrath of God as it unfolds at about the sixth seal of Revelation. It ended with prophecy about the fall of Edom, the final fall. Edom is "code" for non-Israel.
2022 - Ok, I will readily admit that these prophecies are just beyond me to try and pin down. The only way to have any peace about these at all is to study them out using references from someone who has taken the time, and learned enough of the history of the region, to be able to place them more precisely on the calendar. I would like to know, but this is not what I'm drawn to. This year, as last, I am focusing on the NT readings each day, not these OT chapters. Perhaps, sometime in the future, I will be able to slow down and look at what Barnes has to say, line by line. But that is not the case this year. I'm just going to get it read.
Hmmm...Couldn't help but take a quick look at Barnes' notes on 34. He does not mention wrath, does not mention Revelation, but calls the hosts falling as leaves the kings and nobles of enemies being deposed. The heavens rolling together as a scroll he says is those high in office being "rolled away", passing from view. I think that's a big miss...but it certainly is a more "peaceful" way to look at things. Back to my reading...
This chapter opens with the blossoming of the land, with restoration in Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon. This verse:
2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. 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. [Isa 35:2 ESV]
So if we continue with the interpretation that 34 was about the sixth seal, then we are moving now into the Millennial. The land becomes productive again, and the rains come, and the seed yields abundantly - all of these are Millennial blessings.
2021 - I think first, the near fulfilment would have been about the return from Babylon, and all the people that came back then. They weren't attacked or bothered as they came home, and eventually they did start to grow crops again and because a nation again. But that fulfilment was just a twinkling of what will happen as Great Tribulation comes to a close and the Millennial begins. Then there will be a truly miraculous blooming of the land of Israel, and Jews who survived t/gt will come from all over the world - unmolested, unbothered, unhindered - back to the land of Zion, along a road called "The Way of Holiness".
Prophesy that God will come with vengeance, and with recompense. This is the battle that ushers in the Millennial - maybe. All nations will turn to Israel at this time, they will be the leader of the world. The evil will have been put down before the Millennial starts when Jesus comes with his army.
5-7 seem to prophesy a restoration of the very land itself. The geography will change. Deserts will become lakes and so on. Also, the people will be cured of their infirmities - of blindness and deafness. This must be about the Millennial reign, though much healing occurred at the first advent.
2023 - Here are the verses:
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters 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; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. [Isa 35:5-7 ESV].
IF we remember the idea that Isaiah is "blind" to the church age, then we can see in these verses the coming of the Messiah in the NT, as he cures the blind, deaf, and lame and mute. But the waters did not break forth in the wilderness during that time, nor streams flow in the desert. So what you have here is the arrival of Messiah and his rejection by Israel. The spiritual kingdom is set up, including the church, and we are now in the church age. At the end of the church age we will get the 70th week of Daniel, and then the Millennial will bring about fulfilment of the remainder of this prophecy. So these prophecies "wrap around" the church age. Thinking of them as near and far is probably not the best idea, but thinking of their fulfilment as "beginning" in the NT with the arrival of Christ and then "completing" during the Millennial or even later, seems to unravel things pretty well. AND, I also like the way this methodology accounts for the arrival of Messiah, predicts his ministry, his miracles, the geography of his life, his crucifixion and resurrection and ascension, and then GOES SILENT from Pentecost to rapture. The church age has a very specific beginning and ending.
2024 - No...I think I had this one wrong also. This is talking about the Millennial, and we see in vs 5 that the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. This verse tells us that we are talking about the time when God's continuing punishment of Israel for breaking the first covenant will come to an end. This "curse" started in the OT, and they could have broken out of it if they had accepted Jesus as Messiah, but instead they killed him, and the "second round", the double punishment of Israel went into effect and still continues. These verses are about the time when that is all over. When it is over, we will have the rapture, and then Armageddon, and then the Jews will come home from all over the world to worship Christ on his throne. People of that time will see the desert come to life, all over the promised land.
2025 - Yes, I had it right last year. The opening of eyes and ears and healing of the lame did happen with Jesus, but he was still rejected, and so this did not play on out. This prophecy was interrupted - I like that way of saying it better than near/far - because the Jews rejected their Messiah and they are still paying for that rejection to this day. Isaiah did not see this, did not see the church age at all. For him the healing and the restoration rolled right on from the people to the land itself, and water came back and crops and flowers...the land is completely restored. But that isn't happening yet...the remainder of his prophecy is still future.
8-10 prophesy safety from man and nature for those who are righteous. They will return to Zion, and neither man nor beast will hinder them. It will be a free, open road. This verse:
8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. [Isa 35:8 ESV]
Seems to be about the return of Israel to Zion. Apparently, they won't all be geniuses but they will all come home. This too seems to be about the Millennial. (Checked MSB. His notes indicate that all of this in 35 is the Millennial (or the Messianic) age, with Christ on the thrown and the Jews returning to Jerusalem, and leading the whole world.
2023 - This is an excellent proof text that the return to Zion, the change of heart of the Jewish people, begins AFTER the church age. It is not going on now. We have remnant stuff going on, but not return. This verse:
8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. [Isa 35:8 ESV]. This reads sequentially from the prophecy of the Millennial. The verb "shall" in this verse is a sequential imperfect, specifically tying it back to what came before. This is continuation, not a break from what was said before.
2023 - How enlightening would it be to go back through Isaiah and look for "imperfect verb" followed by one or many "sequential imperfects", and then another imperfect. The imperfect - sequential groups might be gathered together as a single prophecy, and then the next imperfect begins another, possibly signalling that a different time from that of the previous group is in view. Would that unravel huge "swaths" of Isaiah's prophecies? Next year is going to be a lot more intense as I try that, in conjunction with the "wrapped around the church age" idea.