The Salvation of the Faithful
(Isaiah 35:1–10)
After placing before us the destruction and terrors appointed for the region of Edom, the prophet suddenly sets in contrast a scene of extraordinary loveliness and blessedness: a desert transformed into paradise, flames replaced by everlasting delights, wild beasts yielding to perfect peace and security. In this way, after the judgment and wrath of God, the prophet teaches what God has prepared for the faithful—that is, he displays the salvation God has established for His own. As judgment is portrayed in dreadful desolation, so by contrast salvation is depicted.
Is 35:1. “The desert and the trackless place shall rejoice, and the solitude shall exult and bloom like the lily.”
Is 35:2. “It shall put forth buds abundantly, and it shall exult with great jubilation and praise; the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the beauty of Carmel and Sharon; they themselves shall see the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God.”
The scene is one of supreme delight, fertility, and radiance. Whatever is most excellent in the land of Palestine is now gathered into one vision: the glory of Lebanon, the beauty of Carmel, and the richness of Sharon. To this flourishing state, painted in the loveliest colors, joy and delight are added—shouting and exultation, the fullness of blessedness perceived through the inner gladness of the soul. All these blessings flow from a single, inexhaustible fountain: they see the glory and majesty of the Lord.
It is fitting that the description begins with a wasteland, for the prophet has already hinted many times that salvation would arise out of tribulation and would only appear after distress. With such a transformation having taken place, salvation is revealed in a singular manner as the work of God, accomplished by His supreme generosity without any human merit. The barren land changed into a paradise beautifully portrays how messianic salvation and blessedness will overflow into the world, visible to all (cf. Isaiah 11:6; Romans 8:19ff.).
Turning to the details: those who had long been afflicted and oppressed (cf. Micah 5:1; Zephaniah 3:18 Heb.) will at last be wondrously refreshed by God and will experience within their inmost souls the joy and consolation of God—“the desert shall rejoice”—and what they feel inwardly they will openly express in jubilation and exultation—“the solitude shall exult”—and they will be raised up to that glory which salvation brings with it.
“It shall bloom.” The flower mentioned in verse 2 takes on even lovelier growth; it increases ever more in splendor and richness, so that a new harvest of joy and jubilation springs forth—and with good reason. For the magnitude of the transformation is evident from this: that the once-barren desert is now clothed and adorned with the glory and beauty of Lebanon, and with the luxuriant cultivation of Carmel and Sharon. These three together depict the highest delight and elegance that can be found or imagined on mountains, in forests, or in fields. Such splendor has been poured out because the Lord reveals His glory to them for them to behold and admire. And where the glory of God shines forth, who would be surprised that all things are transformed into similar glory and radiance? (cf. Habakkuk 3:3).
In such a manifestation of God’s glory and in such greatness of salvation, what could be more fitting than that all, laying aside all sloth and faintheartedness, should rise to the fullest confidence and eagerness of faith and hope, and put on a spirit stronger than any fear or trembling?
Thus Is 35:3 says: “Strengthen the feeble hands, and make firm the weak knees.”
Is 35:4 continues: “Say to the faint-hearted: Be strong, and do not fear; behold, your God will bring vengeance, the God of retribution; He Himself will come and will save us.”
The prophet urges those who themselves rely on faith and trust in God while awaiting impending calamities to impart the same confidence to others—to encourage the timid, to inspire the slothful, to supply strength to the weak.
The entire ground of this consolation rests on the promised help of God: “Your God comes with vengeance, the retribution of God” (Heb. or, as others connect the words: “Behold, your God—vengeance comes, the retribution of God”). The “retribution of God” is that which God renders in a manner worthy of Himself; hence the name of God is added for emphasis. Therefore the retribution is great and abundant. “He Himself comes”—cf. Isaiah 28:21; Is 29:6; Is 30:27 “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar” (Is 31:4; Is 32:15; Is 33:2; Is 10:22).
Two things are affirmed: the overthrow of the enemies and the salvation to be granted to the people. Just as in the preceding chapters the condition of the people and the commonwealth after the ruin of their enemies was often explained as more prosperous, so here as well.
This salvation and the abundance of divine blessing that will arise in that restoration of things is beautifully illustrated for consolation and strengthening of spirit:
Is 35:5: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”
Is 35:6: “Then the lame man shall leap like a stag, and the tongue of the mute shall be freed, because waters have burst forth in the desert and torrents in the wilderness.”
To the earlier description of its former condition (Is 29:10) is now opposed its restoration. The richness and abundance of salvation are described by showing that whatever evils were present are removed and healed—beautifully done.
A reason is given for such sudden change and such great happiness: in a land once desert and dry, waters now burst forth in abundance—that is, a divinely given fertility has arrived, of which the freely and continually flowing waters are an image and symbol. The Holy One has granted new graces to the theocracy and has so changed it for the better with new supports as if He had bestowed broad streams of water upon an arid land. Thus a kind of regeneration and renewal, with an abundant fountain of divine helps added, is signified.
And just as the curse of God was foreshadowed in chapter 34 by the evils inflicted, so it is fitting that the blessing be portrayed by the removal and healing of those evils.
Furthermore, since human sins often truly bring bodily evils upon men, and even the land itself is afflicted by devastation and sterility, it follows that the coming salvation and glorious restoration of things should be shown also in the taking away of these evils. From this consideration—and from analogy—it may be concluded that when that salvation whose fullness is contained in the messianic kingdom shall appear, a divine power will also be made manifest by which bodily evils will truly be healed.
And indeed Christ the Lord, in order to show that He was the Messiah—that is, the author and giver of the true salvation so often promised by God—appealed to such miracles: the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear (Matthew 11:5). Saint Matthew teaches that from such miracles performed by Jesus of Nazareth one must conclude that He is the accomplisher of true expiation and reconciliation with God (cf. Matthew 8:17 and Isaiah 53:4).
Add to this what has often been noticed: the prophet tends to present that happier condition of things after the Assyrian catastrophe in such a way that he does not remain in that time alone but describes the period of perfect salvation—namely, the messianic age. Deliverance is granted because of Emmanuel (cf. Isaiah 8:9–10). Therefore it is natural, because of the inner connection of things and causes, that in describing salvation the prophet does not confine himself to its beginnings or its preliminary preparation, but turns his prophetic vision to the perfection and sublimity of that salvation as expected in the messianic period.
Thus I believe this prophecy can be understood, and in that way I also think the connection becomes clear both with the preceding material and with the Assyrian catastrophe, as well as with the consolation of those who suffered together—toward which Isaiah always and everywhere strives. It also seems to me that the manner is clarified by which he advances toward the messianic age and the messianic miracles. Under this consideration the various explanations of interpreters are reconciled among themselves and reduced to one general meaning. For there are some who take those words in a spiritual sense: the “eyes” will behold heavenly things and survey divine riches previously inaccessible to human understanding; the “ears” will at once receive saving instruction and will obey divine commands; the one who earlier could not move himself to undertake the work of righteousness will now, with supreme swiftness, run the course of eminent virtue; the “tongue” will freely and readily proclaim the mysteries of salvation and will speak with wonderful eloquence and abundance concerning divine matters and divine praise. Such is the view of Osorius, Eusebius, Barhebraeus, and the sainted interpreters. And this explanation is supported by the statements that immediately follow, which seem to be taken in the same figurative sense—for surely waters have not literally been cleft in the desert, nor does the fresh green of the reed spring up in the lairs of wild beasts. These points are true, yet they do not close off the path by which one may finally show, by a certain line of reasoning, that both senses cohere together.
Others interpret the words in both ways: they were fulfilled literally in the greatness of the signs that Christ performed, and yet they are fulfilled daily among the nations, when those who were once blind now behold the light of truth. So teach St. Jerome, Cyril, Haimo, Maldonatus, Pinamonti, Sassoferrato, Forerius, Menochius, Gordon, and others. Still others leave in the middle what should strictly be understood—these are metaphorical expressions if referred to the time after the destruction of the Assyrians, so that they signify spiritual defects; but they are literal if applied to the coming of Christ, as St. Thomas maintains, and similarly St. Ephrem. Yet others acknowledge only a prophecy of Christ—so Marloratus, Tirinius, Calmet. But no one explains how the discourse passes immediately to the Messiah.
Far better is the conception of Lapide, who judges that the words must be understood of those who were once blind now being enlightened by the splendor and brightness of the truth—and that Christ’s healing of many blind and deaf is a symbol of this. The proper sense, then, is a description of the salvation to be granted by the Lord. And this is described in such a way that—according to the order of created things—every evil will be removed, and the land endowed with supreme fertility. This mode of description is suitably employed, both because it renders a spiritual reality more accessible to the senses, and because creation itself will one day be adorned with glory in the revelation of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:21).
If you consider this, you will easily answer the objection raised by the sainted commentator in defense of a solely spiritual interpretation: God promises that He Himself will come and save. This was gloriously fulfilled, and in the fullest literal sense, in the mystery of the Incarnation. Hence some of the Fathers prove the divinity of Christ from this passage. But since that expression is a customary way of indicating divine help—and similar expressions occur frequently (30:27, 31:4, 33:10, 22)—no one can rightly assert that the prophet was here thinking of the Messiah in such a way that his words must be taken in that sense alone.
But if you say that in the special providence and prompting of the Holy Spirit—the principal author of Scripture—those words were chosen which most fittingly designate God coming in the flesh and saving, and that only in this further explanation does the full and complete meaning appear, the meaning intended by the Holy Spirit, I will not object.
Is 35:7 In harmony with what precedes, salvation is further depicted through a transformation of the natural world into a scene of greatest beauty: “and that which was dry land shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the dens where formerly dragons (tannînîm) dwelt there shall arise the green of the reed and rush.” The ancient Hebrew interpreters understood “dry land” as anydros (“waterless,” LXX). More recent interpreters, drawing a particular sense from Arabic usage, refer the description to a phenomenon observed in the deserts of Arabia, in Egypt, and elsewhere: namely, that due to a peculiar disturbance of vapors, the whole desert—or some part of it—presents the appearance of a sea or of lakes, so that even the most experienced travelers are sometimes deceived. If this explanation is taken, then the prophet says that the desert, which appeared to be water, will be transformed into real water—that is, what was previously deceptive will be removed, and true goods will be granted in their place; no one will cling any longer to false blessings; the places which lacked streams of grace will now abound with them; the lairs of wild beasts—caves, dark and dreadful spots—will now flourish with charm and cultivation.
Salvation is thus portrayed as surpassingly sublime, just as an irrigated and fertile field excels an arid wilderness.
Of tannînîm—which more recent scholars interpret as the jackal or golden jackal (cf. 13:22 and Job 30:29).
Is 35:8-9 Holiness, peace, and security will be present: “And there shall be a path and a way, and it shall be called the holy way. The unclean shall not pass upon it. It shall be for them a straight path, so that even the foolish shall not err upon it. There shall be no lion there, nor shall any wild beast go up by it, nor be found there; but those who have been freed shall walk upon it.”
Thus the desert loses its terror also for this reason: because there is a holy way there, upon which only the holy walk; for iniquity has been removed by the judgment of God (Is 32:1ff; Is 29:19, 23; Is 30:21ff; Is 31:7). And that way is so plain and visible that even the foolish cannot go astray. Most clearly, then, and in a manner accessible to all, the prophet sets forth what the way of salvation is. And if they wish, they may tread that path without fear of error. Moreover, there is complete safety on that road, provided they remain on it; nothing is to be feared from the desert beasts, for none will come near that way—there will be no ambushes there. Walking along that path, the prophet sees the redeemed, the liberated. Salvation, therefore, is portrayed as redemption, as vindication: whereby God claims His own, rescuing them. This notion of salvation is unfolded most fully in the second part of the book from chapter 40 onward, yet the prophet clearly indicates it already here.
Nor is this surprising, for when he expressed the former sad condition under the symbol of a desert and compared the abundant streams of divine blessing to waters breaking forth in the wilderness by divine power (Is 35:6), what lay closer at hand than to recall, with these words, the deliverance from Egypt? And thus the salvation whereby the people would be freed from hostile oppression and redeemed from servitude is called by the same name—redemption. Add that Isaiah, even before the Assyrian calamity, was aware of what Hosea had already prophesied concerning the exile and the return (Hosea 2:14; 3:4–5). Therefore it is no wonder that he presents salvation under the symbol of a return to Zion.
Is 35:10 This salvation is finally enclosed within everlasting joy: while the hostile land is struck with perpetual fire and desolation and its inhabitants and leaders become nothing (Is 34:12), Zion shall stand, and her citizens shall rejoice forever. The opposition is absolute in every respect. Thus the description of salvation is perfectly concluded: “And the redeemed of the Lord shall return and shall come to Zion with praise; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (cf. Is 51:11). Such is the reward of those who give themselves wholly to the Lord.
With this exhortation the prophet brings to an end the instruction by which he prepared their souls to endure the Assyrian calamity, and he does so nobly. He shows the last and happiest end to which God will lead them. And as he presents this salvation as intimately bound to the divine plan and to Zion, he offers at the same time a most powerful pledge that God will not hand over that city to her enemies. As the enemies of God in Edom are consigned to utter and everlasting misery, so the citizens of Zion—the friends of God, His household—will enjoy everlasting joy and glory.
He sets both before his hearers, in order that they may choose between them; and by the very realities themselves they will be compelled to reveal whether they wish to share the lot of God’s adversaries, or—imbued with a theocratic spirit and trusting in God alone—they will embrace those blessings which the prophet has commended in so many words. What fruit this produced is shown in the narrative that follows.
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