Overtaken by Joy (Isaiah 35)

Overtaken by Joy
Isaiah 35

INTRODUCTION:
Are you happy? Right now? Are you joyful?

One mom said that she knows it’s going to be a good day when all the wheels on her shopping cart turn the same way.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says, “If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever, learn to fish.”

“Joy” is one of the fruit of the Spirit. You know that “fruit” is singular in the original text which pictures all these fruit as one result of having the Spirit rule your life. The NT uses the noun “joy” 59 times, beginning appropriately with Matthew 2:10 where the wise men saw the star of the King and rejoiced exceedingly with great “joy.” The last use of “joy” in the gospel of Matthew occurs when the women left the empty tomb of Jesus having been informed by the angels that He was not dead. He was risen. They ran with great “joy” to report to the apostles (28:8).

Out of the gospel writers, Luke uses the noun 8 times, almost as often as John (9 times). It comes as no surprise that Paul uses the noun most frequently, since he wrote more than any other inspired author; he uses the noun 21 times. Its only use in Galatians is here in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. He uses the noun as many times in 2 Corinthians (5 times) as he does in Philippians.

I personally like the sentiments expressed by the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:8-9: “though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” Certainly the joy for a Christian is wrapped up in our relationship to Jesus Christ.

The last time “joy” is used in the NT is in 3 John 4, a verse that Rachel painted on a sign and hung it over the stairs that the girls would see every day: “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

The verb that is related to this noun “to be joyful” is used 74 times in the NT. It is also used first in Matthew 2:10. Luke likes the verb; he uses it a dozen times in the gospel and seven times in Acts. John uses it 9 times himself, in the gospel. Paul uses the verb 8 times in 2 Corinthians and 9 times in Philippians. The last time this verb is used in the NT is Revelation 19:7, where John writes: “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”

But to feed our spirits this evening on the topic of “joy,” I want us to go back to the days of Isaiah the prophet. To a point in the nation of Israel when their country is being invaded by the Assyrians. Isaiah 35 is a message given to Israel at a low point in the siege of Judah. The Assyrians are knocking on the door of the capital of Judah - Jerusalem. King Hezekiah has not yet prayed to God for deliverance as we see in chapter 37 so God has not yet sent His angel to kill 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

There is clearly a message in this chapter - Isaiah 35 - for us today which I wish to bring out in this study…

Chapter 34 reveals the wrath of God against the nations; notice 34:1-2. The whole of chapter 34 reveals the justice of God “for the cause of Zion” (ver. 8). Chapter 35 turns its attention to the blessings God will bring over Israel…

ISRAEL WILL BE BLESSED - 35:1-2:
“The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah (the valley that includes the Jordan River, which divides Israel into its eastern and western parts) will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus It will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God.”

“Lebanon” is the area along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea which included the cities of Tyre and Sidon. “Carmel” literally translates “Garden of God.” It was a mountainous range toward the south of Israel which was well-known for its beauty and fertility. There were a lot of oak trees, olive groves, and vineyards in this region. “Sharon” was also along the Mediterranean Sea coast; you might remember that the “rose of Sharon” is used as a standard of beauty in the book of Song of Solomon (2:1). It seems that “Sharon” had kind of an “exotic” image in the mind of the Hebrews; perhaps like “Hawaii” has for Americans.

Isaiah uses this verb “rejoice” 11 times. The book of Psalms uses it 19 times. This related noun “rejoicing” is only used twice, both times by Isaiah (35:2; 65:18).

The second expression “shout of joy” is used 54 times in the OT, again extensively in the book of Psalms (26 time) but also 14 times by Isaiah. I draw your attention to the first time Isaiah uses the expression (12:6): “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” “Shout for joy, Israel, because Jehovah God is among you.” Back to Isaiah 35:2, all these different regions of Israel will “see the glory of the Lord” and they will see the “majesty of our God.”

Israel will be blessed, even though it looks bleak right now.

EVEN THE WEAK WILL BE BLESSED - 35:3-4:
“Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

Israel as a whole will be blessed, so Isaiah calls on those who are strong and full of faith to “encourage” the “exhausted” and to “strengthen the feeble.”

That verb “encourage” in Hebrew is related to the adjective “strong.” The word means to “make strong.” “Make strong” the “exhausted.” These are the ones who are feeble and weak. Maybe they have suffered more in the siege of Assyria than others have. Maybe they lost more property, more land, more friends or family members. Maybe they are simply those who just have a weaker faith. They need to be strengthened.

The word “strengthen” is related to the noun “truth.” So the verb means “to make firm, reliable, dependable.” “Make firm” the hearts of those who are feeble. The “feeble” are those who have trouble standing up, but not physically, emotionally. They need to be supported. They need strengthening.

The apostle Paul might have this passage in mind in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 when he tells Christians similar words: “encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” Paul will go on to say in verse 15: “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” In other words, don’t retaliate. Let God take care of vengeance. Rather we need to seek after what is good for one another and for all people.

Now compare that with what Isaiah says next here in Isaiah 35:4: “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

Those who are “anxious” - whose hearts are “racing” out of fear - Isaiah tells the strong Israelites to say to them, “Take courage, fear not.” The verb “take courage” is the same verb as “encourage” in the prior verse. The command “do not fear” is found 78 times in the OT.

Why not? Because God is the one who will take vengeance! The “recompense” - the “repayment” of God will come! He will punish those who afflict His children. “But He will save you.” Even the weak will be blessed; even the weak will be avenged by the God of heaven.

But now notice…

ISRAEL WILL BE BLESSED IN THE MESSIAH - 35:5-6:
“Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.”

The eyes of the blind will be opened! No one born blind was ever given their sight in the OT! No one born deaf was ever given his or her hearing in the OT. But at some point in the future, the blind and the deaf will be blessed. This is certainly a prophecy of the work of the Messiah.

When John the baptizer sends disciples to Jesus in Matthew 11 to ask if Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus quotes this verse in His response to John’s disciples - Matthew 11:5-6. In essence, Jesus tells those disciples, “Go back and tell John that Isaiah 35:5-6 is fulfilled. My miracles testify that I am the Messiah, the King.”

“The lame will leap like deer. The tongue of the mute will shout for joy.” Water will spring up in the wilderness; streams will sprout up in the Arabah.

Of course, those physical references are just metaphors for the blessings that would come to Israel once the Messiah came. Of course, Israel would have to wait 700 years before the Messiah came. But that 700 years was a period of trial and testing of Israel’s faith and patience. They did not know when the Messiah would come, just like we do not know with the Messiah will return. But we are patient. We are faithful. And we are joyful experiencing both the blessings in this life and the anticipation of the blessings that will come in the next life!

JESUS IS THE “HIGHWAY TO HOLINESS” - 35:7-8:
“The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.”

Verse 7 reiterates the blessings of the Messianic age in physical terms: the scorched land will become a pool of water. The thirsty ground will become a spring of water. Where once jackals hunted, there will be a resting place for Israel. In other words, at one time Israel was vacant and vacated but under the Messiah, they will find a place of reset. Grass will become reeds and rushes, cane plants and papyrus.

Now notice verse 8. We have another reference to the Messiah. A highway will be there. This is the only place where this word “highway” is used. There will be a “roadway.” This word is the broad, general term in Hebrew for a “way” or “path.” The word is used 706 times in the OT. Isaiah uses the word 47 times. Here, he says it will be called the “Highway of Holiness.” The Assyrian invasion was allowed by God to punish Israel for her sins, specifically for her idolatry. But God will provide a “highway” that leads to holiness.”

Later in Isaiah, God will send a voice in the wilderness calling out: “Clear the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God!” (40:3). God will later send another prophet, named Malachi, who will pick up on that imagery of a “highway to holiness” and through Malachi, God will say: “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts” (3:1).

Of course we recognize those two passages as being fulfilled in John the baptizer whom Mark identifies for us in Mark 1:2-3. The “way of holiness” is Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we can be pure in the eyes of God, separated from our sins, and enjoy - have joy - in that forgiveness. When Jesus says, “I am the way” (John 14:6), He likely has in mind this “highway of holiness” that Isaiah is talking about. And the church is so connected with Christ, that the church is that “way,” as Luke identifies for us in Acts 9:2; 19:9; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14; 24:22.

This “highway of holiness” - Isaiah uses the word “holy” 23 times - the unclean will not travel on it. It will be for the one who walks that direction, who walks toward the direction of holiness, the one who wants to walk that direction. “Fools” - those who live as if there is no God - will not wander on it.

THE HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS IS THE HIGHWAY OF JOY - 35:9-10:
“No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the Lord will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

As Isaiah has done earlier in the chapter, he mixes physical illustrations with the spiritual application. No lion will be there, no wild beasts to hurt, inspire fear, and destroy. There will be no wild beasts, no “vicious” beasts on the highway of holiness. It will be safe. Those dangerous animals will not be on the path.

Rather, the “redeemed” will walk there. Jacob will identify the angel of the Lord as the one who “redeemed” him from all evil (Gen. 48:16), but the heart of the theology of redemption really starts with the exodus from Egypt. God promised that He would redeem His children out of Egyptian slavery with an “outstretched arm and great judgments” (Exo. 6:6). After the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses sang in Exodus 15:13 that God had redeemed His people.

That physical redemption becomes a metaphor for the spiritual redemption that you and I have in Jesus Christ, from the slavery to sin. Christ redeemed us (Gal. 3:13; 4:5) from every lawless deed we had committed (Titus 2:14) so that we are redeemed through the precious blood of the Lamb (1 Peter 1:18-19). You and I have redemption now, through the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7), but there is also a sense in which the redemption still awaits us in heaven - Eph. 4:30. Yet that redemption will be eternal: Hebrews 9:12.

The “ransomed” of the Lord will return. Once again, this term has its theological beginning in the Exodus. When God killed the firstborn of the Egyptians, He required the Israelites to “redeem” their firstborn to God - Exodus 13:13-15. When God chose not to kill the firstborn, in essence, He took possession of them. He redeemed them to Himself.

That idea of a “ransom” in Exodus becomes a metaphor for God paying the price for our sins and paying the ransom for us. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28; Mark 10:45: “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” God took the life of His firstborn, which means He gave the ransom for us. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:6: Christ “gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”

Back to Isaiah 35:10 and the subject of “joy” - the fruit of the Spirit. Notice what our response is, once we enter the “highway to holiness” and we are “redeemed” and “ransomed:”

“Come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

The text literally reads the ransomed will come to Zion “in song and in joy.” The NASV treats these two nouns as a hendiadys, a figure of speech in which two nouns are joined together into one thought. This joy is “forever” or “everlasting,” a joy on their heads, suggesting the anointing oil by which God marked those who belong to Him, as the priests were anointed with oil. We are not anointed with oil, but with joy. Israel, in the Messiah, will find gladness and joy. In Christ, sorrow, grief, agony will flee away as will sighing and groaning from emotional and spiritual exhaustion.

CONCLUSION:
In the words of Nehemiah, “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh. 8:10). Isaiah’s message to his people is the same message the NT gives to you and me: “Israel will be blessed, even the weak, in the Messiah, who is the ‘highway of holiness’ which is the highway of joy.”

Take home message: Find joy in your relationship with Christ. Being saved in Him, ultimately everything else is insignificant.