Isaiah 35-10 Everlasting Joy

I would encourage the more serious Bible students who read my stuff to study the prophets in the Bible. 

Much of the Bible is pretty straightforward reading.  There is history, there are psalms, proverbs, and letters.  But then you have the prophets.  And there most of us need help.

One of the reasons they are so important is that they talk a lot about things we need to know about, and I don’t mean the end of the world.

Consider a few passages:

Luke 24:25–27 (NASB95) 25 And He [Jesus] said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Acts 3:19–24 (NASB95)  ¹⁹ “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²² “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. ²³ ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.

Acts 17:2–3 (NASB95)  2 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”

Acts 18:27–28 (NASB95) 27 and when he [Apollos] had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 28:23 (NASB95) 23 When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

Jesus and the apostles found that the Old Testament, particularly the prophets, had a lot more to say about Jesus than we today know.

The big question in reading the prophets is discerning which parts talk about events in their days, which talk about the time of Jesus, and which talk about events still future, if indeed they do at all.

I have concluded from my studies that Isaiah 35 is one of those passages that speaks of Jesus’ first coming. 

You may well ask though, so what?  Why is that important for me today?  I’m just trying to get by from day to day.

Because it looks at your life in a way you would never think of.

It’s very poetic, highly symbolic language. 

Start at verse 8 of Isaiah 35:

Isaiah 35:8–10 (NASB95)  8 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. 9 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, 10 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.

There’s no time or space now to go into everything here, but note the expression in verse 10: everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

That is supposed to characterize the Christian life.  Maybe I didn’t make the case for that fully enough in a short Bible Bit, but that is my conclusion.

Now joy has always been difficult for me.  I’ve had times of immense joy, but more often than not, there was just nothing really.  Neither sad nor happy.  But I do know what sad is.  All too well. 

When I read this, it tells me that I am looking at a lot of things fundamentally wrong.

As I write this, I am going through the hardest time in my life.  I have said that before, and more than once.  It seems they keep getting harder.  And I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.  It’s called growing.

I’ve been through cancer (stage 4) when the doctor wasn’t too hopeful.  I had a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis (terminal).  I have been out of work and out of money too often to remember.

It’s too soon to give details on the latest crisis here, but this verse only makes sense if our life and experience with God should make us feel like nothing needs to disturb or discourage us.  Things will work out good.  Really good.

But, but, but    You will tell me of Christians for whom things did not work out good. 

I understand that.  The Christian life is not a free ride.  It involves growing, learning, effort.  It’s not automatic.  But one of the clues that you are on the right track is the amount of joy that you experience.  Just don’t panic when you find you can’t just turn it on when you want.  But you do need to know what the final product looks like so you can tell how you’re doing.