AP

Isaiah 35:5-6   Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 

What a blessing it is for us to have access to the divinely inspired prophetic words of Isaiah written 27 Centuries ago!  (We even have – since 1948 – the testimony of the Dead Sea Scrolls to verify the accuracy with which the original text has been preserved throughout this whole time!)

Our sovereign Creator God continues to carry out his amazing Plan of Salvation, redeeming a broken world that has been so devasted by the effects of human sin.  Isaiah 35 gives us a wonderful picture of where God’s Plan is heading and what the final outcome will be.  We have the privilege of living at a time in history when  we can look back on Jesus’ giving us a foretaste of its final fulfilment during his short ministry here on earth.  He ‘opened the eyes of the blind’ and ‘unstopped the ears of the deaf’.  He ‘enabled the lame to leap like a deer’ and brought ‘living [gushing] water’ to dry and thirsty soul!

What awesome prospects we have to anticipate when he returns in power to establish the New Heaven and the New Earth, where “He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes.” and “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”, when “He who [is] seated on the throne [will say], ‘I am making everything new!’ and ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:4-5).

It is no wonder Isaiah ends this chaspter on a triumphant note with the words: “But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the LORD has rescued will return.  They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (verses 9b-10).

What a blessing it is to be among the redeemed, simply by kneeling at the foot of the cross of Jesus in repentance-and-faith, and trusting him as our Saviour and Lord!  “Your grace that leads this sinner home from death to life forever, and sings the song of righteousness, by blood and not by merit.  Your grace that reaches far and wide to every tribe and nation, has called my heart to enter in the joy of your salvation.  By grace I am redeemed, by grace I am restored; and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord”  (Keith & Kristyn Getty).

– Bruce Christian