(#8) I'm thankful for the Highway of Holiness
Tonight at church we were reminded of one of the most beautiful passages in Isaiah: "A highway will be there... and it will be called the Highway of Holiness... The redeemed will walk there" (35:8-9).
The context places this highway in the middle of an oasis which once was bare desert, "thirsty ground", "the haunt of jackals". The scorched landscape has now been transformed into a lush garden with spring-fed pools of water, reeds and rushes. Dangerous beasts like lions will stay far from the area, and foolish and unclean people will not wander on the highway. The road will be for the exclusive use of the ransomed of the Lord. The best thing about the road is the place to which it leads: Zion, the home city of God's people.
It seems likely to me that many of Isaiah's Jewish readers would have imagined this Highway of Holiness as a road spanning the 900 miles of desert from Babylon, where they were held captive after the deportation, back to Jerusalem: Zion. The ruins of Babylon lie squarely in the middle of Iraq, just over 50 miles from Baghdad. Between Babylon and Jerusalem lie the Syrian and Arabian deserts, which Wikipedia says "consists of a wide stony plain interspersed with rare sandy stretches." Temperatures can hover over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The kind of redemption God would bring about would be the spiritual equivalent of the Arabian Desert being transformed into the Nile River.
I believe this prophecy was fulfilled in part in Ezra's day. Ezra returned to Jerusalem with the purpose of rebuilding the temple of the Lord. In Ezra 8, he decides that they will not require imperial soldiers for protection, despite carrying an enormous amount of gold, silver and fine bronze, because "the hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek him" (v. 22). They would not fear any vicious beast nor any wicked fool on the road. Of supreme concern was the holiness of those travelling on the road. Ezra told the priests, "You are holy to the Lord, and the utensils are holy" (v. 28). And God did protect them. "The hand of our God was over us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way. Thus we came to Jerusalem..." (vv. 31-32).
But the prophecy of Isaiah 35 continues to be fulfilled in our day, and will be fulfilled among those who pursue holiness until Christ returns and carries us to the Zion above, to the city whose builder and maker is God.
I'm thankful for the Highway of Holiness.
The context places this highway in the middle of an oasis which once was bare desert, "thirsty ground", "the haunt of jackals". The scorched landscape has now been transformed into a lush garden with spring-fed pools of water, reeds and rushes. Dangerous beasts like lions will stay far from the area, and foolish and unclean people will not wander on the highway. The road will be for the exclusive use of the ransomed of the Lord. The best thing about the road is the place to which it leads: Zion, the home city of God's people.
It seems likely to me that many of Isaiah's Jewish readers would have imagined this Highway of Holiness as a road spanning the 900 miles of desert from Babylon, where they were held captive after the deportation, back to Jerusalem: Zion. The ruins of Babylon lie squarely in the middle of Iraq, just over 50 miles from Baghdad. Between Babylon and Jerusalem lie the Syrian and Arabian deserts, which Wikipedia says "consists of a wide stony plain interspersed with rare sandy stretches." Temperatures can hover over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The kind of redemption God would bring about would be the spiritual equivalent of the Arabian Desert being transformed into the Nile River.
I believe this prophecy was fulfilled in part in Ezra's day. Ezra returned to Jerusalem with the purpose of rebuilding the temple of the Lord. In Ezra 8, he decides that they will not require imperial soldiers for protection, despite carrying an enormous amount of gold, silver and fine bronze, because "the hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek him" (v. 22). They would not fear any vicious beast nor any wicked fool on the road. Of supreme concern was the holiness of those travelling on the road. Ezra told the priests, "You are holy to the Lord, and the utensils are holy" (v. 28). And God did protect them. "The hand of our God was over us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way. Thus we came to Jerusalem..." (vv. 31-32).
But the prophecy of Isaiah 35 continues to be fulfilled in our day, and will be fulfilled among those who pursue holiness until Christ returns and carries us to the Zion above, to the city whose builder and maker is God.
I'm thankful for the Highway of Holiness.
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