The former limitations of these believers will end, and they will rejoice (cf. Isaiah 6:9-10; Isaiah 29:9-12; Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 65:20; Luke 7:18-23; Acts 3:8). The Israelites’ blindness and deafness was in reference to God’s call to participate in His work. [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 15.] read more
Water gushing out in the arid wilderness and Arabah would be a sign of blessings that they would shortly experience (cf. Isaiah 35:1-2; Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 43:19-20; Isaiah 44:3-4; Deuteronomy 28:1-14). The desolate resting place where only jackals lived would become verdant with grassy growth. Reversal and transformation will mark this time. read more
1. While Edom becomes a desert, for God’s people, on the other hand, the desert places burst into bloom, the fairest parts of Palestine sharing their fertile beauty with the waste places (Isaiah 35:2).7. Parched ground] RM ’mirage’: this which so often deceives travellers in the desert will become a real lake.Dragons] RV ’jackals.’8. An highway] by which the exiles may return through the desert. 9. Cp. Isaiah 51:11. read more
(5, 6) Then the eyes of the blind shall . . .—The words are obviously to be interpreted, like those that precede them, and Isaiah 29:18, of spiritual infirmities. If they seem to find a literal fulfilment in the miracles of the Christ, it is, as it were, ex abundante, and as a pledge and earnest of something beyond themselves. read more
(7) The parched ground . . .—The Hebrew word is essentially what we know as the mirage, or fata morgana, the silvery sheen which looks like a sparkling lake, and turns out to be barren sand. Instead of that delusive show, there shall be in the renewed earth the lake itself.In the habitation of dragons . . .—Better, as elsewhere, jackals, which had their lair in the sandy desert.Shall be grass with reeds and rushes.—Better, grass shall grow as (or unto) reeds and rushes, the well-watered soil... read more
The Mirage and the Pool Isaiah 35:7 'The mirage shall become a pool.' The illusory shall become the substantial. The life of disappointments shall become a life of satisfaction. I. What some men have experienced in the sandy desert others have suffered in the common life. Humanity is mocked by a mirage more inviting and enticing than the semblance of the desert. There is the illusory in life, the mirage which allures with its promise of satisfying pools, and then mocks us with its leagues of... read more
CHAPTER 35 Restoration Glory and the Kingdom 1. Creation blest and the glory of the Lord revealed (Isaiah 35:1-2 ) 2. The spiritual and material blessings of the kingdom (Isaiah 35:3-9 ) 3. The return of the ransomed of the Lord (Isaiah 35:10 ) What follows the great judgments of the day of Jehovah, when our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven in flaming fire, is now brought forward in this final chapter of the first great part of Isaiah’s vision. The unscriptural view, that the... read more
35:6 Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing: for in the {g} wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.(g) They who were barren and destitute of the graces of God, will have them given by Christ. read more
JUDAH AND EGYPT These chapters make a unit since, with the exception of the opening part of chapter 28, they chiefly deal with Judah’s futile alliance with Egypt. Isaiah 28:0 Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes, is addressed under the name of her leading tribe “Ephraim” (Isaiah 28:1 ). Her great sin is strong drink. “The head of the fat valley” is Samaria the capital, which is soon to be overthrown by the Assyrians (Isaiah 28:2-4 ). Observe, however, the usual forecast of the end of the... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 35:7
7. parched ground—rather, "the mirage (Hebrew, Sharab, 'the sun's heat') shall become a (real) lake." The sun's rays refracted on the glowing sands at midday give the appearance of a lake of water and often deceive the thirsty traveller (compare Jeremiah 2:13; Isaiah 41:18). dragons—rather, "jackals." each—namely, jackal. grass—rather, "a dwelling or receptacle (answering to the previous habitation) for reeds," &c. (which only grow where there is water, Job 8:11). Where once there was no... read more