The Desert will Blossom as the Rose: A Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 35:1-10

Isaiah 35:1–10 NKJV

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

As we continue our Advent study this year from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, we come to this passage in chapter 35. as a way of reminder, we have discussed how the book of Isaiah is a mixture of prophecies of extreme judgment and undying hope. If we were to go back to chapter 34, for example, we have prophecies of severe judgment against the land of Edom. Edom is another name for Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, whose descendants inhabited an area on the Southeast side of the Dead Sea. Today, this area would be virtually uninhabitable desert apart from modern technology as it is dry and desolate wilderness. But studies of the Ancient world of the Middle East show that at one time, the climate was quite different. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, chose the area of Sodom and Gomorrah at the bottom of the Dead Sea because it was “well watered.” As the Dead Sea is so salty that the water is undrinkable, this could only mean that at one time the area either received much more rainfall or had many freshwater springs such as the present En-Gedi which flows into the Dead Sea from the west.

We don’t know the conditions of the land of Edom in the day of Isaiah, but it would have had to have been far more livable than it is today to have supported cities like Bozrah. So, we can see that the LORD’s judgment against Edom came to pass. the well watered garden became a wild desert. This decline happened gradually as their territory decreased. It was not until 70 AD that Edom (Idumea) was destroyed. The same calamity which overcame the Jews also overcame the Edomites as well. The only difference is that God has preserved a remnant of Israel to this day. The only monument to Edom is the ruins of the city of Petra which was carved into the cliff, and the memory that Herod the Great came from Idumea.

The LORD also prophesied judgment against His own people in Isaiah also. Within a few years, the Northern Kingdom of Israel would be taken captive to Assyria and become wilderness. A few were allowed to return to keep the wild animal population under control. But Israel became a ruin. Soon Judah would follow her into captivity, this time to Babylon. So, other than a scattered few, all of Israel and Judah became desert. This was the first of two disastrous exiles for the Jews.

God gave Isaiah a prophecy that unlike Edom. Israel would be restored, The desert it had become would blossom as the rose. Isaiah uses the most joyful terms to describe the restoration of Israel. Even Carmel and Sharon would rejoice with her. The desert eagerly awaited the return of God’s people. Isaiah describes a time of abundance. We see the joy of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem after they were allowed to return home in 539 BC in Psalm 126. But the joy was quickly tempered by the harsh reality of the ruin of their homeland. The city of Jerusalem and the Temple were in ruins, the place was a desert. Most of the Jews remained in Babylon. Eventually through the prophecy of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, a smaller Temple was erected.It would be another generation before Nehemiah would rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Judah was still a client kingdom of Persia. when the Persians were conquered by Alexander the Great, and Judah became a subject of either Greek Seleucid or the Greek Ptolemaic kingdoms named after the generals of Alexander. Israel broke free and for about 100 years maintained a tenuous independence before falling to Rome. so the fullness of Isaiah’s prophecy does not seem to have been fulfilled by the return from Babylonian captivity.

Isaiah has many prophecies about the Messiah who would be the means of the fulfillment of this and other prophecies. We as Christians hold that this expected Messiah is none other than Jesus Christ. Indeed, he opened the ears of the deaf and loosened the tongue of the dead. The Gospel of John tells us in John 1:14 that the glory of the LORD stands revealed in the flesh of Jesus Christ (John 1:14). Jesus in His earthly tabernacle amongst his people brought rivers of living water (John 7:37-39). His people did not understand how He would bring deliverance to them. They thought in a kingdom of earthly splendour. But Jesus would bring restoration through His cross as an atonement for sin. But the fullness of the restoration still awaits His return.

Many see the restoration of the Jews in 1947 as being the restoration of the Jews. Indeed, they have made the country of Israel bloom like the rose. They brought irrigation to the farmlands which has greatly increased the yield of the land. They even have managed to grow crops in the Dead Sea valley despite the extreme saltiness of the soil. Because of the dense air at 1200 feet below sea level, crops grow quickly. In the ancient world, the plain of the dead sea grew fruits which otherwise only could be grown in the tropics. So in this sens the land of Israel has blossomed as the rose. Israel has developed many new technologies, and are known for their advances on medicine. So it is easy to see this as being Isaiah’s promise of restoration.

But we need to take some caution here. Paul does indeed tell us in Romans 11, that Israel shall be restored, But this restoration includes their acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. Although there are many Messianic Jews who have accepted Jesus, there are many more who have not. The land still suffers from the dragons of war. It is still not a land of peace. So, we need to look further. What we see in the restoration of Israel is type of a fuller restoration that awaits, even as the restoration from Babylonian captivity also serves. These restorations in part tell us of a day that is coming which is coming. This is a day we all await eagerly, the Advent of Jesus Christ. This is what we remember during this season. Jesus shall return.

Isaiah in many places, such as Isaiah 2:1-5 does more than promise he restoration of the Jews at the end of the age. The way shall be opened for the nations (Gentiles) to come to the LORD’s holy mountain. The descendants of the ten lost tribes shall be restored, We see this here in the mention of Carmel and Sharon rejoicing both of which places were in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Even the descendants of Edom shall come and be restored. The blossoming of the final Kingdom will be greater than we can possibly imagine. God’s promise to Abraham that through his seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 22:18). This seed was not Isaac. Isaac would be the ancestor of that seed, but the seed is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. Isaac might have been bound to the wood of the altar of sacrifice, but God provided Himself a lamb (not a ram) as the offering.

Jesus preached a Gospel of repentance and preparation for the Kingdom just as John the Baptist had done before and the Church afterwards. As Paul puts it,the Gospel was for the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). The wrath of God falls upon the unbelieving Jew as well as the Greek. But what is more important is that God’s grace in Jesus Christ is made possible in this same Jesus. We must also note that the “to the Jew first and also to the Greek did not originate with Paul. The Old Testament clearly teaches this. Jesus Himself did not preach exclusively to the Jews. He made a mission tour to the Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee to feed 4,000, He also went to Syro-Phoenicia to heal a Gentile woman’s daughter. He healed the Centurion’s servant. Finally, Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) occured in the Gentile land of Caesarea Philippi.

So we do need to proclaim the final restoration of the Jewish people made possible through Jesus Christ. The Jewish people must confess Jesus in order to have part in this final restoration. The Gentiles must also believe to receive the promise. As this covers everyone on earth, let us proclaim the Gospel to all that they may partake in everlasting joy rather than eternal judgment. Let us also prepare for that day during the season of Advent. What joy we should have during this season that our sins have been forgiven. Let us appropriate the fullness of the joy of the Kingdom even today. Let it serve as a type and advertisement of this kingdom. In a season in which remember the birth of Jesus Christ with joy, let us also rejoice in that He is coming back to receive us unto Himself.

There are a lot of advertisements going out this Christmas season beckoning us to buy that perfect gift. We want to set the perfect ambiance for the season. The trouble is that Christmas in its secular observance is likely to be like a desert. Gifts and food cost too much, and people are scaling back, Without Jesus, the observance of secular Christmas brings misery rather than joy to many. Whatever joy of the season there might be is hollow and transitory. Pretty soon it is over, and the cold, dark chill of winter comes. But, for the Christian, even if there is worldly darkness and difficult times, we have been given a joy that no one can take away. Let us keep this in mind