Isaia 35:6 Commento

As after a prediction of God's judgments upon the world (ch. 24) follows a promise of great mercy to be had in store for his church (Isa 25:1-12), so here after a black and dreadful scene of confusion in the foregoing chapter we have, in this, a bright and pleasant one, which, though it foretel the flourishing estate of Hezekiah's kingdom in the latter part of his reign, yet surely looks as far beyond that as the prophecy in the foregoing chapter does beyond the destruction of the Edomites; both were typical, and it concerns us most to look at those things which they were typical of, the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of heaven. When the world, which lies in wickedness, shall be laid in ruins, and the Jewish church, which persisted in infidelity, shall become a desolation, then the gospel church shall be set up and made to flourish. I. The Gentiles shall be brought into it (Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2, Isa 35:7). II. The well-wishers to it, who were weak and timorous, shall be encouraged (Isa 35:3, Isa 35:4). III. Miracles shall be wrought both on the souls and on the bodies of men (Isa 35:5, Isa 35:6). IV. The gospel church shall be conducted in the way of holiness (Isa 35:8, Isa 35:9). V. It shall be brought at last to endless joys (Isa 35:10). Thus do we find more of Christ and heaven in this chapter than one would have expected in the Old Testament.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 35 This chapter is a prediction of the glory and flourishing estate of the Gospel church, and of the blessings received by it from Christ. Its flourishing state is expressed by the fruitfulness of the desert, being made like to Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon; and by the inhabitants of it seeing the glory and excellency of Christ, Isa 35:1 the ministers of the word are directed and exhorted to strengthen the weak, and comfort the feeble minded, by assuring them of the coming of Christ to save them, Isa 35:3 when miracles, both in nature and grace, should be wrought; and great alterations should be made in the wilderness, by the power of God, Isa 35:5 when a way should be cast up, described; and the persons that should walk in it are pointed at; and the end it should bring them to, everlasting joy and happiness, Isa 35:8.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart..... As the lame man did healed by Peter, Act 3:1 there were many instances of such persons cured by Christ when here on earth, Mat 15:30 and in a spiritual sense this was verified in many who were impotent to that which is good; had neither will nor power to go to Christ for life and salvation, nor to walk by faith in him, nor to walk in his ways; who yet, by the mighty power of the Spirit and grace of God, became able and willing to go to him, and venture their souls on him; walked on in him as they had received him; and not only walked in his ways, but ran in the ways of his commandments, and leaped for joy for what they saw and heard of him, and received from him; and innumerable will be the instances of such mighty grace at the spiritual coming and reign of Christ: and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; this had its accomplishment, in a literal sense, at the first coming of Christ, Mat 9:32, Mat 12:22 and, in a spiritual sense, in many who before had nothing to say to God in prayer, nor in praise; nothing to say of Christ, or for him; or of the blessed Spirit, and his divine operations; but now, by divine grace, are made to speak unto God, both in a petitionary way, and in a way of thankfulness; and of Christ, and of the blessed Spirit; and of the great things each have done for them; and even to sing for joy, because of the wondrous blessings of grace they were made partakers of; and many more such there will be in the latter day, when the Spirit is poured down from on high. Kimchi interprets all this of the Israelites, who were in captivity as blind, deaf, lame, and dumb. So the Targum of this and the preceding verse Isa 35:5, "then shall the eyes of the house of Israel be opened, who were as blind men as to the law; and the ears of them that are as deaf men, to attend to the words of the prophets shall hear; then when they shall see the captives of Israel gathered to go up to their own land as the swift harts, and not tarry,'' &c.; but it may be better applied to their present state, and to their case when they shall be turned to the Lord in the latter day: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert; not literally, but mystically; and may be understood both of the doctrines of the Gospel breaking out in the ministry of them, in such places as were like unto the wilderness and desert, quite barren, and destitute of the knowledge, grace, and fear of God; see Joe 3:18 and of the abundance of grace, and the efficacy of it, making the word effectual to the conversion and fruitfulness of multitudes of souls, bringing along with it a vast variety of spiritual blessings; see Joh 7:37 to both which, the one as the means, and the other as the cause, all the above wonderful things are owing.

And that it was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases and raise the dead, hear what was said. There are these words: "At His coming the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be clear speaking: the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise, and walk about." And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.

Let me dispel at once the … assertion that the prophets make all their announcements in figures of speech. Now, if this were the case, the figures themselves could not possibly have been distinguished, inasmuch as the verities would not have been declared, out of which the figurative language is stretched. And, indeed, if all are figures, where will be that of which they are the figures? How can you hold up a mirror for your face, if the face nowhere exists? But, in truth, all are not figures, but there are also literal statements; nor are all shadows, but there are bodies too. We have prophecies about the Lord himself even, which are clearer than the day. For it was not figuratively that the Virgin conceived in her womb.… Not even of his mighty works have [the prophets] used parabolic language. Or else, were not the eyes of the blind opened? Did not the tongue of the mute recover speech? Did not the relaxed hands and palsied knees become strong, and the lame leap like a deer? No doubt we are accustomed also to give a spiritual significance to these statements of prophecy, according to the analogy of the physical diseases that were healed by the Lord. But still they were all fulfilled literally, thus showing that the prophets foretold both senses, except that very many of their words can be taken only in a pure and simple signification and free from all allegorical obscurity.

That [Jesus] healed the lame and the blind, and that therefore we hold him to be the Christ and the Son of God, is manifest to us from what is contained in the prophecies: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.”

Isaiah bears witness to him when he sets before us the works of healing that were to be done by him.

Now what can they [i.e., those who deny the incarnation] say to this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy not only indicated that God is to sojourn here but also announces the signs and the time of his coming. For they connect the blind recovering their sight, and the lame walking, and the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the one who stammers being made plain, with the divine coming which is to take place. Let them say, then, when such signs have come to pass in Israel, or where in Judah anything of the sort has occurred. Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard nor lame walked. Elijah raised a dead man; so did Elisha;64 but none blind from birth regained his sight. For in good truth, to raise a dead man is a great thing, but it is not like the wonder wrought by the Savior. Only, if Scripture has not passed over the case of the leper and of the dead son of the widow, certainly had it come to pass that a lame man also had walked and a blind man recovered his sight, the narrative would not have omitted to mention this also. Since, then, nothing is said in the [Old Testament] Scriptures, it is evident that these things had never taken place before. When, then, have they taken place, save when the Word of God himself came in the body? Or when did he come, if not when lame men walked, and those who stammer were made to speak plainly, and deaf men heard, and men blind from birth regained their sight?

But that these five thousand men are signs of divine power, the Lord himself predicted through the prophet, saying, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me will be signs in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts on Mount Zion.” The same prophet later revealed the nature of these future signs when he said, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear, and the lame will leap like deer.” We can recognize the fulfillment of this prophecy in the lame man who had been unable to walk since birth.If we look closely, we can also recognize the sacraments prefigured mystically in him, for the lame man received healing while looking toward Peter and John when he was at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. We too were lame prior to coming to the knowledge of Christ, in the sense that we were limping along the way of righteousness. Our halting strides were not those of the body, however, but those of the interior life. Whoever has gone astray from the way of righteousness or from the way of truth is altogether lame, even if his feet and legs are healthy, since he limps with his mind and soul. For the journey of faith and truth is traveled not with bodily steps but with strides of the interior life.

Second, as to the gathering of goods, four things. First, as to the abundance of the waters: for waters are broken out, metaphorically, in the desert, for consolations; or because it will rain much, so that there will be great fertility: he has turned a wilderness into pools of waters (Ps 106:34[107:35]).

Jeremiah is commanded to go to the Rechabites, who, on the approach of the Chaldean army, took refuge in Jerusalem; and to try their obedience to the command of Jonadab, (or Jehonadab, Kg2 10:15, Kg2 10:16), their great progenitor, who lived in the reign of Jehu, king of Israel, upwards of two hundred and fifty years before this time, offers them wine to drink, which they refuse, Jer 35:1-11. Hence occasion is taken to upbraid the Jews with their disobedience to God, their heavenly Father, Jer 35:12-17; and a blessing is pronounced on the Rechabites, Jer 35:18, Jer 35:19.

CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY IN THE THIRTY-FOURTH CHAPTER. (Isa 35:1-10) solitary place--literally, "a dry place," without springs of water. A moral wilderness is meant. for them--namely, on account of the punishment inflicted according to the preceding prophecy on the enemy; probably the blessings set forth in this chapter are included in the causes for joy (Isa 55:12). rose--rather, "the meadow-saffron," an autumnal flower with bulbous roots; so Syriac translation.

leap--literally, "fulfilled" (Act 3:8; Act 14:10). sing--joyful thanksgiving. in . . . wilderness . . . waters-- (Isa 41:18).