We Shall See God’s Glory in the Wilderness—Lectionary Reflection for Advent 3A (Isaiah 35)

Field of Flowers (Death Valley) - Steve Shames

Isaiah 35:1-10  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
    the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus ² it shall blossom abundantly,
    and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
    the majesty of our God.
³ Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
    “Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
    He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
    He will come and save you.”
⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
    and streams in the desert;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool,
    and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
    the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
⁸ A highway shall be there,
    and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
    but it shall be for God’s people;
    no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
⁹ No lion shall be there,
    nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
    but the redeemed shall walk there.
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain joy and gladness,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
    the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus ² it shall blossom abundantly,
    and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
    the majesty of our God.
³ Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
    “Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
    He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
    He will come and save you.”
⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
    and streams in the desert;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool,
    and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
    the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
⁸ A highway shall be there,
    and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
    but it shall be for God’s people;
    no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
⁹ No lion shall be there,
    nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
    but the redeemed shall walk there.
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain joy and gladness,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

****

Oh, what a sight it is, to see the desert in bloom. Yes, there is joy in the hearts of those who witness such a sight. It might cause us to reflect on the one who creates such beauty, and who might be coming in glory to bring into existence the realm of God. We have arrived at the third Sunday of Advent. On this day, the church lights a candle that represents the joy of the LORD. The first reading from Scripture comes from Isaiah 35, a reading that expresses the joy that accompanies God’s arrival on the scene.  It is a vision of those who are “ransomed of the LORD” who “shall return, and come to Zion with singing.” There is, as is common for Advent texts, an eschatological tone to this reading from Isaiah 35. This joy is rooted in the prophetic promise that Yahweh will deliver the people from captivity.

The question raised by this passage concerns the identity of these captives who are returning to Zion. At first glance, it might appear as if this is a word from Second Isaiah concerning people returning from exile in Babylon, but unless this section is out of place, these are the words of an eighth-century prophet (Isaiah 36 speaks of the reign of Hezekiah), though verse 10 does seem to reflect a later situation. If this is the time of Hezekiah, this might reflect the hope that Judah will experience God’s deliverance from invaders (Assyria). It is useful to remember that the beautiful words we read in 35 are connected to words of divine judgment in chapter 34, which speaks of the day of the LORD’s vengeance directed at Judah’s neighbor Edom. Leanne Van Dyke takes note of the contrast between the two parts of this vision, writing:  The desolation of chapter 34 contains no vestige of flourishing human habitation, as all is broken and rotting and dead; but fruitful human life is promised in chapter 35, as people are healed and thriving (35:3–6).  [Connections, WJK, Kindle].

            It’s not surprising that we have during this Advent season, especially on a Sunday that celebrates joy, a word about abundance while leaving aside the word of judgment. But the contrast between the two visions is worth pondering, with desolation on one side and a wilderness in bloom on the other. For our purposes, as we continue our Advent journey, drawing ever closer to the day all are anticipating (Christmas), we hear this invitation to lift our eyes so we can see the glory and majesty of God. For those of us who envision the wilderness as a dense and lush forest, in Scripture the Wilderness is desert. In this scene, the desert is in full bloom. If you’re like me, you’ve seen enough nature films to know what this looks like. As the rain falls in the desert, the landscape comes alive. It’s truly glorious. For people who have experienced a period of desolation, such a scene would bring joy. While I’ve never been to the Judean deserts, I have witnessed the scene in California’s Antelope Valley. It’s an area of high desert that during the dry parts of the year is dry and barren. However, at least years ago, when the spring rains came, the rain would turn that normally barren land into a scene of vibrant yellow as the California poppy, the state flower, blooms across the valley floor. But it’s not just the desert that blooms, the same is true of the mountains, and more specifically the mountains of Lebanon, which also come alive. I grew up in the shadow of Mount Shasta, a 14,000-plus foot volcano. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most beautiful mountain in the world, especially when it’s covered with snow. Like the desert in bloom the snowcapped peaks of the Cascades (or the Alps), along with Mount Lebanon, declare God’s glory.

There is another vision present in this passage, and it’s the one that the season of Advent picks up on, and that is the vision of one who will open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, even as the lame shall “leap like a deer,” while the speechless will sing for joy. In each case, this is a reversal of fortune. What was is no more. For the people of Judah, who had been living in exile, this is good news. It also describes Jesus' ministry as revealed in the Gospels.

While the hymn “Marching to Zion” isn’t an Advent hymn, it does seem to fit the context: The hymn begins: “Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known; join in a song of sweet accord, join in a song of sweet accord, and thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.”  Then we join in the chorus: “We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we’re marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God” (Isaac Watts; refrain by Robert Lowery). In the Watts/Lowery version, the road to Zion is that road that leads to the heavenly realm. It is a song of consummation rather than advent, and yet Advent is an eschatological season. While we remember the first advent, when Jesus was born, bringing into flesh the Word of God (John 1:1-14), our continued observance of the season is rooted in the belief that we are moving into God’s future when God’s vision of peace will be revealed, and we will be redeemed. Thus, we can all join in the march toward Zion. There we’ll “obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isn’t that the message that Advent brings to us, or at least that is the message that this reading from Isaiah suggests? So, besides singing “Marching to Zion,” perhaps this text invites us to sing “Joy to the World.”

                Let us sing for joy for we too are numbered among the redeemed who experience this vision of divine abundance. We too can take our place on the road with those marching to Zion on the highway God has prepared for us. When we get to the promised land, there will be a full reversal of fortunes. So, we can sing with Isaac Watts:

Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known;

Join in a song of sweet accord, join in a song of sweet accord

And thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.

We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion;

We’re marking upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.  

This song may envision that joy being experienced most fully in the next life, but surely, we can experience joy now, as we take this journey through the wilderness so that we might see signs of God’s glory even in the present. This can be true even when it seems as if all around us is desolation. This is an eschatological vision that offers hope, where the ransomed of the Lord will come to Zion singing, with everlasting joy in our hearts, as we experience the inbreaking of the realm of God.  When it comes to Jesus serving as the revelation/reflection of God’s glory, Walter Brueggemann writes:

      In appealing to the overwhelmingness of the glory of Yahweh, the New Testament makes daring moves to situate Jesus in Israel’s rhetoric concerning Yahweh’s glory. Both Paul (1 Cor 2: 8) and John (John 1: 14) refer to glory with reference to Jesus. But it is primarily in the trinitarian ascription of praise that glory continues to be spoken of in a way that comprehends Jesus in the claims made for Yahweh. This rhetoric is now fully embedded in the most familiar liturgical formulations of the church, as in the Gloria Patri and the final ascription of praise in conventional forms of the Our Father. These formulations have moved radically in christological and trinitarian directions, but they intend to voice the continuing claims of Israel’s witness to Yahweh’s unutterable, awe-evoking sovereignty. [Brueggemann, Walter. Theology of the Old Testament (Kindle, p. 287)].

As we ponder the message of Advent, may we experience this glory of God, that is reflected by Jesus of “Yahweh’s unutterable, awe-evoking sovereignty.”