A highway will be there, a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for him who walks that way,
And fools will not wander on it, (35:8).
Oh what a difference a day makes. From the King in His Beauty in chapter 33, to His Indignation in chapter 34; and now today. The NASB’s editorial heading summarizes this chapter as, “Zion’s Happy Future.”
And while yesterday, we acknowledged the need to not “bury our heads in the sand and just think happy thoughts” so as to miss the reality that awaits a lost and dying world, we must also be reminded of what awaits us if we have trusted Him for our eternal future.
And in His Word spoken through His prophet, a glorious picture is painted of a future brimming with hope fulfilled in joy, courage, strength, health, abundance, freedom, righteousness, safety, and security forever, for all who have trusted His salvation and have been granted access to His Highway of Holiness.
Consider His Highway of Holiness
A highway will be there, a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of Holiness… (35:8).
Two words are used to name this way that is traveled upon: highway and roadway.
From Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance:
Highway (road): 4547. מַסְלוּל maslûl: A masculine noun indicating a highway. It describes a major roadway. In context it is used figuratively of the Highway of Holiness that God’s people will travel (Isa. 35:8).
Roadway (way; highway): 1870. דֶּרֶךְ Derek: A masculine noun meaning path, journey, way. This common word is derived from the Hebrew verb dāraḵ (1869), meaning to walk or to tread, from which the basic idea of this word comes: the path that is traveled. The word may refer to a physical path or road… or to a journey along a road… However, this word is most often used metaphorically to refer to the pathways of one’s life, suggesting the pattern of life (Prov. 3:6); the obedient life (Deut. 8:6); the righteous life (2 Sam. 22:22; Jer. 5:4); the wicked life (1 Kgs. 22:52[53])…”
His Highway will be set apart as Holy, only to be traveled by those who are clean and wise.
… The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for him who walks that way,
And fools will not wander on it, (35:8).
Holiness; Holy: 6944. קֹדֶשׁ qōḏeš: A masculine noun meaning a holy thing, holiness, and sacredness. The word indicates something consecrated and set aside for sacred use only…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
And if His Highway is completely set apart, as there will be none who are unclean and none who are fools found there, then who will be given access to His Highway to Holiness? For the verdict is in, there is no one who is clean, no one who is wise, not even one.
For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away, (Isaiah 64:6).
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even on, (Psalm 14:1-3).
Oh, but in His Love, His Mercy, and His Grace, He would make the Way. And once again, we see Jesus so beautifully portrayed.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (Ephesians 2:4-5).
He made the Way through Jesus to any and all who would come to Him by faith.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6).
When Jesus declared He was the Only Way to the Father, the Greek word used would have also communicated this idea of a Highway, a thoroughfare without impediment.
Way: “1.99 ὁδόςa, οῦ f: a general term for a thoroughfare, either within a population center or between two such centers—‘road, highway, street, way,’” Louw- Nida Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament.
Isaiah 35:2-10 describes the unencumbered movement of all those who are granted access to walk upon His Highway of Holiness, enabled to walk in the Joy of Hope Fulfilled; in His Glory and Majesty Revealed; in Courage and Strength through His Recompense; in His Healing and Filling; in His Freedom and His Righteousness; in the Safety of His Redemption; and in the Security and Everlasting Joy of His Ransom.
And only in Jesus, do we have access to His Highway of Holiness as described in Isaiah 35:2-10. Only in Jesus are we granted this unimaginable privilege; only in Jesus, for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Only through faith in Jesus will we find ourselves upon His Highway of Holiness that we would walk in…
- …the Joy of Hope Fulfilled (35:2a)
- Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, (Romans 15:13).
- …His Glory and Majesty Revealed (35:2b)
- in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… (Hebrews 1:2-3).
- …Courage and Strength through His Recompense (35:3-4)
- For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds,” (Matthew 16:27).
- …His Healing and Filling (35:5-6)
- Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations, (Revelation 22:1-2).
- …His Freedom and His Righteousness (35:8)
- For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself, (Galatians 5:13-14).
- …the Safety of His Redemption (35:9)
- For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, (Colossians 1:13-14).
- …the Security and Everlasting Joy of His Ransom (35:10)
- “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,” (Mark 10:45).
How do we respond to His Highway of Holiness?
I pray the book of Isaiah is strengthening your faith in Jesus Christ, as it is mine. For in every chapter we see Him rise from off the page. Oh, can you even get over the amazing gift we have been granted through His Holy Scriptures, empowered by His Holy Spirit, to see His Highway of Holiness so magnificently depicted in Jesus Christ the Son? And He calls us to be encouraged, and to encourage others, with His Truth.
Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.
4 Say to those with anxious heart,
“Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
The recompense of God will come,
But He will save you.” (35:3-4).
Let us be encouraged to encourage others in His Truth: Salvation is found in no other Name.
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12).
For He is coming again, when every eye will see Him in His Glory and Majesty.
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen, (Revelation 1:7).
And all will mourn at the sight of Holy God Who was pierced for our sins on the cross. But to those of us who have trusted His holy and sacrificial offering for salvation, to those of us who eagerly await His coming, He will come to save us, not from sin, but from out of this fallen world to be brought to His Highway of Holiness.
so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him, (Hebrews 9:28).
As we eagerly await His coming, let us answer His call to walk upon His Highway of Holiness today, even as it goes against the accepted norm. Are we living in such a way that is in keeping with His Highway of Holiness? Would those who are watching our lives detect that our pathway is set apart from the world?
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation, (1 Peter 2:11-12).
We know we will never walk in perfection this side of heaven, but let us commit to walk in obedience; for in our obedience He will be faithful to purify us for Himself and for good deeds that we would glorify Him as others watch and see us daily following Him upon His Highway of Holiness.
looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds, (Titus 2:13-14).
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven,“ (Matthew 5:16).