Scripture Text (NRSV)
35:4 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."
35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the
deaf unstopped;
35:6 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;
35:7a the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground
springs of water.
Comments:
Verse 4 gives me pause, as it does not fully accord with my
understanding of the way God entered the world as a small and
vulnerable child, preaching a message of love and forgiveness, and
dying humbly on a Cross to restore relationship with God.
Perhaps I don't understand what is meant by the word "vengeance".
Maybe this passage deals with end times. But since we live in the time
when Christ has come, I want to be able to read a passage that says
this:
35:4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God. He will come with purpose. He will come with love
and understanding. He will come in righteousness to lead the world
back to him. He will come as one who suffers and who understands
suffering. He will come to reveal what seems to be hidden. He will
come to heal. He will restore hope. He will come to reverse all that
is wrong with the world by establishing the Church in which he lives.
He will come and save you." 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 35:6 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;
35:7and the mirage which is so elusive in burning sand shall become a
real and living pool from which all men and women can drink, and the
thirsty ground springs of water which will sustain them.
These verses arise as a word of hope to the exiles in Babylon. Chapter
34 portrays God's vengeance on Edom, Israel's age-old enemy, which
makes the path from Babylon to Zion safe for the exiles' return. This
chapter concludes with a description of the highway home, the holy way
of God's people, blossoming with God's glory.
Don't know how much interest there is in this trivia, but the Edomites
were the descendents of Esau, Jacob's twin brother. How sad that these
two groups became such bitter foes! But I guess the stage was set when
they were born.......
It seems that a new creation is happening here. The effects of sin on
the created order is reversed (blind now see, deaf now hear, desert
now has water, and so forth). "If anyone is in Christ he is a new
creation". Often we give people hope by saying, well there is always
something to hope in, something you can do. I don't think that is what
this is saying. Rather, that when he comes, he will "start over
again". What could be better than that? Might one say the new creation
is better than the first? Krenz from Illinois
