Here is Your God

 

Isaiah 35:1-10

Introduction

Last Sunday we had a true advent message in which Edgar reminded us that advent is a time of waiting. He pointed to Habakkuk 2:3, "For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay." That verse says, “For there is still a vision for the appointed time.” What is that vision? This morning we will look at Isaiah 35:1-10 which speaks about the vision and encourages us that what we are waiting for is worth waiting for.

            Have you ever been in a wilderness? Of course wilderness can mean many things. It can be a place so remote that hardly anyone goes there. It can be a place so harsh that nothing can live there. The imagery of wilderness speaks about emptiness, loss and lack. There are many kinds of wilderness places in our world.

            The Sahara desert is getting larger. It is expanding south into a region called the Sahel. The term for this is desertification, which does not mean that your dessert is gone, but that the desert is increasing. One website defines it as “a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife.”

The problem with desertification is that when desert areas increase, so do areas of poverty for the populations that live there. In 2007 Reuters reported that “About 1.2 billion people are at risk from desertification as deserts expand and degraded dry lands cover close to a third of the world's land surface area, the United Nations estimates.” This is a type of wilderness both in the devastation of the land and the devastation to human populations.

            But you don’t have to live in a desert to lack life’s basic necessities. 1 Timothy 6:8 says, "…but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these." But many people in the world don’t even have enough food or clothing. Among the poorest countries in the world are Chad, Haiti, Congo and Liberia where more than 75% of the people live on less than $2 a day. The degree of poverty in Canada may not be the same as that, but it’s devastating effects are.

            Yet abject poverty is not the only type of loss and lack. The Canadian Mental Health Association says that 20% of Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. At any given time 5-10% of Canadians are dealing with some form of depression or mental illness. And even that is not the only experience of loss. All of us will experience the debilitating effects of aging. We will experience loss of hearing, eyesight, motor function and possibly mental function.

            One of the greatest areas of wilderness in our world is the wilderness of living without God. At some time in our life most of us have questions about where God is. Some people go through their whole life not even aware that God loves them and they die without God and without hope.

It is in the context of such a broad understanding of wilderness that we are in a season of waiting.

I.                God has Promised Renewal

It is in that context that we read Isaiah 35 where God speaks directly to the problem of wilderness and promises the complete reversal of wilderness.

A.               Reclamation of Wilderness

The reversal spoken of here is reversal of desert areas and I think we should allow this to stand as a promise that physical desert areas will become verdant once again. There are three words for this area, including wilderness, dry land and desert. But the promise is that these arid areas will bloom once again. Flowers bloom in deserts only when there is water, which is a picture of hope in a dry land. When it rains, everything changes and that is the promise that comes to this wilderness area.

The text goes on to speak of the change that occurs when the lush forests of Lebanon take over the desert and when the beauty of Carmel and Sharon are given to that which was formerly desert. These are images which speak of the reversal of wilderness and dryness and the formation of beautiful places instead.

            Such images of physical renewal continue in verses 6 and 7. Streams in the desert are images of water in a place where there is usually not water. In addition we read that the “burning sand shall become a pool.” Jackals are mostly dry land animals but when this renewal comes, their desert landscape will become a place where there is lots of water. It also says that grasses which can survive on dry land will be replaced by the reeds and rushes which exist only in places where there is plenty of water. All of these images speak loudly proclaiming that there will be a complete change from wilderness and desert to lush growing landscape. Young says, “The waste world will become like an earthly paradise, for a whole reversal of conditions will set in.”

            Our physical world is broken. As a result of the brokenness of our physical world it is suffering. Romans 8:19 says, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now…” This tells us that the physical world is broken because of our sin and we continue to cause the brokenness of the physical world by our abuse of it through pollution and exploitation. The promise of Isaiah 35 is that this condition of increasing wilderness will be completely reversed. God will come and make all things new. That is good news for all those who suffer from typhoons, blizzards, wild fires and desertification.

B.               Return of God

But the reversal of wilderness is not only of the physical desert areas. It is also announced as a reversal of the absence of God. God, of course, is not absent. But we do not see Him. Our sins have separated us from Him. Romans 1 talks about our refusal to acknowledge the evidence of His presence that is all around us. We cannot see Him because we are too full of rebellion and sin to see Him in His holiness.

Yet the promise of this passage is that all of this will be reversed. Verse 2 promises, “They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.”

So often we ask ourselves what the Psalmist declared in Psalm 42:2, 3, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, ‘Where is your God?’” The promise of God’s presence is good news for those who ask this question.

C.               Recovery of Health

We also read about a complete reversal of all our health issues. The most common prayer request in almost every church is the request for healing. In verses 5, 6 we read that the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap and the speechless will sing. These are just representative of the good news that all health problems will be reversed.

This is good news for anyone who is suffering with any kind of health related pain or loss.

D.              Return to God

We have gone on canoe trips in which the first part of the journey is a divided highway, the next part a two lane highway, the third part a gravel road and the last part little more than a bush trail. The deeper one goes into wilderness, the more difficult the road becomes. Grogan says, “In ancient times men did not build roads across stretches of desert. Such an enterprise would have seemed economically stupid as well as involving a criminal waste of life.”

The last three verses in the text promise that in an area that was formerly a wilderness area there will be a road.

The implication is not only that the area will have become fertile, but that the road has a very important destination. It is a road that goes to the presence of God. It goes to Zion, which is imagery that comes from the Old Testament. Remember the hymn “We’re marching to Zion?” The imagery of marching to Zion comes from such texts as Psalm 50:2, "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth." Zion is the place where God is. A road that leads to Zion is a road that goes to where God is. The description of the road is also appealing. It is road for those who are righteous and not for those who are unfit to meet God. It is a safe road because there won’t be “any ravenous beast” there. Written at a time when Israel was being sent away from Zion because of her sin, this is a promise of renewal, of return to God, of restoration of God’s reign, of the return of people who belong to God.

That is good news for all who are lost and for all who seek God.

 

E.               Restoration of Joy

One of the most powerful images in this scene of renewal is the presence of joy. Disappointment often tempers our joy. We would like to be really happy, but experience has taught us that disappointment will come soon enough and spoil our joy. So we don’t allow our joy to become too great because we don’t want to experience the disappointment that will surely follow.

There is no such tempering of joy in this passage. Joy permeates the whole passage and singing is abundant. The words glad, rejoice, joy, singing, everlasting joy and gladness appear without reserve in verses 1, 2, 6 & 10.

Jeremiah 20:18 expresses what is often the reality of our life when it says, "Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?" In place of such sadness, this passage promises great and unhindered joy. It is good news to those who are filled with depression and sorrow.

What a wonderful expression of reversal. It gives us everything we have hoped for. Did you hear about the Westjet Christmas miracle? The unbelievable delight in the eyes of some of the people who received gifts unexpectedly was wonderful. What would we ask for if we knew we could ask for anything? How wonderful would it be to receive what we really need! That is what this passage promises. A reversal of all we need most. The fulfillment of that which we have given up hoping for. Reclamation of wilderness. Return of God. Recovery of health. Return to God and restoration of complete joy. 

II.             How is this Promise Fulfilled?

These are powerful promises, but how are they fulfilled and when?

A.               Where God Is

One of the messages which we see in this text is that these promises are fulfilled where God is. Verse 4 comes right to the point when it says, “Here is your God.” Young writes, “When God comes and saves his people then they will experience a great change.”

Who is God? God is creator, life giver, redeemer, Saviour, healer. God is love and has all power to accomplish His purposes. God is holy and just and does what is right. When we recognize and acknowledge who God is, we have the assurance that where God is, such reversal is possible. He has accomplished amazing reversals in history past. He delivered Noah through the flood. He saved an entire slave nation from Egypt. He delivered His people through the Red Sea. He made the sun stand still. God has done powerful deeds of reversal and so we are confident that the promises of renewal spoken of in this passage will happen where God is.

            Yet we wonder how will it come? God is able, but how will the renewal happen in history?

B.               When Jesus Came

Some of these promises of renewal are seen to be fulfilled when Jesus came the first time. The woman at the well experienced hope so unusual that she left her water jar behind and went to town and invited the towns people to meet Messiah. She experienced a renewal that caused her to forget about the necessity of life, water, and find real life. The woman at Simon’s house was so filled with joy because her sins were forgiven that she spent a fortune saying thank-you to Jesus. These are illustrations of the joy that came to those who experienced reversal of loss through Jesus.

Verses 5, 6 speak about renewal for those who are blind, deaf, lame and cannot speak. Jesus brought a reversal of these conditions as we read in Mark 8:25 of the man whose sight was restored; in Mark 7:35 of the man whose ears were opened; in Acts 3:8 of the lame man who was “leaping and praising God” and in Luke 1:64 of the one whose tongue was freed and who began to speak, praising God.

When we studied Mark a while ago, we saw not only that those who were physically deaf or blind were able to see and hear again. We also saw how the disciples, who were spiritually deaf and blind, began to have their ears and eyes opened.

Jesus was God present with us and so it is not surprising that when God came near in the person of Jesus these things began to happen. The renewal promised began to be fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

C.               When Jesus Comes

And yet we still have wilderness in our world today. Jesus came to fulfill this promise of renewal, but the time for complete renewal has not yet come. Has the promise failed? Not at all. Its fulfillment comes in two stages. It is not an unusual thing in Scripture that a prophecy made in the Old Testament seems to be one promise, but its fulfillment happens in two events. The renewal which is promised happened not only when Jesus came the first time, but will be completely fulfilled when He comes the second time. God sees one promise, but fulfills the promise in two stages. This should encourage us because we have already seen the initial fulfillment. We have seen that God has brought renewal and so we can be encouraged that He will also bring the complete renewal spoken of in this passage.

The one thing that puzzles us in this passage is verse 4. There we are encouraged that the promised renewal comes when God comes, as we read, “Here is your God.” But then we read in verse 4, “He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” Some would like to remove the mention of vengeance because it seems to be so out of character for God. Yet how will the renewal come without the removal of all that works against it? How will peace come without the removal of those who would make war? How will the renewal of safety come without the removal of those who would do violence? How can we remove locks from our houses and security systems from our church without the removal of those who would break in and steal?

Exodus 34:6 proclaims a similar message. There we read about the love of God, but also about the justice of God when we read, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty…”

            Evil must be put out of the way. It is what spoils our world. The vengeance of God assures us that He will put evil out of the way to make room for the renewal which He will also bring.

Conclusion

Wilderness abounds in our world. The farmer in sub-Saharan Africa watching the mountain of sand encroach year by year on his small patch of farmland knows about wilderness. The drug addict who in spite of valiant efforts can’t seem to shake the habit knows about wilderness. The person suffering with chronic pain that sometimes is so painful that they cannot sleep, eat or do anything else but think of pain knows what wilderness means. The person who is all alone, having been abandoned by spouse and children for no apparent reason knows what wilderness is. The person who is overwhelmed by sin and crying out wondering where God is also understand wilderness. What is the wilderness in your life?

The message of this passage is a word of hope, to encourage the heart which experiences emptiness, loss and lack. It is a message to strengthen those for whom hope has almost been abandoned. We read this word in verses 3, 4, "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.’ He will come … and save you.”

Last week Edgar told us that advent is a time of waiting. Even though we don’t want to wait and we move quickly to the celebration of Christmas without waiting, the truth is that even Christmas manifests evidence of wilderness. In it we celebrate the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise. But lack, loneliness and loss are also magnified at Christmas, so even though it is good to celebrate, we know that we are still in a time of waiting. For all those who wait for the removal of pain, recovery from illness, relief from loneliness, peace in relationships, replacement of what has been lost, this passage once again calls us to wait, but it does something more. It also assures us that it is worth waiting. The first coming of Jesus assures us that God is present and has already shown us what He will do in bringing about renewal. That gives us confidence about what God can do and what God will do. There is reason to wait and what we wait for is worth waiting for. The renewal that is coming will be so great that the images presented to us in Isaiah 35 will be fulfilled in ways that we cannot now imagine. We do not need to fear what is or what will be before the end because we know what will be at the end.

So as we celebrate advent and Christmas, let us do so with great joy because we know the hope to which we have been called and we have seen a glimpse of what will be.

Because of the hope of renewal, we can also work with enthusiasm. Shaking hands can’t do and shaking knees can’t stand. Fear prevents us from many activities. But when we know what will be, what God has in mind for us and our world. When we know that a complete renewal is being planned, we can work to proclaim the message of hope. We can working in accord with renewal. In God’s strength we can do His work as renewed people of God.

            May the message of renewal give courage, joy and peace to our hearts as we celebrate the first coming of Jesus and wait for His second coming.