Friday, March 29, AD 2024 2:26am

Messianic Prophecies: Isaiah 35

 

 

Continuing our Advent look at Messianic prophecies for this year, which we began in Advent 2011 and continued last year, the earlier posts of the series may be read here, here, here ,here, here, here, here, here , here ,  here, here, here, here and here we come to Isaiah 35:

 

 

[1] The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. [2] It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God. [3] Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. [4] Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you. [5] Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

[6] Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. [7] And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where dragons dwell before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush. [8] And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way: the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto you a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein. [9] No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, nor be found there: but they shall walk there that shall be delivered. [10] And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away

Saint Athanasius writes of this passage:

For the Scripture says: Be strong you hands that hang down, and feeble knees; comfort ye, you of faint mind; be strong, fear not. Behold, our God recompenses judgment; He shall come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain.  Now what can they say to this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy not only indicates that God is to sojourn here, but it 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 stammerers 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 Jewry anything of the sort has occurred. Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard nor lame walked. Elias raised a dead man; so did Eliseus; 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 Saviour. 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 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 stammerers were made to speak plain, and deaf men heard, and men blind from birth regained their sight? For this was the very thing the Jews said who then witnessed it, because they had not heard of these things having taken place at any other time: Since the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.

This completes our look at Messianic prophecies this Advent.  We will, God willing, continue on next Advent.  There are many more to come.  As Saint Augustine said, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New Testament.”

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Tuesday, December 24, AD 2013 1:03am

[…] New Lit Mov Quæritur: Bishop Jenky of Peoria Requests: Rogation Days? – Fr. Z’s Blog Messianic Prophecies: Isaiah 35 – Donald R. McClarey JD, TACatholic O Magnum Mysterium, Frank La Rocca – Adam Bartlett, The […]

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Tuesday, December 24, AD 2013 5:55am

[…] New Lit Mov Quæritur: Bishop Jenky of Peoria Requests: Rogation Days? – Fr. Z’s Blog Messianic Prophecies: Isaiah 35 – Donald R. McClarey JD, TACatholic O Magnum Mysterium, Frank La Rocca – Adam Bartlett, The […]

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