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Isaiah
35:1-10, Zion
Restored
Revelation 22:12-17, 21, Jesus’ return
Luke 1:67-80, Zechariah’s prophecy
The wilderness (this
present
creation) will bloom and be restored to paradise. It will have the
famed beauty
of Lebanon,
Carmel
and Sharon
in the Promised Land. The prisoners in this present creation are
encouraged to
renew their strength and take courage, because our God will come with
vengeance
against their masters, and save the prisoners.
The sight of the blind
and the
hearing of the deaf will be restored; the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the
voice of the mute will sing for joy. The wilderness will become a lush
garden,
with streams, swamps, and pools of water.
There will be a highway
there
called the Holy Way.
No unclean or
foolish people will pass through it, nor any lion or ravenous beast.
Only the
redeemed, the people ransomed by the Lord shall walk there, returning
to Zion
(the Holy City of God) with singing and everlasting joy; sorrow and
sighing
will be no more.
Jesus says, “Behold
(watch and
see), I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay everyone for
what he
has done. I am the Alpha and Omega (first and last letters of the Greek
alphabet), the first and last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation
22:12-13;
the title of God: Isaiah 44:6).
Those who wash their robes [are spiritually
cleansed by Jesus’ blood, through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus] have
the
right to the tree of (eternal) life (lost through the fall of man in
the Garden
of Eden; Genesis 3:22-24), and the right to enter the heavenly gates to
the
eternal city of God.
Locked out of the City of God
are “dogs” (the impure and carnal), sorcerers, fornicators, murderers,
idolaters, and everyone who practices falsehood.
Jesus has sent his
“angel” (his
Spirit; compare Acts 12:15) to John, the revelator, with the testimony
(recorded in Revelation) for the churches. Jesus is the root and
offspring of
David (the great king of Israel; the son of Jesse; I Samuel 16:11-13;
Isaiah
11:1, 10; Matthew 1:1; thus God’s “anointed” eternal king, Savior, and
Messiah,
the Christ), the “bright morning star” (indicating the dawning of the
new era
of God’s kingdom; Matthew 2:2).
“The Spirit (of God; the
Holy
Spirit; the Spirit of Christ; Romans 8:9) and the Bride (the Church)
say
‘Come,’ [an invitation to those who are spiritually thirsty to come to
Jesus,
the source of living water; John 4:14; John 7:37-39; Revelation 22:17b]
and let
him who hears say, ‘Come’” [i.e., “Maranatha;” Aramean for “Come, Lord
Jesus;”
an invitation to the Holy Spirit to come into one’s heart and life and
give
spiritual “rebirth” (John 3:3, 5-8), and a prayer for the Second Coming
of
Jesus Christ to return and establish his eternal kingdom) Revelation
22:17a].
Zechariah, a priest, was
told by an
angel that his wife, Elizabeth, a relative of Mary, the mother of
Jesus, was
pregnant with a son who would be a prophet like Elijah, who would call
Israel
to repentance to prepare for the coming Lord (Luke 1:17). Zechariah and
his
wife had never had children and were now considered too old. The
angel’s
prophecy was fulfilled. The voice of Zechariah, who had been made
temporarily
mute, was restored when he confirmed the child’s name would be John, as
the
angel had instructed him.
When his voice was restored, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit
and
prophesied, blessing the Lord God of Israel.
Zechariah foresaw that the Lord had visited and redeemed his people and
had
raised up for his people, in the dynasty of David, in fulfillment of
God’s word
declared by his prophets long before, a mighty salvation, from their
(spiritual) enemies. The Savior would provide the mercy of God promised
to the
ancestors of Israel,
and would fulfill the covenant which God vowed to Abraham to give to
his
descendants, so that they could serve God without fear, in
righteousness and
holiness, for all their lives.
Zechariah declared that his son, John, would be called the prophet of
the
Sovereign Lord (fulfilled; Matthew 17:10-12; Mark 9:11-13), and would
go before
the Lord to prepare his way. John would identify and announce the
Savior and
the salvation of God’s people through the forgiveness of their sins.
Salvation
(from eternal condemnation for our sins), enlightenment in our
spiritual
darkness, and deliverance from the shadow of (physical and spiritual,
eternal)
death, and guidance (through his Word and Holy Spirit) in the right way
to
live, are provided us through God’s tender mercy. “And the child (John,
the
baptizer) grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the
wilderness till
the day of his manifestation to Israel”
(Luke 1:80).
This Creation which God created a paradise (Genesis 1:31), the Garden
of Eden,
where humans had personal fellowship with God, has become a spiritual
wilderness, separated from God, through mankind’s sin (disobedience of
God’s Word). Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, declared that the God
is going to
come with vengeance to judge everyone who has ever lived on Earth; he
will
punish the wicked and free the righteous from oppression and eternal
death from
sin. Each of us will be accountable to God for what we have done in
this
earthly life. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive
eternal life
in the kingdom of God, but those who have rejected and refused to obey
Jesus
will receive eternal destruction and death in Hell (Matthew 25:31-46)
God’s Word promises that the Lord will come to restore (in both the
physical
and spiritual sense) sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, voice to
the mute
and “leaping” to the lame. The wilderness will be restored to the
paradise of
the original Creation. This promise is being fulfilled, beginning with
Christ’s
first advent (“coming;” Luke 7:22).
It
continues as believers are “born-again” by the gift of the Holy Spirit,
which
only Christ gives (John 1:32-34), only to his disciples who trust and
obey
Jesus (John 14:15-17).
Restoration will be completed, at Christ’s return on the
Day of Judgment, when the wicked will be destroyed, and
“born-again”(John 3:3,
5-8) Christian disciples in exile in the wilderness of this present
world will
be restored to God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus’ miracles of physical
healing and
feeding were to demonstrate that only he can provide spiritual healing
and
feeding as well.
The Lord promises a highway to his eternal kingdom. Jesus Christ is
that
highway; Jesus is the only way to forgiveness, salvation, and
restoration to
eternal fellowship with God in the paradise of his heavenly kingdom
(John 14:6;
see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Only the redeemed who
have
been spiritually ransomed from condemnation and cleansed through faith
(obedient trust) in Jesus Christ will be allowed to receive eternal
life
(through Jesus, the Tree of Life), and entrance into his eternal City
in
Heaven.
Jesus has promised to return to judge the world (Revelation 22:12;
Matthew
25:31-46). Jesus is the Alpha and Omega; he is the fulfillment,
embodiment, and
example of God’s word in human flesh, and he existed and participated
in the
creation of this world John 1:1-3; 14), he will return on the Day of
Judgment
at the end of this present world, and he will reign eternally.
Jesus and his Church
invite all to
come to him and receive forgiveness, salvation from eternal death in
Hell, and
eternal life in the paradise of God’s kingdom in Heaven. Those who hear
Jesus’
invitation and invite Jesus to come into their lives and be their
eternal king
(Revelation 3:20; John 1:12-13), will be “born-again” by his indwelling
Holy
Spirit as they live in obedient trust in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the
seal and
guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians
1:22;
Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
John, the baptizer, was the fulfillment of God Word to Zechariah of a
son who
would be a prophet like Elijah, who would call people to repentance and
prepare
the way for the Messiah’s coming (Luke 1:8-17), and the fulfillment of
Isaiah’s
prophecy of the Holy highway through the wilderness (Luke 3:4-6).
Zechariah is an example of one who was spiritually mute (and deaf; Luke
1:62a)
because of unbelief, whose spiritual voice was restored when he trusted
and
obeyed God’s Word (Luke 1:62-64). “Zechariah was filled with the Holy
Spirit
and prophesied” (Luke 1:67), saying that God had fulfilled his promise
of a
Savior (Jesus Christ. Mary a relative of Elizabeth, the mother of John,
the
Baptizer, was already pregnant with Jesus), and that John would
identify and
announce the Christ. This prophecy was fulfilled (Luke 1:31-33).
Zechariah also
prophesied that the
Christ would enlighten the spiritually blind (Luke 1:79a), deliver us
from the
shadow (fear) of physical and spiritual death (Luke 1:79b; Hebrews
2:14-15),
and guide us, by God’s Word and indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 1:79c) to
live in
the way of peace (with God; i.e. the right way to live, according to
God’s Word
and judgment). The gift of guidance by the Holy Spirit began to be
fulfilled on
the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13).
John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, in fulfillment of
the
Angel of God, Gabriel’s, prophecy to Zechariah (Luke 1:15c), and he
grew
(spiritually as well as physically) and became strong in spirit (in the
strength of the Holy Spirit; Zechariah 4:6), in the wilderness until
the Lord
led him to be manifested to Israel.
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and
obeying
Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first
truly
believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and
teaching
them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know
with
certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians
1:13-14)?
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