EP 45: Isaiah 35 & the Highway of Holiness

Today, we are chatting all about the hope-filled words of Isaiah 35 and why we should be excited about them. Have you ever heard of the Highway of Holiness? Fun fact: it's only mentioned once in Scripture, AKA Isaiah 35. We are going to dive into all the goodness this chapter offers us and I pray that in doing so, you would walk away from it feeling hope-filled, eager, and excited about the day to come where only gladness and joy exist! Be blessed!

Welcome

Hey, Sister! How is it going? Welcome back to The Daughter of Delight Podcast! Have you ever found yourself in a wilderness season?I certainly have...many times.  Speaking from experience, it can be a really dark, lonely, and lowly place.Perhaps you are wandering through the wilderness now. If that's you, I pray today's episode would cover you with the comfort of Isaiah 35.  Before we dive in, there are three things I want to share with you! 

Announcements

Review of the Month Giveaway

First of all- don’t forget about the review of the month giveaway. Each month, I pick someone who has left an iTunes rating & review for the podcast to share some of my very favorite things with! This month, I am giving away an Amazon gift card and a Daughter of Delight dad hat. The February reviewer of the month will be announced on Wednesday, March 3. 

Big News

Next up, if you haven’t heard the BIG news I hinted at last week yet, I’m THRILLED to announce that Daughter of Delight is launching an online boutique NEXT Monday, February 22. I shared an IGTV video about the backstory to how all of this came to be and would love for you to check it out. But here’s what you need to know between now and opening day. 

What to Expect From the Boutique

So, again, the boutique will be online and it officially opens next Monday, February 22. You will be able to check everything out starting at 10 am CST. The link to the boutique will be shared on both, Instagram and Facebook. Goodness, I am SO excited! The boutique will offer 7 different collections as soon as it opens, but new designs will be available at the beginning of each month moving forward. Now, when I say “collection,” I’m referring to one design that comes in different apparel styles for you to choose from- like sweatshirts, tee shirts, long sleeve shirts, and so forth. Because Daughter of Delight is a global online women’s ministry, I thought it very important to ensure each design collection offers apparel items that cater to every season.LAUNCH GIVEAWAYS: Each day leading up to the launch, I will be introducing one of the 7 collections that are launching and I will be giving away one item from each collection to celebrate as well. This will take place over on Instagram, so be sure to check it out and enter for your chance to win some DOD goodies!Sister, it is my prayer that these designs and the designs to come will encourage you to take delight in our great God, each and every day. It’s also my prayer that the Lord would use his faith-forward apparel to give you opportunities to share His glory, love, 7 goodness with those around you. This is only the beginning, and I’m so excited for all that’s to come! Soli deo Gloria. 

Podcast Break

Alright, my last announcement for you today is regarding a little podcast break. For those of you who tune in regularly, you know I take a break between seasons. This break will take place after Wednesday, March 10’s episode. For those of you who don’t know, I like to wrap up each season with an Ask Me Anything episode. That being said, if there is anything particular you are wrestling with or would like to hear my thoughts on, I would love for you to email it to me at hello@daughterofdelight.com. I will be answering as many as I possibly can to celebrate the wrap-up of season 3 and the fact that the podcast turns ONE YEAR OLD in March. This is so hard for me to believe! I can’t even put into words how grateful I am to have the opportunity to serve you in this way. I am truly so excited for all that’s to come for Daughter of Delight this year and beyond! Okay, announcements are done! Let’s hone in to our topic of discussion for today. That is, Isaiah 35. Here is how we are going to walk through it. We will read through Isaiah 35, I will share why this passage should excite us all as God’s children, and then I will wrap our time up together by spending time on verse 8 and reflecting on the meaningful takeaways this verse alone is filled with. Ready to do this? Let’s get started!

About Isaiah 35

In Isaiah 35, God gives His hopeless people hope through the prophet Isaiah. I am deeply encouraged by this passage and hope you will be equally encouraged by it as well as we make our  way through it! To kick us off, I will be reading Isaiah 35 from the ESV translation, so grab your Bible if you can.While you do that, let me preface with some information to help set the scene: In Isaiah 34, we read about the judgment of God on a people who were alienated from God. In Isaiah 35, we read of the blessings of God on those who choose to follow Him. We find assurance of the coming Messiah. So, after many warnings and confrontations to God’s people, Isaiah offers a beautiful word of hope to the Israelites: there is a coming exodus that will exceed the first one! 

The Coming Exodus

This exodus would ransom, reconcile and reconnect God's people to Him. God would redeem them, and when He did so, gladness and joy would be their new reality...as we will read in verse 10, "sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:10). What good news this was for the Israelites. And what good news this is for us! Okay, now let’s read about the coming exodus God prophesies through Isaiah in Isaiah 35. Again, I will be reading from the ESV translation. There is some really powerful and comforting imagery here in Isaiah 35, so I want to encourage you to really soak this in as I read it. **READ ISAIAH 35 HERE**

Why Isaiah 35 Should Excite Us

Sister, I don’t know about you but this hope-filled word REALLY excites me. Let me tell you why:Without God, we are weak and helpless human beings. That being said, let us not waste time relying on ourselves but instead on the silver lining of God's great and generous mercy. When we surrender and lean in, His strength becomes our own and His light leads the way. Our wilderness seasons will absolutely reveal our insufficiency, but take heart: they will not have the final say because of God's chosen remnant -- Jesus Christ -- and what He accomplished and defeated on the cross, for us. Take a look at the end of verse 4: "He will come and save you." No matter our mess, God meets us where we are at! He will come into our muck and mire with vengeance to reconcile and restore us to Him. No one is too far gone for God's grace and power to forgive, heal, and redeem us in His sight.

Our Way Home

Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ became the fulfillment of God's promises to His chosen people. Jesus was literally God's Word of hope brought to life! In Christ, the wilderness blossoms, shame is turned into beauty, and darkness and death become light and life! Whatever our wilderness seasons may look like in this life, we can take great comfort in the fact that we have all we need in Him- the food of His Word and the water of His Spirit. Jesus is our way Home, and you better believe God is faithful to lead His children there! He will come after us, all the way to death and beyond.

Isaiah 35 & The Highway to Holiness

For the rest of our time together today, I want to focus on the Highway of Holiness we read about in verse 8.Did you know the "Highway of Holiness" is referred to only once in God's Word?? As we learned just a few minutes ago, God promised the Israelites that their land would be blessed with fertility and He would come with vengeance to save His long-oppressed people. When it was time for the new, restored Zion to witness God's glory, only gladness and joy would exist.At the time the kingdom is established, "a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness" (ESV). Let's take a deeper look at what that actually means.  

VERSE 8

First, looking at the latter half of verse 8, we read,  "It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray" (Isaiah 35:8, ESV).Here’s what that means for us. The Highway of Holiness is reserved for those who are righteous in the eyes of God. No one who enters the kingdom will be foolish or sinful. That being said, an important truth to take note of here is that it is only through Christ who can provide the way of holiness. He exchanged His perfect righteousness for all of our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (ESV).Because of His sacrifice, the righteousness of Christ Jesus is imputed to God's children, thus enabling us to be holy, right, and perfect in His eyes. 

VERSE 9

Second, we learn in verse 9, “No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there" (Isaiah 35:9, ESV).Did you catch that? The Way of Holiness is a place of safety and security that exists for God's redeemed people alone. Nothing wicked will be allowed on it. We will walk it in God’s perfect peace and safety!

VERSE 10

Finally, looking at verse 10 we read, "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:10, ESV).The Highway of Holiness will be a place of true, abundant JOY! Only gladness and joy will exist. Sis, can you imagine a world with no sorrow? This is where we are headed! My dear sister, let us receive and rejoice in the hope of Isaiah 35 today. Let us reach out in longing for the day to come! For the King is surely on His way. And thanks be to God for that. Amen? 

Thank You

Thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode on Isaiah 35. I pray the Lord used our time together to nourish your soul and lead you into His loving, comforting and peace-filled embrace. For in His arms is the best place to be. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider sharing it with someone who you believe can find encouragement from it as well. I’m so excited to be back with you next week. In the meantime, walk in the light of the Lord’s love and provision for you and aim to glorify Him in all you do- word, thought and deed.Talk with you next Wednesday!