John Gill Commentary Isaiah 35

The wilderness, and the solitary place, shall be glad for
them
Either for the wild beasts, satyrs, owls, and vultures, that shall inhabit Edom or Rome, and because it shall be an habitation for them: or they shall be glad for them, the Edomites, and for the destruction of them; that is, as the Targum paraphrases it, ``they that dwell in the wilderness, in the dry land, shall rejoice;'' the church, in the wilderness, being obliged to fly there from the persecution of antichrist, and thereby become desolate as a wilderness; and so called, in allusion to the Israelites in the wilderness, (Acts 7:38) shall now rejoice at the ruin of Rome, and the antichristian states; by which means it shall come into a more flourishing condition; see (Revelation 12:14) (18:20) (Revelation 19:1Revelation 19:2) :

and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose ;
or "as the lily", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and so the Targum, ``as the lilies:'' not Judea or Jerusalem, as the Jewish writers, become like a desert, through the devastations made in it by the king of Assyria's army; and now made glad, and become flourishing, upon the departure of it from them: rather the Gentile world, which was like a wilderness, barren and unfruitful, before the Gospel came into it; but by means of that, which brought joy with it, and was attended with fragrancy, it diffusing the savour of the knowledge of Christ in every place, it became fruitful and flourishing, and of a sweet odour, and looked delightful, and pleasant:

Though it seems best to understand it of the Gentile church in the latter day, after the destruction of antichrist, when it shall be in a most desirable and comfortable situation. These words stand in connection with the preceding chapter (Isaiah 34:1–17) , and very aptly follow upon it.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and
singing
A redundancy of words, to express the very flourishing estate of the church, and the great joy there shall be on that occasion, as well as because of the destruction of their enemies, and deliverance from them: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it ;
a mountain in Judea, famous for its choice and tall cedars, which were the glory of it; signifying hereby, that the church of God, which had been in a desolate condition, should abound with choice and excellent Christians, comparable to the cedars of Lebanon. Jarchi interprets it of the sanctuary or temple; which may be so called, because built of the wood of Lebanon. This was an emblem and type of the Gospel church; and the glory of it lay not only in its outward form and building, but in those things which were in the holy places of it, especially the most holy, which were all typical of spiritual things in Gospel times; so that all the glory of the Jewish church state and temple is brought into the Gentile church, into the Christian or Gospel church state; and which will still more appear in the latter day, when the temple of God will be opened in heaven, and the ark of the testament; see (Revelation 11:19) : the excellency of Carmel and Sharon ;
two places in the land of Judea, famous for fruitfulness and pasturage; and so denote the very great fruitfulness of the Gospel church; the word and ordinances of which are as green pastures for the sheep of Christ to feed upon, and by which they become fat and flourishing: they shall see the glory of our Lord, [and] the excellency of our
God ;
the Targum introduces this clause thus,

Strengthen you the weak hands These are the words of the prophet, as the Targum,``the prophet said, strengthen the weak hands;'' or rather of God, by the prophet, to the converted Gentiles, to those who saw the glory of the Lord; particularly to the ministers of the Gospel, who have to do with weak and feeble persons, who can scarcely lift up their hands, or stand upon their legs, under a sense of sin, in a view of wrath, and immediate ruin and destruction, ready to sink and faint, because of their enemies, or through want of food; and their business is to comfort and strengthen them, by preaching the Gospel, and pointing out the promises of it to them:

and confirm the feeble knees ; that so they may keep their ground against their enemies; shake off their fears and trembling; go on their way courageously and rejoicing; run, and not be weary; walk, and not faint: "hands" and "knees" are mentioned particularly, because a man's strength lies greatly in them; and his weakness is seen by the languor and trembling of them.

Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart
Or, "hasty of heart" ^F23 ; are at once for flying from the enemy; "hasty" in drawing black conclusions upon themselves and their state; "inconsiderate" of the promises made unto them; ready to doubt of, and call in question, the performance of the above things, respecting the fruitful and flourishing estate of the church: wherefore it must be said to them, Be strong, fear not ;
be strong in faith, fear not the enemy, nor doubt of the fulfilment of divine promises, relating to their ruin and your safety:

behold, your God will come [with] vengeance ;
Christ, who is God in our nature, God manifest in the flesh, and who came by the assumption of human nature; and when he first came, he came with vengeance, and took vengeance on Satan and his works; on him, and his principalities, and powers, whom he spoiled and destroyed, as well as made an end of sin and abolished death; see (Isaiah 61:2) (63:4) so likewise he came in his kingdom and power, and took vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their disbelief and rejection of him; and which time is expressly called the days of vengeance, (Luke 21:22) and at the time of his spiritual coming he will destroy antichrist with the brightness of it, and avenge the blood of his servants, (Revelation 18:20) (19:2) and at his personal coming he will take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not his Gospel, (2 Thessalonians 1:8) and the words are so expressed as to take in the several times of his coming: and since he has already come, and taken vengeance in some instances, this may serve to encourage, and perhaps the design of it is to encourage, the faith of God's people, with respect to his future coming, and the end and issue of it:

[even] God [with a] recompence :
or, "the God of recompence" ^F24 ; and so the Targum,``the Lord of recompences;'' both to the wicked a just recompence of reward or punishment for their sins, it being just with him to recompense tribulation to them that trouble his people; and to the saints, the time of his spiritual reign being the time, as to destroy them that destroy the earth, so to give a reward to his servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear his name, (Revelation 11:18) : he will come and save you ;
the end of his first coming was to save his people from sin, the curse and condemnation of the law, from hell, wrath, ruin, and destruction; and the end of his spiritual coming, at the latter day, will be to save his people from their antichristian enemies, from idolatry, superstition, and slavery.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: (bl yrhmn) "festinis corde", Vatablus; "praecipitantibus corde", Cocceius; "inconsideratis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F24: (awh Myhwla lwmg) "praemiator Deus ipse veniet", Castalio.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened Which was literally fulfilled in the first coming of Christ, (Matthew 9:27) (12:22) (20:30) (John 9:1John 9:30) and spiritually, both among Jews and Gentiles; especially the latter, under the ministry of the apostles, when those who were blind as to spiritual things had no knowledge of God in Christ; nor of the way of salvation by him; nor of the plague of their own hearts; nor of the work of the Spirit of God upon the soul; nor of the truths of the Gospel; through the power of divine grace had the eyes of their understanding opened, so as to see their sinfulness and vileness; their emptiness of all that is good, and their impotency to do anything that is spiritual; their want of righteousness; their need of Christ, and the fulness and suitability of him as a Saviour; and to have some light into the truths of the Gospel, and a glimpse of heaven and eternal glory: and this will still have a greater accomplishment in the latter day, when the blind Jews are converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in:

and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped ; which was literally true of some when Christ came in the flesh, (Matthew 11:5) (Mark 7:32Mark 7:35) and spiritually of many who had not ears to hear in a spiritual sense; stopped what ears they had to the charming voice of the Gospel; and, though they might externally hear, did not understand it: yet these having ears given them to hear, and their ears and hearts opened by the Spirit of God, heard the Gospel spiritually, profitably, pleasantly, comfortably, and with wonder and astonishment; and a multitude of such instances there will be in the latter day glory. Jarchi interprets it of such who were blind as to the knowledge of the fear of God, and deaf to the voice of the prophets.