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| 1 They joy from the wilderness and dry place, And rejoice doth the desert, and flourish as the rose, |
The wilderness – The place of separation from the world in general. This is where Elijah fled to.
The desert – A desert is a place of little or no water - truth.
Shall rejoice – Shall receive the truth with extreme gratitude and rejoicing.
Blossom as the rose – Not only is this being literally fulfilled but symbolically as well. |
| 2 Flourishing it doth flourish, and rejoice, Yea, [with] joy and singing, The honour of Lebanon hath been given to it, The beauty of Carmel and Sharon, They they see the honour of Jehovah, The majesty of our God. |
The excellency of Carmel – This could refer to Mount Carmel where Elijah had his confrontation with the prophets of Baal and turned the whole nation of Israel away from the worship of Baal back to the worship of Jehovah. (1 Kings 18:17-40 [note vs 19])
The glory of the LORD – The glorious truth of the Divine Plan of the Ages. |
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| 3 Strengthen ye the feeble hands, Yea, the stumbling knees strengthen.
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| 4 Say to the hastened of heart, 'Be strong, Fear not, lo, your God; vengeance cometh, The recompence of God, He Himself doth come and save you.' |
Say to them – Even though restitution has already begun (note vs 1-3) some members of the church still remain. These are to give this message of hope to those who are living in fear.
A fearful heart – Here, in the midst of earthly restitution (the desert is already blossoming as the rose – vs. 1 – the knees and hands of the weak and feeble are already being made strong – vs. 3 – yet someone is afraid.
Be strong – Hang in there because help is on the way.
Your god will come – Your elohiym (mighty one) – Christ will come.
How does He come? As the Prince of Peace? – No, not yet. There is another work to be done first.
With vengeance – The Day of Vengeance (chap. 34:8). 2 Thes. 1:7-8.
He will come and save you – During His second advent. "He maketh the storm a calm." Psa. 107:29 He will say "Peace, be still." Mark 4:39 |
| 5 Then opened are eyes of the blind, And ears of the deaf are unstopped, |
Then – AFTER the Day of Vengeance mentioned in verse 4.
This is the key turning point of the chapter. From this point on the blessings become very vivid. It is at this point where the blind are made to see, not just begin to recognize Christ and the new Kingdom, but to fully see – both literally and symbolically. |
| 6 Then leap as a hart doth the lame, And sing doth the tongue of the dumb, For broken up in a wilderness have been waters, And streams in a desert. |
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| 7 And the mirage hath become a pond, And the thirsty land fountains of waters, In the habitation of dragons, Its place of couching down, a court for reed and rush. |
Parched ground – Parched = "deprived of natural moisture" – Webster. Here the ground lacks its normal amount of moisture (water, truth.)
Become a pool – Moisture (water) restored so greatly that now it has enough water in it for one to swim.
The habitation of dragons – Habitation = dwelling-place. Dragons = Civil powers, Beastly governments of the earth, the iron portion of the image decribed in Daniel 2:40-45. At this point there are no longer any worldly church-state unions.
Grass – Sometimes used as a symbol for men. Psa. 103:15; 1 Pet. 1:24 |
| 8 And a highway hath been there, and a way, And the 'way of holiness' is called to it, Not pass over it doth the unclean, And He Himself [is] by them, Whoso is going in the way even fools err not. |
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| 9 No lion is there, yea, a destructive beast Ascendeth it not, it is not found there, And walked have the redeemed, |
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| 10 And the ransomed of Jehovah return, And have entered Zion with singing. And joy age-during on their head, Joy and gladness they attain, And fled away have sorrow and sighing! |
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