Isaiah 35

The Desert Shall Blossom as the Rose

The wilderness bursts into bloom, the blind see and the lame leap, and the ransomed walk a highway of holiness home to Zion with songs.

A vision of the gathering and the Millennium Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Isaiah 35 is the bright twin of chapter 34. There, the proud world became a desolate wilderness.

Isaiah 35 is the bright twin of chapter 34. There, the proud world became a desolate wilderness. Here, the wilderness becomes a garden. It is one of the most joyful chapters in scripture.

The chapter also serves as a bridge. It closes the first major part of the book (chapters 1–35) and anticipates the great themes of chapters 40–66: comfort, the return from exile, the highway through the desert, and the joy of the redeemed. After it, chapters 36–39 tell the historical story of Hezekiah, and then chapter 40 opens with “Comfort ye.”

For Latter-day Saints, chapter 35 has long been beloved as a description of the gathering to Zion, the Saints’ settlement of the American West, and the restoration of Israel. The Lord quoted its imagery in modern revelation (D&C 133:26–33).

The thread through the chapter

Isaiah 35 is about transformation, and everything in the chapter is changed into its opposite.

Isaiah 35 is about transformation, and everything in the chapter is changed into its opposite.

The land is transformed (verses 1–2, 6–7). The wilderness is glad, the desert blossoms, and parched ground becomes pools of water. The dens where jackals lay become meadows of reeds. Even the glory of Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon, the most beautiful places in the land, is given to the desert.

People are transformed (verses 3–6). Weak hands are strengthened, feeble knees steadied, and fearful hearts told, “Be strong, fear not.” Then the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap like deer, and the mute sing.

The journey is transformed (verses 8–10). There is a highway through the desert, “The way of holiness.” It is so clear that even a simple traveler can’t lose the way, so safe that no lion walks on it, and so joyful that the travelers arrive singing, with “everlasting joy upon their heads.”

What causes all this? Verse 4: “your God will come… he will come and save you.” The transformation of land, bodies, and journey all flow from His coming. When the Lord arrives, nothing stays the way it was. The desert blossoms because He comes. The lame leap because He comes. The ransomed sing because He has come to bring them home.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–2

The desert in bloom

In plain words

The desert and the dry land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus. It will burst into bloom and shout for joy. The splendor of Lebanon will be given to it, and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.

1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

Restoration Insight #

The desert blossoms

The flower here (chavatstselet) is probably not a rose but a desert bulb flower like the crocus or the asphodel, which bursts into bloom across dry land after the winter rains.

The flower here (chavatstselet) is probably not a rose but a desert bulb flower like the crocus or the asphodel, which bursts into bloom across dry land after the winter rains. The picture is of a whole wilderness suddenly carpeted with flowers.

Latter-day Saints have long loved this verse. When the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 and began irrigating the dry land, many saw in their work a fulfillment of Isaiah’s words. The hymn “O Ye Mountains High” celebrates Zion in the mountains. Others see the verse fulfilled in the reclaiming of desert lands in modern Israel. Ultimately, it describes the renewal of the whole earth in the Millennium (A of F 1:10; D&C 133:29).

Whatever the setting, the principle is the same: where the Lord’s people dwell in righteousness, barren places become fruitful.

Sources: O Ye Mountains High, Hymns, no. 34.

2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

Imagery & Symbol #

The best of the land, given to the desert

Lebanon was famous for its majestic cedar forests, Carmel for its lush wooded ridge by the sea, and Sharon for its fertile coastal plain full of flowers.

Lebanon was famous for its majestic cedar forests, Carmel for its lush wooded ridge by the sea, and Sharon for its fertile coastal plain full of flowers. These were the showpieces of natural beauty in Israel. In the previous chapters, Lebanon was “ashamed and hewn down” and Sharon “like a wilderness” (Isa. 33:9). Now all their glory is transferred to the desert.

The wilderness doesn’t just become adequate. It becomes glorious. And the result: “they shall see the glory of the LORD.” Renewed creation reveals the Creator.

Sources: “Lebanon”, Bible Dictionary. “Carmel”, Bible Dictionary. “Sharon”, Bible Dictionary.

Verses 3–6

Be strong, fear not

In plain words

Strengthen the weak hands and steady the knees that give way. Say to those with anxious hearts, “Be strong; don’t be afraid! Look, your God is coming with justice, with divine retribution. He is coming to save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. Water will gush out in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Restoration Insight #

Lift up the hands that hang down

This is a command to the community: help the weak. Weak hands and wobbly knees are pictures of discouragement and exhaustion, of people who have given up trying.

The New Testament quotes it: “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Heb. 12:12). And the Lord gave it to the Saints as the essence of ministering: “Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (D&C 81:5). Isaiah’s vision of Zion begins with people strengthening each other.

4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Witness of Christ #

The blind see, the lame leap

When John the Baptist, in prison, sent disciples to ask Jesus whether He was the one who should come, Jesus answered by pointing to this chapter: “Go and shew John again those…

When John the Baptist, in prison, sent disciples to ask Jesus whether He was the one who should come, Jesus answered by pointing to this chapter: “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk… and the deaf hear” (Matt. 11:2–5; see Luke 7:20–22). Jesus was saying, in effect, Read Isaiah 35. It’s happening.

Peter and John healed a man lame from birth at the temple gate, and he went “walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:1–8), almost exactly Isaiah’s picture. The risen Lord healed every sick, lame, blind, and deaf person brought to Him at Bountiful (3 Ne. 17:7–10).

These miracles are also signs of spiritual healing, as eyes blind to truth are opened and deaf ears hear (Isa. 29:18; Isa. 32:3).

6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

Verses 7–10

The highway of holiness

In plain words

The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass will grow with reeds and papyrus. A highway will be there, and it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it; it will be for those who walk that way. Even fools will not lose their way on it. No lion will be there, and no fierce beast will come up on it; they won’t be found there. Only the redeemed will walk on it. Those the Lord has ransomed will return. They will enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Restoration Insight #

Pools of living water

“Parched ground” may refer to the mirage of the desert, the shimmering heat that looks like water but isn’t.

“Parched ground” may refer to the mirage of the desert, the shimmering heat that looks like water but isn’t. Isaiah says the illusion will become real: the mirage will become an actual pool.

The Lord repeated this imagery in a revelation about the return of the lost tribes: “in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land” (D&C 133:29). Jesus offered the woman at the well “living water” (John 4:10–14). Water in the desert is one of Isaiah’s favorite pictures of the Spirit and of salvation (Isa. 41:17–18; Isa. 44:3; Isa. 55:1).

8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

Restoration Insight #

The Way of Holiness

The highway is Isaiah’s great image of the journey home. It appears again and again: Isa. 11:16; Isa. 19:23; Isa. 40:3–4; Isa. 62:10.

The highway is Isaiah’s great image of the journey home. It appears again and again: Isa. 11:16; Isa. 19:23; Isa. 40:3–4; Isa. 62:10. This one has a name: “The way of holiness.” Only the clean walk it.

And “the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” The way is so plain that even the simplest traveler can’t get lost. It is not a way for the brilliant, but for the humble and willing. Nephi called the path of discipleship “the strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life,” entered by baptism and followed by pressing forward with faith in Christ (2 Ne. 31:17–20). The Lord told the Saints that an “highway shall be cast up” for the return of the lost tribes (D&C 133:27).

9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Witness of Christ #

The ransomed return with songs

“Ransomed” (peduyei) means redeemed by payment, bought back from slavery or captivity.

“Ransomed” (peduyei) means redeemed by payment, bought back from slavery or captivity. The same verse appears word for word in Isa. 51:11, as if Isaiah considered it too good to say only once.

“Everlasting joy upon their heads” may picture joy worn like a crown or garland. And “sorrow and sighing shall flee away”: sorrow doesn’t just fade. It runs away.

The Lord used this language repeatedly in modern revelation for the gathering to Zion: the Saints will “come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy” (D&C 45:71), and the scattered will “return and come to their inheritances… with songs of everlasting joy” (D&C 101:18; see D&C 66:11). Jesus Christ is the one who paid the ransom (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6).

Seeing Christ in Isaiah 35

Isaiah 35 centers on verse 4: “your God will come… he will come and save you.” Jesus Christ is that coming God. When John the Baptist asked if He was the one, Jesus answered from this chapter: the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear (Matt. 11:2–5). He is the living water that makes the desert bloom (John 4:14), the Way of holiness (John 14:6), and the one who paid the ransom for the redeemed who come to Zion singing (verse 10; Matt. 20:28).

Every transformation in this chapter, of land, body, and journey, is what He does wherever He comes.

Liken it to yourself

What “desert” in my life needs to blossom? What would it take to let the Lord’s living water reach it?
Whose “weak hands” and “feeble knees” (verse 3) could I strengthen this week? Ministering is Isaiah 35 in action (D&C 81:5).
Verse 4 is addressed to “them that are of a fearful heart.” What are my anxious fears, and how does “he will come and save you” speak to them?
Am I walking “the way of holiness”? It is plain enough that even the simple can’t miss it (verse 8). What keeps me from staying on it?

Worth exploring next

Isaiah 35 and the Gospels. Read Matt. 11:2–6 and Luke 7:18–23. Why did Jesus answer John with this chapter?
Isaiah 35 and D&C 133. Compare this chapter with D&C 133:26–35. What does the Doctrine and Covenants add about the return of the lost tribes?
The highway. Trace the highway through Isa. 11:16, Isa. 19:23, Isa. 35:8, Isa. 40:3–4, Isa. 49:11, Isa. 57:14, and Isa. 62:10.

This chapter elsewhere in scripture

Matt. 11:2–5 — Jesus points John the Baptist to this chapter’s signs.
D&C 133:26–33 — The highway and the pools of living water, applied to the lost tribes.
Isa. 51:11 — Verse 10 is repeated word for word.

Sources & further reading

Chapter 15: Prophecies of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (Isaiah 24–35), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
O Ye Mountains High, Hymns, no. 34.
Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.

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