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Foreign.
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Hey, you're listening to A Year in the Bible today. We are In Isaiah, chapters 34 through 36. Paul, what's going on in these chapters?
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We're getting back to some judgments against the nations in chapter 34, but then we get this prediction of rescue for Israel in chapter 35, and then a short narrative in chapter 36, the. And I kind of want to camp out in 35 for a second. So God is predicting here the day when Israel will be brought out of exile in Babylon. And so we have these themes that come up of wilderness and desert, and these are things that we've already seen in the Bible in Exodus and Numbers. And so the repetition of these themes seems to kind of show that this is a second exodus of sorts, that as the Exodus defined Israel as God's people, it's going to be a redefinition of Israel as God's people when they're delivered from exile. And it goes beyond that, though. It says also that on that day the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. So it's not only deliverance from exile, it's also this opening of their eyes and opening of their ears and giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. That kind of sounds like someone we know, doesn't it, Shelby?
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That sounds like Jesus to me.
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Yes.
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B
I feel like that's the right answer. Great.
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Yes. The classic Sunday school answer, right? I think it's undefeated in most cases.
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Yes.
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But I want to make that connection even, even more explicit for us here. So verse 8 in chapter 35 says, A road will be there and a way. It will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks the path. Fools will not wander on it. So for Israel, this describes a literal path back to Israel from Babylon. But in the New Testament, Jesus followers adopted this phrase to refer to the Jesus movement. In Acts 2, Acts 9:2, Paul says that he's, or Saul rather, I guess, at this time was looking for anyone belonging to the Way to persecute them. And then after he became Paul, he defends himself in 2414, saying, But I confess this to you, that according to the way, I worship the God of our fathers. And so the Holy Way here in Isaiah is actually pointing to the way of Christ that we now walk. And when we remember the original context of this passage, we can even take it a step further that Jesus takes us out of our spiritual exile in sin. And when we think of that exile out of sin towards the final day when Christ returns. It reminds us that we never really arrive in this life. That being on the way, being on a path on a journey, if you will, you know, it has its ups and downs and there are lots of days when things are easier and things are harder. And so even though we kind of wish that we could get to this perfect state in this life, we never really will until the day we die and when Jesus comes back. But it ultimately reminds us just that Jesus is that path that we follow.
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Yeah, I love that. That's so encouraging to me as someone who has not arrived and will not arrive. Me neither in this life. I think reading through these chapters, something that jumped out to me was Jesus as the deliverer. Speaking of not having arrived, I think there are things in my life that I wish I could have overcome by now. You know, I wish that I had faith in the Lord that was unwavering. You know, I wish that I didn't have moments of doubt or struggle. And so along this path that we're following Jesus, I'm reminded that he is the deliverer. And so anywhere that I just feel stuck or maybe discouraged, discouraged in my spiritual growth, I can trust in him to deliver me on that as I walk with him along this path of life. So really encouraging chapters today when we kind of get down into it and look for this application to our life. If you are listening, we'd love for you to leave a comment. Leave a review Let us know what you are learning from these chapters and we'll continue in the book of Isaiah tomorrow.