Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Isaiah: The King is Coming

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Of course, the OT prophetic books specifically mention the One Who Is To Come ... and a couple of the messianic passages in Isaiah also mention the desert.

Let's have a look.

See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.  Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. -- Is. 32:1-2

 This isn't a verse that's commonly cited in messianic discussions, but according to my Scofield notes this is a reference to the reign of the Messiah.  Because, we all know, he is the only king who will truly reign in righteousness.  But it is interesting that the passage doesn't just refer to the righteousness of the reigning Messiah...but of those delegated as rulers under him, who will rule with justice.  The actual verse referencing 'desert' could be read two different ways...one, that the men who were rulers would be of such quality that they would be a shelter and a refreshing to those in their care OR...that every man (or,possibly, human) in the kingdom would be a protector and refresher to those around them.  Either way, it's an interesting thought that the reign of the Messiah isn't just about the reign of the king  but of the quality of the people in the kingdom. The whole nature of the place will be different than it is now...where folks who truly care about and protect others are the exception rather than the rule.

A voice of one calling in the desert: "Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."  -- Is. 40:3-5 

This passage is well-known in the discussion of messianic prophecy and is, in fact, stated in the New Testament to have been fulfilled by John the Baptist (Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3-4, Luke 3: 2 -6; in John 1:23, John the Baptist specifically claims that he is fulfilling the prophecy).

40:3, above, is actually the marginal reading as listed in my NIV 84; the main text is punctuated differently...

'A voice of one calling:  "In the desert, prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God." '

That changes the emphasis slightly; in the first example, the one calling is in the desert; in the second, he is calling for the way to be prepared in the desert.  John, of course, said that he was the one calling in the desert, which gives more weight to the marginal reading. Either way, though, it's clear that this verse indicates that it is God Himself who is coming...not a king coming in his name, or a prophet or a teacher.

And John, on the banks of the Jordan at the edge of the desert, clearly identified Jesus as the one he was sent to proclaim.

The prophecy says, Prepare the way for God; John said, I am the one preparing the way...and then he pointed to Jesus and said, 'There he is...the one I was sent to proclaim".

That doesn't leave much doubt that Jesus was God walking among the people.