And a highway shall be there,
Isaiah 35:8-9 (ESV)
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
The 35th chapter of Isaiah is an eschatological look at what lies in Israel’s future. Their immediate future is bleak. But there will be a time when God will bring them back, and all will be good.
In this future, Isaiah sees a highway that will bring the ransomed of the Lord back to Zion. And they will come with singing, joy, and gladness. Sorrow and sighing will flee and not be found there any longer (Is. 35:10, Rev. 7:17, 21:4).
What is this highway? Isaiah names it the Way of Holiness. It is a highway that is reserved for the exclusive use of those who walk on it—the redeemed. The unclean are not allowed on this highway. Nor any lions or other ravenous beasts that would cause harm to the redeemed walking down the highway on their journey to Jerusalem.
Some might see this as a literal, physical highway. But I think it more likely refers to a way of life, the way of holiness, the life of the redeemed of the Lord. It is the spiritual road we travel from our ransom (Is. 35:10, Rev. 5:9) from sin to the New Jerusalem, the home of the redeemed.
I have to wonder if the early church, identifying itself as ‘the Way’ (Acts 24:14, 22), was referring to ‘the Way of Holiness’ described in this passage. If Jesus, calling himself the way to God (John 14:6), is ‘the Way of Holiness’? And if ‘the Way of Holiness’ is the ‘new and living way’ that Jesus opened for us to enter the holy place into God’s presence (Hebrews 10:19-22)?
