Isaiah in again beholding this glorious rest-day discovers a way which is called the way of holiness. He says, “The unclean shall not pass over it;... no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall [pg 022] go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: 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.” Isa. 35:8-10. Any one can understand that a literal beast is not meant here when he speaks of a lion, but that wicked, unclean men can not walk in the way of holiness—only the redeemed can walk there.
Earlier in this chapter he speaks of the eyes of the blind being opened, and the ears of the deaf being unstopped, and the lame being made to leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb being made to sing. We have only to read the New Testament to learn of the fulfilment of this prophecy. In that day men of unclean, ravenous, and lion-like natures shall find deliverance and be made gentle, lowly and humble—“The wolf and the lamb shall dwell together.” What a wonder and expectation must have filled the hearts of those devout men in those days of darkness and gloom, as they looked forward to that time when the blind should see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk; when there should be no more violence nor destruction nor wasting, but there should be songs of everlasting joy, and sorrow and sighing would flee away.
“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; we have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.” Isa. 26:1. In that [pg 023] day salvation's walls shall surround the people of God. In the time of this prophet it was stone walls that surrounded their city, but he looked forward to a time when the walls of salvation would surround the city of God. Salvation means deliverance. In that day the people of God should find a deliverance or cleansing from sin. It is the gospel day when Christ should offer a sacrifice for the whole world. The people cried unto God because of their oppressors, and he sent them a Savior, and a strong one, to deliver them. Isa. 19:20.
Were we to turn to the first chapter of the gospel by Luke we would there learn who this deliverer was. There we read: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.”
By reading the whole of this chapter you will learn that this horn of salvation, this deliverer, was the child Christ Jesus. This deliverer was to appear in [pg 024] that day. The most simple will at once understand that the day foreseen and foretold by the holy seers was the Christian dispensation, or the day of “grace and truth.”
The prophet again exclaims: “And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord.” Isa. 12:1-4. “In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy.” Isa. 4:2, 3.
The prophet Joel in contemplation of that day of great blessings says: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” Joel 3:18.
Zechariah in beholding this fountain exclaims: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the [pg 025] house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” Zech. 13:1.
Wonderful Fountain of cleansing,
The prophet did foresee,