“Even If They Are Fools, They Shall Not Go Astray”

More prophecies of the coming of Christ for our Advent contemplation: Isaiah 35, yesterday’s Old Testament reading. I give the chapter after the jump. It’s about how God “will come and save you,” and what this will mean for “the redeemed,” those “ransomed by the Lord.” This includes those who are weak, infirm, and “anxious.” I take special comfort from verse 8: “even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.”

The Ransomed Shall Return

35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
    the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
²it shall blossom abundantly
    and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
    the majesty of our God.

³Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴Say to those who have an anxious heart,
    “Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
    will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
    He will come and save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
    and streams in the desert;
⁷the burning sand shall become a pool,
    and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
    the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

⁸And a highway shall be there,
    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.^[a]
⁹No 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.
¹⁰And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.