Jesus made the crooked path lead straight to the heart of God. He is the light of the world and in Him all of the Old Testament to the Jews was fulfilled. In Him it is finished. The playing field is now level. All who believe in Him will be saved!
Isaiah 40:3-5
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
We anxiously await His return, Jesus, King of kings and Lord over all. To God all glory and honor! Carla
The voice is heard in the wilderness, calling the people there to ready themselves for the coming of the Lord. The analogy is based on the anticipated coming of a magnificent ruler from a distant land. The people who lived in the area of his intended visit would do everything possible to prepare the road for his arrival. Prepare means “clear away the obstacles” (57:14; 62:10). Highway represents the hearts of people who must be spiritually prepared by repentance for God’s glory to be revealed on the earth (Luke 3:3–20).
While the highway of verse 3 was to be prepared by the people of the Lord, the changes required in verse 4 could be accomplished only by divine action.
The glory of the Lord began to be revealed in the restoration of the captives of Judah from the Exile (44:23). More grandly, the glory of the Lord would be displayed in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (4:2; Luke 2:29–32; John 1:14).
The ultimate revelation of the glory of the Lord will be in His glorious kingdom (60:2; Zephaniah 3:14–17), where the Savior King dwells in the presence of His people for all eternity (Revelation 22:1–5). All flesh refers to all mankind. The mouth of the Lord has spoken: The importance of this prophecy is underscored by the language of divine oath. The NKJV Study Bible
God will lead the remnant through the wilderness from Babylon to Zion, just like the exodus from Egypt. This verse is quoted in all four Gospels in connection with John the Baptist, who prepares the way for Jesus. A different understanding of syntax (how the phrases were related) has led to the New Testament (and Septuagint) understanding of “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” versus “in the wilderness prepare.” The Hebrew parallelism connects the phrase with “make straight in the desert.”
The highway through the desert was also described in Isaiah 35:8–10. 40:4 Similar imagery to the trembling of the natural world that accompanies an appearance of God (or theophany). Compare 2:14, where the day of Yahweh is accompanied by the mountains and hills being brought low. Theophany in the Old Testament describes the reshaping of the wilderness to make a level highway fit for God to lead His people across. Faithlife Study Bible
In Christian churches, the symbolism of light is central. From Judaism, we learned about the perpetual light that was kept burning in the Temple and synagogues, to show the presence of God. Now, in lighting a candle for someone we extend our prayers, and with the light, show solidarity with another person. Yes, we are walking one another home.
I was asked, “But do you believe this makes a difference?” Oh my. Truthfully, I don’t know what all I believe, but I do believe that there is a grace and sacred presence that carries my doubt and uncertainty, and helps guide my way. “Sabbath Moments”
But the Teacher in Ecclesiastes explained it is better to humbly invite God's direction into our lives, not manipulate Him into giving us what we want. Remembering that the one true "God is in heaven and [we] are on earth" puts our requests into perspective (Ecclesiastes 5:2). God's wisdom is far beyond ours, and He knows how best to answer our prayers (Romans 11:33-34). When we demand that God give us our own way or try to control Him with our gifts and promises, we "are doing evil," according to Ecclesiastes 5:1.
So what's the alternative? Wisdom reminds us that prayer doesn't just give us unlimited access to air our grievances and express our desires to God; we also have the opportunity to ask God to speak to us. God desires for us to draw near and bring our needs before Him, and He desires for us to "draw near to listen" (Ecclesiastes 5:1).
In Ecclesiastes 5:7, the Teacher again emphasized high esteem for God and His wisdom, reminding us, "God is the one you must fear."This doesn't mean we approach God with terror that He will be cruel or use His power against us. That's not who He is (Exodus 34:6).But it does mean we give God proper reverence, humbly admitting that though we will not always understand His wisdom, we trust Him.
Much like a good human father holds his children, enjoying their closeness, our heavenly Father delights in His children drawing near and sharing what is on our hearts. To honor Him, we also listen to hear Him speak, desiring and inviting His direction in our lives.
It's amazing to think that because of Jesus' work on the cross, we have an all-access pass to our awesome God (Luke 11:9-13; 1 Peter 5:7). We can audaciously present our requests and go to Him with all of our needs: "By the blood of Jesus ... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:19-22).
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