35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy; let the wilderness rejoice and bloom like a lily!
After the Great Tribulation of Chapter 34, the Millennial Kingdom shall follow. During the Millennial Kingdom, Edom will become a burning wasteland for demons. However, Israel will be restored and beautified. The Hebrew word for “desert” is מִדְבָּ֖ר (mad bar), meaning the Arabah. The Arabah today is a hot and dry desert in Israel. During the Milllennial Kingdom, the Arabah desert will become fertile. The Hebrew word for “lily” is חֲבַצֶּ֫לֶת (tabatselat), meaning crocus. Crocus are small, spring-flowering plant of the iris family, which grows from a corm and bears bright yellow, purple, or white flowers. These beautiful flowers will blossom all over the Arabah desert. All kinds of agricultural crops will blossom in the Arabah desert.
35:2 Let it richly bloom; let it rejoice and shout with delight! It is given the grandeur of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the grandeur of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
The Millennial Kingdom will bring upon climatic changes which will turn the dry areas of Israel into lush agricultural areas, such as those at Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon. Lebanon was the home of the great cedar trees. Mount Carmel was still well-watered during Elijah’s drought. Sharon was on the coastal plain and the place of Shulamite’s vineyards. Shulamite was Solomon’s wife from the Song of Songs. According to Isaiah 3:9, none of these three luscious regions of Israel will produce during the Great Tribulation. During the Millennial Kingdom, the reverse will be true.
The “grandeur” and the “splendor” of God will be the Shechinah Glory. When King Messiah returns, the world will return to its previous Garden-of-Eden conditions.
35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp, steady the knees that shake!
When King Messiah returns, then the limp hands and the shaking knees will be strengthened. King Messiah will not allow any physical infirmities or fearful people to stand before him.
35:4 Tell those who panic, “Be strong! Do not fear! Look, your God comes to avenge! With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.”
When King Messiah returns, He will return with a vengeance, He will return to save Israel from the Antichrist.
35:5 Then blind eyes will open, deaf ears will hear.
When the Messiah arrives in the Millennial Kingdom, He will not allow any physical infirmities to stand before Him. Just as in His first coming, He will heal the blind and the deaf. When Jesus arrived in Israel at His first coming and performed these miracles, then the rabbis should have accepted Him as their Messiah.
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, the mute tongue will shout for joy; for water will flow in the desert, streams in the wilderness.
When the Messiah arrives in the Millennial Kingdom, then He will heal the lame and the mute. Israel will no longer be a dry desert with a shortage of water. He will make water flow out of the desert. He will create streams in the wilderness.
35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water, the parched ground springs of water. Where jackals once lived and sprawled out, grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
The current Negev desert of Israel contains good soil, but it lacks water. During the Millennial Kingdom, this dry wilderness will become well-watered, fertile land.
There are modern theologians who comment that the Negev desert is beginning to blossom like a rose. This is untrue. There is very little vegetation in the Negev desert. There are some crops in the north, but this area is not desert. This area was swampland that has been drained. Therefore, modern Israel has not fulfilled this prophecy. This prophecy will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom after the Lord Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom.
35:8 A thoroughfare will be there— it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it; it is reserved for those authorized to use it— fools will not stray into it.
During the Millennial Kingdom, a new highway will be built in Israel. It will be called “the Way of Holiness.” Only believers will travel upon this highway, because the unbelievers will be purged out of the world during the Great Tribulation.
Fools are evil people who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be some unbelieving Gentiles who will be born into the Millennial Kingdom, but they will be executed at 100 years old.
35:9 No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it— they will not be found there. Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
The roads will be safe. All of the wild animals will be tame, as per their pre-Garden of Eden condition.
35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. They will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear.
Only the redeemed (believers) will enter into the Millennial Kingdom. They will travel to Jerusalem to celebrate at least the Feast of Tabernacles. They will be eternally happy. There will be no grief or suffering in the Millennial Kingdom.