A Highway in the Wilderness

A camel used to be a great helper for travelling through desert lands. (Here in the zoo: Wilhelma Stuttgart).

 

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 40:3-5/KJV).

Jesus has been speaking about moving a mountain. Paul also has referred to faith that can move a mountain. I have been wondering if there was any similar passage in the Old Testament. Then the above verses came to my mind.

Here we read “every mountain and hill shall be made low.” The verse refers to a road that should be built in the wilderness or in the desert.

To be honest I have never been to desert lands so far. Yet what I associate with a desert is a lot of sand. I am not that sure about the deserts in Palestine, yet in the huge desert lands of the Sahara winds might blow and move lots of sand to somewhere else. Some dunes of sand may disappear or come into existence in a new place.

In sandy lands you might more easily speak of hills or mountains being moved. Perhaps this metaphor would not have come into existence in the Alps in Europe where the mountains are very high and permanent.

Now in my own lifespan I have seen some roads or highways being built. Of course nowadays building is greatly facilitated by the comforts of our modern machines. In some places mountains would be produced artificially to enable the road staying roughly on the same height. Occasionally huge bridges would be built for the road to cross over deeper valleys.

Obviously things were done in a similar way in those days. To build a road or a highway people would try to level out the ground as far as possible. The goal would be to make travelling more comfortable.

Now here is a call to prepare the way for the Lord. Interestingly the Lord would come through the wilderness. Yet there were many wildernesses and deserts surrounding the country. Coming from either side there may have been desert and waste lands to cross.

As a sign of honour and due respect towards the Lord a highway was to be build. Valleys were to be levelled up, mountains and hills were to be made low.

The glory of the Lord was to be revealed. So many problems could be solved, if people became aware of God’s glory, if they were beginning to sense who God really is. Many a discouraged Christian would begin to witness and to live for Christ with new confidence. Many an evildoer would turn from his evil ways and repent.

Here we read the glory of the Lord was to be revealed to all flesh not merely to a chosen few. But before that could become true any obstacles and hindrances were to be removed.

What could hinder others to come to know the Lord God? 1 Corinthians 13 is dealing with love or a lack of love.