Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation, Book 9, part 20

Isaiah 62:10 says,

¹⁰ Go through [abar, “pass over, pass beyond”], go through the gates, clear [panah, “clear, turn”] the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, remove the stones, lift up a standard [nas, “ensign, standard, banner”] over the peoples.

The prophet spoke of a time of preparation, which appears to be associated with the feast of Passover. The word abar was used in Exodus 12:12,

¹² For I will go through [abar, “pass over”] the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…

Hence, the 14^th day of the first month was the Preparation Day for Passover. Isaiah uses the term to suggest that preparations would need to be made for the coming of Christ. (See the next verse.)

The True Highway

The word picture was of people who were expecting a royal visitor. The prophet instructed them to build a smooth highway leading into the city, removing the stones that might impede the movement of a chariot or cause pedestrians to stumble. In Christ’s first coming, there was no highway construction, for He was not welcomed by the priests and rulers in Jerusalem. But the people spread branches and clothing on the road (Matthew 21:8) to welcome Him.

In a broader fulfillment, John the Baptist prepared the way before Him, for we read in Matthew 3:1-3,

¹ Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!’”

Again, we read in Mark 1:2 that John was the “messenger… who will prepare Your way.” John, in fact, points us clearly to the way in which we are to interpret Isaiah’s prophecy. It was not about literally building a highway. It was about preaching the gospel of repentance, reversing course, and turning back to God. Likewise, the “return” of the people was not about relocating them to the old land but about restoring their relationship to God.

The prophet was not concerned about road construction itself, for this highway is the highway of holiness, which was mentioned earlier in Isaiah 35:8,

⁸ A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks their way, and fools will not wander on it.

In that case, the highway was to be built because “the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion” (Isaiah 35:10). It is an immigration from an Old Covenant mindset and dependency to New Covenant faith seen through Abraham’s example. In fact, the book of Hebrews was written to show us the way—the highway—by which we may immigrate in the way that God requires. The word abar is the root of Eber/Heber/Hebrew, “an immigrant.” This is why the author named it the Book of Hebrews—not the Book of Jews or the Book of Israelites. The purpose of the book was to show us how to immigrate from the Old Covenant to the New. It was a roadmap for returning Israelites as they might repent and return to God.

Preparing for Christ’s Second Coming

In Isaiah 62:10 the purpose of the highway was to prepare for Christ’s coming. Isaiah 62:11 says,

¹¹ Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation [yesha] comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

The Apostle John later tells us the word of Jesus Himself, who interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy to be about the second coming of Christ. Revelation 22:12, 13 says,

¹² “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Specifically, the prophecy pointed to the great White Throne judgment, where the dead were raised and “judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds” (Revelation 20:12). Isaiah 62:11 says, “Lo, your yesha comes.” His name is Yeshua (Jesus). It is a messianic prophecy.

The People Return

Isaiah 62:12 concludes,

¹² And they will call them, “The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord”; and you will be called, “Sought out [darash], a city not forsaken [azab].”

These “holy people” are those who travel the Highway of Holiness, repenting from their Old Covenant viewpoint and turning toward New Covenant faith. The "city" is the heavenly Jerusalem, not the earthly city. The movement is Sionism, not Zionism. This is obviously not a prophecy of political Zionism, which allows Old Covenant people to travel its highway apart from Yeshua.

Instead, those who truly walk this path to God through Christ will be called by a new name. This city is populated by those who are “not forsaken,” i.e., the restored ones, those whose relationship with God has been restored. This cannot be accomplished by mere Zionist immigration. One must be baptized by John’s baptism of repentance and receive the greater baptism of the One who came after Him (Matthew 3:11).