The Highway of Holiness, Day 17

Israel’s story is filled with near-death experiences on roads they were never meant to walk. Their problem was not a lack of signs; it was a refusal to heed them.

When God Gives Us Signs

If the Bible were laid out like a map, it would be covered with signs. Some would be bold and bright, others subtle and tucked along the edges. One sign might say, “Take this road towards wisdom.” Another warns, “If you turn here, you will meet misery.” Still others would read, “Slow down, or you will miss blessings,” or “Keep going and don’t look back.” Solomon’s Proverbs, for instance, feels like a field guide for the spiritual traveler, and Isaiah follows the same pattern. He gives directions, offers warnings, and pleads with God’s people to read the signs wisely and stay on the path. But Israel rarely listens. They grow bored with faithfulness. They crave a new thrill, which almost always means finding new ways to flirt with disaster. Over the years, I’ve met countless people who do the same. They know the good way, but they tire of it. They say, “Pastor, I just need something new,” but the “new” they want is usually the worst kind of old.

Israel’s story is filled with near-death experiences on roads they were never meant to walk. Their problem was not a lack of signs; it was a refusal to heed them. Isaiah 34 gives a vivid warning about what lies at the end of the wrong road: a land of burning pitch, endless smoke, and desolation. It is always winter, but never Christmas. This is anti-Advent, a picture of what happens when God’s people exchange the joy of His promises for the cold landscape of unbelief. Isaiah sets the choice before them: death or life, curse or blessing, exile or home.

The Chapter We Long For

But then comes Isaiah 35, a chapter full of good signs. It feels like someone updated the map and highlighted every road that leads to joy. After the bleak midwinter terrain of chapters 33 and 34, this new landscape bursts with color, hope, and song. Advent is the road to that great shift in the landscape of history. It is not only the promise that the Messiah is coming, but that His kingdom is breaking in like water in the desert. Isaiah’s vision grows like a seed pushing toward the sun. It gains strength with every generation until it becomes a tidal wave of blessing.

By the time you arrive at the promise of verse 4, you can almost hear the longing in Isaiah’s voice. “Behold, your God will come with vengeance. He will come and save you.” That is the heartbeat of Advent. We expect Jesus by trusting that He will save us and deliver us from judgment. This is not cheap grace as if believing hard enough will erase our troubles, but a costly grace merited by our Lord, who transforms barren places into gardens. He turns death valleys into vineyards. He takes people who are exhausted, ashamed, or stuck in old stories and makes them new. Some of you feel that need for rescue in your bones. The Advent exhortation is to believe that Jesus will save you. Believe He will enter your story and reshape it. Advent puts this truth at the forefront: He comes to make his blessings known to you far as your sin is found.

But expectation is not passive. Isaiah says that when God comes, He sets a highway before us, the Way of Holiness. Those who walk in this way live differently. This is the path Jesus spoke of when He called Himself the Way. This is the path the early church traveled when they were called “the Way.” Advent trains our feet to walk on this road. Children and adults alike must ask, “Will this decision help me stay on God’s path, or lead me off inch by inch?” The unclean will mock this road. They will say you are too committed, too Christian, too odd. But Scripture never apologizes for holiness. It calls us to walk in it without looking back.

Walking Toward Everlasting Joy