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In the first two verses of the chapter we find the "glory of Lebanon" and the
"excellency of Carmel" balanced by the "glory of the Lord" and the "excellency of our
God". This teaches the important lesson that, at the restoration, the glory and excellency
that will be manifested and enjoyed, will be but the reflection of the glory and excellency
of the Lord Who has brought His purposes to their glorious goal.
Of all the O.T. books, apart from the Psalms, the prophecy of Isaiah is pre-eminently
the book of "glory". In the very day of Israel's failure the Seraphim utter their
comprehensive cry: "The fullness of all the earth is His glory" (Isa. 6: 3 lit.).
In chapter 11: 10, we read: "His rest shall be glorious (or glory)", and in chap. 60: 1:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."
A reference in this sixtieth chapter to "the glory of Lebanon" (verse 13) further
illuminates the character of these glories that shall be revealed: they are devoted to the
beautifying of the place of the Lord's sanctuary--or, as verse 13 puts it: "I will make the
place of My feet glorious."
This whole section of Isaiah, that begins with the "glorious beauty" that had become
as "a fading flower" (Isa. 28: 1), closes with the fulfillment in Isa. 35: of the
promise of chapter 28::
"In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of
beauty, unto the residue of His people" (Isa. 28: 5).
The word translated "excellency" in Isa. 35: 2 is the Hebrew word hadar, and this
word occurs seven times:
"The glory of His majesty" (Isa. 2: 10, 19, 21).
"Their glory and their multitude" (Isa. 5: 14).
"The excellency of Carmel and Sharon" (Isa. 35: 2).
"The excellency of our God" (Isa. 35: 2).
"He hath no form nor comeliness" (Isa. 53: 2).
The first three of these occurrences refer to the day of the Lord and of judgment, while
the central references deals with Israel's loss of honour when the people went into
captivity (Isa. 5: 13, 14). The remaining occurrences are connected with the Lord's glory
and the day of restoration (Isa. 35:), and with that wonderful self-denial that led the
Lord of glory to become as a root of a "dry ground", having no form nor "comeliness",
the same word as "excellency".
When the day of Israel's glory dawns, it will be true of her, as of every one of the
redeemed, that her beauty will be "perfect through My comeliness (excellency, Heb.
hadar), which I had put upon thee" (Ezek. 16: 14).
When we bear in mind Isa. 35: 5 and 6, we can readily understand why miracles of
healing performed upon the blind, the deaf, the dumb and the lame, are called "the
powers of the age to come" (Heb. 6: 5), and how "healing" can by synonymous with