A Way in the Wilderness Study Guide

By Robert Morris

DO YOU FEEL LOST IN A WILDERNESS?

Isaiah 35 tells the story of how God's people forfeited His protection and blessings when they forgot about Him and went their own way. Yet in the midst of God's discipline, His desire and ultimate plan to restore His people back to Him never diminished. Isaiah prophesied the arrival of a Messiah who would make a way in the wilderness and bring a dry, barren, and desolate land back to life again.

This study guide is a companion to the DVD and is designed for group study or individual reflection. Pastor Robert shows us how Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies about the coming Messiah. When you place your hope and trust in Jesus, He transforms your wilderness into a lush garden overflowing with abundance.

The Messiah did not come to condemn us but to save us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781951227029

Robert Morris

ROBERT MORRIS is the founding senior pastor of Gateway Church, a multicampus church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He is featured on the weekly television program The Blessed Life and is the bestselling author of twelve books, including The Blessed Life, From Dream to Destiny, The God I Never Knew, and The Blessed Church. Robert and his wife, Debbie, have been married thirty-five years and are blessed with one married daughter, two married sons, and six grandchildren. Follow Robert on Twitter @PsRobertMorris.  

Book preview

the author

1

Strength

---

God wants to strengthen us through worship, prayer, and His Word.

ENGAGE

If you could have your dream garden, what would you grow in it?

WATCH

Watch Strength.

Think about why believers find themselves in spiritual wildernesses.

Look for what hands, knees, and hearts represent.

(If you are not able to watch this teaching on video, read the following. Otherwise, skip to the Talk section after viewing.)

Read

Isaiah 35 is a Messianic chapter. You’ve probably heard of Messianic verses, which are verses in the Old Testament that Jesus called the Scriptures. These verses refer to the Messiah. There are also Messianic chapters, and Isaiah 35 is one of them. As I was reading this chapter, four things stood out to me about when the Messiah comes: strength, signs, streams, and streets. This message focuses on strength.

In Isaiah 53:5, the prophet wrote, "By His stripes we are healed (emphasis added). Isaiah was looking forward to the cross. The apostle Peter, on the other hand, was looking backward to the cross when he wrote, By whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24, emphasis added). When we read in Isaiah 35 that Jesus will," we need to understand that He did! Strength is available through the Messiah.

The title of this series is A Way in the Wilderness. The Messiah made a way in the wilderness for us. If you are walking through a dry season, Jesus is going to make a way for you. We don’t have to live in a wilderness; we can live in a garden. Remember, the first humans (Adam and Eve) walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden, and the very first thing the resurrected Jesus did was walk and talk with Mary Magdalene in the garden.

Isaiah 35:1–2 says,

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,

and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,

even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

The excellence of our God.

When this verse was written, Lebanon was not a country. Instead, it was a very fruitful place in the northern territory of Canaan, the Promised Land. God prepared a garden for His people in the wilderness. We may be living in a fallen world, but if we’re believers, we can be living in a garden.

In the Bible, Lebanon represents fertile trees and soil. The psalmist writes in Psalm 104:16, "The trees of the Lord are full of sap, / The cedars of Lebanon which He planted." In other words, God planted the land of Canaan for His people. In the same way, God has provided for you a rich and fertile garden once you become a believer.

Carmel means ‘garden-land; fruitful and plentiful cultivated soil.’ Second