Isaiah 40

[mafu]

 3 A voice of one calling:
       "In the desert prepare
       the way for the LORD [a] ;
       make straight in the wilderness
       a highway for our God.

 4 Every valley shall be raised up,
       every mountain and hill made low;
       the rough ground shall become level,
       the rugged places a plain.

 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
       and all mankind together will see it.
       For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."


Okay, now that's a pretty familiar reading, and is the one that is quoted about John the Baptist.  It's generally taken that those verses are written prophetically about him, that John is the one who will prepare the way in the desert for the coming of Jesus.  We had that reading at church the other week.  But as I was listening to it, I was struck by the concept of mountains being made low and valleys being filled in, and roads being made straight.  Could it be that it was also referring to the Romans?  They are historically renowned for making very straight paths, for embarking on huge architectural feats that effectively levelled out hilly terrain with bridges and viaducts and all sorts, and it was because of those transport routes and their growing empire that the Message was able to be sent to all the world so effectively.  John the Baptist may have been preparing people's hearts in that location, but I wonder whether God had also timed everything so that the Romans would have prepared the world so that Jesus' message of redemption could be spread to everyone.  Without the Romans, maybe the Word would have stayed in the Mediterranean and never managed to get any further.

Just a thought.  What do you think?

[Ali Gledhill]

I've heard it said that the valleys and mountains being made plain refers to the mountainous land between Babylon and Jerusalem; that the way back from exile would be made easy.  I'm not sure what it's all about, but I suspect it will be one of those bits of prophesy which has fulfillment in different ways in different eras, but ultimately in Jesus.

[Phill]

I've heard it said that the valleys and mountains being made plain refers to the mountainous land between Babylon and Jerusalem; that the way back from exile would be made easy.  I'm not sure what it's all about, but I suspect it will be one of those bits of prophesy which has fulfillment in different ways in different eras, but ultimately in Jesus.

I agree with this - the prophecies often have multiple fulfilments - talking both about the restoration of Israel, the coming of Jesus, and the future coming Kingdom of God.

You may be right about the Romans - the Pax Romana (I think that's what it was called!) allowed free travel throughout the empire and did indeed mean the gospel probably spread more than it would have done without the empire. I was thinking about this recently actually, Christopher Hitchens (an atheist) often makes the point in his debates that God waited for thousands of years before sending Jesus and saving humanity. It seems to me that one answer to that is, if Jesus had come before the message might not have spread to all humanity.

Having said all that, I don't think you can read too much into prophecy, I suppose the important thing is the message rather than the specifics!