Theme: Divine majesty and desert miracles

Exegetical Note
In a passage reminiscent of Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-55), the author here celebrates the return of his people from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. The allusion throughout is to the earlier Exodus from Egypt, but the miracles are even greater: the desert itself is transformed by the glory and majesty of God, while the ransomed and redeemed walk the "holy way" there in wholeness, peace, and joy. From a Christian perspective, the passage prefigures the miraculous …