Topical Bible: Highways: Often Obstructed

◄ Highways: Often Obstructed ►

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In biblical times, highways were crucial for travel and trade, serving as the main routes connecting cities and regions. However, these roads were often obstructed, presenting challenges to travelers and impacting the movement of people and goods. The concept of obstructed highways is mentioned in various contexts throughout the Bible, symbolizing both physical and spiritual impediments.

Physical Obstructions

Highways in ancient Israel and surrounding regions were not the paved roads we know today. They were often dirt paths that could be easily blocked by natural elements such as fallen trees, rocks, or mudslides. Additionally, highways could be obstructed by human activities, including banditry and warfare. In Judges 5:6, during the time of Shamgar and Jael, the highways were abandoned due to the threat of violence: "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, and travelers took winding paths."

Spiritual and Symbolic Obstructions

Beyond physical barriers, highways in the Bible also carry a symbolic meaning, representing the spiritual journey of God's people. Obstructions on these paths can symbolize the challenges and temptations that believers face in their walk with God. Isaiah 40:3-4 speaks of preparing the way for the Lord, removing obstacles to make a straight path: "A voice of one calling: 'Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.'"

Divine Intervention and Restoration

The Bible also speaks of God's intervention in clearing these obstructions, both physically and spiritually. In Isaiah 57:14, God commands the removal of obstacles from His people's path: "And it will be said: 'Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of My people.'" This divine action reflects God's desire for His people to have a clear path to righteousness and communion with Him.

Moral and Ethical Implications

The concept of obstructed highways also carries moral and ethical implications. Believers are called to remove stumbling blocks from the paths of others, promoting justice and righteousness. Proverbs 4:26-27 advises, "Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil." This passage encourages believers to maintain integrity and to help others do the same by ensuring that their paths are free from moral and spiritual obstructions.

In summary, the theme of highways being often obstructed in the Bible serves as a powerful metaphor for the challenges faced in both physical journeys and spiritual walks. It underscores the need for divine guidance and human responsibility in overcoming these obstacles to achieve a closer relationship with God and a more righteous life.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Jeremiah 18:15
Because my people has forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Our First Proposition Was, that There is Satisfactory Evidence ...
... which yet, in other respects, often afford, as ... of the extraordinary circumstances
which obstructed the rebuilding ... in the street, in highways; with preparation ...
/.../paley/evidences of christianity/chapter i our first proposition.htm

Syria at the Beginning of the Egyptian Conquest
... happened to become obstructed, the sheet of water subsided from evaporation, leaving
in many places merely an expanse of shifting mud, often concealed under ...
/.../chapter iisyria at the beginning.htm