For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.
The speaker makes a double promise: no silence, no keeping quiet. And He makes it for a city, not for Himself. Commentators read this as intercession. They ask who is speaking, what He is waiting for, and who else joins the same unresting prayer.
The chapter opens with someone who refuses to stop asking. One writer identifies the voice as Christ pleading through the prophet. He also notes what has changed since the days of grief:
The Spirit of Christ in the prophet is urgent in intercession for Zion, as we see at the start of this chapter. For it is He who praises Jehovah in the name of the people and their capital. He speaks for the Bridegroom and for the earthly bride. He expresses joy now as perfectly as He once expressed grief beyond measure and suffering for sin that was full of grace. But it is not now in view of sin and weakness and unworthiness. It is so that Zion may shine brightly from now on in her light of righteousness and salvation before the nations and all kings.
Another writer says this praying does not stop with the speaker:
In this chapter we have Christ's intercession. We also see Him putting the spirit of intercession into the watchmen on her walls. May the Lord grant it to the Church — His Church! The chapter also declares the effect: He will not cease until He has accomplished everything, and He sets the watchmen in the same position.
The pleading has a stopping point. One writer names when it ends and who sees the result:
The intercession at the start of the chapter is Christ's. He will not rest until He has accomplished His purpose in His earthly people and in Zion. When it is accomplished, Gentiles and kings will see it.
The verse ends with an image of light. The ESV calls it "a burning torch." Older translations say "a lamp that burns," and that is the wording these writers use. One writer traces the lamp back to Abraham and forward into the kingdom:
Abraham saw from far off the "lamp" that is promised here to shine one day in the kingdom of the Son of David (Gen. 15:17). In this way he saw Christ's "day," and "was glad." It has been the desire both of Christ and His people all through the night-time of this present world. (Isa. 62:1) The Lord Himself, in answer to that desire, will light it up at the right time. (Ps. 18:28) And then it will shine in steady, full brightness through the kingdom. (Isa. 60:1)
Commentators differ on who Zion means here. One writer notes how others, including Theodoret, have read it:
Theodoret in his comment, like others, saw the church here. He did not see the future restoration of Israel, with the Lord reigning in Zion after He has received those who now believe into heavenly glory. And that is still the common view of Christendom.
Another writer makes the same point from the side of God's affections. He says God's care for an earthly people is still alive:
His occupation with the Church has not dulled His affections for His earthly people. He is raising up intercessors and bringing them into communion with Himself to pray for it.
God's own purpose sets the pattern for our praying. One writer draws out the rule:
While He plans to bless Zion, He wants people on the earth who remind Him, pleading with Him to carry out what He has set His heart on. So praying with understanding requires knowing His word.
Another writer says what those watchmen keep doing through the long wait:
During Israel's night the watchmen are not to hold their peace. They are, so to speak, to keep reminding the Lord that His glory is tied to two things: Israel settled in their land, and Jerusalem becoming a praise to His name in the earth.
- Voice. The One who refuses silence is Christ interceding through the prophet. He once spoke in grief. Now He speaks for the Bridegroom and the earthly bride.
- Until. The pleading is not open-ended. It runs until He accomplishes His purpose for Zion. Then Gentiles and kings will see what He has done.
- Lamp. Abraham glimpsed the burning lamp from far off. Christ and His people have longed for it through the whole night of this age. God Himself will light it at the right time.
- Dispute. Commentators differ. Many have applied Zion here to the church. Others read it as a real, future restoration of Israel.
- Echo. The praying spreads. God sets watchmen to remind Him of what He has purposed. So prayer that matches His heart starts with knowing His word.
And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will name.
Isaiah 62 opens with a voice that will not keep quiet until Zion's righteousness blazes out. Verse 2 says what that produces: nations and kings looking on, and a new name for the city, spoken by God Himself. Who is pleading? Who gets the new name? And what is that name? Those are the questions the commentators press.
This promise answers a prayer. Writers trace it back to the One who pleads at the start of the chapter.
The intercession at the beginning of the chapter is that of Christ. He will not rest till He has accomplished His purpose in His earthly people and in Zion. When it is accomplished, Gentiles and kings will witness it. Zion then shall be called by a new name.
The chapter marks a turn. Zion's sin and weakness are no longer the subject.
But the view now is not sin and weakness and unworthiness. It is that Zion may from now on shine brightly in her light of righteousness and salvation before the nations and all kings… Land and people are bound up in the plans and affections of Jehovah. The people are called My delight is in her; the land, Married. And this mark of favour will prove a divine ground of patriotism for Israel.
Isaiah is careful about whose mouth speaks the name. That detail carries weight across the whole Bible.
We may note that the authority to give a name always marks moral supremacy in Scripture. See Genesis 2:19-20, 23; Genesis 5:3; Numbers 13:16; Isaiah 62:2; Hosea 1; John 1:42, and others.
The verses that follow give the content of the new name. One writer shows why the swap holds — it rests on someone other than Israel — and how far the blessing reaches.
His people will no more be called Azubah (Forsaken). The land will no more be called Shemamah (Desolate). Instead the people are Hephzibah (My delight is in her), and the land Beulah (Married). From now on the blessing rests on Jehovah-Messiah, who never did fail and never can. It does not rest on the worm Jacob, who could not be relied on, and never should have been. From now on it is not the first covenant, which asked from sinful Israel a fulfilment fit for Jehovah and never found it. It will be for ever the new covenant, founded on an infinitely better sacrifice which brings the forgiveness of sins. Messiah's chief interest then will be Israel and Jerusalem, but all the nations and the earth will be blessed in divine goodness.
Commentators differ on what the new name is. One points to a name Jeremiah gives the same city, built on the very thing the nations see here — her righteousness.
Jehovah-Tsidkenu. This will be the Name of Jehovah when God regathers Israel. It will be His Name when Christ, the "righteous Branch," reigns as King and "shall execute justice and righteousness in the land" (Jeremiah 23:5-8). The Lord will be known by this Name. But Jerusalem will carry it too. She will dwell in safety under the protection of Christ, and she will also be called "The LORD our Righteousness." This favoured city has suffered so much down the ages, and the Son of God wept over her. Now she is redeemed and worthy to bear the Name of Jehovah, for she will bear His character in righteousness and display His glory.
The renaming uses the picture of a wife left alone. One writer marks out who that picture belongs to.
The church, on the other hand, is never called a widow. This term only applies to Israel and the remnant (Isaiah 54:4-5; 62:2-5).
- Cause. The city does not earn the new name. It comes because Christ will not rest until He finishes His purpose in Zion.
- Gift. God alone speaks the name. In Scripture, the right to name always marks moral supremacy. So the name comes down from above.
- Content. The old names go: Forsaken (Azubah) and Desolate (Shemamah). New ones take their place: My delight is in her (Hephzibah) and Married (Beulah). Both rest on Jehovah-Messiah, who cannot fail.
- Character. Jeremiah gives the same city the name "The LORD our Righteousness." She is worthy to carry His Name because she now bears His character.
- Reach. The result is public. Nations and kings see the righteousness and the glory. And the promise still belongs to Israel, the widow God restores.
And thou shalt be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Isaiah 62 opens with a voice that will not stay silent until Zion's righteousness shines out before the whole world. Verse 3 shows the result: a ruined city turned into royal jewellery, held in God's hand rather than worn on her own head. (The writers quoted below use an older translation, which reads "a crown of glory".)
Who keeps pleading for Zion here? One writer identifies the voice as the Spirit of Christ in the prophet, praying and praising in the people's own name.
The Spirit of Christ in the prophet is urgent in intercession for Zion, as we see at the beginning of this chapter. For it is He who praises Jehovah in the name of the people and their capital. He speaks for the Bridegroom and for the earthly bride. He expresses joy now as perfectly as He once expressed grief too deep to measure, and suffering for sin that was gracious beyond measure. But He no longer speaks in view of sin and weakness and unworthiness. He speaks so that Zion may from now on shine in her light of righteousness and salvation before the nations and all kings.
The crown is in the hand of the LORD — a detail one commentator reads as the whole point. The nation that once made God look bad will become the exhibit of how good He is.
Israel will stand before the eyes of all the nations in a righteous salvation. God Himself has worked it, so they will display His glory, and not their own. The figures used in verse 3 express this very well. Previously, how different the situation was! The Apostle Paul had to write about them, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (Rom. 2:24). Now they will be "a crown of glory" and "a royal diadem" in God's hand.
Another writer puts the crown in the hands of the King Israel rejected. He reads the twelve loaves of showbread, kept in God's presence, as a picture of God's people.
The twelve loaves were before God even then, though in a hidden way. They were kept safe — as faith realised (Acts 26) — in hope of the day when their once-rejected King will gather them to Him. He will present them to God, clothed with the fragrance of His own preciousness, as a crown of glory (Isa. 62:3) for Himself — the true table of showbread.
The promise has an order to it. One writer points to a scene where God cleanses a filthy priest before He crowns him.
In Zechariah 3, before Jerusalem can be blessed in this way, the people must be cleansed. They are pictured in Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah, with Satan standing to resist him. God takes up the defence of His people. He rebukes Satan, takes away the filthy garments, and removes the iniquity. He clothes Joshua with festive robes and sets a pure tiara or diadem on his head: compare Isa. 62:3.
One writer traces the crown back to a promise God made to Israel long before.
Jehovah had said to them, "You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified" (Isaiah 49:3). In fulfilment of this, they will yet become "a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord." Then "righteousness and praise" will "spring forth before all the nations." This will not come from keeping the law. It will come from wearing Jehovah's robe of righteousness. What has failed under law is yet to be accomplished in grace.
One writer keeps the earthly city in its own place. Jerusalem on earth answers to a heavenly one, and the two are not the same.
Jerusalem is the earthly counterpart of the Lamb's bride. As we trace her history as the centre of Messiah's kingdom on the earth, we see that God will lift her up in a very special way, to catch the glory of the heavenly bride. The earthly Zion will be lifted up as a royal diadem in the hand of her God; glory will be her covering, and the nations will be coming up to worship at Jerusalem.
Another writer measures that future against Jerusalem's best days.
Its future condition will surpass its former as far as the glory of Christ as King will outshine that of David and Solomon. … And surely it is only fitting that the capital of Messiah's kingdom should match the worthiness, dignity, and glory of the King!
- Whose hand. God holds the crown; Zion does not wear it. The glory on show is His, and she is only the setting that displays it.
- Cleansed first. Zechariah 3 sets the order. The filthy garments come off, the guilt goes, and only then comes the pure diadem.
- Grace, not law. Israel failed under law to be the people who show God's glory. Grace will do it, and clothe them in righteousness.
- Seen by kings. God lifts the crown where the nations can see it. Zion's glory is public, and the world reads God's character off her.
- Held by the King. The rejected King gathers His people and presents them to God. They carry the fragrance of His own preciousness — a crown for Himself.
Thou shalt no more be termed, Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed, Desolate but thou shalt be called, My delight is in her, and thy land, Married; for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Isaiah's words fall on a people whose two public names had become "Forsaken" and "Desolate" — a nation without her God and a land without her people. Here God Himself renames both. Two questions follow: what turns the shame into delight, and who receives this promise?
The verse gives two Hebrew names, one to the people and one to the land. God's dealings hold the two together.
Land and people are both bound up in the plans and affections of Jehovah. The people are called, My delight is in her; the land, Married. And this mark of favour will give Israel a God-given reason to love her country.
The old names were not slander. God had forsaken Zion, and the land had lain empty. So what makes the new names hold? One writer points to a change of foundation.
God will no longer call His people Azubah (Forsaken), nor the land Shemamah (Desolate). He will call the one Hephzibah (My delight is in her) and the other Beulah (Married). From now on the blessing rests on Jehovah-Messiah, who never failed and never can. It does not rest on the worm Jacob, who could not be relied on and never should have been. From now on it is not the first covenant, which demanded from sinful Israel an obedience fit for Jehovah and never found it. It will be forever the new covenant, founded on a far better sacrifice that brings the forgiveness of sins. Under it Jehovah puts His law inside them and writes it on their hearts. He is their God, and they are His people.
"Beulah" means married, and the picture is deliberate. God does not simply end the exile; He takes back a wife.
One of Isaiah's prophecies pictures the blessing of Zion in the day of her future redemption under the striking figure of marriage. In a coming day God will deliver Israel from her forsaken and desolate condition. Jehovah-Messiah will then be her Bridegroom, and she will be His earthly bride. Even the land of her inheritance will be "married."
One writer sees that wedding day pictured in Jesus' first sign, when water became wine:
The first sign pointed forward to the time predicted in Isaiah 62:4-5, when Israel's wedding day will have come, and the water kept for purifying will yield the wine of gladness.
Many readers assume the promise passes to the church. Kelly tests that against the wording of the verse: the two old names do not fit Christians.
God has never forsaken the church, while He certainly did forsake Zion. And we, as members of the glorified Christ, have no homeland but heaven, which cannot be called desolate. Apply the language to Israel, and it is all clear and plain, without straining a single word.
Another writer states the same conclusion in stronger terms:
Some try to take this grand and glorious passage away from the object it belongs to, and apply it to the Christian church, either on earth or in heaven. That does real violence to the word of God. It brings in a system of interpretation that destroys the integrity of holy scripture. The passage we have just written out with deep spiritual delight applies only to the literal Zion, the literal Jerusalem, the literal land of Israel.
If Israel is the bride here, what about the church? Kelly meets the objection head on.
Some find a difficulty, because Revelation clearly teaches that the church is the bride, the Lamb's wife, while Isaiah says this of Israel and of their land with Jehovah. But there is really no difficulty; for the one speaks of what is for heaven, the other for the earth. And what is to stop there being one object especially dear in heaven, and another here below in that day? ... Both are true, but their spheres are as distinct as the two objects themselves, and as distinct as the kind of relationship Christ has with each. To mix them up is to deny Israel's future hopes and to lose the heavenly place of the church.
- Forsaken — The old names were honest: the people abandoned, the land empty. God never renames by pretending the past did not happen.
reason: hard bullets; claim not on the page ("from God's mouth")