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.
William KellyLand 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.
William KellyGod 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.
William J HockingOne 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:
F. B. HoleThe 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.
William KellyGod 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:
C. H. MackintoshSome 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.
William KellySome 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")
For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, shall thy sons marry thee; and with the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, shall thy God rejoice over thee.
Isaiah 62 closes a long line of promises to a city once called Forsaken. Verse 5 gives the reason behind her new names, and the picture is a wedding. Who is the bride? When does this happen? Whose joy is it?
Verse 5 explains verse 4. Two old names give way to two new ones. One writer explains why the change will last: it now rests on the Messiah, not on the nation that failed before.
William KellyHis people will lose the name Azubah (Forsaken), and the land will lose the name Shemamah (Desolate). Instead the people will bear the name Hephzibah (My delight is in her), and the land the name Beulah (Married). The blessing from now on rests on Jehovah-Messiah, who never did and never can fail; not on the worm Jacob, whom no one could rely on, and no one ever should have.
The marriage figure reaches the land as well as the people. One writer takes it back to Canaan itself.
J. G. BellettBut the Lord Himself would till Canaan. He would water it from heaven Himself — His heart would care for it, and His eyes would rest on it from one end of the year to the other. As another Scripture says, "Your land shall be married." A strong figure.
The verse also promises that Israel's sons will marry her. One writer places that marriage at the appearing of Christ.
F. B. HoleWhen it does take place at the appearing of Christ, the people God delivers will be repentant and born again. As such they will be called "Married." The figure used in verse 5 is a young man marrying a virgin people and their land. It may remind us of the striking words of Psalm 110. There the people who refused Jesus in the day of His poverty will be willing in the day of His power, and the youth of Israel will come to Him like dew falling on a summer morning. Only then will Jehovah their God rejoice over them.
Notice who does the rejoicing. It is not the bride but the Bridegroom. One writer links this joy to the sorrow of Christ's first coming.
Samuel RidoutWho indeed can measure that joy, except He who wept over Jerusalem? Who can know the delight of seeing them turn to Him, except the One who was rejected by His people? "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
Because the New Testament also speaks of a bride, readers ask whether this verse is about the church. One writer answers no. He keeps the two brides distinct without setting them against each other.
William KellyWe must not suppose that this takes anything away from the heavenly bride, the church... In short, we must remember that the bride is only a figure. The church has a nearer place than any others in heaven. In the same way, Jerusalem — or Zion if you will — will have a special place near to Messiah on the earth. The Lord's heart is surely large enough for both heaven and earth.
The scene belongs to an age still ahead. But one writer finds that same joy at work now, while evil is still mixed in with good.
The Bible TreasuryThe prophets had borne witness to the joy of Jehovah over His people Israel when they shall be restored... That joy, however, belongs to the blessed time when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." But the truth in the parable is this. Even during the period when tares, leaven, and unclean birds defile the kingdom of heaven, the saints are such a treasure in the Lord's own estimation that they give Him abundant joy.
- Forsaken. The old names were honest: a people abandoned, a land left desolate. The verse does not deny that history; it ends it.
- Delighted in. Hephzibah means "My delight is in her." Beulah means "Married." The names change because God's heart toward her changes.
- Secured. The new standing rests on Messiah, who cannot fail — not on Jacob, whom no one could rely on.
- Rejoiced over. The joy in the verse is the Bridegroom's. Its depth shows in the One who once wept over that same city, and whose own people refused Him.
- Shared. The earthly bride of this promise is not the heavenly bride, the church. The Lord's heart is wide enough for both. Even now His people are a treasure that gives Him joy.