Isaiah 62:1-5
From Desolate to Delight!
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Imagine that the city where you were born, the city where you grew up, the city where you have lived your entire life has gone from being a beautiful thriving city to a shell of what it once was. For decades there was one major employer in your town. When they closed up shop and moved away thousands of well-paying jobs evaporated and the local economy tanked. As a result the downtown area that was once thriving with businesses and restaurants is becoming more and more empty. Abandoned buildings are boarded up and covered with graffiti. Walking through the downtown is not only depressing, but it has become very dangerous— especially at night. You know deep down in your heart that the day is coming when you will need to leave the city you love.
Now imagine that something miraculous happens! A coalition of tech companies has chosen your city as the place where they want to build a huge manufacturing plant which will produce the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles— everything from cars to semis. Thousands of well-paying jobs are coming back to your city. Almost overnight businesses and restaurants start re-opening. Some of the older buildings are being restored to their former glory. The sidewalks are once again teeming with people who are obviously filled with joy. On the day the new manufacturing plant opens its doors the local newspaper runs the headline: From Desolation to Delight!
If you can picture that scenario in your mind, my friends, then you will be able to picture the scenario that the Lord God paints for His people here in our text for today. Through His servant Isaiah God makes a promise to His faithful children. God promises that He Himself will bring His children: From Desolation to Delight!
What kind of desolation had befallen the faithful people of God? It is the desolation that God warned He would bring upon His people if they turned their backs on Him, rejected the covenant He had established with them and began to serve idols made by the hands of mortal men. Isaiah describes those idols in this say, “Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles” (Isaiah 46:6-7; See also Psalm 115:4-7).
The spiritual desolation that is the result of forsaking the Lord and worshiping idols then led to the physical and the political devastation that was the result of the Lord’s judgment on His unfaithful and rebellious people. The northern Kingdom of Israel experienced the judgment of God when God allowed the Assyrians to defeat, destroy and completely devastate the entire kingdom. When Assyria turned south to attack Judah and Jerusalem the only reason they were spared was because the Lord the angel of the Lord put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in just one night. (See 2 Kings 19:35) But God warned the people of Jerusalem and Judah that if they continued to follow the same path that led to the devastation of the Kingdom of Israel, God would bring His judgment down upon them at the hands of the Babylonians. In fact, through His servant Isaiah the Lord clearly revealed to the southern Kingdom of Judah the devastation and the desolation they would experience as a result of their unfaithfulness. He says, “The fortress (Jerusalem) will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtowers will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks” (Isaiah 32:14). For the people of Jerusalem and Judah who were striving to remain faithful to the Lord and to His covenant these words were devastating. They knew that the God who had brought devastation and desolation on their unfaithful brothers and sisters in the northern kingdom, the God who had killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in just one night is the God who says what He means and means what He says. They knew that devastation and desolation was looming on the horizon.
Was all lost? Was there no hope? Of course not! The faithful children of God knew that the Lord their God is not only the God of perfect justice, but the Lord their God is also the God of perfect grace! These words that serve as our text for today were designed to bring hope and joy and comfort to the hearts of everyone in Jerusalem and Judah who were indeed striving to remain faithful to the Lord. God begins by expressing His own joy and His own excitement by saying to His people, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.”
While even the faithful people of God in Jerusalem and Judah would endure devastation and desolation at the hands of the Babylonians, the Lord God Himself promised that He will remain faithful to His covenant with His people. In His grace and in His mercy God Himself promised that He would bring them from desolation to delight! And did you notice, my friends, did you notice how all the blessings that Isaiah lists here in our text are something that God does for His people? For example, “righteousness” and “salvation” are both gifts from God. Isaiah had already emphasized this truth when he said in chapter 61, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10),
In addition to bringing His people from desolation to delight by giving them the gifs of “righteousness” and “salvation” the Lord God grants His people a royal status. He says to them, “You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” This picture reminds us that God’s people— and by extension the Christian Church— is both God’s creation and God’s prized possessi0on. Every believer is a “new creation” of God’s grace and God’s power. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17) Every believer is like a “crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand.” Every believer is like a “royal diadem in the hand of your God.” Every believer is safe and secure in the hands of the Lord. Every believer is an example of how the Lord God brings His people from desolation to delight!
The royal status that God has granted to His people is highlighted when Isaiah goes into greater detail concerning the “new name” that God grants to His people. Look once again at the closing verses of our text. Isaiah writes, “No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah, for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”
The judgment that was coming upon God’s Old Testament people would bring upon them unparalleled devastation and desolation! From the outside it would look as though God’s Chosen People had been deserted. From the outside it would look like the land that was described as “flowing with milk and honey” was left desolate. But the Lord had promises to keep! The faithfulness of God is emphasized in the two names God would give to His people. “Hephzibah” means “My delight is in her.” “Beulah” means “married.” With these names the Lord God pictures how He will bring His people from desolation to delight. With these names God proclaims that His people are His beloved Bride!
While these words of Isaiah were powerful words of hope for the people of Jerusalem and Judah who would experience the devastation of being conquered by unbelievers and the desolation of being carried off into captivity, do these words have any relevant application to us and to our lives today? Or is our text just an interesting glimpse into the history of God’s Chosen People? The answer to both of those questions is found in Paul’s words to the Romans, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). To help us see how the Lord has graciously brought us from desolation to delight, let’s take the blessings that Isaiah highlights here in our text and see how they do indeed apply to us.
The devastation and the desolation that God’s people experienced at the hands of their enemies— Assyria and Babylon— pale in comparison to the devastation and the desolation we experienced at the hands of our spiritual enemies— the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. As you and I openly confess here in church on a regular basis we too have rebelled against the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth in our thoughts, in our words and in our actions. We too have done what is evil in His sight and failed to do what is good. We too deserve His punishment both now and in eternity. If God were to simply leave us to fend for ourselves we would remain captives of sin, death and the devil for all of eternity. If God were to simply leave us to fend for ourselves we would experience a devastation and desolation that cannot be put into words.
That’s why it is such a delight to know that what God proclaimed to His people in the days of Isaiah He still proclaims to us, His people today! In faithfulness to the covenant that the God of heaven established with us when we were baptized in His Name, He has freely given to us the priceless gifts of “salvation” and “righteousness.” Through faith in what Jesus has done for us (Pointing to the cross) we have been given the beautiful robe of perfect righteousness that guarantees to us eternal salvation! (See Revelation 7:14)
Since God Himself has dressed us with “righteousness” and “salvation” we too have now been given a “royal status” in His eyes. No matter how old we are or how young we are, no matter whether we have been a Christian for ten minutes or for one hundred years God has made us “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). As the royal children of our heavenly Father one day we will reign with Christ as kings and queens in our heavenly Father’s Kingdom! (See Revelation 20:4-6)
And finally, to emphasize that the Lord has indeed brought us from desolation to delight the Bible proclaims that as members of the Holy Christian Church, as the Communion of Saints, we are the “Bride” of Christ. (See Isaiah 61:10; Hosea 2:16-20; Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 19:7-8; 21:2, 9) One of my favorite Scripture references for this truth is found in Revelation 21. John writes, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). The fact that we are the Bride and Jesus is the Bridegroom emphasizes the love that Christ has for us. It emphasizes how much we can and do rely on Him (Pointing to the cross) to protect us and to provide for us.
God’s people in the days of Isaiah were experiencing a physical devastation and a physical desolation that we pray that neither we nor our grandchildren’s grandchildren will ever experience. Praise God that His promise to bring His people from desolation to delight is not only a dramatic example of His power and His faithfulness and His grace, but praise God that His promise to His people in the days of Isaiah, reminds us and assures us that the Lord our God has fulfilled His promise to bring us out of spiritual devastation and spiritual desolation into the sheer delight of being His beloved Bride! (Pointing to the cross)
To God be the glory!
Amen
