Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 62:4
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
4, 5. The reunion of Zion with her Husband and her children. Cf. ch. Isa 49:14 ff., Isa 54:1 f., 4 ff.
Forsaken ] Hebr. ‘sb h; found as a proper name in 1Ki 22:42. Similarly Hephzi-bah (= “delight in her”) is the actual name of the mother of Manasseh (2Ki 21:1).
Beulah ] ( b‘lh) i.e. “married,” see ch. Isa 54:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken – That is, thou shalt be no more so forsaken as to make such an I appellation proper. This refers to the new name which the prophet says Isa 62:2 will be conferred on her.
Neither shall thy land – Thy country shall no more be so wasted that the term desolation ( shemamah, Greek eremos) shall be properly applied to it.
But thou shalt be called Hepzi-bah – Margin, as Hebrew, My delight is in her. The idea is, that Yahweh would show her such favor, and he would have so much pleasure in his people, that this name of endearment would be appropriately given to her. The Septuagint renders this, Thelema emon – My will, or my delight. The sense is, that Jerusalem would be eminently the object of his delight.
And thy land Beulah – Margin, as Hebrew, Married; or rather, thou art married. The Septuagint renders it, Oikoumene – Inhabited. Lowth renders it, The wedded matron. The figure is taken from a female who had been divorced, and whose appropriate name was Forsaken. God says here that the appropriate name henceforward would not be the Forsaken, but the married one – the one favored and blessed of God (see the notes at Isa. 1. 1). Language like this is common in the East. A sovereign is spoken of as married to his dominions; they mutually depend on each other. When a king takes possessions from another, he is said to be married to them – (Roberts).
Thy land shall be married – See the notes at Isa 54:4-6, where this figure is extended to greater length. By a similar figure the church is represented as the beautiful bride of the Lamb of God Rev 21:9; Rev 19:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 62:4
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken
A joyful change of condition
No more shall it be called to thee (shalt thou be called) Azubah (Forsaken), and thy land shall no more be called Shemamah (Desolate); but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (My delight is in her), and thy land Beulah (Married), for Jehovah delights in thee, and thy land shall be married.
The joyful change of condition is expressed in the prophets favourite manner, by significant names. The common version not only mars the beauty of the passage, but renders it in some degree unintelligible to the English reader, by translating the first two names and retaining the others in their Hebrew dress. It is obvious that all four should be treated alike, i.e that all the Hebrew forms should be retained, or none. Henderson prefers the latter method, on the ground ,that the names are merely symbolical, and will, never be employed as proper names. It is probable, however, that they were all familiar to the Jews as female names in real life. This we know to have been the ease with two of them (1Ki 22:42; 2Ki 21:1). It is better, therefore, to retain the Hebrew forms, in order to give them an air of reality as proper names, and at the same time to render them intelligible by translation. In the last clause there is reference to the primary meaning of the verb, viz that of owning or possessing; and as the inhabitants of towns are sometimes called in Hebrew their possessors, its use here would suggest, as at least one meaning of the promise, thy land shall be inhabited, and so it is translated in the Targum. (J. A. Alexander.)
Spiritual espousal
I invite your attention to some reflections on the Scriptural use of marriage, as a type of the mystical union betwixt Christ and His Church. This tender, beautiful image implies–
I. CHOICE. In all nations there has been the instinctive rule that the initiative choice is not with the bride, but with the bridegroom. Its spiritual parallel is in the declaration of Jesus to His disciples, Ye has not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. I am jealous over you, said Paul, with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. At the same time all are bound, because all are invited, to seek the Lord while He may be found, to choose this day whom ye serve; then the farther element in the marriage symbol will be verified.
II. DEVOTION. You will love Him because He first loved you. It is often observed in ordinary married life, how the mutual love of husband and wife enables them to bear, not only without bitterness or mutual recriminations, but with a greater clinging to, and confidence in each other, the trials, sorrows, and burdens of life. Love lightens the load, when each one, for the others sake, cheerfully takes his or her share. The love of Christ endears Him to the believer, and the believer to Him.
III. INSEPARABLE UNION. Earthly ties of man and wife are liable to many incidents of severance. Necessities of particular callings in life sometimes separate them, lands and seas asunder. Guilt, aversion, insanity, disease and death, often dissolve the union, which once bid fair to be firmly riveted till death them should part. The believers union with Christ is liable to no such disastrous issues. Not that this consolatory doctrine dispenses with the necessity of a faithful, obedient, and devout course of effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life. The Divine idea of marriage is a united family, basing its bond of union on the unity of its parentage. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, etc. True spiritual union with Christ involves an ascendency of affection. If any man love father or mother more than Me, etc. In a deep sense it may be said of Christ and His disciple, They twain are one Spirit. (J. B. Owen, M. A.)
Thy land shall be married
Thy land shall be married,
Thy land shall be married, i.e it shall become fruitful again and be replenished.
1. Her sons shall heartily espouse the land of their nativity, and the interests of it, which they had for a long time neglected, as despairing ever to have any comfortable enjoyment of it. Thy sons shall marry thee, i.e they shall live with thee, and take delight in thee. When they were in Babylon, they seemed to have espoused that land, for they were appointed to settle, and to seek the peace of it (Jer 29:5-7); but now they shall again marry their own land, as a young man marrieth a virgin that he takes great delight in, is extremely fond of, and is likely to have many children by. It bodes well to a land when its own natives and inhabitants are pleased with it, prefer it before other lands; when its princes marry their country, and resolve to take their lot with it.
2. Which is much better, her God shall betroth her to Himself in righteousness (Hos 2:19-20). (M. Henry.)
Monopoly and communism
I propose to name some of the suitors who are claiming the hand of this Republic.
1. There is a greedy, all-grasping monster who comes in as suitor seeking the hand of this Republic, and that monster is known by the name of Monopoly. His sceptre is made out of the iron of the rail-track and the wire of telegraphy. He does everything for his own advantage and for the robbery of the people. Such monopolies imply an infinite acreage of wretchedness. Great monopolies in any land imply great privation.
2. Another suitor claiming the hand of this Republic is Nihilism. He owns nothing but a knife for universal blood-letting and a nitro-glycerine bomb for universal explosion. He believes in no God, no government, no heaven, and no hell, except what he can make on earth. He slew the Czar of Russia, killed Abraham Lincoln, and would put to death every king and president on earth, if he had the power. (T. De W. Talmage, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Thy land Beulah] beulah, married. In the prophets, a desolate land is represented under the notion of a widow; an inhabited land, under that of a married woman, who has both a husband and children.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; as a woman forsaken by her husband, contemptible, and of low esteem.
Neither shall thy land, i.e. the inhabitants of the land, a metonymy of the subject,
any more be termed Desolate; though it be now almost void of inhabitants, it shall be impeopled again.
Thou shalt be called, i.e. be, as you have frequently had such instances.
Hephzi-bah; My delight is in her; a new name, agreeing with her new condition.
Beulah;
Married, agreeing to her new relation; she shall be as one well married, to the great improvement of her state, Jer 3:14; Hos 2:18-20.
Thy land shall be married; thou shalt see the increase of thy children again in thy land, as the fruit of thy married condition, which by reason of thy being forsaken of thy husband were in a manner wasted and decayed; and this refers to the great enlargement of the church in the gospel days. Or rather, shall be possessed, as the word baal properly signifies; and so it answers to desolate, Thou shalt be no more desolate, but possessed; and this helps to solve a difficulty in the next verse, which otherwise may seem an impropriety, that the sons would marry the mother.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. be termedbe“forsaken,” so as that that term could be applicable tothee.
Hephzi-bah (2Ki21:1), the name of Hezekiah’s wife, a type of Jerusalem, asHezekiah was of Messiah (Isa 32:1):”my delight is in her.”
Beulah“Thou artmarried.” See the same contrast of Zion’s past and future stateunder the same figure (Isa 54:4-6;Rev 21:2; Rev 21:4).
land . . . marriedtoJehovah as its Lord and Husband: implying not only ownership,but protection on the part of the Owner [HORSLEY].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou shall no more be termed Forsaken,…. That is, of the Lord her God, as she had seemed to be to others, and thought to be so by herself, Isa 49:14, not having so much of his gracious presence as is desirable; sensible communion with him being withheld; the word and ordinances not owned and blessed, or very little; and few souls converted; and the interest of Christ, labouring under many difficulties and discouragements, under the reproaches and persecutions of men, and so looked as if forsaken of God; but in the latter day all these complaints shall be removed; and the presence of God will be very manifest in his churches, and among his people; and they will appear to be his care and charge; see Isa 60:15:
neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; as the Gentile world was before the preaching of the Gospel in it; and as the land of Israel now is, and the Jewish people are, having rejected the Messiah, and continuing in impenitence and unbelief; and as the church of Christ is, when the word and ordinances are neglected, or little success attends them; but now more shall be the children of the desolate than of the married wife; many souls shall be born again in Zion, and many sons and daughters brought there, and brought up there, and therefore shall not be called desolate, Isa 49:19:
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; the former of these was the name of Hezekiah’s mother, 2Ki 21:1 and a fit name for the church of Christ, who is pleasant to him for delights, So 7:6 and the latter well agrees with her being married to Christ. The meaning of these names is explained in the next clause; or the reason of their being given:
for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land is married; the former explains “Hephzibah”, which signifies “my delight is in her”; Christ delighted in his church from everlasting, as they were the objects of his own and his Father’s love; as chosen in him, and given to him as his spouse and bride, Pr 8:31 and he delights in them in time, as clothed with his righteousness, washed in his blood, and adorned with the graces of his Spirit; he delights in their company, to hear their voice, and see their countenance; they are the excellent in the earth, in whom is all his delight, Ps 16:2, and he will delight in them hereafter, in the spiritual reign, when he will glorify and beautify them, and make them an eternal excellency, Isa 60:7, and in the personal reign, when they shall be as a bride adorned for her husband, and his tabernacle shall be among them, and he will reign with them, and they with him; during which time he will be presenting them to himself, and delighting in them, as a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, Re 21:2 and in heaven to all eternity. The latter clause explains “Beulah”, which signifies “married”, as the church secretly was to Christ from all eternity; in the latter day the espousals of her to him will be more open and manifest; then the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and it will more clearly appear that she is in such a state, by the numerous converts in her, or sons and daughters that will be born in her to Christ, both of Jews and Gentiles, Re 19:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Zion will be once more the beloved of God, and her home the bride of her children. “Men will no more call thee ‘Forsaken one;’ and thy land they will no more call ‘Desert:’ but men will name thee ‘My delight in her,’ and thy home ‘Married one:’ for Jehovah hath delight in thee, and thy land is married. For the young man marrieth the maiden, thy children will marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth in the bride, thy God will rejoice in thee.” The prophecy mentions new names, which will now take the place of the old ones; but these names indicate what Zion appears to be, not her true nature which is brought to the light. In the explanatory clause stands at the head, because the name of Zion is given first in distinction from the name of her land. Zion has hitherto been called azubhah , forsaken by Jehovah, who formerly loved her; but she now receives instead the name of c hephts – bhah (really the name of a woman, viz., the wife of Hezekiah, and mother of Manasseh, 2Ki 21:1), for she is now the object of true affection on the part of Jehovah. With the rejoicing of a bridegroom in his bride (the accusative is used here in the same sense as in ; Ges. 138, 1) will her God rejoice in her, turning to her again with a love as strong and deep as the first love of a bridal pair. And the land of Zion’s abode, the fatherland of her children, was hitherto called sh e mamah ; it was turned into a desert by the heathen, and the connection that existed between it and the children of the land was severed; but now it shall be called b e ulah , for it will be newly married. A young man marries a virgin, thy children will marry thee: the figure and the fact are placed side by side in the form of an emblematical proverb, the particle of comparison being omitted (see Herzog’s Cyclopaedia, xiv 696, and Ges. 155, 2, h). The church in its relation to Jehovah is a weak but beloved woman, which has Him for its Lord and Husband (Isa 54:5); but in relation to her home she is the totality of those who are lords or possessors ( baale , 2Sa 6:2) of the land, and who call the land their own as it were by right of marriage. Out of the loving relation in which the church stands to its God, there flows its relation of authority over every earthly thing of which it stands in need. In some MSS there is a break here.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. Thou shalt no more be called forsaken. He meets a difficulty which might occur to the minds of believers, seeing that they were forsaken and abandoned, while at the same time they were called a “diadem” and a “crown.” Seeing that they were hated and abhorred by all nations, and sometimes even lay prostrate at the feet of their enemies, and no assistance of any kind was seen, it might appear ridiculous that they should receive these names, and thus be elevated to heaven and placed in the hand of God. He therefore means that the people, though for a time they resemble a divorced and forsaken woman, shall yet be restored so as to change their condition and name; as if he had said, “This divorce shall not be perpetual; God will at length receive thee to himself.” Thus, although the Church seems to be “forsaken,” and has the appearance of a divorced woman, yet the Lord will put an end to her afflictions and miseries.
For they shall call thee, My good-pleasure in her. He teaches that this proceeds from the “good-pleasure of God;” that is, from his undeserved favor, that nothing may be ascribed to the merits or excellence of men; as he says in Hosea,
“
I will espouse thee to me in mercy and compassions.” (Hos 2:19.)
And thus he shews that they shall be prosperous for no other reason than because God, out of his infinite goodness, will graciously condescend to receive into favor those whom he had abandoned. Although this relates strictly to the Church, yet let us learn in general that it is by the favor and bounty of God that cities and kingdoms are restored to their former condition, which, while he was angry and offended, appeared to be ruined. The Prophet, therefore, holds out to the consideration of the Jews the source of all the calamities which they had suffered, when he testifies that when God is reconciled to them, they will be happy; for we may gather from it that formerly God was angry with them, when their condition was wretched and miserable.
And thy land shall be married. This metaphor, by which he denotes the restoration of the people, is highly beautiful, and conveys twofold instruction. He shews that the state of variance between God and the Church shall be terminated; first, because she shall be received as a wife by her appeased husband; and secondly, because the multitude of people will take away the reproach of widowhood. The earth is, in some sense, married to its inhabitants, as trees to vines; and, on the other hand, when it is stripped of its inhabitants, it is said to be a widow.
For the good-pleasure of Jehovah is in thee. He again repeats and confirms what has been already said, that it is owing to the undeserved kindness of God that the Church is restored, that she remains in her condition, that the earth receives its inhabitants; for when God turns away his face and is angry with us, nothing can be looked for but destruction, and nothing can be expected from the aid or strength of men.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken . . .The change of name is here partially indicated, and probably finds its starting-point in the marriage of Hezekiah with Hephzi-bah (2Ki. 21:1), which, on the assumption of Isaiahs authorship of these chapters, would be fresh in the prophets memory. It would be entirely after his manner to see in the brides name, as in those of his own sons, an omen of the future. The fact that the Hebrew word for Forsaken (Azubah) had been borne by a previous queen, the mother of Jehoshaphat (1Ki. 22:42), confirms the view here taken. Hephzi-bah means my delight is in her; and Beulah, married.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4, 5. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken Messiah and his Zion are concreted. “Thou” refers to both in one. No more shall the terms, Forsaken and Desolate be thy reproachful name. But thy new name shall be,
Hephzi-bah “My-delight-in-her,” (Hebrew.) For Jehovah does have delight in thee.
And thy land Thy home.
Beulah And this means, Happily-married one, with a home springing with joy to its possessor. This idea of possession in the words marrying a land, helps one to understand the sentence so shall thy sons marry thee; that is, shall possess thee. Wife, children, and servants, in Hebrew law, and in ruling ideas in the early ages, (Mozley,) were held in absolute possession by the chief, or head, of the family. So in the tender social sense, a young man always possesses, when he marries, his bride. As is the joy of such possession, so shall God have joy in Zion, is the thought here.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 62:4. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken The prophet had said in the second verse, that the church should be called by a new name, which name is here expressed: that is to say, a new attribute should be discovered in the church, which had hitherto not been seen in her; namely, that she should receive a husband who had till now sat as a widow. Chephzi-bah, would better be rendered, my delight is in her, and Beulah, married. See Eph 5:25.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hephzi-bah, signifies delight; and Beulah means union and marriage. The joy is, that the soul is a marriageable creature, and that the Lord Jesus, in his assumption of our nature, hath married us, and made us one with himself. Sweetest of all thoughts, my soul! thy Maker is thine Husband: the Lord of hosts is his name; Isa 54:5 . Well might the Apostle speak of it as a great mystery, Eph 5:32 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Ver. 4. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, ] i.e., My delight is in her; as if Christ should say to his Church, as Jdg 14:3 Tu mihi sola places, a Thou art mine only joy. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him. Psa 147:11 Let us reciprocate, b love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; not only with a love of desire, as Psa 42:1 ; Psa 42:3 but also of delight and complacency, solacing ourselves in the fruition of him, as Psa 16:5-6 and of his people, these “excellent ones of the earth” who were David’s Hephzibam, Isa 62:3 in whom was “all his delight.”
a Ovid. De Arte Am.
b Redamemus ergo sponsum.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Forsaken. Hebrew. Azubah. From azab. See note on Isa 1:4.
Desolate. Hebrew. Shemamah. See note on Isa 1:7.
Hephzi-bah, which synchronized with this prophecy. See note on 2Ki 21:1.
Beulah. Hebrew. Be’ulah = married. See note above. Note the Alternation in this verse.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hephzibah
i.e. My delight is in her.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
shalt no: Isa 62:12, Isa 32:14, Isa 32:15, Isa 49:14, Isa 54:1, Isa 54:6, Isa 54:7, Hos 1:9, Hos 1:10, Rom 9:25-27, Heb 13:5, 1Pe 2:10
Hephzibah: that is, My delight is in her, Isa 62:5, Psa 149:4, Jer 32:41, Zep 3:17
Beulah: that is, Married, Isa 54:5, Isa 61:10, Jer 3:14, Hos 2:19, Hos 2:20, Joh 3:29, 2Co 11:2, Eph 5:25-27, Rev 21:2, Rev 21:9, Rev 21:10
Reciprocal: Gen 34:19 – because Num 14:8 – delight 2Sa 15:26 – General 1Ki 10:9 – delighteth 2Ki 21:1 – Hephzibah 2Ch 9:8 – General 2Ch 20:26 – the name Est 2:14 – delighted Est 6:6 – whom the king Psa 16:3 – in whom Psa 45:11 – So shall Psa 147:11 – taketh Pro 31:28 – her husband Son 2:6 – General Son 7:6 – General Son 8:3 – General Isa 49:21 – am desolate Isa 60:21 – people Isa 62:2 – thou shalt Isa 65:19 – I will Mal 3:17 – jewels Mat 25:1 – the bridegroom Joh 15:11 – my 2Co 4:9 – but Eph 5:32 – speak
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
If verse Isa 62:3 of our chapter predicts how the Israel of God in the coming age will be a crown of glory and a diadem in the hand of God, verse Isa 62:4 declares the place of blessing that shall be theirs, in contrast with all that has characterized them hitherto. Several times already in reading this prophet we have seen that both they and their land have been forsaken by God because of their sins. To this day no interposition of God on their behalf, comparable to what He did, when He delivered them from Egypt under Moses, has taken place. The delivering act of God is yet to come.
When it does take place by the appearing of Christ, it will be a repentant and born-again people who are delivered. As such they will be called, “Married.” The figure used in verse Isa 62:5; that of a young man marrying a virgin people and their land, may remind us of the striking words of Psa 110:1-7, where 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 rally to Him as the dew falls in the summer morning. Only then will Jehovah their God rejoice over them.
But though that is so, the forsaken Jerusalem is not forgotten by the Lord. This is expressed by the setting of watchmen on the walls, who are never to hold their peace until deliverance comes. It is worthy of note that Ezekiel was the prophet set as “a watchman unto the house of Israel” (Eze 3:17), and he it was who in vision saw the glory of the Lord depart from the temple and the city. During Israel’s night the watchmen are not to hold their peace. They are, so to speak, continually to be reminding the Lord that His glory is involved in the establishment of Israel in their land, and Jerusalem becoming a praise to His name in the earth.
When we lift our thoughts from the earth and Israel’s predicted place of blessing therein, to God’s purpose for the heavens and for the church, we may surely speak in similar fashion. When in response to our Lord’s assurance of His advent, we cry, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” we are thinking, we trust, not only of the fulness of our own blessing in the heavens, but of God achieving in the church all He purposed before the foundation of the world. There will be, “the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:14). As on the earth, so in the heavens, His glory will shine forth.
Yet after all the watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem are needed to keep God’s purpose before the minds of men, rather than before the mind of God, since He never fails. God Himself has sworn that He will do it, and He swears by Himself, as Heb 6:13, reminds. us. He connects His oath in verse Isa 62:8 with “His right hand and by the Arm of His strength.” So here again the Arm of the Lord is introduced, since it is by Him that the thing will be done, and the Arm is characterized by strength, for Christ is the power of God, as well as the wisdom of God, as we are told in 1Co 1:24.
Corn and wine are frequently mentioned together in Scripture as indicating the sustenance that man needs, both solid and liquid, only here we see that all will not only be secured to Israel but that it shall be enjoyed by them in the presence of their God; as it is put here “in the courts of My holiness.”
The three verses which close the chapter give us a prophetic forecast of how this will be accomplished. In Isaiah, “the daughter of Zion,” is an expression that occurs a number of times. The first occurrence is in verse Isa 62:8 of chapter 1, and it seems to be identified with the “very small remnant,” mentioned in verse Isa 62:9. We believe that is the force of it here. The God-fearing remnant will be found scattered to the ends of the world. They will be called and a standard lifted up to which they will gather; and then their way to the holy city and through its gates will be opened up before them, and every stone of stumbling will be removed.
And how will all this be accomplished? By the advent of their Salvation, who is evidently a Person, in the light of the words that follow. By His reward and His work the Arm of the Lord will prove Himself to be God’s “Salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isa 49:6).
And what will be the result as regards those who are gathered as “the daughter of Zion”? They will at last be exactly what Israel was originally intended to be – “The holy people;” that is, a people separated to God, in accord with His mind and nature. This delightful condition will only be reached since they will be, “the redeemed of the Lord.”
This redemption will be a vital and spiritual reality, and not just a national thing, without regard to the spiritual state of individuals, as when they were brought out of Egypt under Moses. It will be brought about by the grace of our God, and not on the ground of law-keeping. This is indicated very clearly in Rom 11:1-36, where Paul states that though at present shut up in unbelief, they will ultimately “obtain mercy.” The coming salvation of the godly in Israel will be as wholly an act of Divine mercy as is the salvation of degraded Gentile sinners today. The mercy of God will reach both the people and their city.
But there is another side to this matter, which confronts us as we begin to read chapter 63. Israel’s redemption will involve drastic judgment falling on all those who are foes of them and of God, just as judgment fell on the Egyptians, when Israel was typically redeemed in the bygone age. And He, who is to become Israel’s Redeemer in power, is the One who will overthrow them. In verse Isa 62:1 of our chapter, however, Edom is specially singled out as the one on whom the judgment is to fall. Now Edom is Esau.
In the Proverbs we read that, “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city,” (Pro 16:19), and this has been exemplified in the history of Esau and Jacob. The feud today is as strong as ever. It underlies the situation of great danger that surrounds Palestine today. It will be decisively settled at the second coming of Christ. Some excuse might possibly be found for Edom objecting to the reoccupation of the land by unconverted Jews, but evidently their objection will be just as strong against any re-gathering of a converted people. He who will re-gather Israel will destroy them.
The figure of treading “the winepress” is employed in verse Isa 62:3, and the same figure is used in the closing verses of Rev 14:1-20. It evidently indicates judgment of a wholesale and unsparing kind. There is also of course judgment which discriminates between the righteous and the wicked, but then the figure of a harvest is used, as we see in Mat 13:40-43, as it also is in earlier verses of Rev 14:1-20, showing that judgment of both kinds will be executed in the coming day.
The whole of Obadiah’s short prophecy is directed against Esau and he makes it plain that just when, “upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions,” the house of Esau “shall be for stubble,” which gives us the same thought of unsparing judgment under a different figure.
In our chapter this judgment is presented as the personal act of the One who is called, “Mine own Arm,” taking place when salvation was accomplished on behalf of God and His people. At that solemn moment “the day of vengeance” will be in His heart, that day spoken of in Isa 61:2, which our Saviour did not read in the synagogue at Nazareth. That day of vengeance will introduce the year of redemption for God’s people. Judgment being God’s “strange work ” (Isa 28:21, it will be a “short work ” (Rom 9:28). Hence vengeance is only for a day compared with the year of redemption. All this, be it noted, has to do with the government of God on the earth, and not with saints who today are being called out for a heavenly portion. As far as we are concerned Edom is just one of the peoples amongst whom the Gospel is to be preached, though, alas! so few from amongst them respond to it.
Having predicted the coming day of vengeance, the mind of the prophet turned back in verse Isa 62:7 to contemplate the extraordinary goodness of the Lord in His dealings with Israel from ancient days. It had been a story of loving kindness and of mercies according to His own heart. He had adopted them as His people, accredited them with truthfulness and saved them from their oppressors. Moreover He entered into their afflictions, granted His presence, redeemed them from Egypt and carried and cared for them till they reached the land of promise. In Exo 33:1-23, we read how God promised His presence to Moses and the people, and in the last chapter of that book it is recorded how the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Also we read of the Angel of the Lord who went before them, who here is called “the Angel of His presence.” In Mal 3:1, the expression, “Messenger of the covenant,” is really, “Angel of the covenant,” and is clearly a prediction of the coming of the Lord Jesus; so here also we may see a reference to Him.
On God’s part therefore nothing had been lacking in His dealings with Israel; so what had been their response to all this goodness? Verse Isa 62:10 gives the sad answer, “But they rebelled, and grieved His holy Spirit.” As a result of this His holy government had to come into action, and He became their adversary. Here we have in few words what Stephen amplified and brought up to date, as recorded in Act 7:1-60. Here the prophet has to record that they vexed God’s holy Spirit. Many centuries after Stephen says to them, “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. “To grieve Him is serious indeed, but to resist Him is fatal.
As Isaiah saw it in his day, what was God’s answer to this vexing? God remembered His original doings with Moses, and therefore there was hope in the prophet’s heart, and still a basis on which he could appeal to the Lord. Again, in verse Isa 62:12, the Arm of the Lord is discerned as He who acted at the Red Sea, and the people recognized that God had triumphed gloriously. Hence, on this the last time that the “Arm” is mentioned by Isaiah the adjective “glorious” is attached to His name. Glorious He is indeed.
Verses 12-14 therefore summarize the kindly dealings of God with His people, when He brought them out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and finally brought them into the land. There was the acting of “His glorious Arm,” and consequently He made for Himself “a glorious name,” as well as “an everlasting name.” Nevertheless Israel was still under the law, and hence the hand of God lay heavily on them in judgment.
Isaiah was conscious however that he could appeal to God on another ground than the law. So, having mentioned Moses in verse Isa 62:11, in the closing verses of the chapter, he makes a further appeal to God on the ground of their connection with Abraham, with whom was made the original covenant of promise. If we read Gen 15:1-21, we see that the covenant embraced not only Abraham personally but his seed also, that was to include a great multitude. This covenant put his descendants through Isaac into a place of special relationship before God, and had no conditions attached to it.
Now Abraham, though “the friend of God,” was but a man and had long since departed, and so was ignorant of them. Israel too – the name given by God to Jacob – might not acknowledge them. Yet Jehovah, who had included them in His covenant, was the abiding One, and from the outset He had been as a Father to them, for in another prophet we have Him saying, “I am a Father to Israel” (Jer 31:9). Hence the appeal to Him here on that basis.
Two things strike us as remarkable here. First, in verse 17 the hardness of heart manifested in the people is traced back to an act of God. “Why hast Thou made us to err…” Was this justified? Clearly it was, for just that was the original message given to Isaiah, in Isa 6:9-10. What had happened to them was in principle the same as had happened to Pharaoh. Long before they had been warned, “Harden not your heart as… in the wilderness” (Psa 95:8), but to this no response had been given, and the time came in God’s holy government when He sealed home this hardness of heart upon them; and as the result we have Isaiah’s cry to God, Thou hast “hardened our heart to Thy fear.”
Has such an action on the part of God any application to us today? Evidently it has, or we should not have found the warnings of Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-16, based upon those words we have quoted from Psa 95:1-11. In that Epistle, Jewish believers are taken up on the ground of their profession, and warned by the example of the Jewish people. Not all who profess the faith possess the vital thing. Hence the warning, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.”
There is also the terrible working of the government of God predicted for the end of our Gospel age, when as to those who refused the truth, “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” (2Th 2:11). This most drastic action of the government of God will well befit the most drastic refusal of His truth, that the world will ever witness.
In the second place it is remarkable how the prophet complains in verse 18, not only of the brief occupation of the land of promise but also of the treading down of the sanctuary by the adversary. At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, as recorded in the opening of the book, this had not actually taken place, though there had previously been defeats, as in the days of Rehoboam. It appears that Isaiah was given to see the end to which the people were drifting, and to appeal to God in the light of it. That the sanctuary should be defaced by the adversary was the crowning blow. If that was lost, all was lost. In the light of this we can understand the touching appeal that is made, beginning and ending with what is called, “the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory.”
Now what will have to take place if this appeal of the prophet is to be answered? Evidently that which he yearned for, as expressed in the first verse of the next chapter. God Himself must intervene in a very personal way. He must rend the heavens and come down. Nothing short of this would suffice. Yes, but how should this be done?
The words that follow make very plain what Isaiah had in his mind. He desired that God would personally intervene in power and in judgment. He knew that God had come down at the start of their national history, when there were thunders, lightnings, fire, and “the whole mount quaked greatly,” even if it did not actually flow down at His presence. Now, if there were another such display of the Divine presence, surely the effect would be great.
It was, of course, something of this kind that would break up the Roman power, and work a visible deliverance for Israel, that the people, even the godly ones, connected with the coming of their Messiah, as we see so plainly manifested by the disciples, both before Jesus died, and even after His resurrection. Something of that sort will take place at the second coming of Christ, as Zec 14:4, testifies. And for that coming we wait.
But we today are in the happy position of knowing that this desire for the presence of God has been answered first in another way. Earlier Isaiah had foretold the coming of the One, whose name should be, Immanuel, and in the opening of Matthew’s Gospel we are told the meaning of that name – God with us. The heavens were rent upon Him just as He came forth in public service. He came amongst us, “full of grace and truth;” not doing, “terrible things,” but rather suffering Himself the terrible things, when He died as the Sacrifice for sin.
Compared with these prophetic desires, and even forecasts, into what “marvellous light” we have been brought!
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Isa 62:4-5. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken As a woman forsaken by her husband. Neither shall thy land be termed Desolate Neither shall thy places of worship be empty, and thine ordinances of service be unfrequented. He alludes to the desolation of Judah during the Babylonish captivity. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah My delight is in her; a new name, agreeing with her new condition; and thy land, Beulah Married, agreeing to her new relation. Whereas she was in a desolate condition, she shall now be as a woman well married, to the great improvement of her state. And thy land shall be married Thou shalt see the increase of thy children again in the land, as the fruit of thy married condition, who, by reason of thy being forsaken of thy husband, were, in a manner, wasted and decayed: and this refers to the great enlargement of the church in the gospel days. Or, thy land shall be possessed, as
may be properly rendered, and so the expression answers to desolate. Thou shalt be no more desolate, but possessed. For as a young man marrieth a virgin In whom he takes great delight, and whom he exceedingly loves; so shall thy sons marry thee That is, they shall live with thee, and take great delight in thee. For, as Lowth justly observes, the word marry is not to be taken strictly, for it would be improper to say that children married their mother. Thus the LXX., , so shall thy sons dwell with thee. Bishop Lowth, however, instead of sons, renders thy builder, or creator, altering or disregarding the Hebrew points. This emendation, it most be acknowledged, would clear the prophet of the impropriety of using a similitude, which implies that Jerusalem was guilty of incest in marrying her sons; and at the same time would add not only grace but force to the whole verse, which, so altered, runs thus: For, as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy Creator marry thee. And as the bridegroom, &c. The former interpretation, however, which has the sanction of the LXX., and which the present pointing of the Hebrew requires, seems preferable. In the first clause, As a young man marrieth a virgin, Sir John Chardin, in his MS. note on the place, considers the prophet as expressing himself according to the custom of the East, which was, and is, for youths, that were never married, always to marry virgins; and widowers, however young, to marry widows. See Harmers Observ., 43. p. 482.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed {e} Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be {f} married.
(e) You will no longer be contemned as a woman forsaken by her husband.
(f) That it may be replenished with children.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The new name promised in Isa 62:2 would be Hephzibah (My delight is in her; cf. 2Ki 21:1) and Beulah (Married). These names would replace former designations of Israel’s condition: Azubah (Forsaken; cf. 1Ki 22:42) and Shemamah (Desolate). These new names would reflect God’s delight in His people and His work of uniting them with their land.