April 19, 2001
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,
...
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 bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
Isaiah 62:1-5
Perhaps not the 'official' rendering of these passages but what they tell me today is how much God loves us.. he is determined to continue working in our lives for our sake. Sometimes. quite honestly, my life seems to hurt so much from challenges that I want God to not work in my life quite so much. However, I'm glad he loves me enough that he doesn't listen to those prayers and it's always worthwhile when I'm on the other side of a challenging time or moment in life. As I look here I'm reminded that God is building righteousness in us and he always gives us vision and promises to sustain us. He promises to give us a new name... in the Bible this signifies a change in character ; sometimes the name change was given as a person changed as Jacob became Israel because he wrestled with God - Gen 32:38. Sometimes it was the name change was visionary; for example when Jesus changed Simon 's name to Peter... a vision of who he would become. It's encouraging to think that God has that vision for us and that he will change us. I sometimes get confused by the names I hear in my head. I was reminded of Daniel 1:7 where the King of Babylon changes Daniel's name and that of his three friends.. if you look up the meaning f their Hebrew names and the names the Babylonian names they were given it's interesting... they were designed to make them forget who they were and where they came from and immerse them in the culture they were a part of. Satan works to give us new names too... names like loser and hopeless, that come with messages like "you can't change", "you'll always be this way". I know I've spent the better part of my Christian life battling through a lot of that thinking but God gives us a new name and it's a visionary one... in Is 1:26 he calls Israel the "City of Righteousness" and "Faithful City"... not because of who they are... it's God's vision for them... it's how God sees them and the same is true for us today. God doesn't see me the way I do or the way satan does.. he sees me as he's always planned for me to be and he is working to bring that to fruition in my life... despite who I've been, what I've been through, how life may have damaged or scarred me, my sin or someone else's... God always sees who we can be. We are a crown of splendor to him, a royal diadem... picture a diamond filled tiara... majestic, beautiful, breathtaking.... this is what God sees when he looks at us! The reality is that Israel was once deserted and barren and that is how others perceived them because of their captivity and there is a perfect analogy to our lives, we were and sometimes are barren and feeling deserted inside, but we enjoy a very different relationship with God. The significance of the names in vs 4 Hephzibah and Beulah, are that God will take delight in them to the point that they would be married' i.e. that God would make a commitment to them and they would be fruitful again!! That is the promise we have... God rejoices over us not because of who we are, we aren't worthy but, because of who he is.. his faithfulness and love we have the promise and assurance that he delights over us as a bridegroom does his bride!!