“You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:3-5)
Isaiah prophesied of Babylon’s impending conquest of Judah and the exile of her people. He offered comfort to those who would suffer by prophesying of the glories of the coming kingdom of God. He was filled with an intense longing and ardent desire to see it come to pass as quickly as possible. He urged those who would be exiled to pray to the Lord without ceasing to see His promises fulfilled because God had not forgotten them. A great motivating factor for hope in those promises would be the change the people would experience in exile, a new outlook on their lives. One day they would no longer be considered forsaken or desolate. In Hebrew, the Lord calls them Hephzibah, which means “my delight is in her” and Beulah which means “married”. The significance of these names is that their covenant is solid and unbreakable because the Lord loves them. He is the bridegroom of His people.
We too look forward to the same hope that Isaiah speaks of. Although we are closer to the fulfillment than he or the Jews were, we too look forward to it with eager expectation and perhaps a bit of impatience. The world we live in is filled with violence, cruelty and oppression. We earnestly long for that Kingdom and pray with great intensity and fervor for the Lord to come and fulfill His promises to us. But we must wait. As we wait we pray with boldness that the Lord come quickly. And as we wait we serve as watchmen. We look to see the kingdom coming and warn others of its approach. For now is the time to repent and turn to Jesus.
Beulah Land I’m longing for you, and someday on thee I’ll stand. There my home shall be eternal. In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah land.