You Redeem, You Restore
God Delights in Zion
Isaiah 62 For Zion’s sake, how can I keep silent?
For Jerusalem’s sake, how can I remain quiet? I will keep interceding until her righteousness breaks forth like the blazing light of dawn and her salvation like a burning torch! 2 Nations will see your victory-vindication, and every king will witness your blinding radiance! You will be called by a brand-new name,[a] given to you from the mouth of Yahweh himself. 3 You will be a beautiful crown held high in the hand of Yahweh, a royal crown[b] of splendor held in the open palm of your God! 4 You will never again be called the Abandoned One, nor will your land be called Deserted. But you will be called My Delight Is in You,[c] and your land My Beloved Wife,[d] for Yahweh finds his delight in you and he married your land. 5 As a young man marries the young woman he loves, so your builder-sons[e] will marry you. As the bridegroom finds joy in his union with his bride, so will your God take joy in his union with you!
Intercession
6 Jerusalem, I have stationed intercessors on your walls who will never be silent, day or night. You “reminders”[f] of Yahweh, take no rest, 7 and tirelessly give God no rest, until he firmly establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of all the earth! 8 Yahweh swears an oath by the authority of his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will never again give your new grain as food for your enemies, nor will foreigners drink your new wine that you worked hard to produce. 9 Instead, you who harvest it will eat it and offer your praise to Yahweh, and you who gather the grapes will drink the new wine in my holy courts.”[g] 10 Pass through, pass through the gates, and go from old to new. Prepare a new path for the people. Build! Build up a highway for them to come to me! Remove every hindrance[h] and unfurl a banner for the nations! 11 See? Yahweh has proclaimed to the ends of the earth: Tell my daughter, Zion, “Look, here comes your Deliverer! See? He’s bringing his reward, and his recompense goes before him.” 12 They will be called His Holy People, The Redeemed of Yahweh. And you will be known as Those Whom God Loves,[i] A City Not Abandoned.
Footnotes
Isaiah 62:2 A new name signifies a new nature, a new character, and a new authority. See Gen. 32:28; Rev. 2:17, 3:12.
Isaiah 62:3 Or “diadem.”
Isaiah 62:4 Or “Hephzibah.” See 2 Kings 21:1.
Isaiah 62:4 In an allegorical sense, Yahweh’s wife foreshadows Christ’s relationship with his bride, the church (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:22-23; Rev. 19:7-9).
Isaiah 62:5 Isaiah uses a homonym that can mean “builders or sons.”
Isaiah 62:6 Or “rememberers”; that is, those who intercede continually to remind God of his promises. Like divine administrators, we remind God of the promises and appointments he must keep.
Isaiah 62:9 The grain and the new wine can be symbols of the Word and the Spirit, respectively.
Isaiah 62:10 Or “stone.”
Isaiah 62:12 John identified himself as the one whom Jesus loved, and so can we. See John 13:23