1.23.22 Isaiah 62:1–5
1 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent. For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly, and her salvation burns like a torch. 2 Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings will see your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will assign to you. 3 Then you will be a beautiful crown in the LORD’s hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God. 4 You will never again be called Abandoned, and your land will never again be called Desolation, for you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be called Married, because the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married. 5 For just as a young man marries a virgin, your Builder will marry you, and just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, your God will rejoice over you.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Marriage has gotten a bad rap in our society. People who could have and should have given glory to God in their marriage have turned it into an ugly thing, fifty percent ending in divorce. So there are many that don’t want anything to do with marriage.
Nonetheless, God loves marriage. God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman for life’s duration. Jesus blessed the marriage at Cana with His first miracle of turning water into wine. He wants marriage to serve as a beacon of love and light in a dark and selfish world, a picture of His love towards us. Whether you believe in marriage or not, God wants all of us to think of ourselves as married, whether we're married, single, or divorced. Why? Because we are married to Jesus through faith. Today we will see how and why this marriage to God is such a blessing.
You’re Married to God. Rejoice as He Rejoices In It
Look at the alternative. Isaiah used terms like “Abandoned” and “Desolation” when it came to Jerusalem. Jerusalem used to be the epicenter of religious life in Israel. The temple was there. The priesthood was there. The ark of the covenant was there. God was there in His special presence. It was a blessed place. But all of that would change in 586 B.C. at the Babylonian Captivity. Ezekiel prophesied that they would have to resort to cannibalism when Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians. (Ezekiel 5) One third would be put to death by plague or famine. A third would die by the sword. The final third would be scattered to the wind. That’s what would happen about 130 years after Isaiah prophesied. Jerusalem would look abandoned and desolate, a shell of her former self.
This would happen because Israel had basically divorced God. They chose to worship other gods. Manasseh, the final king of the Southern Kingdom, was the worst of them all. He set up idols in the temple. He sacrificed his own sons to Baal. Legend says that Isaiah was hiding in a tree and Manasseh had the tree cut in two, killing Isaiah. God said, “That’s it. I’m abandoning you, because you have divorced yourselves from me.” The Babylonians came in and took the Southern Kingdom captive and destroyed the temple and Jerusalem along with it. They deserved what they got, and even more.
“Abandoned” and “Desolation” are appropriate words to describe what happens in divorce. Sometimes it happens over time where the couple spends less and less time together. Sometimes it happens quickly with one affair. The abandoned spouse feels completely alone and worthless, like a failure. They blame themselves. They usually have to move from the place they called “home.” Eventually a step parent is brought into the picture, who doesn’t always treat them with love and nurture since they aren’t their own children. It’s a desolate place to be.
Isn’t that how the church is beginning to look as more and more people fall away from the faith? Less and less people come to worship. Miss for a month. Then two. Then six. Before they know it, they don’t know anyone at church. They become disconnected. More and more families fall apart. Places that used to be bustling with energy and music are now empty and quiet. If we want to keep on ignoring God and living as if He didn’t exist, or acting like He just doesn’t really matter, there are going to be consequences. There always are.
Look also at our society. How desolate do you have to be to make a video and put it online with your body parts showing, just hoping that people will like it or make a mention? Think then of the consumers. They go from one video to the next. Watch one after another. Some are entertaining. Some are dirty. Some are boring. What do you gain after watching video after video after video? Whose life did you improve? You just wasted a half hour of your life. It’s empty and desolate.
Even those who are busy working and going on vacations or going to sporting events, going to bars . . . where is the ultimate fulfillment? One beer after another. One game and then the next. A little more money. A promotion. An online game where you “connect” with fellow gamers. Go around and kill something. Get killed. Start over. What does it matter in the end? This is the empty world we have created for ourselves, all of the while trying to find companionship and connection.
But God, being dedicated and faithful, didn’t want to see His bride abandoned and desolated. For the sake of Zion I will not be silent. For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly, and her salvation burns like a torch. God becomes the restless loud mouth. He won’t shut up about it. Prophecy after prophecy says that God is going to enter our world and do something about all of this meaninglessness. If you really love someone and want what’s best for them, you won’t be quiet when they’re messing up. You speak up. You don’t go along with it. You tell them they’re messing up. God wouldn’t be quiet.
Then God came, the restless loud mouth. If you think about it, it’s that loudness that ultimately led to Jesus’ demise. He wouldn’t shut up about the hypocrisy and legalism of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He saw what it was doing to the people. He kept on performing miracles, even on Saturdays when they didn’t want Him to. He loved people too much to leave them suffering. He kept on proclaiming forgiveness and showing mercy too. This only made them more and more angry, wanting Him put to death all the more. When He stood before the chief priest, He made it clear. One loud and bold confession. “Are you the Christ? YES, it is as you say!” And He didn’t keep quiet after that either. From the cross, He cried it out loud, “It is finished.” God had waged war on sin, death and the devil, and He finished the job. Thank God He couldn’t and He wouldn’t keep quiet.
What does Jesus then do? His job isn’t done. He’s bought the salvation. He’s purchased the house and the ring. He comes up to us with beautiful clothes of righteousness to clothe us with in baptism. He says, “Here, put these on yourself and your children. They will make you look holy in my sight. They will wash away your sins. I will be your groom. You will be my bride.” We say, “Why would you want me? Look at how I’ve abandoned you and deserted you. I’ve been ignoring you. I’ve been living my life as if you didn’t exist.” He says, “This is what grace and mercy is all about. This is how I am. I didn’t choose to love you because you were loveable. I chose to die for you because I am merciful. Now here, be washed. Be cleansed, and you will be beautiful.” So we bathe under the waters of baptism. We come eating at the trough of salvation in the Lord’s Supper. He grabs us by the hand, puts on the wedding ring of faith. He says to us, “All I have is now yours. You get my protection. You get my righteousness. You get my holiness. And me? I will take your sin. I will take your death. I will take your hell.” “I’m not worthy,” we say. “You are now,” He says.
Now what? You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will assign to you. 4 You will never again be called Abandoned, and your land will never again be called Desolation, for you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be called Married, because the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married. There were a few times in the Bible where God actually changed the names of people after they were brought to faith, and those new names had meaning behind them. Sometimes the names actually took faith to believe. Abram went to Abraham. From exalted father to father of many nations. He was old. His wife was old. But He wanted them to believe in the name He gave them. What if Abram had said, “I don’t want that name. It’s embarrassing. Everyone knows I don’t have any children. Why would I call myself that?” In faith, Abram was happy to be called Abraham. He welcomed the name change.
Think of when a child is officially adopted into a good and caring family from an abusive and neglected situation. The child takes on the legal name of the parents. They take on the legal responsibility of the child. He or she is now a permanent member of the family. They can eat at the table. Sleep in their own bed. Have their own bedroom. They are now part of the family. When we marry into God’s house, we get the privileges of all His grace, all His mercy, all His angels, all of His protection, all of His guidance. That’s what you have in your baptism. That’s what you have in the Word. You have a new name and a new reputation. You go from desolated to loved. From deserted to married.
And that’s not all! Look at how God pictures Himself in this relationship. Just as a young man marries a virgin, and just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, your God will rejoice over you. I think of the couples that only manage to fight with each other and complain about each other. They become bitter and angry. Their love grows cold. Nothing is right about the other. They purposely spend more and more time apart, not able to even look at each other without a look of disdain. Not with God.
What does God think about you? You’re married to God, and He’s excited about it. Every morning and every day, He compares Himself to the young man marrying a virgin, with fresh attraction and desire. He never loses His passion for you. And if that’s how God still feels about you after years and years of failure and sin, how might you reflect that in your relationships? You have a God who mercifully and graciously loves you and is excited about you.
Don’t be ashamed of it. Don’t walk around as if you were ugly. Don’t live as if nobody cared for you. In Psalm 27 David wrote, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” David was excited about this. Enjoy it. Glory in it. “I’m forgiven. I’m loved. I’m married to Jesus.” Imagine if you woke up every morning and smiled at your spouse and said, “Good morning sunshine!,” only to have them say, “What do you want?!? You don’t love me. You hate me.” How would you feel if you had that response day after day? Yet God keeps on saying it. He keeps on being loving. Why? So that we smile. So that we enjoy it. So that we believe it and live it.
The man and the woman make their vows. With this ring, I thee wed. The minister announces, “I now pronounce you, husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs.” It’s more than a piece of paper. It’s a public commitment. By God’s design, the two people are meant to work together, fight for each other, coordinating their efforts, growing together in Christ. Til death do us part. For better or worse. This is how God designed it.
God, in His grace, tells us this beautiful thing. He says, “I want to be your groom, and you can be my Beulah, my Married. I will commit my all to you, to make you beautiful and forgiven in my sight. I will keep you safe in my grace. I will keep you strong to salvation.” What a beautiful thing, to be married to Jesus, to be God’s Beulah, whether you’re single, married, divorced, or widowed. He doesn’t just provide the wine. He provides the forgiveness, the beauty, the grace, the mercy, the hope, and the salvation. Free of charge, through faith. It’s a beautiful message that can make you shine with joy in an abandoned and desolate world living divorced from God. Amen.
