"A New Name For The New You”
Text: Isaiah 62:1-5
1-16-2022
In the name of Him who loves us with an everlasting love, dear friends in Christ. When I was a kid, my parents purchased a really good investment from a door-to-door salesman. It was a set of encyclopedias. One of the neat accessories that came with it was a HUGE dictionary which had a section with the meanings of names. Us kids got a kick out of searching for our names in there. We hoped that it meant something cool, rather than wimpy or embarrassing. Imagine my thrill to discover that my name, Donald, means: “Ruler of the world!” I strutted around like a rooster when I read that out loud to my siblings. Somehow my older brothers didn’t fully appreciate that definition because they thumped on me just as much as when I was a lowly peasant. My folks certainly didn’t choose my name because of its meaning, but rather because they liked the sound of it.
When it came time for Gayleen and I to choose names for our own children we tried to choose Biblical ones that we liked the sound of. And we also hoped there would be deep, spiritual meaning to them. Elizabeth can mean “consecrated to God.” Good choice. Andrew means “manly” or “strong.” Did pretty good there too. But it must’ve just been the sound of Rebekah that we liked because I guarantee you that we didn’t intend to call our little girl “a snare” (as in “a trap.)
Maybe all that doesn’t really matter nowadays because the meaning of a name doesn’t carry much weight. But in Biblical times it did! In fact, your name was often quite descriptive of your identity– who you were as a person. The meaning was far more important than how it sounded. Such is the case in our Old Testament reading for today. God is speaking in those verses and He talks about a name change for His people and their land. He says, they will no longer be called “Azubah” which means “forsaken.” And their land will no longer be called “Shemamah” which means “desolate.” Instead, God’s new name for them would be “Hephzibah” which means “She is my delight” and their land would be called “Beulah” which means “married.”
I urged my kids to name one of my granddaughters Hephzibah but strangely enough, none of them liked the suggestion. Surely the child would never get teased out on the playground with that moniker! J But even though that name doesn’t sound beautiful to our ears, it sure did to the Israelites because it symbolized a wondrous change. It was a new name for the new identity which God was giving them. You need to know that whenever the Lord gave a person or place a name or changed their former name it always reflected their relationship to Him. Perhaps a little historical background will help us see the deep significance of what God was saying and doing here with these names in our text.
Regularly throughout the Bible, it describes God’s relationship to His people as that of a husband and his bride. God “married” Himself to His chosen people. He cared for them, protected them, fought for them, and loved them just as a good husband would do for his wife. He stayed near them and wanted to have a deep, loving relationship with them. God supplied a beautiful home for His bride in the Promise Land where He dwelled with His bride, Israel. He expected them to be faithful to Him like a wife to her husband. But sadly, they weren’t. Over time they forgot all about their marriage covenant with the Lord. They cheated on Him. No, worse than that. They prostituted themselves by chasing after other lovers, which were the false gods they began worshiping.
As you might imagine, God was upset. He withdrew from His people. He didn’t stop loving them, but He distanced Himself from their insulting, disgusting behavior. In marriage terms, they went through a period of separation. Because of the way they were acting, God’s people took on a new name that reflected their new identity, which was a bad identity. No longer were they known as God’s beloved, faithful, cherished bride. Their new name was Azubah, “Forsaken.” Since they had gone whoring after other gods, they were forsaken like a runaway wife who was without the loving protection and care of her husband. Because of this, the Babylonians were able to invade and conquer Israel and take them away from their home. In a very real way, their land became Shemamah, that is, “Desolate” or “Empty.” That’s how other nations viewed Israel, but more importantly, that’s how Israel viewed it itself: Forsaken and Desolate.
But in His grace and mercy God never stopped loving His people. Instead of treating them as they deserved, He lovingly wooed them back. He reclaimed them as His beloved bride. You notice in verse 2 God says, “you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.” They would receive a new identity with that new name. Not because of anything they had done. Rather, because of the Lord’s righteousness that would shine out from them like the brightness of the dawn, and His salvation like a blazing torch. His righteousness and salvation removed all the negative stuff from their past. Now they would be known as Hephzibah, because God took delight in His bride again. And their land would be known as Beulah, because by right of her renewed marriage, God’s bride would possess the home prepared for her.
Eventually, God did bring Israel back to the Promise Land. But their new name and new identity meant more than just regaining land or prestige. More importantly, it reflected a new relationship with their loving God. That new relationship was built upon the Lord’s forgiveness which removed the guilt of their shameful sins of the past. The last line of verse 5 sums it up: “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” God rejoiced over having His beloved bride back. Can you see why being called Hephzibah sounded so beautiful to their ears?
This amazing story of Israel’s fall from grace and their restoration as God’s beloved bride is a mirror image of our relationship with Him. In a very real sense, in your Baptism God claimed you as His beloved bride. There was an old custom in the Lutheran Church that reflected that change of identity. When a child was Baptized, he or she received an additional, Christian name. It was a new name to show the change in the relationship with God. In Baptism He washed you clean of all your sins and claimed you as His own. He promised to care for you, protect you, and provide a home in heaven for you. He wants to have a close, loving relationship with you like a husband with his wife. And in return, He simply wants a loving bride who will be faithful to Him.
But like the nation of Israel, we have all gone astray in our sinfulness. We have been unfaithful to Him. We’ve gone whoring after the false gods of this world: chasing after money, trusting in ourselves, ignoring or despising His means of grace in His Word and Sacraments, rejecting His will for us by violating His commands and much, much more. Over and over again we have given our affection away to these false gods. That love belonged to God alone and He’s jealous for your undivided love. If you’ve ever felt distant from God this is the reason why. It’s not that He stopped loving you. Rather, you distanced yourself from Him with your insulting, disgusting behavior. Because of our self-imposed separation from God, we too deserve to be called “Forsaken and Desolate.”
But in His mercy, God has lovingly invited you to return to Him. He wants to reclaim you as His beloved bride. So He sent His one and only Son into this world to pay the price for every last one of your sins. On the cross, Jesus took upon Himself your sinfulness that had given you a bad identity and name. There on the cross He was forsaken by God the Father because of your sins. There on the cross He was desolate as He emptied out His innocent life to save us. Through His suffering and death, He removed the guilt of your ugly sins. And in its place, He gives us His righteousness. As God calls us back to Himself, all we need do is repent of our sins. No matter how unfaithful we’ve been or how far away we’ve strayed, He promises to forgive us and reclaim us as His bride for Christ’s sake. And with that forgiveness, He promises to give us a new name and a new identity which He bestows on us. As His forgiven bride, you are now known by that beautiful name, Hephzibah, because God delights in you. So Christian friends, rejoice, because, “as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Amen!
Soli Deo Gloria!