"HEPHZIBAH AND BEULAH"
                                         
Isaiah 62:4-5

"Thou shalt no more be termed "forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed "desolate", but thou shalt be called "Hephzibah", and thy land "Beulah": for the land delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee".

This is the most beautiful portrait of God's love, and reconciliation, to His chosen/ elect people Israel.  In the chapters prior to Isaiah 62, we see an adulterous, idoloatrous, backsliding, hardhearted people completely intent on disobeying the word, and rebelling against God's will.
Here God has delivered Israel from the hand of Pharoah, parted the Red Sea, guided them with manna from heaven, and even provided water out of a rock!
Then God went a step further and He brought Israel into the promised land, and divided the land by lot: then as God was prepared to rule and reign over Israel as King. (despite her adulterous/idolotrous behavior) Israel did the unthinkable she denied "King Jesus" and desired (as the other nations) to have an earthly king to rule over them instead.  What does God do?
He grants Israel her wishes! And God even went about prospering the kings that He placed over His chosen people Israel.
And He used these same kings to destroy and rid Israel of all her enemies.  Again Israel forsook God, and worshipped, and bowed down to idols instead.
After this continued what seemed like forever,(God against His best wishes) sent enemy nations against Israel to conquer them, and send them into captivity: yet God was gracious, and merciful.
In Isaiah 54:6, God said "for a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee".

This brings us to the text in Isaiah 62:4-5.
God used the terms "forsaken", and "desolate", to describe the heart condition of Israel.  the term given here is used to portray that of a bereaved husband to an unfaithful wife.
"Forsaken denotes; "to leave behind", "let go" "to depart from," something, or to leave whereas desolate, implies to make desolate,
"lay waste,""making lonely", to "leave alone"(or divorced)and "uninhabited place", "the wilderness a place," uncultivated".
So God is saying here to His beloved spouse, "Although you betrayed me, and chose another to give your love, despite the fact that I have seperated myself from you-and got a divorce.  My heart is  still tender toward you.
The next two words are filled with love, hope, and reconciliation.
The first "Hephzibah", translates into "delight", or " my delight is in her".
The second is "Beulah", bespeaks, "to marry", "be husband", "married".
God is saying that He is renewing His vows with Israel, and that His delight is in her, and her alone! (Isn't that beautiful?)
God could have easily thrown in the towel permanently, or washed His hands forever.  But God said no," I chose you,"set you apart unto myself.  I espoused you as my one and only, till death do us part, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, in good times and in bad! (no matter how many times you have cheated me)  I love you still!! (look at the way God woe's Israel, gently and tenderly)
Then to put the icing on the cake so to speak.  God say's "He shall rejoice over her". (Is.62:5)
Can you picture yourself taking pleasure in and rejoicing over an unfaithful spouse? Yet God does exactly that, and more!

What a beautiful picture of reconciliation!!(And restoration)
I think that God gave us this magnificent and beautiful example of forgiveness and restoration as an example (1Corinthians 10:11), to show to us a pattern/blueprint of how to love our own spouses( in todays trying times) in spite of disloyalty, unworthiness, and unfaithfulness toward us. If the Creator of the universe, King of Kings,and Lord of Lords, can humble Himself to such a degree, how much more should we(the work of His hands) do that much more!!

"Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband". (Ephesians 5:33)

"Servants In Christ"
Briant and Shanna George