Isaiah: A New Name

Isaiah 62

For new parents, it’s fun to check out the current most popular names. You probably know the top ones if you are expecting a baby. Here are the top five from a list for 2025:

Girls: Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, and Mia
Boys: Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theodore, and James

The following names are emerging as favorites for girls: Margot, Georgia, and Miller. For boys: George, Cal, and Beckham.

Today’s passage, Isaiah 62, is filled with new names. In biblical times, a child’s name signified their expected character. When God bestowed new names, they reflected current character traits. 

The nation of Israel has gone through many challenging times. The name “Israel” means “struggles with God,” and they have lived up to that name. They rebelled against God, ignored his warnings given through the prophets, and suffered the consequences. However, in this section of Isaiah, the prophet is looking towards a time when the King will reign in Israel, and therefore the nations will honor her. God declares that Israel needs a new name.

Isaiah 62:1-2 [Anchor Point]
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. 

What is this new name or new names that God will give his people?

There was a time when Israel’s name was “Forsaken” and the land was called “Desolate” (Isa. 62:4).  These are not names anyone would want as descriptions of themselves. However, those are of the past because God has new names for his people.  

Isaiah 62:4b-5
…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. 

God compares himself to a bridegroom rejoicing over his bride. Just as a young man is joyful to marry the love of his life, so Israel’s sons will be joyfully engaged with Jerusalem, where the King resides. The new bride needs a new name. God provides her with two. 

The first new name is Hephzibah—“My Delight is in Her.” What an intimate description of God’s love for his chosen people. The word translated as “delight” carries the meaning of pleasure, desire, and a willingness. God never let his people go, even amidst their sin and its consequences.

What a powerful reminder for us. When God says, “You are mine,” he will never change his mind! 

The second new name is Beulah—“Married one.” God has likened himself to a bridegroom, and now wants everyone to know that Israel is his bride. Marriage, of course, is a covenant that is not to be broken. Unfortunately, we don’t always honor that covenant. But the covenants that God makes with us are everlasting. Protecting this covenant is fully dependent on him. 

When I was growing up, we sang a song in our church with a line about “sweet Beulah land.” I never knew what that phrase meant. Had I and my preteen friends known that it meant “married one,” we probably would have skipped that part of the song.

Having a new name calls for a new commitment to guard the character it describes, so God placed watchmen on the walls to safeguard his people. These were righteous people who were to be spiritually alert, carrying out God’s desires “until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth” (Isa. 62:6-7).

This is a reminder that we all need to be watchmen. We must guard the walls of our hearts and the hearts of those in our care. A watchman cannot fall asleep on the job nor stay silent when danger approaches (Isa. 62:6-7). And a watchman is engaged with God, fully dependent on him, knowing that God’s plans are accomplished “by his right hand and by his mighty arm” (Isa. 62:8). A watchman is preparing the way for the coming of the King.

Isaiah 62:10-11
Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples. Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” 

This chapter started with two new names for Israel, but God is not finished. It ends with four more in Isaiah 62:12.

Israel shall be called:

• The Holy People. Holy means to be set apart and dedicated to God.
  
  
• The Redeemed of the LORD. Israel has been purchased from slavery by the God who loves them with an everlasting love.
  
  
• Sought Out. The Hebrew word means “seek with care” and “care for.” God seeks out those he loves to provide and care for them.
  
  
• A City Not Forsaken. God will never leave his people. He will never forsake them (Deut. 31:6-8; Heb. 13:5). 

All these names apply to us as believers. God sought us out,  purchasing us from the slavery of sin. He made us holy, and he will never forsake us. One day, God will give us a new name. How amazing!

Revelation 3:12
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 62. Reflect on our Anchor Point—Isaiah 62:1-2.
We are not who we used to be. Our old names are a thing of the past. God has given us a new name.

Talking to God: Thank God for taking away your old name and giving you a new one. 

Have Questions?
Be sure to send your questions to our team. We are happy to assist you as we study God's Word together. Submit your question below, and we'll reply soon. Let us know if you’d like to learn more about a relationship with Jesus or need spiritual counsel.

Every day is a day of spiritual renewal as we follow hard after Jesus.