Isaiah 62 ZION RESTORED God’s promise to redeem Israel and bring them back to Himself, continues to be written about in Isaiah’s prophecy. The time will come when Zion is back again with the Lord in holy fellowship as “Beulah.” God will give a new name to them indicating a new relationship begun with them, similar to the way He gave a new name to Jacob. From the name that means “crooked; a supplanter,” to Israel, which means “a prince with God,” is about as different as a name-change can get. From “Forsaken,” to “Hephzibah” (My delight is in thee), and from “Desolate,” to “Beulah” (married) is a totally new outlook on the people of Israel in God’s eyes. In that day, the Lord will delight in His earthly people as a bridegroom delights in His bride. Zion will be a visible display to the world of the righteousness of Christ. Israel will truly be a holy nation.
The true bride of Christ today, the church, is a “a peculiar people, zealous of good works,” that has been redeemed from all iniquity. Our role in the world today is that of a bride preparing for the wedding day, and as servants calling out to those who are indifferent to the One who wants them to share eternal life with them. So, we go into the world and preach the Gospel, in essence saying, “Come, for all things are now ready!”
There will be faithful prophets/preachers in the coming tribulation who will intercede for the Jews and preach the Gospel to them. Many will be saved through their preaching, and many will be killed because of their faith in Christ during that time. Those thousands of faithful preachers will be telling of the day when Jerusalem will be a place of praise not contrition and contention. They will assure the Jews that the covenant between God and Abraham will come to pass, and those who put personal faith in the coming Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, will be saved eternally. Those preachers will be “watchmen,” faithful trusted people who will preach and pray with urgency and persistence, until the kingdom of God is established on earth.
It is the grace of God alone that makes it possible for anyone to be saved. His grace will also be the reason such a future restoration will happen. There will be a holy beauty conferred upon God’s people by the Messiah of Israel in that day. How grateful we should be as believers today, that we have been made righteous by Christ Himself, and as holy people can have fellowship now with our Savior and Lord. We can call the Almighty God, “Abba, Father,” and approach Him in confidence in our Savior’s precious name.
In the coming day of which Isaiah was prophesying, there will not be any more invasions of Israel, or famines that claim the lives of those who belong to the Messiah. The “standard,” that will be lifted high, will be the ensign of the finished work of Christ on the cross. They will be saved by accepting the work of Christ on their behalf the same as born-again people of all ages. People living in Jerusalem in the time of the millennium, will be called, “The holy people.” That is a very different description of them from what they were in the time of Isaiah and the prophets who came after him. They were unholy people, idol worshippers who were in bondage to those who would come and conquer them. They had turned away from the Lord and would suffer the consequences of idolatry and apostasy.
Isaiah could look ahead and see what would happen in the future, and like all faithful preachers, he warned the people that the promise of sin to give something for nothing is an empty promise, because by its nature, sin takes, not gives. More than that it takes from any of us what we should never give. The contrast to that is that righteousness, when invested, brings forth much more than it takes. Investing in righteousness produces far more than it costs, because the Lord guarantees it.
During the dangerous years of the tribulation, those who preach the Gospel will faithfully serve the Lord by warning the people. They will keep them looking ahead and beyond things happening at the moment, to the fulfilling of the Lord’s promised, victorious return, and victory over their enemies. The lives of God’s people will no more be an on- going struggle of survival because of the impact of sin. In that day the people of the Lord will live fulfilled lives as they serve the Lord. In the restored Zion, they will be called, “the redeemed of the Lord, sought out, a city not forsaken.”