For
as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
Isaiah 62:5
Isaiah 62 [1.] For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning lamp.
The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory,
and you will be called by a new name,
which Yahweh‘s mouth will name.
You will also be a crown of beauty in Yahweh‘s hand,
and a royal diadem in your God‘s hand.
You will not be called Forsaken any more;
nor will your land be called Desolate any more:
but you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for Yahweh delights in you,
and your land will be married.
Isaiah 62 [5.] For as a young man marries a virgin,
so your sons will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.
They will never be silent day nor night.
You who call on Yahweh, take no rest,
and give him no rest, until he establishes,
and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Isaiah 62 [8.] Yahweh has sworn by his right hand,
and by the arm of his strength,
“Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies;
and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored;
but those who have harvested it will eat it, and praise Yahweh;
and those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”
Meaning:
Isaiah 62 is a song about the restoration of Jerusalem. After years of ruin and exile, the city had seemed abandoned by God. The prophet declares that God has not forgotten Zion. She will be given a new name and will once again be loved and honoured. This verse uses the joy of a wedding to describe God's delight in his people.
- “For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you”
The previous verse says the land will be called Beulah, meaning married, “for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married” (Isaiah 62:4). Here the picture is that the people of Jerusalem will return and settle in the land as naturally and joyfully as a young man marries his bride. The desolate land will be inhabited and fruitful again.
- “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you”
The image moves from the people to God himself. God is pictured as a bridegroom, full of delight in the one he loves. This theme runs through the prophets. Isaiah had already said, “For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name” (Isaiah 54:5). God's covenant with his people is not a cold contract but a relationship of love and joy.
- The bridegroom in the New Testament
Jesus applied the bridegroom picture to himself: “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them?” (Mark 2:19). John the Baptizer called himself “the friend of the bridegroom”, rejoicing to hear his voice (John 3:27-29). Paul taught that Christ loved the church and gave himself for her as a husband for his bride (Ephesians 5:25), and Revelation celebrates the day when “the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).
The Significance of Isaiah 62:5
- God's delight in his people
It is easy to think of God as distant or merely tolerant toward us. This verse says that he rejoices over his people like a bridegroom over his bride. Believers can rest in that love.
- Hope after desolation
Jerusalem had been called Forsaken and Desolate, but God gave her a new name. No situation is beyond God's power to restore. Those who feel abandoned can trust his promise of renewal.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 54:5: “For your Maker is your husband;” God as the husband of his people.
Mark 2:19: “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Jesus as the bridegroom.
Revelation 19:7: “For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.” The final wedding celebration.
Conclusion: Isaiah 62:5 promises that God's people will return to their land and that God will rejoice over them as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. This picture of joyful love is fulfilled in Christ, the bridegroom who gave himself for his people. It assures believers of God's delight in them.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible