“What is a Beulah land? We sing about it, but I don’t know what it is.”

Throughout Scripture, a new name signals a new identity. That’s especially true when God bestows that new name. Consider classic examples like Abram becoming “Abraham” (Gen. 17:5) and Sarai becoming “Sarah” (Gen. 17:15). Later, their grandson Jacob becomes “Israel” (Gen. 32:28). In the New Testament, Jesus gives Simon the name “Peter” (Mark 3:16; Matt. 16:16-18). But what new name has God given you? God’s habit of renaming his servants provides some context that will help us answer this week’s Ask question.

The Question

Our Ask series answers questions submitted on our website or from the congregation. We recently got a question about an unfamiliar word used in an old hymn. A sister asked, “What is a Beulah land? We sing about it, but I don’t know what it is.“

The Text

Isaiah declares, “you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give” (Isa. 62:2). Then two verses later, he adds, “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, 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” (Isa. 62:4). The Hebrew word for “Married” (see my emphasis above) is Beulah.

What a beautiful new identity! You were once “Forsaken” but God renamed you “My Delight.” Peter used similar language to describe Christians (1 Pet. 2:9-10)! And the land once called “Desolate” is now named “Married” or “Beulah” (Isa. 62:4).

The Context

This passage parallels the Servant’s Songs from earlier in Isaiah (Isa. 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; and 52:13-53:12). It’s a poem about the change the Lord’s anointed will bring to the land and the people. Though Isaiah lived long before the exile, in the book’s second half (40-65), God prophetically addresses his people in exile, where they feel abandoned, ashamed, lost, and hopeless. The Lord tells of a new salvation greater than the Exodus and a renewal of the kingdom far greater than the promised land as they knew it before.

“You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, 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” (Isa. 62:4)

When Jesus appears, the people are filled with hope and anticipation, wondering if he will fulfill these and other Messianic hopes. And indeed, he does. He has already accomplished some of it, but there is more to come, promising a future that fulfills the Lord’s promises.

We read in Deuteronomy 33:26-28 of the promised “land of corn [KJV for grain] and wine” we sing about in the opening lines of Beulah Land. But a more fitting reference comes from Hosea 2:16-23. It’s not just a promise of abundance, it’s a comforting picture of God sharing the closeness of a husband to his people, renaming her with terms of endearment rather than shame, and causing the earth to yield “the grain, the wine, and the oil” (Hos. 2:22). This new relationship with God promises a new life and a new land, bringing comfort and reassurance. It’s a message of hope in the midst of despair, a promise of renewal in the face of loss.

God will rejoice over us as a bridegroom delights in his bride, and that’s the idea of “Beulah” — the oneness we can share with our Lord.

Motyer explains, “The new names Hephzibah … and Beulah … are explained in the two halves of verse 5: respectively the wedding and the honeymoon. Zion’s sons make their marriage vow to their bride to ‘love and to cherish’, to give themselves in devoted service to the welfare of Zion, and the Lord goes on honeymoon with his people, rejoicing over them. With such economy of words and beauty of imagery Isaiah depicts the loving unanimity that characterizes Zion and her intimate union with the Lord—which Revelation 19:7 foresees as the marriage of the Lamb” (Motyer, Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale).

The Point

Isaiah 62 paints a hopeful picture, beginning with our new identity (Isa. 62:2). We will be “a crown of beauty” in God’s hand (Isa. 62:3) and live in a land married to the Lord, a place whose essence is union with our God (Isa. 62:4). God will rejoice over us as a bridegroom delights in his bride, and that’s the idea of “Beulah” — the oneness we can share with our Lord.