”Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch. The nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory. And you will be given a new name by the Lord’s own mouth. The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see— a splendid crown in the hand of God. Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City” or “The Desolate Land.” Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight” and “The Bride of God,” for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his bride. Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord. Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth. The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength: “I will never again hand you over to your enemies. Never again will foreign warriors come and take away your grain and new wine. You raised the grain, and you will eat it, praising the Lord. Within the courtyards of the Temple, you yourselves will drink the wine you have pressed.” Go out through the gates! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see. The Lord has sent this message to every land: “Tell the people of Israel, ‘Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’” They will be called “The Holy People” and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.” And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place” and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”“
Isaiah 62:1-12 NLT
Our generation puts a lot of emphasis on the concept of identity and names. Though the west hasn’t adopted a practice of naming people descriptively or predictively, the scripture has always done so. From the moment Adam named Eve, names have meant something. It is of particular note given the social fixation with names and the respect therein. The concept of dead-naming in this light seems easily applied in scripture. It would be inappropriate to call Paul, Saul. Just as Abraham would not be Abram, Israel would not be called Jacob. The difference with today’s obsession with name changes and a biblical practice is the idea that it is God who provides the new name, because it is God who provides the new identity. All of these new identities are given in reference to his covenant relationship with those people. They are often in difference and in spite of the old names, meant to illustrate a metamorphosis of relational standing in the named. This will not be different in the end, as God changes the final status of his people once again and gives them a name of honor. They will not be the deceiver. The will not be the one who wrestles with God. They will be the one redeemed by him. This is gospel to be sure. Let us look forward to when a new name is given to all of us.
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