Title: My Hepzibah, My Horn
Contents God did not turn away from the earnest prayers of the people of Israel during the Babylonian captivity, and He spoke about the grace of salvation that He will bestow upon them through the prophet Isaiah 70 years later.
ⅰGod Himself gives a new name.
“You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give you” (v. 2b).
Here, ‘you’ refers to the people of God who have returned from captivity, but now we are talking about those who have been saved and the members of the New Testament Church.
When we believe in Jesus and are saved, we will be given new names, Hepziba and Shallah.
‘Hepzibah’ means ‘my joy is in her’. It means ‘I am married to you’.
Hepziba means that God's joy is in us who are saved, and God called horns loves us as intimately as we are married.
ii God who does not forsake us
Our old name was 'The Forsaken', 'The Wasteland'. Man's greatest suffering is being abandoned by God.
Human suffering began when Adam and Eve, the fathers of mankind, were forsaken by God because of their sins. Believing in Jesus means being saved from where you left off. Therefore, even if this world is a little difficult, you can live with patience and even if you fail, you can stand up again.
iii. God who glorifies us
We are a beautiful crown in the hand of the LORD, a crown in the hand of God. How should we live, who have become so loved and precious?
You must give Jehovah no rest. The God who created this world wants to work today.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts freed the captives of Israel from the Babylonian oppression, saved us, and revived our church. A wise person is one who makes God work. It is prayer that makes God restless.
It is entrusting work to God through prayer. The Lord wants to work for this land that has been devastated by idolatry today.
In other words, God wants people who kneel and raise their hands and cry out in prayer with the heart of the Lord.
conclusion
① Go to the gate
The joy of God and what we, as God's brides, have to do is to first go to the city gate so that the captives can return to the Lord. When Jesus asked for evangelism, he said, “Go ye and make disciples of all nations.”
② Prepare the way for the people
It means to level the road and remove obstacles so that many people can come easily. To pave the way well means to pray by calling out the names of each person's soul.
③ Raise the flag for all people
We must raise the flag of the gospel and blow the trumpets vigorously so that many can hear it. This means that we Christians live a godly life.
Therefore, we must be examples and light. If we do not live worthy of that name, we dishonor the God who gave us a new name.