Listen:  84 Question 4

The term ‘Beulah land’ is not actually found in the Bible in that form.  That term comes from the Squire Parsons’ hymn, “Sweet Beulah Land.”  Let’s read Isaiah 62:1-4, “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.”  The Lord in speaking to His people, the nation of Israel, reassures her that although the world thinks little of her, the world would be made to see that they are loved of God.  Where they might have appeared to have been forsaken by God, they would be called, or known to the world as Hephzibah, which in the Hebrew language means, “my delight is in thee.”  Their land would be called Beulah, which in the Hebrew language means “to be married.”

This is a word from the Lord to assure His people, that although they had sinned and had been judged for their sins, they were still the earthly people of God.  The Lord would manifest His love to His people in such a way that the world would acknowledge that God delighted in them.  The world would see that they were, indeed, married to the Lord.  The Lord said in Hosea 2:18-20, “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.”

Although this is the only time in the King James Version of the Bible that we find the word, ‘Beulah’ it is used several other times, but translated differently.  In Genesis 20:3, the word Beulah is translated ‘wife.’  In Deuteronomy 21:13, the word Beulah is translated ‘husband.’  In Deuteronomy 22:22, the word Beulah is translated ‘married.’  The word is used several more times in the Old Testament, and always with the thought of being married.  Today, the church of God is made up of all different races and nationalities.  The church is comprised of everyone that knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her savior.  We are not an earthly people, but a heavenly people.  Paul wrote to the church in 2 Corinthians 11:2 saying, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”  As the church of God, we are the bride of Christ.  What a wonderful day that will be when the bride of Christ is gathered to Himself in Glory.  We read in Revelation 19:6-8, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”