I have heard "Godforsaken" many times during my life, but I have never really considered what it actually means. The word does not appear in the Bible, and the closest thing to it is where the prophet Nehemiah asks "Why is the house of God forsaken?" (Neh. 13:11). Here, it refers to the forsaking of God's temple by the people. It is strange that the modern use of the word combines the two words into one. Webster's Dictionary defines "Godforsaken" as "depraved; wicked; desolate; or forlorn."
Depraved is defined as "morally bad; corrupt; perverted." By this definition, it would appear to describe a person who has chosen to reject God or His influence in his or her life. While the word does not appear in the Word of God, there is a clear reference to its meaning found in Leviticus 18:22-23 and Romans 1:24-27 which describe depravity as bestiality and homosexuality.
Wicked is defined as "one having evil intent; etc." Examples of the wicked found in the Word are numerous: Cain (1 Jn. 3:12); all of mankind (Gen. 6:5); Abimelech (Jud. 9:56); Ahab (1 Kg. 21:25); Haman (Est. 7:6); and the epitome of wickedness, Satan (Matt. 13:19, 38; 1 Jn. 2:13).
Desolate means "uninhabited; etc." In Matthew 23:34-39, Jesus tells the religious leaders that their city and the temple would be made desolate because the Son of God would no longer be there. Throughout the Scriptures, there are many places that had become void of people because they had been made uninhabitable.
Forlorn is said to mean "abandoned; deserted; without hope; etc." While the word itself does not appear in the Bible, there are numerous examples of those who were deserted or forsaken by someone: God by Israel (Deut. 28:20; Jud. 10:10-13; 1 Kg. 11:33; etc.); Jesus by God (Ps. 22:1; Matt. 27:46); Paul by Demas, Crescens, Titus, and Mark (2 Tim. 4:10; Acts 13:13; 15:39), to name just a few.
To be forsaken by God is truly bad news! So regardless of how one interprets "Godforsaken," to be so is not good, to say the least. However, the believing Jew of the Old Testament and the born-again Christian of the New Testament received God's promise that He will never forsake us (Gen. 28:15; Deut. 31:6-8; Josh. 1:5; 1 Chron. 28:20; Heb. 13:5; etc.). The Gospel, the good news is that God loves us and sent His Son to die for us, to be buried, and to be raised the third day according to the Scriptures, and that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world! That is the basis for our knowledge that God has not, nor will He ever, forsake us (Jn. 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Eph. 1:4)!
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