The Prophetic Child
For unto us a child is born,
To us a son is given;
And the government will be upon his shoulders,
and his name will be called
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end. Isa. 9:6, 7, RSV.
The "I AM" is not only the eternal "out there" but one who would enter human history in the person of Jesus Nazareth, the central focus of the New Testament and the subject of prophecy in the Old.
Harking back to Isaiah 7:14 and the young woman who would bear a son called "Immanuel" or "God with us," Isiah 9:6 picks up on the word "son" and begins to fill out the profile of the person of the Godhead who would become flesh and dwell among us. The Jewish Targum (a paraphrase of the biblical Hebrew into the commonly used Aramaic of Jesus' day) helps bring out the meaning of the passage: "And there was called His name from of old, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, He who lives for ever, the Messiah, in whose days peace shall increase upon us." That Messianic interpretation by the ancient Jews reflects the description of the individual being spoken of in verses 6 and 7 and cannot belong to any mere earthly ruler.
He is the "Wonderful Counselor," one who is Himself a wonder in His wisdom and kindness. The root of the word "wonder" is used in Psalm 78:12 of God who did "marvelous things...in the land of Egypt." The same verbal root describes the miracles God performed in Egypt, including the dividing of the sea, the leading by pillar of cloud and fire, and the cleaving of the desert rocks to provide water. The wonder of prophetic wonders is the fact that such an individual would be born a child to become the source of wisdom for God's people.
The coming Messiah would not be merely another child, but the "Mighty God." Here we have foreshadowed the miracle of incarnation and the dual nature of the coming Christ--a unique individual who would be fully human yet fully divine.
His third name is "Everlasting Father." Here we need to realize that the prophet is not confounding the divine Father with the divine Son, but rather the fact that one role of Christ was to provide the loving care of a father to His children. Finally, "Prince of Peace" of whose "government...of peace there will be no end" reflects upon both the nature of the eternal kingdom of God and the great prophecy of Daniel 2:44, which will bring an end to all earthly kingdoms. That kingdom "shall stand for ever" (cf. Luke 1:33).
For unto us a child is born,
To us a son is given;
And the government will be upon his shoulders,
and his name will be called
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end. Isa. 9:6, 7, RSV.
The "I AM" is not only the eternal "out there" but one who would enter human history in the person of Jesus Nazareth, the central focus of the New Testament and the subject of prophecy in the Old.
Harking back to Isaiah 7:14 and the young woman who would bear a son called "Immanuel" or "God with us," Isiah 9:6 picks up on the word "son" and begins to fill out the profile of the person of the Godhead who would become flesh and dwell among us. The Jewish Targum (a paraphrase of the biblical Hebrew into the commonly used Aramaic of Jesus' day) helps bring out the meaning of the passage: "And there was called His name from of old, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, He who lives for ever, the Messiah, in whose days peace shall increase upon us." That Messianic interpretation by the ancient Jews reflects the description of the individual being spoken of in verses 6 and 7 and cannot belong to any mere earthly ruler.
He is the "Wonderful Counselor," one who is Himself a wonder in His wisdom and kindness. The root of the word "wonder" is used in Psalm 78:12 of God who did "marvelous things...in the land of Egypt." The same verbal root describes the miracles God performed in Egypt, including the dividing of the sea, the leading by pillar of cloud and fire, and the cleaving of the desert rocks to provide water. The wonder of prophetic wonders is the fact that such an individual would be born a child to become the source of wisdom for God's people.
The coming Messiah would not be merely another child, but the "Mighty God." Here we have foreshadowed the miracle of incarnation and the dual nature of the coming Christ--a unique individual who would be fully human yet fully divine.
His third name is "Everlasting Father." Here we need to realize that the prophet is not confounding the divine Father with the divine Son, but rather the fact that one role of Christ was to provide the loving care of a father to His children. Finally, "Prince of Peace" of whose "government...of peace there will be no end" reflects upon both the nature of the eternal kingdom of God and the great prophecy of Daniel 2:44, which will bring an end to all earthly kingdoms. That kingdom "shall stand for ever" (cf. Luke 1:33).
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