HE SHALL BE CALLED
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. [NIV]
What’s in a name? Today we see names given to children that have no apparent meaning, certainly not relating to the future of the child! What a difference to the days of long ago, when names were given relating to the hopes and aspirations of the parents, or in many cases the names were given according to the ability or work of the person concerned. It was quite common in Wales to have nicknames given to a person relating to their employment. In the village where we lived there was ‘Bowen the Butcher’ who sold fresh meat, and ‘Parry the Post’ who ran the local Post Office, amongst others.
In our text we have something a little different; for here we have names being given around 700 years before the person concerned was born. These names all related to the individual in a remarkable way, as we will see. These were the names by which the Messiah was to be known, and I want us to look briefly at the amazing truth being revealed through these names. It appears to me that there are four distinct names given each describing a different aspect that would be revealed concerning ‘the Christ’.
The first of these names is
1. WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR,
This is sometimes expressed as Wonderful, Counsellor, as in the KJV. Most translations seem to agree on it being a composite name.
This is a very special name, as it speaks of someone who can be consulted, and is able to give advice; not only that but the counsel given would be wonderful, or marvellous.
Isaiah tells us of the Messiah,
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:2 [AV]
Isaiah goes on to tell us that the Lord would be
Wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Isaiah 28:29. [AV]
All this was hundreds of years before the actual coming of the Messiah.
Paul picks up the theme in his epistles. I love the way the Amplified Version expresses Colossians 2:3
In Him all the treasures of divine wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and all the riches of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden. Col 2:3. [Amp]
The Lord showed us a glimpse of His counselling ability when He was in the Temple as a child, speaking with the teachers;
Luke 2:46-47 they found Him in the court of the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His intelligence and understanding and His replies. [Amp]
While I might enjoy the words of the Old Testament prophets, and the New Testament Apostles, I am excited by the words of the Lord Himself, for He knew the importance of having a counsellor available to us, and promised that, even though He was going to die, and be resurrected, we would not be alone.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counsellor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever. John 14:16. [Amplified]
I understand that the original language gives the thought, not of a replacement, but of an additional comforter – the Holy Spirit.
Do you need advice? Then remember that
He gives wonderful advice; He gives great wisdom. . Isaiah 28:29. [Holman]
The second of the four given names is
2. MIGHTY GOD,
What a great title this is. ‘Mighty God’. The nations around all had their so-called ‘gods’ who were claimed to have a variety of abilities, but here we have ‘the Mighty God’, and this God is not confined to a given locality, see what the Psalmist says,
Psalm 50:1 THE MIGHTY One, God, the Lord, speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. [Amp]
Paul claims that the Messiah is this very God;
Romans 9:5. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. [NLT]
I think it might be good to remind ourselves that we are speaking of the One who came as a baby to Bethlehem. Please, don’t stay with the baby, but move on to the Mighty God. It is this that makes our celebrations so wonderful. Let us link this with the words of the Risen Christ;
Revelation 1:8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come - the Almighty One.” [NLT]
Yes, the One who was born for us as the Babe of Bethlehem; He who was Majesty in a Manger; the One who came to be the Christ of Calvary is indeed the Mighty God.
Hebrews 1: 3. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honour at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. [NLT]
The third of our titles is, perhaps a little more difficult to understand.
3. EVERLASTING FATHER,
We must always remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Divine Trinity. It is clear that He is not the Father, as He prayed to the Father when He was on earth. So what does this mean?
We will turn to Matthew Henry for a comment at this point,
He is the everlasting Father, or the Father of eternity; he is God, one with the Father, who is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the author of everlasting life and happiness to them, and so is the Father of a blessed eternity to them. [Matthew Henry]
Calvin suggests that what this means is that this One who came as a child, a Son, is in fact the Author of Eternity. In this sense He is the One who brought eternal life to us by His death.
Hebrews 5:8-9 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Let me quote from John Gill
Christ is a Father to these unto everlasting; he will never die, and they shall never be left fatherless; he and they will ever continue in this relation; he as such supplies them with everlasting provisions, he clothes them with everlasting raiment, he gives them an everlasting portion, promotes them to everlasting honour, saves them with an everlasting salvation, bearing an everlasting love to them. [John Gill]
I will remind you again, that this one is the one we remember as the one born in a manger, and we are encouraged to keep our attention firmly fixed on Him.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2 [AV]
The Holman version expresses it as
Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. [Holman]
As the source, He is the Father of our Faith, and we are thankful that He is also the One who is the perfecter of our faith as well!
And for our final title of the four, we have
4. PRINCE OF PEACE.
What an amazing name to give to a baby! Remember the troubled circumstances of His birth. The nation was subjected to the rule of Rome. Mary and Joseph, along with many others, had to travel many miles because of the law passes by the emperor. There was an element of rebellion against Rome, and the priestly class appear to have sold out to the power of the enemy. In the middle of these troubled times comes a baby who is called ‘the Prince of Peace’!
Now I must confess to having had a problem just here. Why Prince of Peace? Why not King of Peace? Surely a king is more important and powerful than a prince! As I did a bit of searching I found the following, by a preacher called Hal Seed, and his comments are supported by a number of commentators.
Prince of Peace, as Isaiah wrote it, in his native language of Hebrew is “sar-shalom.” - [Prince of Peace = “sar-shalom”]
“Sar” is the word for prince. Normal when we think of a prince, we think of the son of a king. But that’s not what this word is designed to make us think. This word literally means, - Sar = head person, captain, governor, prince. The man in charge.
The Romans had a very similar word for their ruler, he was called the “C-sar.” They had Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Nero Caesar. That was their head guy.
Until the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russians adopted the same title for their head of state. They called their ruler the, “czar.”
Jesus is the sar-shalom.
Shalom is the word for peace. In the Hebrew language, peace is a rich and powerful concept. Shalom = well-being, happiness, peace.
Jesus is the governor of well-being, the captain of happiness, the ruler of peace. The sar-shalom. Friends, this is the climax of Isaiah’s promise. And I want you to fully understand it today. Because if you can embrace this, you will see the Christ differently for the rest of your life. [Hal Seed – California]
That gave me a better understanding, and also helped me understand the next verse I want to share with you, for again the Lord Jesus is referred to as a Prince
Revelation 1:5 Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. [AV]
Here we have the same thought, but the language has changed and in Greek we have - arcwn archon ar’-khone, but the meaning is the same! - to be chief, to lead, to rule.
We could spend a lot of time looking at the theme of Jesus being our Peace.
Please remember that He was born as a baby so that He could identify with us, and even die for us. This is really what Christmas is about, and it is all part of the plan of God. He is the One who came to stand alongside us as our Counsellor when we need guidance; the One who is the Ruler of all things, and the Originator of our salvation, and as we place ourselves into His care, He will ensure our well-being and happiness.
I want to leave it just there so that we do not lose the thought of who this wonderful baby is,
He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
