Mighty God
Prince of Peace, pt. 2
If you weren’t here last week we began a series covering one of the most famous descriptions of Jesus in all of history.
Isaiah 9.
This is the Christmas season. Last night I took dozens of people through this story at the living nativity and was honored to share the Gospel with many of them. There are people in the world today that never make the connection that the baby in Bethlehem’s manger is the same person that later dies for their sin. This child, born in the most humble of circumstances, is the greatest gift EVER given to anyone.
Last week we discovered that God was so excited about the gift He was going to send on Christmas that he started telling people about it 700 years before it happened.
Anyone ever buy a gift and you were more excited about giving the gift than the person was to receive it?
That’s God, and that’s us.
Isaiah gives us 4 different names for this gift God is giving us.
It’s my hope that during this Christmas season as we explore these names, you will grow to understand all of who Jesus is, and what HE wants to be for you today in 2019.
Let’s start by reading Isaiah Chapter 9 again-
Isaiah 9:1 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
On those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:6
For 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 Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6
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 forever. – Isaiah 9:7
Let’s pray.
Keep this passage open on your laps for a minute.
I want to give you some background as to what Isaiah was speaking about that was relevant to his time. Obviously, he was never going to meet Jesus here on earth and see the ultimate fulfillment of his prophecy.
In 700 BC, the people of Israel were facing hostile enemies to their north and to their east. The nation of Assyria, which was composed of modern-day Syria and Iraq, was raiding and conquering and causing all sorts of terror, particularly on Israel’s north and eastern borders.
A quick aside here- This is probably what happened to the tribe of Dan. If you are a student of the bible and compare the genealogies between those in Genesis and those in Revelation, you’ll see they are a little different and the major omission you see is of the tribe of Dan. They were mostly likely wiped out early in Assyria’s conquests.
Because of this tragedy, God knew how the rest of the people in Israel were feeling, so He issued them a promise through one of His most respected spokesmen: the prophet Isaiah.
God says, “Don’t be afraid. Have courage, have joy. One of these days you are going to feel as happy as you do on pay day (that’s what the day of harvest was for them. Pay day.). You’re going to feel as relieved and joyful as you did on the day World War II ended. (That’s what “The day of Midian’s Defeat” was like for them.) The outcome of their war against Midian was uncertain until God brought about a huge victory.”
And then God says, “And the way you’re going to get that relief and joy is from an action you would never have anticipated: I’m going to send a child to deliver you. A child who will lead you – the government will be on his shoulders.
And if you want to know what this child will be like, I’ll tell you. He is going to be a wonderful counselor. (We talked about that last week. If you missed it, log into the podcast.) He is going to be a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace.”
This morning, as the second installment of this series, all I want to cover with you is the second two-word phrase in v. 6, “Mighty God.” Today we are going to look at the babe born in Bethlehem in a whole new light that could change not only your Christmas season but your entire life.”
And he will be called… Mighty God.
There is a paradox in this friends. In this passage, God is telling people that one day a child will come, a baby, the most vulnerable of human beings. A Baby can’t feed himself, clothe himself, communicate, or defend himself. A baby is completely dependent on others for everything and yet this child will be almighty God.
That’s the exciting part about Christmas. There’s a baby being born who will change the world. There’s a small one coming, with limitless power.
One time, years before this prophecy, the nation of Israel was facing an unconquerable enemy. A nearby nation by the name of Midian was attacking them and repeatedly stealing their food, their animals, and even their tools.
The Israelites tried year after year to stop these Midianites, but they couldn’t. It was humanly impossible, given their limited size, numbers, and resources. The Midianites were just a superior power to them. It would be like Trinidad sending a fleet of fishing boats against the US Navy- the outcome is pretty much already decided.
So, they did exactly what many of us do: they tried anything and everything they could under their own power, and then, when all else had failed, they cried out to God, saying, “Send us a deliverer.”
And God did.
But in a very unusual way.
Turn your Bibles leftward to the book of Judges, because I want you to see what happens in this story.
Here’s how the story goes: Judges 6
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because of the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds. – Judges 6:1-2
Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. . – Judges 6:3-4
They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.
– Judges 6:5-6
Let me summarize the rest
Israel cries for help, God appoints a deliverer. A very unlikely deliverer. His name was Gideon.
Gideon was about as unlikely a hero as any nation could have.
When God comes to him, God says, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. – Judges 6:12
You know what Gideon’s response is? “Mighty warrior? Mighty warrior?” “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest…, and I am the least in my family.” – Judges 6:15
Not exactly the response a great military leader would give, wouldn’t you agree? God definitively didn’t find an ancient version of George Patton did he?
God says to him, “Gideon, I want to prove to my people, and to the world, that I can do something great with something small. So Gideon, the Midianites are about to attack your country with 120,000 soldiers. I’m going to use you to defeat them with an army of 300.” –
And just to make it a fair fight, God didn’t allow those 300 to receive training at Camp Pendleton or Fort Bragg. These were not 300 Spartans by any means. These were the guys barely passing a PT test or making the weight restrictions.
God was teaching Gideon and Israel and through them teaching us a very important point, and it’s a point that will change our whole idea of God if you will believe it.
The weakest person standing on God’s side will never be defeated.
In fact, the bible says that God’s power is perfected by our weakness.
Human weakness produces humility, which is the prerequisite for God’s power to move in you, through you, and for you!”
Last week we learned the original Hebrew language words for Wonderful Counselor.
For Mighty God, they are
They’re El Gibbor
“El” is the noun in the phrase. “Gibbor” is the adjective that modifies or describes the noun.
“El” is the shortened form of “Elohim,” (El is short for “Elohim”) which is the most common name used for God in the Old Testament. When the Bible says in its very first verse in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the word for God there is “Elohim.”
Whenever the shortened form “el” is used, instead of “elohim,” in the Bible, “el” always describes “The Mighty One.” “El” = “The Mighty One”
Which is very interesting, because “Gibbor” the second word in the phrase, is an adjective that modifies the noun which is mighty one. And gibbor itself means, “mighty.”
So literally, what Isaiah 9:6 is saying is, “And he will be called… The Mighty, Mighty One.” (repetition in biblical thought)
Prophecies about the coming Messiah are strewn all throughout the O.T., starting with the third chapter of Genesis where God says, the One to save the world will be born The offspring of a woman. – Genesis 3:15
There are actually 12 such ancient prophecies that Jesus fulfilled before he could walk, 10 of them before he even got out of the womb.
If you want this list, shoot me an email
The Bible says he will be born:
1. The offspring of a woman. – Genesis 3:15
2. From a virgin. – Isaiah 7:14
3. The Son of God – Psalm 2:7
4. A descendant of Abraham – Genesis 22:18
5. From the line of Isaac – Genesis 21:12
6. From the nation of Israel – Numbers 24:17
7. From the tribe of Judah – Genesis 49:10
8. From the family of Jesse – Isaiah 11:1
9. From the house of David – Jeremiah 23:5
10. In Bethlehem – Micah 5:2
11. Presented with gifts – Psalm 72:10
12. Children will be killed – Jeremiah 31:15
Do you know how hard it is to fulfill any prophecy of antiquity, much less 12 of them?
I’m going to illustrate what the probability would be of anyone being able to fulfill these 12 prophecies.
Professor Peter W. Stoner wrote in a book titled, Science Speaks using the mathematical science of probability that there was a 1 x 1017 possibility of any person fulfilling even eight such prophecies.
Possibility of fulfilling 8 prophecies of Scripture = 1 x 1017
1x 1017 = 100,000,000,000,000,000 (100 Quadrillion) 1 followed by 17 zeros.
That’s a number that’s hard to get our minds around, so Stoner describes it this way. He says:
We take 1017 silver dollars and lay them evenly on the ground of Texas. They will cover all the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the marked silver dollar and say that this is the right one.
- Science Speaks, Peter W. Stoner
Jesus pulled off 12 prophesies while he was still in the womb.
Does that sound mighty, mighty impressive?
Sounds kind of God-like doesn’t it?
But it gets better! Throughout His adult life, Jesus fulfilled over 300 more prophecies!
I don’t have enough paper and ink at home to print off enough zeros to represent the probability that any one human could do all 300 of those prophecies.
But then, we are talking about our mighty, mighty God.
3 quick examples from the Gospels-
We will finish today in Matthew 14 if you want to turn there in your bibles.
Right before Jesus performs this miracle, he receives word that his cousin and closest friend growing up, John The Baptist had been killed.
Obviously, it hurt Jesus deeply. So He’s not at His best when the next day He’s out teaching all day on an open hillside to an unexpected crowd of at least 15,000 people.
Well Jesus spends the entire day teaching and ministering to these people. This is ancient Israel, and there are no Subways or stores in the area that people can go and buy food, so towards the close of His talk He starts getting concerned that some of these folks might not make it back to their homes without having something to eat.
A little guy comes up and offers Jesus five barley loaves, each about the size of your fist, and two fish, cleaned and pre-cooked little lake fish, probably the size of a sardine. Just enough for his early-evening dinner.
The Bible says that Jesus:
He directed the people to sit down in groups on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. – Matthew 14:19-21
Personally, I don’t know anyone who could pull off something like that, except a mighty, mighty God.
The text says that immediately after that, Jesus packed His weary disciples into a boat and sent them off across the lake, telling them He’d catch up with them the next day, on the other side of the lake.
Meanwhile, Jesus went up on top of the mountain to pray. He is probably exhausted, and still grieving John the Baptist and needed some time with the Father.
The lake Jesus set the disciples on was called the Sea of Galilee. It’s a unique lake because it sits inland from the Mediterranean Sea about 30 miles, and it’s 1,200 feet below sea level. The geography is such that in any storm, the winds get funneled into straight lines, producing huge waves.
The Bible says that 3 a.m., after Jesus finished His almost-all-night prayer session, He set out to catch up with the disciples. Only He had no boat, so instead of sailing, He decided to walk. Straight across the lake. Here in Wisconsin, that’s not a big deal to walk across a lake if it’s late January. But he is in Israel, which is a tad warmer all year around so this lake never freezes over.
Here’s how the Bible describes it:
Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.” –
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” –
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.”
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
Pretty powerful stuff, wouldn’t you agree? I’d be tempted to call it “mighty powerful stuff.”
He fed over 15,000 people
Walked on water.
Empower a friend to walk on water.
Calmed a storm.
Big work that came originally in a very a small package- a baby in Bethlehem’s manger. That’s how God works.
2000 years ago, He sent this little package to earth with a message to Mary: “Handle with care, because you’re handling almighty God.”
That’s our mighty, might God seen as a helpless baby in Bethlehem’s stable.
So I have a question here today-
What are the great forces coming after you?
Might it be unemployment? That’s can be a huge force blowing against your life, can’t it?
Might it be fear? That can be crippling, if we give in to it.
Is some type of temptation a force in your life right how? Is there something you’re doing, or tempted to do, that is eating away at you right now?
Maybe alcohol or a substance? Maybe it’s a relationship that you know you’ve crossed a line in?
Maybe it’s an addiction that you have hidden from people for years but you desperately want to be free from it.
Maybe your great force is self-doubt. Or discouragement. Or depression.
We need to remember that this child in the manager is mighty God. Mighty God is here to meet your needs.
Mighty God is here to fight your battles
Mighty God is here to show you the path to peace and Joy
Mighty God is here to protect you against all the plans of the enemy for your life.
If you will surrender to Him, and trust in his promises for your life.
Prayer
