The Messianic Promise in Isaiah 9:6 about our King, Jesus
There was a rampant new hope of a royal liberator circulating at Christmas time in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and Star Wars allusions aside, this hope was rooted in the Old Testament in a way described by Peter as, “all the scriptures have spoken” (Cf. Acts 3:24).
This was a hope encapsulated in the lineage of king David; Israel’s liberator and king during the golden years of the Israelite monarchy. He was both a central character and a central theme in many of these Old Testament writings. We have transliterated the royal title (from Greek), and use it as if it was a surname Christ, a transliteration of the Hebrew messiah.
Many of these supposedly clear and all-pervading references in the Old Testament come in Isaiah, with 9:6 being one of the best-known. It is a scripture that is often read during Advent (the period leading up to Christmas) or appears in Christmas greetings. One reason many Christians have battled to see the promises that Peter and other early believers saw so clearly in Israel’s scriptures is that many of us don’t read our Old Testament or understand its importance in God’s revelation of Himself. The Old Testament was the bible for those first believers because the writings we call the New Testament had not yet been written.
Isaiah 9:6
For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (CSB)
Isaiah is writing this at the end of the first sweeping prophetic section, addressing Judah. The entire prophetic poem (Isaiah 9:2-7) is resplendent with historical Israelite imagery, paralleling the nation’s current plight to what had gone before, starting from Egypt from the time of the exodus through to the time of the Judges. Verse six is the culmination of this prophecy, the confirmatory sign of the divine promise.
The first element of the description of the Lord’s promise of hope is the birth of a child.
Not the call for the people to rise up or to reform, but to recognise God manifesting His promise in His own way. A way that would still need to come to maturity! This would require patient endurance and faith by Israel.
The description of the sign being the promise of a child being born seems to be the hint of the dual nature of this child: received by natural birth but given by divine promise and power. A parallel nature that is much easier to see in retrospect than in prospect. For the recipients of God’s promise, looking for a social, and political leader to bring them deliverance, this prospect of having to passively receive the sign of a child’s birth would have been difficult. But, what a child He turned out to be!
Government on His Shoulders
The child would become a leader because of the government that the Lord has put on his shoulders. He would be a divinely ordained leader.
Ordination to leadership was signified in ancient Israel by anointing oil being poured on the head of the one being ordained. Sometimes this oil was a special mixture of oils and spices, but it didn’t have to be; after all, it was the ordination that was important, not the mixture and fragrance of the oil!
Leadership is and always has been close to the heart of God. The scriptures are filled with stories of people influencing people, mostly so they walk in the ways of the Lord, but also, sometimes it contains examples of poor leaders and what happens to them and those who follow them. Also, not all the leaders in the scriptures had the same level of influence, but they all make an impact. When leaders lead themselves and others well, everyone benefits. Never was this more true than of the king that Isaiah was prophesying about.
In contrast to almost all kings, except those idealised in fiction and philosophy, the king of Isaiah 9:6 would be qualified by more than his lineage in the line of David. His leadership would be characterised by His character; its wholistic nature and His profound and enduring concern for everyone who was His. Isaiah lauds him with four epitaphs that depict His character as a leader.
Wonderful Counsellor
He begins with the label “Wonderful Counsellor”, sometimes separated by a comma to show that He is to be both wonderful in himself and also that his counsel is wonderful. This is a phrase repeated in John 14:16 by Jesus of the Holy Spirit; He calls Him “another counsellor”, alluding to this passage and showing that the Lord will leave no believer without a constant, wise companion.
But what does it mean to be a wonderful counsellor? A counsellor is someone who has been recognised for their knowledge and wisdom; someone who knows what to do and when to do it; someone who cares enough to make a difference to those who don’t know what to do or when to do it – people like you and I. This is the Lord’s commitment to His people.
Mighty God
The prophetic revelation continues as Isaiah declares that this anointed leader, this wonderful counsellor, will also be addressed as “mighty God”! Wow, Jewish heresy! A prophecy calling a person god!
In order to understand what Isaiah meant by this, there are two dimensions of it to hold in view. The first is that Isaiah repeats the phrase in 10:21, specifying the Lord as its subject, by which we should understand that the promise being given is that the Lord Himself will be Israel’s saviour and redeemer. However, it also clearly speaks forward about God’s ultimate presence in Jesus, the incomparable God-Man; the divine incarnation of the eternal God in full humanity.
Also, we need to see that the one who was destined to fulfil this prophecy is being described as powerful, like a god is powerful. Not that he would operate like a god, but that he would be mighty like a god. At the heart of the Hebrew word el (god), is the idea of strength and might. The Messiah was to be as powerful as all the enslaved Jews wanted. He just wasn’t going to be the military messiah that they had set their expectation on.
Eternal Father
“Mighty God” is then beautifully juxtaposed with the following phrase, “eternal father”. In a contrasting parallel to His might and power is the messiah’s unceasing love. Just like the love of a father. His character would be similar to that of a father who never gives up on a wayward son.
Some have seen a conflict of titles here between the Father and the Son. But, it is not surprising that the son should be likened to the father as they are one God and they give honour while reflecting one another’s character to the glory of the Godhead.
This motif of the fatherhood of the messiah is another prophetic hint that the messiah will be the Lord himself; who will be the children of Abraham’s savour and messiah (Isaiah 22:21, 63:16, 64:8). Yet it is the unending nature of His fatherhood that is most striking; he is the perpetual father who will never stop being and acting like a father, even to the most rebellious and disobedient of children. This is the commitment embedded in this title.
Prince of Peace
The Messiah will not be characterised or remembered for his victories over enemies – though He will be victorious over all – but for the peace that he will bring. We believe that oppressive and unjust tyrants must be overthrown in order for their power to end and to give peace a chance; and so it will be for God’s messiah (Ps 8:6, 1 Cor 15:27, Eph 1:22, Heb 2:8). Though the manifest fullness of this is still to be seen, it is inherent to both the prophetic promise and the person of the Messiah.
Isaiah 9:6’s messiah will be focused on and identified by his bringing of peace, on redemption rather than retaliation. He will achieve the needed deliverance in unexpected ways and by humanly counter-intuitive means, and all so that the Lord will be seen and praised for just how amazing He is.
This peace is also not just an external cessation of war and strife, but an internal peace within a person as the messiah ascends to the throne of personal power within a believer’s life. This enthroned prince brings a personal, existential peace between the personal God and an individual.
A Last Word
The promise of the ultimate deliverer that God gives Israel through Isaiah’s prophecy both fulfils the nations’ desire and expands the perceived limits of what the Lord planned to achieve through His messiah. Luke clearly had this scripture in Isaiah in mind in Luke 2:11 when he is recounting the angel’s announcement to the shepherds; and Jesus’ birth and lineage is clearly portrayed in the light of God’s prophetic promises, promises like Isaiah 9:6.
Finally, we all who have received Jesus as God’s messiah, on his own terms, can testify to His character being exactly what Isaiah described. For some people, we have taken quite indirect routes to this realization, but every Christian can affirm the truth of Isaiah’s promise of a divine redeemer.
– Francis Judge