Isaiah 9:6-7
Have you ever had a song get stuck in your head like an ear worm? A song you can’t stop singing or hearing even if no sound is being made. When I was praying and asking God what Christmas passage he would like me to teach on. I started hearing a song in my head from Handel’s Messiah. This was kind of weird because I don’t usually listen to classical music, but there is one song from Handel’s Messiah that I love. I started hearing this song the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night as I was going to bed. The song goes like this.
For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Unto us a son is given.
For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Unto us a son is given.
And the government shall be upon his shou-lders. And the government shall be upon his shou-lders.
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, The Pri- -nce of Peace.
And then the refrain repeats itself again. When this chorus got stuck in my ear I knew that I had to find the passage in the scriptures where this prophetic promise of Messiah’s rule and reign is found, and that brought me to Isaiah 9:6-7 the passage I want us to look at today.
Isaiah 9:6-7
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
7) The dominion will be vast,
And its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this. CSB
If we want to understand Messiah’s rule and reign we must recognize the difference between Jesus first and second coming. In today’s passage in Isaiah 9:6 we have a prophecy about the first and second coming of Christ all wrapped up in one verse. Which as you can imagine is confusing. In verse 6 we find a son will be born, a son will be given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. What part of this prophecy has come true? Has the son has been given? Yes, but we have yet to see the government placed on Messiah’s shoulders. This second prophecy has not been fulfilled. It is easy to see why the Jews in Jesus day were perplexed by his earthly ministry when they were diligently following passages like this one. In his first coming Jesus came as a helpless baby, but in his second coming he will reign on David’s throne.
It might help if we could think of biblical prophecies as mountain peaks. Two future predictions placed within a passage do not necessarily have to occur at the exact same time for them to be true. In fact there may be millenniums between two prophecies found within the same verse. For a minute think about looking at the Catalina Mountains here in Tucson. When we gaze on the mountains it is not easy to determine how deep or wide is a canyon that lays between two different mountain peaks. My back porch faces Pima Canyon and unless there is a storm that is only brewing in Pima Canyon, which occasionally does happen, from the back of my house I can’t tell that there is even a canyon there. I know Pima Canyon exist because I have hiked it many times, but from a distance the front of the mountains look flat to the naked eye.
If we were to hike to the top of one of the summits in the Catalina Mountain range, or better yet climbed aboard an airplane or helicopter, and flew over the peaks, we would recognize how far apart and large is the chasm which lies between the mountain tops. Like mountain peaks viewed from the air, time has given the modern readers of scripture the ability to recognize Isaiah 9:6 is talking about two different future events, the first and the second comings of Christ. The Hebrews did not have this privilege. This is why we always want to try to interpret prophecy with great humility. Just like, the first century Jews who were eagerly studying the scriptures, we simply may not have all the facts to fully understand everything that is being foretold in a passage.
As we move into this Christmas seasons to celebrate Jesus birth, I want to encourage you to give some room in this busy season, to also consider Jesus’ second coming. Are we ready for Jesus’ rule and reign upon the earth? Jesus’ second coming is just as important to the Christmas story as his birth.
If we want to understand Messiah’s rule and reign we must recognize the power found in God’s names. When I was giving birth, back in the dark ages before the internet, you had to go to a book store and buy a book with baby names in it to search for the perfect name you would bestow on your child. Now young parents can do a quick search on the internet for baby names, but it wasn’t so easy when I was giving birth. “What is your favorite name and why?”
Names in the Bible are very significant. Sometimes a name may be given because of a specific circumstance like what happened to Moses. Moses’ name means drawn from the water (Ex. 2:10). You will remember that Pharaoh’s daughter drew him from the Nile River where his mother had placed him in a basket, when Pharaoh had decreed that all the Hebrew baby boys must be killed. Sometimes a given name was prophetic in the Bible. John the Baptist’s first name John means God’s gracious gift. As he prepared the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry he became a gift for all. Sometimes a name describes a relationship. When God appeared to Moses at the burning bush he said, “I am the God of your father – The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” (Ex. 3:6) With this name God was revealing his activity within a family. He wanted to encourage Moses with his name by reminding him, “I was faithful to your fathers and I will be faithful to you too.”
Look at the names given to the coming Messiah in Isaiah 9:6.Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father and the Prince of Peace. The number of names that appear in this passage depends on how many commas you use. The ancient manuscripts that our modern translations come from did not use punctuation the way we do. Handel in his composition of the Messiah set apart one of God’s names to be “Wonderful”. The CSB combines Wonderful with Counselor to name the coming Christ. I personally like isolating “Wonderful” as one of Jesus’ names because this name describes his character so well. In the New Testament who is given the name Counselor? It is the third person of the trinity the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). I would like you to consider that several of the names that Isaiah mentions are used to identify the three persons of the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The name Counselor illustrates the work the Holy Spirit does in our lives, The Everlasting Father describes the first person of the trinity our Eternal Father, and the name Prince of Peace describes Jesus the Son of God and his redemptive work for us through the power of his sacrifice. In an age of extreme Roman cruelty Jesus will lead a peaceful revolution. He will not encourage the overthrow of any earthly government, but he will bring peace. In addition, to these three names usually attributed to the trinity, comes the name Mighty God. This name confirms Messiah’s divinity. This baby that is born on Christmas will be fully God and fully man. So, these names are significant because they describe the triune God and signify that Messiah will be divine. There is power in these names. As the ear worm I gave you earlier from Handel’s Messiah circulates through your mind, continue to meditate on the power of these names.
If we want to understand the Messiah’s rule and reign we must recognize the LORD of Armies enthusiasm to complete his eternal plans. In Isaiah 9:7 our prophet returns to the topic of King Jesus and the time when the government will rest on his shoulders. Here in verse 7 he will go into great detail but before we discuss what that will look like I want us to go to the end of the verse. Look at the phrase at the end of Isaiah 9:7 where it reads, “…The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.” God and God alone will establish and orchestrate the second coming of King Jesus. Again names in the Bible have incredible insight. The LORD of Armies is a name that appears 285 times in the Old Testament. Language changes over time and English has certainly changed a lot since the translation of the King James Bible. In many English translations the “LORD of Armies” is translated the “LORD of Host” or the “LORD Almighty”. Host is an old English word which means armies. But, for modern readers when they hear the word “host” they think of the person at a restaurant that takes their reservation. For this reason I like the choice of the “LORD of Armies” to describe God’s mighty power and sway over the armies of this world, and the angelic forces. God is in control. It may look like world leaders and military forces are exercising their power, but that is not true. God can say to an army come here and to another army go there. He is the LORD of Armies. This doesn’t mean God is responsible for the bloodshed and injustices of earthly armies. It means he is never thwarted by any military force.
Isaiah 9:7 ends with this promise “…The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.” The word translated zeal could also be translated enthusiasm or passion. We can trust in this second coming prophecy because the LORD of Armies will make it happen. He is enthusiastically and diligently planning the day when Jesus will reign over all the earth. This has never happened in the history of the world and no earthly government will ever be able to bring this about.
With that understanding let’s go back and look in detail at the Messiah’s rule and reign by reading Isaiah 9:7 again.
The dominion will be vast,
And its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
And over his kingdom,
To establish and sustain it
With justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this. CSB
Isaiah prophecied that the dominion of this kingdom will be vast. Dominion is a word that is referring to Jesus’ sovereignty and control. Dominion can also be referencing the geographical size of Messiah’s kingdom. His rule will be vast and nothing is going to be able to stop Jesus’ reign. Next Isaiah says, “…its prosperity will never end”. In the scriptures the word prosperity means more than a financial windfall. With biblical prosperity we are always talking about gifts of safety, security and peace, but not necessarily extreme earthly wealth. Biblical prosperity always promises enough resources. With God’s rule and reign there is always enough to feed and clothe ourselves, and always enough to be generous and help our neighbor. In Christ’s second coming Jesus will rule on the throne of David, which is a prophecy which points to his earthly linage, and the sight of David’s former kingdom.
God will establish and sustain his kingdom with justice and righteousness from now on and forever more, in his second coming. This means we can start enjoying Jesus’ reign now this side of his second coming. This happens every time someone makes Jesus the king of their heart.
As westerners we often think of justice as merely punishment, but this definition limits the biblical view of justice. For example: if I stole in our western legal system I would be sent to jail for my crime and if possible I would be forced to return what I stole. But, the Hebrew word translated justice means something more than incarceration or the returning of stolen goods. Mishpat which is the Hebrew word we translate justice, is an action oriented word that means righting and correcting a wrong. For example in Provers 6:30-31we read that thieves who get caught stealing must pay back seven times what was stolen because they didn’t just steal a material possession, they broke a relationship and fractured someone’s trust. So, when Isaiah writes that Messiah will establish and sustain David’s kingdom with justice, he is foretelling that all be made right in God’s kingdom. True biblical justice brings restitution, restoration and freedom from the pain and consequences of sin in our lives.
Righteousness is also an important Hebrew word. Tzedakah which is the Hebrew word we translate righteousness refers to living in a right relationship with people. It means we will not take advantage of others. Again “Righteousness” is more than living a moral life where we have a list of things we will not do. Tzedakah is talking about what we will do. The righteous will love their neighbor as themselves. In the Jewish Bible, the righteous acts of God are translated as “abundant benevolences” or “gracious deliverances”. Jesus tied our righteousness to charitable giving in Matthew 6:1-3 and modern Jews still combine the word we translate righteousness with the concept of generous giving. We learn from these two words that our relationship with God is deeply connected to how we treat others. This kingdom that Jesus’ return will usher in, will be built on a highly relational justice and righteousness. By defining these two words we see the priority God gives to the quality of our relationships.
If we want to understand the Messiah’s rule and reign we must recognize the difference between Jesus’ first and second coming, the power found in God’s names, and the LORD of Armies enthusiasm to complete his eternal plans. The LORD of Armies is passionate about bringing and establishing Messiah’s dominion. He is excited to bring his message of salvation to the nations, and to those unreached people groups who have yet to hear of Jesus’ love for them. He is zealous to establish his eternal plans. When the good news of the kingdom of God has spread to all the world then the end will come and when it comes Jesus’ reign will have no end.
In this holiday season as we shop, wrap our gifts, decorate our homes, or bake for our earthly celebrations of Jesus’ birth, let’s also make sure we have prepared our hearts for Jesus’ second coming. When he returns the next time he will not come as a helpless baby. And, the good news is we don’t have to wait for the end of time to experience Jesus’ rule and reign. These blessings that flow through Messiah’s kingship can be enjoyed right now when we personally make him the King of our hearts. Listen to the promises provided for us when our sovereign king has complete dominion.
The dominion will be vast,
And its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
And over his kingdom,
To establish and sustain it
With justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this. CSB
Just like the LORD of Armies skillfully and successfully orchestrated that first Christmas we can rest knowing he is also bringing about Messiah’s second return. The truth is in every heart there is a throne and the question we must ask is who is sitting on that throne? Are we in charge or is God? Jesus, our Prince of Peace has brokered an incredible peace deal between us and our Maker. He wants us to exchange our war torn feelings of exhaustion and guilt, and receive his genuine peace (Ephesians 2:13-14). Today we can be reconciled with God because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. This Christmas I want to actively encourage us to crown Jesus as the king of our lives.
