The King Has Come (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The book of Isaiah contains numerous prophecies about Jesus, both about his birth and his death, but also about many other details connected to his life and work. I have never seen a book that classified them all, although someone is bound to have done so. It is a very profitable task to go through the book of the evangelical prophet and take note of the many amazing things he says about Jesus. And among them is the set of verses from Isaiah 9 describing great blessings that would come to Gentiles after he was born. 

His arrival

Isaiah says three things in this section of the verse. Two of them are about Jesus and one is about the recipients, the ones called ‘us’. What is said about Jesus? Isaiah says that he is a child born for us and he is a son given to us. We can see that he is born to be a king, and as a king he is the son given to us. How can he be both for us and given to us?

Obviously, the Father is the one who has given his Son to us. His Son is a divine present to us from a divine person. But why did he have to be a child? How can an infant benefit us? One answer to that question is that he fulfilled the promise that God gave in the Garden of Eden when he said that the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent, that he would defeat the devil. But to be the Seed of the woman he would need to be born of a woman.

Another answer to that question is that he came to live for us as well as to die for us. In order to fully help us, he had to be a child, even an infant. He had to be an authentic man, which means he also had to be a child. He came to be our representative, to live a perfect life on our behalf, and his human life began where ours began, at conception and revealed its existence by being born.

Why does the prophet say, ‘a son’? Because the Father only had one Son. Similarly, when he is called ‘a child’, he is not one child out of equals. Rather, even as a child he is unique, not only because he did not have a human father, but also because he was born sinless.

 

His ability

Isaiah predicts that ‘the government shall be upon his shoulder’. A person’s shoulder is the symbol of strength. Over which kingdom will he be strong enough to rule? The answer is the kingdom of God. That says a great deal about his strength, does it not? 

Normally, when a prince is born, he is guided by officials for years before he is ready to take the throne. If the prince decided to ignore such advice, everyone would know that the existence of the kingdom would be in jeopardy. But who can guide or counsel the One who is going to rule over the kingdom of God? What manuals of decorum or policy exist for that position? Can we take the best practices of the past, found in inferior kingdoms, and assume that those practices can be adjusted for the running of the heavenly kingdom? Of course not. The rules of this kingdom do not have their source in the best that this world can provide. They come from another world, from heaven, the place from where he came himself.

 

His authenticity

In order for a king to prove his worth, he had to have suitable titles. Monarchs and princes of Britain have numerous titles. Do you know that Prince Andrew is also called the Duke of York, Baron Killyleigh and the Earl of Inverness? I don’t know what those titles say about him, except to say that he some connection with those places. Perhaps they are designed to tell us that he is a duke, a baron, and an earl – three important roles. No doubt, other royal figures will have several features in their title or name. What titles does Jesus have?

In order to get the point of the titles, we need to imagine a gathering of important people, with an official at the entrance shouting out their names as each dignitary arrives. Listeners might be impressed by some of the titles that certain individuals have. But imagine the effect when the official announces the presence of Jesus. Here is ‘Jesus, Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.’ What would be the point of calling someone an emperor or a president or any earthly sequence of titles alongside those that belong to Jesus? Obviously, his name tells us that he is a unique and an incredible person. So what do they say about him?

First, he is the Wonderful Counsellor. It was customary for kings to have people around them who were far wiser than them. Many a wise man saved a monarch from disaster, some on numerous occasions. But Jesus does not have any counsellors because he does not need them. He always knows the best thing to do for his kingdom and to say about his kingdom. What will he speak about that is so wonderful? He will speak about salvation, which is what he did when he was here, and what he still speaks about from heaven through his Word and servants. He continually speaks authoritatively about the best of subjects. And he cannot be flummoxed by anything that anyone suggests contrary to his wisdom.

Second, he is the Mighty God. There is a certain sense in which the adjective is unnecessary because God by definition is almighty. But remember Jesus here is prophesied as interacting with people as a man. It would be easy for people to forget who he is when meeting with him. Even his disciples did so such as when he calmed the storm on the lake. They asked what kind of man he was. They forgot for a moment that they were in the presence of the Mighty God. Sometimes we can do that as well. Here we are in the presence of the great Creator and Upholder of everything. This title is also a reminder that he cannot be defeated because no opponent or combination of opponents can overpower him, even for a second.

Third, he is the Everlasting Father. This title can be translated as Father of Eternity, which is an incredible thing to say about him. How does one explain that? Eternity has no beginning, but it cannot be greater than God. And if we focus on the noun Father, we also get an insight into how long he will function in a fatherly way. After all, monarchs like to be addressed as the father and mother of their short-lived kingdoms, short in comparison to his. Jesus will act in a fatherly way for eternity.

Fourth, he is the Prince of Peace. Does this mean he is a peaceful Prince or that his kingdom is called Peace? Both are true, of course. It is certainly a kingdom that is different from all others that have existed. Whoever heard of a kingdom on earth that was saturated with peace? The peace here is not the absence of conflict, because merely being without conflict is a kind of neutral state that is not anything really. Rather Jesus brings peace because he is both the Peacemaker and the Peaceprovider. One suggested way of regarding his role as Prince is to see him as the Administrator who ensures peace extends throughout his domain.

 

His authority (v. 7)

What will his kingdom be like? It will have longterm growth; there will never be a recession in his kingdom. The riches connected to it come from a source that cannot decrease, straight from God himself. Paul reminds us of the riches of God’s grace in Ephesians when he speaks about the benefits of redemption, particularly the forgiveness of our sins. In Revelation 22 we are given a picture of the river of life that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb into the eternal city, and just keeps on flowing!

The prophet returns to the theme of peace and says that it too will never stop increasing. This is another reminder that peace is not just the absence of hostility, it is also the presence of shalom. What is shalom? It is a sense of perfect fulfilment that is permanent. In heaven, our capacity for shalom will expand, but it will always be full. And it will be full because of the King with the amazing name.

Isaiah calls the throne on which Jesus will sit ‘the throne of David’. This throne symbolised the royal line that God initiated when he made promises to David about his descendants. If they followed the Lord’s commandments, then they would be on his throne. Sadly, we know that many of them failed to do so. Yet there was still the longing that One would come who would do so. And here we are told about him because when he reigns he will do so according to the standards of God, and that he will never deviate from them throughout the length of his endless reign.

What are the principles of justice and righteousness that he enacts? To answer this question, we need to consider whom he rules over and how he governs their affairs. We know that they are all sinners, but they are a certain kind of sinner because all of them accepted the offer of pardon he made to them through the gospel. They repented of their sins and put their trust in him through his grace. What should be the just and righteous response to them?

He can justly arrange for their pardon because he paid the penalty for their sins when he suffered in their place on the cross. As far as the justice of God is concerned, their penalty has been paid and they are no longer under its threat. At the same time, the perfect life of the One who came as a child and grew into a teenager and then an adult is reckoned to their account, and they are accepted because of him. This status does not change.

Moreover, in the administration of his kingdom, he governs by the rules of grace. If they ask for forgiveness, he provides it. If they take time to be with him, he warms their hearts. When they read his Word, he enables them to understand it. He guides them as the Good Shepherd through the varied circumstances of life. He is faithful to the divine purpose and the fulfilment of his promises. He guides his kingdom all the way until the great resurrection day when he will raise all of them in his likeness. And on the Day of Judgment he will openly affirm that they belong to his kingdom. 

Paul informs that when all that has been done, Jesus will deliver up the kingdom to the Father: ‘Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death’ (1 Cor. 15:24-27). Imagine if he is announced on that day as the ‘Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace!’

 

Will all this happen?

Some might respond to this prophecy and say that it sounds too good to be true. And how can we sure that it will be fulfilled? The answer is that God will see to it. We can ask ourselves this question – how often is the Lord said to be zealous about something? Four times – twice to defend the remnant of his people, once to confront his enemies, and once (here) to bring about his kingdom. (Another reference says that the Messiah will put on zeal as a cloak.) Those four references sum up all that he will do.