ISAIAH 9: “HOPE FOR THE NATION COMES THROUGH A SON
TO BE BORN”
JIM BOMKAMP
http://jimbomkamp.com/isaiah/Isaiah9.htm
4. VS 9:6 -“6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah tells us about the divine son who would be born to the nation
4.1. All of the hope of Israel rested upon this son who would be born, for he is also the one who would rule forever upon the throne of David, for he was to be the Messiah, the Holy One of God.
4.2. Again, we see the connection between this son who was to be born of a virgin which Isaiah told us about in chapter 7, verse 14. His name was said there to be ‘Immanuel’, which is tanslated “God with us.” This is the One who would be a sign given to the nation from the Lord, the One who would come not in power but obscurity, and thus He would be the stone which the builders stumbled over, the chief cornerstone.
4.3. The Jews and others have tried to say that this son was someone who was living at the time of Isaiah, or one who would come along shortly. Many suggested that it must be Hezekiah who would come and be the righteous king. There are some problems with believing that these verses refer to Hezekiah however:
4.3.1. Hezekiah was probably at least three or four years old at this time.
4.3.2. Hezekiah was a good king for the most part, the last good king of Judea for that matter, however he was not one who would ever be called ‘Mighty God’, ‘Eternal Father’, or ‘Prince of Peace’.
4.3.3. This son who was promised to come had to be very God of very God. However, since He would be born of the seed of the woman (Gen. 3), the one who was prophesied to be a virgin (Is. 7:14), this son also had to be man. Thus, this One whom Isaiah prophesied would come and be the hope of Israel would have to be totally God and totally man.
4.3.3.1.Only the Lord Jesus Christ could be such a man.
4.4. The titles which Isaiah gave to this Son to be born to the nation are revealing:
4.4.1. Wonderful
4.4.1.1.When we look at the works which Jesus did in healing, raising the dead, casting out demons, freeing the captives, etc., we have to say that everything that Jesus did was ‘wonderful’.
4.4.2. Wonderful Counselor
4.4.2.1.Jesus said to His disciples before He went to be with the Father that He would send to them another ‘counselor’ (parakletos in the Greek), one who performed that function just as He had done while He was with them. He would send them the Holy Spirit.
4.4.2.2.As the disciples’ counselor, Jesus gave them guidance and wisdom and led them in the ways in which they were to go. After His resurrection they were led by the Holy Spirit.
4.4.3. Mighty God
4.4.3.1.I suppose that at this point we could rule out any man, no matter how great a prophet he might be, from being able to fill the shoes of this Son who was to be born.
4.4.3.2.Jesus did the things that no other man did, proving that He was God. Everything about his life should that He was divine, from His virgin birth, to the miracles He performed, to the fact that He personally forgave men and women of their sins, to His resurrection from the dead.