by Chuck Jones
Pastor of Church of the Open Bible, Pomona, CA
Editor of Wisdom and Power
openbiblepomona.net
Authors note: I was asked a question about Isaiah 9:6 by a faithful church member. He wanted to know what these names tell us about who Jesus is. My first intention was to give a sermon on the whole verse and move on to another topic. That plan was changed as I began to study the text. It became apparent that more than one study was needed. These four articles are the fruit of my study.
Let me lay a little background for Isaiah 9:1-7. The first five verses paint a picture of distress and oppression. The people are described as walking in darkness and having a great light shine on them (vs. 2). As a result of that light, the nation’s joy has increased and they rejoice before God (vs. 3). The burden they once lived under is broken (vs. 4), and the implements of war have been burned (vs. 5).
These verses imply the time of the end. They point to the final deliverance of Israel, not principally to the birth of Christ. Verse six carries the good news that a child would be born who would receive the government and be given a name by the people. The names in verse six are the people’s assessment of him.
Verse 7 is definitely pointing to the future as it says, “from that time forward, even forever.”With this background in place, let’s go to the name that this child will be called. The title “wonderful counselor” can be understood as two separate names or combined as one. It depends on a small mark in the Hebrew language. I’ll take them separately and combined.
Wonderful
The Hebrew word here translated wonderful is an adjective, a description of a person or thing. “In the Old Testament it refers to things that are unusual, beyond human capabilities, and as such awakens astonishment” (TWOT, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). We use the word “wonderful” in the same way. We say that things, people, panoramic views, or sunsets are wonderful.
In scripture we see that it is used in much the same way. “Your testimonies are wonderful[beyond human understanding] therefore my soul keeps them” (Psalm 119:129). Here the adjective, “wonderful,” is describing the testimonies of God. Those wonderful testimonies, when kept, have a “wonderful” outcome. “I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts” (Psalm 119:100).
This takes us to the son who would be the king. Jesus did many things that caused people to be filled with wonder and amazement. Here are a couple of examples:
Luke 8:25 “But He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
Matthew 7:28, 29 “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
In all that Jesus did he was (and remains) wonderful. It’s more than just in counsel. When you see Jesus, if you are able to speak, you may hear yourself say, “You are Wonderful.”
Counselor
This is a term which is applied to one who gives counsel. The word in itself does not distinguish between good and bad advice, just that advice is given. You have probably received both types and after the fact found out which type it was. How can you know before? Where does good counsel come from?
The short answer is that it comes from God’s mind and heart. We are told, “By pride comes nothing but strife. But with the well advised is wisdom” (Proverbs 13:16). What a powerful verse! It speaks of both good and bad counsel.
Jesus is the chief counselor because God’s spirit was with him. Notice:
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:1-3).
Absolutely, the best counsel originates with God, because, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11). Yahweh's word or counsel, which is His purpose and design, stands forever. It may go out of fashion for us, but it is always the best. Wise counsel comes from the word of God.
John’s gospel opens with; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1, 2). John is simply rephrasing Psalm 33:11. Some have inserted “Jesus” in John's first two verses, but that doesn’t fit with “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6).
The “word” is the counsel of Yahweh that stands forever. Jesus comes into the text of John 1 in verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The word, purpose, counsel, decrees, plans and design of God inhabited a man. Notice the results: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him”(vs. 18). Just as Moses received the law (and passed it on), Jesus showed us grace and truth (vs. 17).
We can look further into John’s gospel to see how he explains this to us:
John 5:19, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
John 5:30, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”
Because Jesus spoke the counsel of God, he is the Wonderful Counselor. Indeed he was wonderful in everything he did.
The Apostle Paul followed that example, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel ofGod”(Acts 20:26-27). Dispensing the whole counsel of God is not an easy task. All of theApostles, and countless believers after them, suffered for doing just that.
You too, can be a wonderful counselor. You can speak the whole counsel of God. First, you have to let God’s counsel invade your life and let it take over, as Jesus did. We are told, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”(Colossians 3:16).
When the word of Christ takes effect you will then be, as the Apostle Paul says, “Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14).
Follow the example of Jesus, as Paul and others have done. Let the word of God become flesh in you!
Most of us, when we read the Bible, are at the mercy of the translators, those fluent in the Hebrew and Greek languages that our scriptures were originally written in. It isn’t beyond reason to think that they may have chosen words that highlight their theological leaning. They, like many, want to put a positive theological spin on scripture to prove points.
To point at a verse and say, “See here? That proves it” is not a good model of Bible teaching to follow. Many Bible students (and, by extension, teachers) like to line up questionable verses with other scripture texts to gain a broader foundation from which to teach.
A good case in point is the two word title found in Isaiah 9:6, “Mighty God.” I don’t want to be understood as saying this is a mistranslation, but I do think it is a theologically spun translation. It is used therefore as a proof text by some to drive home their point. Let’s compare this text with other scriptures to see what we can learn.
Mighty God
This name comes from Isaiah 9:6. The expression, “and he shall be called” indicates that the title is given to this son by the people as they rejoice in or celebrate him. The Hebrew words are “el gibbor.” My preferred translation is “mighty champion.” I’ll explain why I think this works best.
Beginning with the first of this two-part title, let’s explore how it is used in scripture. “El” is translated several ways, such as God, gods, mighty one, strength and power. “El” is not always used in reference to Yahweh. Note the following examples:
Proverbs 3:27 “Don`t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power [el] of your hand to do it.” “El” is descriptive of your hand when it has the power (el) to dogood for others.
Psalm 89:6 “For who in the skies can be compared unto Yahweh? Who among the sons of themighty [el] is like unto Yahweh?” Here “el” is a reference to the sons of the influential andpowerful of society.
Psalm 29:1 “Ascribe unto Yahweh, O ye sons of the mighty [el], ascribe unto Yahweh glory and strength.” Those who are influential and wield power are directed to acknowledge theAlmighty Yahweh.
Daniel 11:3 “And a mighty [el] king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.” Here the term “el” is used to describe an ungodly king because of thepower he exercises.
So the term “el,” although it is used to describe our Heavenly Father, also shows God’s presence or confirmation. However, it is also used to describe the ability, power, or prominence of someone or something.
Names with El
Here are some other names that contain the description “el.” The name Immanuel is literally “with us is God” or “on our side is God.” This descriptive name implies that because Jesus was born, God is showing kindness toward us. Yahweh has acted on our behalf. It does not state that the individual bearing the name is actually God Himself.
Another name found in scripture with “el” is Joel. This name means, “Yahweh is mighty.” This, too, is descriptive of the nature of the prophecies Joel proclaimed. Samuel means “Hear from God,” and Ezekiel means “Judgment of God.” We certainly wouldn’t mistake Joel, or the other prophets as actually being God Himself.
As mentioned before, we are left at the mercy of the translators in giving us what the ancient manuscripts said. In this article the point of interest is, I think, properly translated. Here we will find it isn’t what the text says, but our understanding of what we are presented with that makes the difference.
From Isaiah 9:6, I will be writing about one of the names that the son who would be king will be called: “Everlasting Father.” Although this may be a proper translation from the Hebrew, I don’t think we can make an immediate jump to connect this name to the Creator of all things. To do that would be to ignore some of the basic usages of the words that make up this name. It would also cause us to miss some aspects of the work the Son has done. Let’s investigate “Everlasting Father” and see if you don’t agree with me.
Everlasting
Our English word, everlasting, carries a meaning which may be quite different than the Hebrew word it is translated from. This is also true of the Greek word in the New Testament as well. The Hebrew word “olam” or “alom” and the Greek word “aeon” all refer to long periods of time. We use the word “age” often to reference this, such as “the age of dinosaurs” or the “bronze age”, this "present age," or the "age to come."
“Olam” indicates distant time whether past, present, or future. It is a term of perpetuity or a perpetual time. We can find this sort of usage throughout the Old Testament. Some examples are:
“The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God`s sons came to men`s daughters. They bore children to them: the same were the mighty men who wereof old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). Here “olam” makes reference to the distant past. Thesemighty men were from a remote time long gone.
“I will establish my covenant with you; neither will all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither will there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:11-13). We still can see the rainbow in the skybecause this covenant was made for “olam” generations. From that time and long into the future.
“I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you. I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God” ( Genesis 17:6-8). These twopromises given to Abraham were from old, and will last on into the future.
“Olam” is used in a wide variety of ways and a connection can be made to Jesus of Nazareth. In 2 Samuel 7 we have the record of God speaking through Nathan the prophet to King David about his son Solomon, and beyond:
“When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you: your throne shall be established forever.” (Verses 12-16).
In this concluding article from Isaiah 9:6 I want to write about the “Prince of Peace.” It would be easy to simply take this name at face value and agree that Jesus is that prince. However, I don’t want to do that. I want to give this name the same consideration as the others. I think that it will help our understanding and appreciation of Jesus grow. It will also have an effect on how we conduct ourselves in life.
Prince
In Isaiah 9:6, the Hebrew word “sar” is translated for us as "prince." It is a masculine form of the word. It is used in reference to men. The feminine form is “sara.” Abraham’s wife’s name was changed from Sarai to Sarah (Genesis 17:15) which means princess. But it is the masculine form of the name that we are interested in here.
“Sar” as found in the Old Testament is translated in various ways. To be sure , the majority of occurrences is translated prince, but it is also translated in other ways. In each case it carries the idea of authority conferred because of competence, or a position inherited, as in the case of a prince. Here are some of the various ways “sar” is used in the Hebrew text. (Those words are in bold):
Exodus 1:11, “Therefore they set taskmasters [sar] over them to afflict them with theirburdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.”
Exodus 18:21, “Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fearGod: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulersof thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
1 Samuel 8:11,12 “He said, This will be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; and he will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and [he will set some] to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.”
1 Kings 5:16, “besides Solomon`s chief officers who were over the work, three thousand
and three hundred, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.”
1 Chronicles 15:27, “David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song [with] the singers: and David had on him an ephod of linen.”
1 Chronicles 24:5, “Thus they were divided by lot, one group as another, for there were
officials of the sanctuary and officials of the house of God, from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar.”
In all these uses we can make application to Jesus of Nazareth. Basically, “sar” is a title given, in its various forms, to a person who has either been appointed or has inherited the position. Both of these certainly apply to Jesus. Here is more scriptural evidence:
“Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts 2:30).
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth” (Philippians 2:9-10).
From this testimony we can see that Jesus has received his throne by way of inheritance, and by appointment from God. He has manifested competence to rule as prince.
Peace
The second part of this name tells us about the reign of this prince. The English word "peace" is translated from the Hebrew word “Shalem” or “Shalom.” This word is found in the name of the great city, Jerusalem. It means, “founded on peace” or “flowing in peace.” When we are urged to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we can pray that its name would be fulfilled! "Shalom” is a state of being where there is an absence of strife of any kind. Whether that strife comes from those we live and work with (or drive on the freeway with), or strife of a personal nature. (That could be not having enough money in the check book or the turmoil over the presence of sin in our lives.)
Shalom, can be used as a greeting. It would be like asking, “How is it going?” Notice this in 2 Kings 4:26, “Please run now to meet her, and say to her, 'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?' And she answered, 'It is well.'” The “Is it well?” is the word “shalom.” The prophet Elisha wanted to know if all was well with the women. So the greeting “Shalom?” could be responded to in the affirmative, “Shalom!” if there were no problems.
Shalom carries the idea of safety, harmony, wellness, prosperity, health, and completeness. At the pinnacle, shalom describes the state of fulfillment as a result of God’s presence. The God of peace. The condition of shalom is something I think all people hunger for. In our war torn, violently ravaged world, peace is longed for. It is however, in our present time, illusive. Man cannot broker this kind of peace. God has, on behalf of men, appointed one to be “Sar-Shalom”, Prince of Peace. This man is the one who will bring fulfillment, completeness, harmony, and safety to the whole earth. At that time he will be called the “Prince of Peace.”
Now, even in this present world with so many prideful and wicked people, we can still have peace. Here is how the Apostle Paul describes it in Ephesians Chapter 2:
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace” (Verses 13-15).
Because of what Jesus has done, we can be at peace with God and each other. Whatever that “middle wall of separation” may have been between you and others, it has been broken down. This is especially true of believers. Race is no barrier, family feuds are no barrier, disagreements, or grudges cannot keep us from being in harmony with those who confess the Lordship of Jesus. He is our Prince of Peace.
Looking further in Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul says:
“and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near” (Verses 16-17).
Reconciliation and peace go together. How can we say we are reconciled to God when we are not reconciled with our brothers and sisters? Indeed we are called to make peace, as much as it is within our power to do so. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).
The establishment of peace between God and men was made by our “Sar-shalom.” This peace and reconciliation we can enjoy now is because of God’s presence among us. Whatever it is that’s keeping you from being reconciled with another can be overcome. Go, with God being present, and confess that wall of separation as having no more influence in your life. The peace we have now between us is a reflection of what is to come.
Worldwide peace is not yet realized. Because of this Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). There is a great conflict between the kingdom of God and this present world. It is a conflict of ideologies and until our Prince of Peace returns there will continue to be conflict.
Now, however, those who belong to Jesus have his promise,
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
When Jesus returns all his enemies will be eradicated. Peace will reign! Until then we can be reconciled to each other and God by faith in what our “Sar-shalom” has done. If you are not at peace with someone, seek it now whether with God or people. That will show where your loyalty is.
Conclusion
We can rightly call Jesus of Nazareth "Wonderful Counselor" because he is wonderful and the word of God was in him. He is our "Mighty Champion" by winning a great victory for us and calling us to follow. The “tribe” he has founded is perpetual, rightly giving him the title "Everlasting Father." We know Jesus as the "Prince of Peace" as we live in peace with God and each other.
Let’s all look forward to the day when we can praise him in this many faceted title. Let’s show our anticipation by living in what he’s given us now, as a preview of that glorious day. Amen.
Taken from Chapter four of Joel Hemphill's book: