The Wonder King Comes!

As I reflect upon the wonder of Christmas, I thought it would be right to look at one of the first prophesies about His birth, in Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV:

[6] "For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

[7] Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

What an incredible prophetic picture Isaiah received, 750-800 years before Jesus was born!  We tend to think that we can understand God, that we can fathom His thoughts and purposes, or understand what He is doing, or planning, and yet His plans span centuries and millenniums!  He is so far beyond our comprehension, beyond our thoughts.

To put 800 years in perspective here in America, this would be around 1200CE (AD for those that grew up with BC/AD) and it was during this time period that the Chahokia people and the Mississippian Culture were at there zenith.  These were the people that build the mounds just east of St. Louis. In South America, the Incas established established Cuzco in 1200 and the Mayans in the Central American region were in decline.  In our present day, very little is known about the people the culture, the specific writing certainly don't influence us in our day to day life, and yet we see God planting prophetic seeds in the history of the Jewish people that would endure and ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus' birth and life.

I was also doing a bit of research on the terms Isaiah used to describe this son that is given.  I found a very interesting article ( https://bible.org/seriespage/6-glorious-messiah-and-messianic-age-isaiah-91-7) that speaks of the uniqueness of Isaiah's proclamation of his names.  Here is a brief excerpt -

B. THE MESSIAH WILL BE A WONDER KING (6B).

The nature of the Messiah is now portrayed in the listing of His throne names. It must be noted that these are not names in the sense that we have names. These are character descriptions. They are intended to give the nature or the significance of the person named. We use the word “name” at times in this way. We may say, “She made a name for herself,” that is, a reputation. The names in this section describe the nature of the glorious king.

Moreover, in the ancient Near East kings were in the habit of taking throne names when they ascended the throne. They took titles and added epithets to their names. Usually the epithets they chose were too generous for mere mortals. For example, in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt the rulers took five titles when crowned—each name referring to some god, some land, some aspiration they had for their administration. One king who was crowned heard the priest say, “Let the great names of the good god and his titles be made like those of [the god] Re: Mighty Bull, One Capable of Planning, Great in Wonders, Filled with Truth, Son of Re to whom life is given.” So in these epithets the King would be extolled as the repository of might, wisdom, wonders, truth, and all life. These are, to be sure, rather ambitious.

There is evidence of such titling in Israel, especially in cases where God bestowed names on new kings. Psalm 2, the coronation psalm, says, “You are my Son, this day I have begotten you.” So on the day the king ascended the throne he was declared to be the Son, that is, God’s anointed King. So too in 2 Samuel 23:1 do we find a proliferation of names for David: “David, the son of Jesse, the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel’s singer of songs.” And then we have the LORD’s sending prophets to rename kings, such as calling Solomon Jedidiah (2 Sam. 12:25).

But there is nothing to compare with the type of names found in Isaiah 9. The only names comparable are those honorific titles of Egyptian kings. They all had grandiose, ambitious throne names. Each name had a permanent title and then a variable description. So too in Isaiah: Counsellor, God, Father, and Prince are the permanent titles; wonderful, mighty, everlasting, and peace are the variables. But Isaiah is affirming that the one who is coming will not merely have great titles, but will in reality be what those titles claim. What had been a hope, a wild dream, or monarchs for ages will surely become a reality some day. With a king such as this, peace is assured. There is no hope in some pagan Egyptian king who made great claims; the only hope is in the Word of the LORD that promised Immanuel.38

In summary, Christmas is a wonderful day, a day when we celebrate the coming of our King, Immanuel!  He was born to mankind, but He is God!  His Rule and reign will never end! He is the Prince of Peace!

Merry Christmas!  And Peace to All!