Clues to the Messiah – Clue 3: Isaiah 9:6-7

(This series is excerpted from our book, The Case for Jesus the Messiah (ATRI Publishing, 2014)

Introduction

The term “Messiah” is taken from Psalm 2:2 and Daniel 9:25-26 where Mashiach (Hebrew), Messias (Greek) means “Anointed One.” The term took its meaning from the Jewish practice of “anointing” prophets, priests and kings to their respective offices. As a generic term it could be applied to an earthly king such as David (2 Samuel 19:21) who was “anointed” to fulfill the divine purpose of his office.

In this article we will look at the third of four clues to help us identify the Messiah. Is He the one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas?

Isaiah 9:6-7 — Who Is the Child Who Is God and Will Have an Everlasting Kingdom?

The Biblical Text

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. 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. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The Context of the Passage

Israel has been invaded by the Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser (the first Jewish captivity). The captured Israelites are plunged into despair and humiliation.

In this prophecy God offers them hope for the future. God speaks of a coming Light who will illuminate those who are in distress, gloom and darkness—“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2).

Isaiah the prophet records that in the past God had humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali (Northern and Southern Galilee). However, in the future God “will honor Galilee...” (Isaiah 9:1). It is these people who, walking in darkness, will “see a great light.”

Then God proceeds to describe the child born, the Son given, who will be both a human, and God, and who will reign forever on David’s throne. This can be no other than the promised Messiah.

Explanation of the Text

What this prophecy makes clear is the following:

1. A child will be born to the Jewish people.

2. The government will be upon His shoulders—He will be a ruling King.

3. He is called “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace”—as Dr. Merrill Unger points out, the phrase “his name” is a Hebrew idiom, and means that the child would not actually bear the names, but “deserve them, and that they are appellatives or descriptive designations of his person and work.”^[1]

4. There would be no end to the increase of the child’s government and peace.

5. He would reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom forever and ever.

6. The zeal of God Almighty would accomplish it.

7. The passage places the fulfillment of this prophecy in Galilee as God says He will honor “Galilee of the Gentiles, by Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan.”

Concerning Zebulun and Naphtali, Hebrew scholar Edward J. Young comments, “Zebulun and Naphtali, the two north-eastern tribes of the land west of the Jordan (later known as upper and lower Galilee) were first devastated and depopulated by Tiglath-Pileser... (2 Kings 15:29).... This despised district, despised even in New Testament times, was glorified when God honored it, and the fulfillment of the prophecy occurred when Jesus Christ the Son of God dwelt [settled] in Capernaum [‘in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali’—Matthew 4:13].”^[2]

In Psalm 110:1 we see the first biblical reference that stated the Messiah would sit at God’s right hand and therefore would be second only to God Himself. Here in Isaiah 9:6 we have the clearest statement that the Messiah will be both God and man: He is called “Eternal Father” and “Mighty God” (El Gibbor)—the name used of God Himself in Isaiah 10:21.  

Some scholars have written, “The Messiah early became known not only as the son of David but also as the Son of God. ‘Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee’(Psalm 2:7b)....”^[3]

Edward Young has shown that the use of El in Isaiah “is found as a designation of God and only of him.... [thus we see that] the Lord, the Holy One of Israel—and El Gibbor [the term used of the Son in Isaiah 9:6], are one and the same.”^[4]

So, for our purposes, what is most important to realize in this prophecy is that God says the Messiah will be both God and man. If so, no one else in human history has claimed 1) to be God, 2) to be the Messiah, and 3) proved it by rising from the dead, except Jesus Christ.^[5]

Was Isaiah 9:6-7 Recognized by the Jews as Messianic?

There can be no doubt that Jewish rabbis have accepted these verses as clearly applying to the Messiah.

The Targum of Isaiah rendered this passage, “His name has been called from of old, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, He who lives forever, the Anointed One (or Messiah), in whose days peace shall increase upon us.”^[6]

Theologian and professor of biblical criticism at the University of Aberdeen Paton J. Gloag observed that, “The ancient Jews refer these words only to the Messiah. ‘The prophet,’ says the Targum of Jonathan, ‘speaketh of the house of David, because a child is born to us, a son is given to us,... his name is called of old Wonderful in counsel, God the mighty, He who abideth forever, the Messiah whose peace shall be abundant upon us in His days.’”^[7]

Clue to Identify the Messiah

Whoever the Messiah is, He must fit the following description: He will be the child born who is God, and will have an everlasting kingdom.

Endnotes

1. Merrill Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody, 1981), pp. 1167-1168.↑
2. Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), pp. 323-324.↑
3. Ibid., p. 330.↑
4. Ibid., p. 336.↑
5. See William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus (Chicago: Moody, 1981); Gary R. Habermas, Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus: Historical Records of His Death and Resurrection (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1984); Pinchas Lapide, The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 1983).↑
6. J. F. Stenning (ed.), The Targum of Isaiah (London: Oxford Press, 1949), p. 32.↑
7. Franz Delitzsch and Paton Gloag, The Messiahship of Christ [the Messianic Prophecies of Christ], Book II (Minneapolis, MN: Klock & Klock, 1983 rpt.), p. 115, emphasis added; cf. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (one volume edition) (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), p. 723.↑