“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

In the beginning, there was peace. Man was created in the image of God – our Creator breathed life into us, and we were in a state of harmony with our Lord and Master. When we chose sin and rebellion, we lost that peace and instead invited chaos and turmoil upon ourselves – the peace was gone and there was no way for us to reclaim it. History, both that recorded in Scripture and accounted in worldly records has not been peaceful. There are many who believe that with the right list of rules and guidelines, we could achieve a sort of global peace – but they chase something that is truly unattainable. Paul writes in Galatians 5:19–21,

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Mankind, fallen and sin-stained cannot produce peace. It is simply not in the nature of our flesh. After the fall, Genesis 6:5 says,

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

The world grew so wicked that God decided to blot out life, preserving Noah, his family, and a collection of animals to start over with. With this, the wickedness of the world was subdued, though not erased. We see echoes of the depth of pre-flood sin in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, from the tribe of Benjamin in Judges 19, and from certain kings of Israel and Judah. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, the book of Judges ends with civil war, and Benjamin reduced to 600 men, and Israel was whittled down to a remnant, conquered and scattered by Babylon for seventy years until they were, by God’s provision, allowed to reoccupy their homeland. It is preceding this final event, the Babylonian exile that the book of Isaiah is written. It starts out in Isaiah 1:1 saying,

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

Concerning Uzziah (also called Azariah), the Bible says in 2 Kings 15:3–4,

“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.”

Concerning Jotham, 2 Kings 15:34–35 says,

“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places…”

Both of these kings did what was right before the Lord, yet we see that they did not pursue Him fully and completely, as they left the high places used for pagan worship intact. Concerning Ahaz, 2 Kings 16:2–4 says,

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.”

Compared to the two before him, this was a monumental step back. It was during Ahaz’s reign in Judah that the northern kingdom of Israel was taken into exile by the Assyrians as a result of their idolatry. After Ahaz, still in the time of Isaiah, 2 Kings 18:1–8 says,

“In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.”

These were the kings that Isaiah witnessed in his lifetime. Simply put, two good, one bad, one exceptionally good – none of whom were able to bring God’s people into a state of peace. Even Hezekiah, “none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him,” who was allowed by the strength of God to stand against the nation that had swept up the northern kingdom, could not level the scale, save the people from their sins and institute true peace between man and God. 2 Kings 21:1–9 says of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah,

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, ‘In Jerusalem will I put my name.’ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, ‘In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.’ But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.”

When the people of Israel were delivered into the promised land, the book of Joshua records them fighting and claiming the region, until eventually they were given a reprieve from the conflict. This wasn’t permanent, but the people largely followed the instruction of the Law and the guidance of Joshua as their leader, and they experienced times of peace in their obedience to the Lord. Here, we see the nation of Israel split in two, the northern kingdom taken into captivity and the southern kingdom now exceeding the wickedness of those of who God said in Leviticus 18:24–25, after giving a list of laws which included abstaining from incest, homosexuality, and child sacrifice,

“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.”

Isaiah witnessed rulers that would have inspired hope, one whose actions were wicked and perverse, and one that was greater than all the others, yet he prophesied as to what would come from Manasseh, who would be king after his time. Isaiah foretold at the word of the Lord, a great destruction and punishment for Israel, who would be laid to waste as a consequence of their abundant wickedness. But alongside a pending death sentence, God offered through His prophet a hope for peace – true peace, permanent peace. A peace like that which had not been known since the garden, which had perpetually evaded man, and promised to do so forever, until God did what man could never do. He brought the peace to us.

Perfect Peace

1. Peace Offered to the World

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God…”

Sandwiched between a passage that foretells a coming invasion, and another that tells of coming judgement is this, which promises peace. It would be a massive understatement to say that things were bad. For the people living in Isaiah’s time and for those who would live through his coming prophecies, times were fraught with war and invasion, with chasing after demons and empty idols, and dominated by an ever-widening gap between them and God – yet we have this promise of peace offered on a broad, sweeping scale. To break it down line by line, we first see the promise of a coming child. While this does speak literally to the coming birth of Christ, it also shows us what Jesus symbolizes. Children are new and innocent. They are, as far as people are concerned, clean slates. This child that will be born can be seen as a fresh start, as a bearer of the hope of peace, so different from everything they’ve experienced before. Next, we see that the coming child is a son given to them. While all children are a blessing, there has historically been a certain regard for sons. It was a son by which your name and lineage would live on, the inheritance rights of sons were different. Sons could be leaders – sons could be kings. This small distinction that helps us see that the mantle of Israel given to this child will be carried onward, that in this coming peace the nation might survive. This of course was entirely true. Matthew 1:21 says,

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus was born the child King, flesh made righteous, fully God and fully Man, the fruition of the promise of the eternal throne in David’s line. Just these two small indicators from Isaiah, taken in context along with the gospel help us see the design of the mission of Christ, and how the peace he brought was an entirely new hope for those who received this message. Next, we see that the government will be on His shoulder, fully supported by him. We may read this now and not fully comprehend the gravity of the promise. Yes, there are flaws in our modern government, but if you’re currently in the United States as you read this (or essentially any first world country for that matter), it’s hard to grasp the conditions in which Isaiah wrote these words. While what we know currently is nothing when compared to the perfect, eternal kingdom of the Living God, we can’t really relate to the fear and desperation that would have filled the people of Israel, living in the midst of raging empires, having alienated themselves from God, and being broken and scattered. What is promised here is that the coming Child, the given Son will be the pillar, the foundation of governmental stability that Israel has never known. That He will be called “Wonderful Counselor,” is another ray of hope toward the peace that is to come. As we’ve gone over, Judah has had an abundance of wicked kings, but some good ones as well. Uzziah and Jotham would be considered good, Hezekiah was excellent, and going back to the second and third kings of Israel, David and Solomon were certainly good kings. They largely follow the Law and lead Israel in a prosperous direction by clinging to God – but none of these men were perfect. All fell short, all stumbled in some way, all had vision or direction that at some point caused Israel to suffer, to grow a little farther from the peace of God. The Christ on the other hand, the Leader that is to come, offers guidance so without blemish that He can be given the title of “Wonderful Counselor.” Again, we see this come to fruition in Jesus. From the first message of His earthly ministry, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” to His miracles and teachings, the parables and the wisdom He provided – all was counsel aimed toward a closer relationship with God and a deeper foundation of unending peace. Finally we can see the authority that allows these titles, these promises to stick. Built up piece by piece as Isaiah describes the coming Messiah as the only one with the power to mend the rift and bring peace – God Himself. In Deuteronomy 10:17–18 God says,

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”

God is the God of peace – true peace, everlasting peace, that which is only found in Him and by Him. It is this that He offers to a ravaged, lost, and dying world – to a world that chose to rebel against Him. It is by His provision that we might say, as David wrote in Psalm 18:2–3,

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

2. Peace Offered to the Individual

Next, we see the coming savior called, “Everlasting Father.” While this affirms everything that’s already been said, it also provides another layer to what is brought to bear in the peace of Christ. Firstly, while I’ve spent time drawing attention to the contextual relevance of this passage to the time in which it was written, we must remember that this absolutely applies to us today. Jesus said in John 10:16,

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

And Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:11–16,

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 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 us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”

The promise of the coming peace of Christ was absolutely intended as a message of promise and hope for the Jews of the Old Testament, and it is absolutely the same message for us now. God says to David in 2 Samuel 7:12–16,

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, 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 to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”

While in some ways this applied to Solomon, in all ways it applies to Jesus. God says plainly, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” Paul wrote in Romans 8:14–17,

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

By the Holy Spirit within us we may cry out to God as our Father – by the Spirit we are made co-heirs with Christ. The peace that God offers is not just a vague, broad, general thing – it’s intimate and personal. Among His many great and glorious titles, He is the One who is and who was and who is to come. In obedience to the Spirit He calls you son or daughter, He calls you friend, and He offers peace on a specific, personal level.

3. Peace Offered for Eternity

Finally, Isaiah calls the coming Messiah the Prince of Peace. This is not a temporary thing. It is narrow and wide, close and far reaching, offered up to the nations yet specific to each sheep of the flock – it is all encompassing and eternal. Revelation 21:1–4 says,

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’”

The Prince of Peace does not offer a temporary reprieve, as God has afforded His people in the past. This is not something to be established today and swept aside in sinful rebellion tomorrow. It is permanent, everlasting, eternal. It is a peace that only God could establish, only He could offer. Isaiah 9:7 goes on to say,

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

This is our promise, this is our peace, now and into eternity.

Pastor Jake’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvpsU6Qi34