Son Never Father

Son Never Father

Around 700 BC the book of Isaiah was written.

Isaiah 9:6 poses some difficulties for Trinitarian theology if translated as most commonly done in English:

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.      And call his name
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The NIV, NLT, ESV, NASB, KJB, HCSB, ISV, NET, and countless other English translations render this verse as “…and call his name Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

There’s nothing quite so vexing to the Christian grappling with the concept of Holy Trinity as a verse like this that is handled incorrectly.  Part of the Athanasian Creed, which dates back to the late fifth or early sixth century, states:

“…we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance, for there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.”

If we Trinitarians (Christians who believe that God is one, yet three distinct divine Persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are truly opposed to the confounding, confusing, and commingling of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, why then is the prophesied child to be born and given son of Isaiah 9:6 to be “called” “Everlasting Father?”

The first point to consider is that in Ancient Near Eastern culture – the cultural context of the Old and New Testaments – a name was primarily considered the essence of a person.  To know the name of a person meant that you understood who they were.  “Adam” was ‘the man’ (ha adamah) whom God created from the ground (ha adamah) before he was “Adam.”  God took some dirt (adamah) and formed it into a man (adamah), which eventually became his name, “Adam.”  In Mark 5:9 and Luke 8:30 Jesus asks the demons that have possessed a man, “What is your name?” The demons’ response is, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”  Jesus wasn’t asking the demon for its name, but rather inquired about its essence and nature.  Therefore, the word for “name” (shem) in Hebrew should be understood primarily as a reflection of essence and nature - from which a literal name might be derived, but not necessarily.

Next, the word frequently translated here as “called” (qara) does not indicate or require a literal ‘calling’ as is often taken here.  Within the context here the Hebrew word ‘qara’ means to be known for/as, or to be famous for.  It does not mean a literal ‘calling’ as a proper noun or name as we use it today in English.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is renowned as an actor and movie star, but people don’t call him “Movie Star.”   

Most importantly, context rules in Bible study and interpretation – both of which rely heavily upon translation.  Thankfully, God has given us documents that pre-date the King James Bible (c.1611) to the early first century for the New Testament and there are fragments of the Old Testament that have been dated as far back as 600 BC (e.g. the Silver Scroll). The significance is that we can go back to the original Bible languages and read ancient documents and manuscripts (e.g. Dead Sea Scrolls) to study the original writings.  Contrary to what people commonly suggest, we do NOT have watered down version of the Bible that is merely a translation of a translation of a translation of a translation…

So when we go back and study the original documents, history, and context of Isaiah in the original Hebrew language/culture what we’re looking at is the OVERWHELMING fact that the earthly rulers – the kings of Israel (Northern kingdom) and the kings of Judah (Southern kingdom) almost without exception abandoned God and chose to worship the gods of the foreign nations around them.  The earthly kings of Israel & Judah, with only a few exceptions, willfully and repeatedly chose disobedience and led God’s people astray. Thirty-two times in the book of Kings (one book divided into two scrolls I & II because of its length) we read that a king “did evil in the eyes of the LORD.” That’s 32 of the 39 kings (if I counted right?), which comes out to 82%!

Eighty-two percent of the KINGS of the Israelites “did evil in the eyes of the LORD” and did not follow in the footsteps of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David – all men after God’s own heart.  This ongoing perpetual history of sin, idolatry, and willful rebellion reaches a point that God can no longer tolerate when King Ahaz sacrifices HIS OWN CHILDREN in rituals to foreign gods!  The anticipated Shiloh, Messiah, and eternal Davidic Ruler was to come through their line – and these ‘kings’ were throwing their children – along with their love and faith in Yahweh Elohim – into the idolatrous fires and of pagan gods!

Therefore, in Isaiah chapter 7 the prophet tells the wicked king, Ahaz, that because of this perpetual history of heinous sin, this nefarious habit of idolatry, and ongoing heinous addiction to willful rebellion – God will not only keep His promise to provide a perfect and everlasting king, but will do so in a truly miraculous way! This God-ordained king will enter into the world via virgin birth! This prophetic announcement demonstrates God’s sovereignty, power, justice, and providence by circumventing the arrogant and woeful leaders, rulers, and ‘kings’ who had ironically become a plague upon humanity, the bane of the God’s kingdom of priests and holy nation, and an abomination to God and His mission!

Isaiah’s proclamation announces that this future divinely ordained king will be:

• The Abrahamic Covenant blessing (Genesis 12:3)

• The foretold Shiloh of Judah’s tribe (Genesis 49:10)

• The Davidic Covenant’s eternal king (2 Sam 7:12-13)

• The anticipated Messiah (Psalm 2:2)

• And – most importantly – He will be the final and perfect contrast to those woeful rulers, judges, governors, and kings who continually “did evil in the eyes of the LORD.”

With this as our context, Isaiah chapter 9 speaks of a day coming when:

(v.1) “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.”

(v.2) “…on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

(v.9) “For to us a child is born,

              to us a son is given,

              and the government will be on his shoulders.

         And his character will be proclaimed/renowned as

    wondrous counselor ,

    mighty champion,

    founder of eternal continuity,

    governor of peace.

None of these descriptions of the coming king are proper nouns to be taken as literal titles.  Instead they are to be taken as descriptions of His essence, character, and nature – of what we can expect from this child/son who is to be given to humanity for the purpose of –governing– (v.9) humanity.

Where human leaders, judges, prophets, and kings FAILED epically in their seeking counsel from animals, idols, witches, mediums, false-prophets, etc., Jesus would come – as God – and be a “wondrous counselor!” (Mark 1:22).

Where the earthly leaders, judges, kings, and rulers FAILED tragically in their ultimate task as champions of humanity – to reconcile our depraved relationship with God, Jesus would come – as God – and be our “mighty champion” to the point of dying on the Cross to kill death, defeat Satan, reconcile us with God, and give us eternal life!

Where sin has reigned on earth from the time of Adam through to the present time as humanity seeks governance apart from God , thus sending us further into a death-spin of chaos and ever-increasing turmoil and anxiousness, Jesus would come – as God – and be the “founder of eternal continuity” as God originally intended!

Where murder, violence, war, destruction, rebellion, strife, and calamity has been the legacy of humanity, dating back to Cain and Abel, Jesus would come – as God – to be humanity’s “governor of peace,” thus initiating a new legacy for humanity of peace under his governance.

There can be no greater contrast than Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming king – Jesus – and the deplorable and depraved character of human leaders, governments, kings, judges, and authorities of all sorts throughout all time.  This Christmas as you look upon the manger scene…  consider not only WHY Jesus came – to rescue humanity and reconcile us with God, but consider HOW He came:

…who, though he was God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The character, nature, and essence of Jesus are what make Him our:

wondrous counselor,

mighty champion,

founder of eternal continuity,

and governor of peace.

Blessings,

-Kevin