Jesus, Our Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6)

Introduction

Attention

For this Christmas season, we are looking at the divine names of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Jesus, the Messiah, is our Mighty God. How can we know this for ourselves? We’ll be looking at that today.

We all need someone bigger than ourselves. We all need the Mighty God.

In the police academy, they had told us that we were the biggest. We were the strongest. We were the biggest gang that there is in New York. And so I was a couple of weeks out of the police academy. And my partner and I, we were both rookies, still a couple of weeks. I'm standing out there in my blue uniform, my silver shield on my chest, gun on my side. And we are standing in the intersection, trying to enforce traffic laws, trying to figure out what we were doing, because we didn't know what we were doing. Be honest with you. And I had just spent some time in the. gun range. And I had learned what gunshots sounded like I have gotten accustomed to them. I knew the difference when I was out here, when I would hear the sound, I knew those were gunshots. And so my partner and I were standing there, and I here in the distance, pop, pop, pop, I know instantly, new instantly, those were gunshots. And I looked up, and here are these. They were 3. So these three teenagers running down the street. And I had a thought come through my head. It was the first thought I thought of. And I stood there and I looked and I said, someone should call the police. They looked down and realized, oh, man, that's me. So we started running. And that they had taught us in the police academy how to use the radio. And so here I am. I'm trying to use the radio. How didn't use it very much. I get on the radio and I say, shots fired. And I give the, I give the intersection where it's at, you know, we're just running. And I didn't know what to expect. And the next. thing I knew there was a swarm, a blue swarm of people. People started coming. Police officers were coming, not just from my precinct, but from the precinct that was closest to us. We had a helicopter come over. And I looked around and I said, wow. I've got a lot of power in this radio.

It was amazing in that moment to realize the strength that was behind me. We all need someone stronger than ourselves. We all need the mighty God.

But for many people, we are trying to do it all on our own. There is a strength that you can have with you all of the time. The strength of the mighty God.

Today, we’ll be looking at that in Isaiah 9:6, as we learn what it means that Jesus is our Mighty God.

Then we read this in Isaiah 9:6:

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 9:6–7 CSB

6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

Pray

Summary of Isaiah 9:1-7

Isaiah prophesies that the Messiah is coming to us, that he will be born, that he will be a human. Isaiah prophesied that the government will be on his shoulders.

During the time of Isaiah, Israel was in need of hope. They were threatened by the Assyrian kingdom, which had decimated the northern kingdom of Isreal. They faced political instability, definitely in the northern kingdom but also in Judah, the southern kingdom, where Isaiah ministered and served. In the south, they had kings who failed to uphold the covenant, such as King Ahaz, who according to 2 Kings 16, had fallen into idolatry and sacrificed his own son to idols. There was corruption and neglect in Judah in the true worship of God.

There was fear and despair among the people, and they needed hope. Into this atmosphere, the prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9 about a coming Messiah, a child. In Isaiah 9, the prophet says that the gloom of the land won’t last forever. Instead, in the future, a Messiah would come who would have an impact on Israel and to the nations.

In Isaiah 9:2, this Messiah would bring people out of darkness into light. In verse 3, the Messiah would bring joy to the nation, to people, and his coming would shatter the oppressive yoke upon God’s people. In the future Israel will have hope because the Messiah is coming. Isaiah sets a high bar for the Messiah, though, because he says that the Messiah will be a human but will also be God. God in the flesh.

Recap: Jesus as Our Wonderful Counselor

Last week, we spoke about Jesus fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy of the Messiah being the Wonderful Counselor. We spoke of “Wonderful” as speaking of the supernatural, miraculous power of God in the Messiah working through this individual. We said that every time the word “wonder” is used in the Old Testament, it's always connected with God. The supernatural, miraculous, Messiah will have the the wisdom of God as the Counselor. The Messiah will be God in the flesh, with supernatural, miraculous power and wisdom from on high.

Today we're going to look at Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah will be the Mighty God.

Controversy with Isaiah 9:6

Now, as I was studying Isaiah 9:6 this week, I ran into a controversy with this verse between the Christian understanding of this verse and the modern Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 9:6.

Modern Jewish scholars recognize that there is a problem for them in understanding Isaiah 9:6 and our Bible, which is Isaiah 9:5 in the Hebrew Bible. They have come up with an alternate explanation of who this Messiah is going to be, who was the person that Isaiah was prophesying about. They want to get away from the picture that it paints of the Messiah being God in the flesh. They want to get away from the Christian understanding of this verse as pointing to Jesus, and have the prophecy to refer instead to King Hezekiah.

So what they do is they get creative with the English translation of Isaiah 9:5 in their Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 9:6 for us. What they do is change some of the wording around in the English translation. Instead of stating that the child will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, they take that phrase, the child will be named, and they move it so that it comes right in front of the Prince of Peace.

So they can then say all Isaiah is talking about is that God is naming the child Prince of peace. And of course, this child has to be king Hezekiah in their view. But I'm telling you this cause I want to expose to you the subtlety of lies in this world. How a subtle shift can attempt to change your thinking about Jesus.

What they are doing is translating the text so that it fits what they want it to say, because the reality of Isaiah describing the Messiah as God in the flesh is too troubling for them and too convicting for them in pointing them to Jesus. Incidentally, this is what the Jehovah witness do as well in their New World Translation by corrupting the translation of the Scriptures in order to fit their bad theology.

Here is the original Hebrew of Isaiah 9:5 in the Hebrew Bible. I wanted to show this to you so you understand a little bit about translation. Now remember that Hebrew is read from right to left. You'll see that when Isaiah is writing this verse. it distinctly says just as in our English Bibles, that the authority, dominion will be on his shoulders, and his name is called, and then the four names: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Now someone might say, “Jason, that's not the way you do translation. What you do is you look at context and from the context, then you can translate into the English.” But even within context, if you're looking at context, what is Isaiah talking about? His point in this verse is not necessarily to speak of God, but his point is to speak about the child. His point is to say that there is a child coming He's not saying this child is coming and the mighty God, the eternal God, the wonderful God, the fantastic God, is going to name him Prince of Peace. The point in the verse is that the child is coming and that the child will be called these names. Context points us to the divinity of the Messiah.

Some people wonder why Christians have so many translations nowadays. Why they just can't decide on one translation? Let me tell you, it's a good thing that we have many translations. Cause you can see the many scholars that have looked at this and have translated it into English. And each one of them say that what Isaiah is saying is the Messiah coming is the Mighty God.

What does Isaiah mean by “Mighty God”?

What does Isaiah mean when he calls the Messiah the Mighty God? Isaiah is really setting a high bar for who this Messiah will be. This is almost an impossible task, but nothing is impossible for God.

Word: Mighty

The Hebrew word translated as mighty in Isaiah 9:6 is used differently in the Old Testament in different places. It's used in reference to people as well as to God. When it refers to people, it's usually describing mighty, powerful people, people who are many times warriors. For instance, in Psalm 45:3, it says, “Mighty warrior, strap your sword at your side”, the mighty warrior being a reference to a human king.

Term: Mighty God (’ēl gibbôr)

Other times, this word is used in reference to God, and this is particularly important as we look at Isaiah 9:6, the term used here in the connection with the word “Mighty” is another word that's translated as God. The Hebrew here is El Gibbor. Say it with me, “El Gibbor.”

I'll show you where this word is used in another place. If you take a look at Genesis 35:7 we're going to read about Jacob. God sends Jacob to a place named Bethel, and it says:

Genesis 35:7 CSB

7 Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Jacob builds an altar in this place, and he calls it El Bethel. The reason that he calls it that is because God revealed himself to him at a place called Bethel. So when you read El Bethel, you're reading, “God of Bethel.”

So when Isaiah is calling the Messiah, “El Gibbor,” he's describing the Messiah as God of might or Mighty God.

You can see this in another verse of Isaiah, in Isaiah 10:21, where he again uses the term El Gibbor. He says,

Isaiah 10:21 CSB

21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

The remnant of Jacob will return to the God of Israel, to the mighty God. So there is no doubt that what Isaiah is saying in Isaiah 9:6 is that the Messiah coming is the god of Israel in human flesh, the mighty God. Now that's a radical thing. That's an incredible thing. that this child coming, that there is, that there's something physical about him. He will be born. But the one born, the child being given to us, is the mighty God.

By the way Isaiah is not alone in this prophecy. He's not the only one that says the Messiah will be God. Micah says in Micah 5:2,

Micah 5:2 CSB

2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.

When Micah says, “from antiquity, from ancient times,” the term literally means, “days of immeasurable time.” The NASB gets this better when it says, “His times of coming forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

David says in Psalm 110:1,

Psalm 110:1 CSB

1 This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

This verse is reference by Jesus in Mark 12:36, and was understood to describe the Messiah. But here, the Messiah is clearly referenced as God, where if you look in the Hebrew, Yahweh said to Adonai, God said to God (the Messiah).

In Zechariah 12:10,

Zechariah 12:10 CSB

10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.

I will pour out a spirit of grace and they will look at me whom they pierced. This is speaking about a future time when the nation of Israel will recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and they will see him as the God of Israel, the Mighty God.

The Old Testament prophets clearly saw as Isaiah described, the Messiah as Emmanuel, God with us. This was an impossible task, a task only God could fulfill.

So how did Jesus fulfill this prophecy of the Messiah as the mighty God?

How is Jesus the fulfillment of the Mighty God?

In some way, for Jesus to fulfill Isaiah 's prophecy of being the mighty God, he must show the power of the God of Israel. It's not just that he had to be powerful. He had to be as powerful as the God of Israel. He had to be that powerful.

Jesus himself sets up this criteria. He says this in John 10:37-38:

John 10:37–38 CSB

37 If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me. 38 But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”

Jesus didn't have to do just works, but to be the Mighty God, he had to do the works of his Father, the works of the God of Israel, and if he does show the works of the God of Israel, the people should believe him. Does he do this?

God of Israel Healed the Sick

In the Old Testament the God of Israel healed the sick. You see this in Numbers 12:10-15, where Miriam is struck with leprosy as a punishment and later healed by God. In 2 Kings 5, Elijah a prophet of God plays a role in healing Naman's leprosy demonstrating God's power to heal. In Numbers 21:4-9, the Israelites are afflicted with venomous snake bites and are healed as God instructs Moses to make a bronze snake on a pole, and the Israelites look at it and are healed. In 2 Kings 20:1-11 and Isaiah 38, King Hezekiah is sick and near death, but he prays to God and God responds by healing him and extending his life. Of course Job, who deals with immense suffering and disease, is healed by God and restored.

Of course you see this in Jesus, who over and over heals people from leprosy, from disease, from blindness, he heals the lame, he heals all kind of physical problems with the people of Israel. His miracles show the power of the God of Israel, the power of the Mighty God.

God of Israel Had Control Over Nature

The god of Israel had control over nature you see this in Exodus 14:21-22 where God parts the Red Sea controlling the winds and the waves to allow the Israelites to escape from the Egyptians, turning the sea into dry land. In Genesis 6-9, God controls the weather and the natural forces to bring a great flood on the Earth. In Exodus 7-11, God sends plagues over Egypt, bringing plagues of frogs, flies, hail, and darkness, showing his control over nature. Joshua 3:14-17 God parts the Jordan River again showing his control over the winds and the waves. 1 Kings 17:1 the God stops the rain over Israel where Elijah declares there will be a drought, and God enforces the drought in Israel. In Exodus 17:5-6 and Numbers 20:7-11, God provides water for the people of Israel from a rock. In Joshua 10:12-14, at Joshua's request, God causes the sun and the moon to stand still.

There are many times where Jesus shows control over nature. The Gospels tell us that Jesus fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish, miraculously multiplying physical food, nature. In Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-14, Jesus cursed a barren fig tree and the tree withered, showing his authority over creation. In Luke 5:1-11 or John 21:1-14 Jesus enabled his disciples to catch a miraculous number of fish demonstrating he had control over nature and knowledge of creation. In Matthew 17:24-27 we see Jesus telling Peter to catch a fish and in the mouth he finds a coin to pay the temple tax. In John 2:1-11 at the wedding at Cana, Jesus turns water into wine, showing he has the power to do change molecular structures. Matthew 14:22-33 we see Jesus walking on water, demonstrating he had mastery over the physical laws of nature. Of course, Mark 4:35-41 Jesus calms the storm simply with his words. This caused the disciples to be terrified and say in Mark 4:41:

Mark 4:41 CSB

41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Even at his crucifixion nature responded to the Son of God on the cross, where in Mark 15:33, darkness spread over the land for three hours and in Matthew 27:51 it says the earth quaked.

God of Israel Raised the Dead

The God of Israel had raised the dead. In 1 Kings 17:17-24, Elijah the prophet raises the widow's son from the dead. After the child dies, Elijah cries out to the Lord and stretches himself upon the child three times, and the Lord listens to Elijah's voice, and the life of the child comes back into him.

In 2 Kings 4:32-37, Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman. The child had died, and Elisha prays to the Lord, bent down over the child, and the child's flesh becomes warm, eventually leading to him waking up.

This same power of the Mighty God is in Jesus. In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus encountered a funeral procession of a widow's son. Jesus touched the young man and he rose from the dead. In Matthew 9:18-26, a synagogue ruler pleads with Jesus for his dying daughter. On his way the daughter dies, yet Jesus takes the girl by the hand and she gets up being raised from the dead. In John 11:1-44, Jesus raises Lazarus, a man in the tomb for four days, from the dead.

Of course, we can't forget that death couldn't hold the Son of God. His resurrection along with his miracles shows his power over life and death, the power of the mighty God.

Jesus life was full of supernatural power. We can't forget that he cast out demons showing that he had the power over physical life and spiritual life. His life was full of the power of the mighty God.

In our courts today, we consider someone innocent until proven guilty. There needs to be a burden of proof to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We need sufficient evident to show a judge or jury that a defendants guilt is beyond reasonable doubt.

In a courtroom, it’s not really the quantity of evidence, but the quality of the evidence. The evidence must be strong enough to leave someone with a strong conviction of someone’s guilt.

I’ve testified in court rooms a number of times in my life. I’ve described the circumstances behind what happened, what led me to believe that someone commited an act. They would call me to the stand, ask where I was at the time, what did I see, and what happened on that day.

Sometimes in a case, a single credible witness could have a greater impact on the jury than many lesser witnesses.

The disciples act as our witnesses and came to a conclusion from the evidence put before them. The disciples Thomas said to Jesus in John 20:28,

John 20:28 CSB

28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

The disciple said about Jesus, describing him as the Word in John 1:1,

John 1:1 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He also said in 1 John 5:20:

1 John 5:20 CSB

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

The disciple Peter said about Jesus in 2 Peter 1:1,

2 Peter 1:1 CSB

1 Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Paul, himself an Apostle, one who witnessed Jesus on the road to Damascus, said in Romans 9:5,

Romans 9:5 CSB

5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.

All of the evidence of his life, of his miracles, of his works, how he fulfilled prophecy, how he gave works as the God of Israel, leads up to a conclusion. Jesus is the one Isaiah spoke about, the Mighty God.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Mighty God.

So,

What are the implications of Jesus as the Mighty God?

Outline

There are tremendous implications for us as Christians that Jesus is the Mighty God.

Trust in Jesus’ Power

Because Jesus is the mighty God, we can trust in Jesus' power. We can trust in his ultimate authority and power over the circumstances that we face. When we face times of hardship, we know that it says in Matthew 28:18:

Matthew 28:18 CSB

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Jesus has all the authority and all the control.

Strength in Weakness

We can have strength and weakness. So many times in this world we are trying to be the strong ones. We are trying to do everything on our own. But Jesus as the mighty God assures us that we don't have to find strength in ourselves. We can find strength in him. Paul makes this point point in 2 Cor. 12:9-10:

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 CSB

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Our Mighty God says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” We don't have to carry trials and tribulations on our own. The Mighty God is with us.

Hope in the Face of Death

We can have hope in the face of death. Death is the one equalizer between us all. All of us face the fact that our life will come to an end at some point, but because of the resurrection of Jesus there is hope and power and victory in the face of death. Jesus says,

John 11:25–26 CSB

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus, the Mighty God, is the resurrection and the life. As God in the flesh, he is the source of life. There is power, there is forgiveness, there is mercy in him, and there is hope, resurrection and a new life in the Mighty God, Jesus Christ.

There is a song that we sang today, Victory in Jesus

O victory in Jesus

My Savior forever

He sought me and bought me

With His redeeming blood

That savior is the mighty God, and because he is the mighty God, he has the power, authority and strength to change your life. This Christmas could be the most radical Christmas in your life. It could be the most awe inspiring Christmas in your life as you surrender your life to Jesus. When you surrender your life to Jesus, you're not surrendering your life just to a man. You're not surrendering your life just to a prophet. You're not surrendering your life just to a good teacher. You are surrendering your life to the mighty God. Let's pray.

Conclusion

Point 1

Point 2

Conclude

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!