Eternal Father

One of my favorite things to do as a missionary in Haiti was to take visiting missions teams to the top of a small mountain on the outskirts of Montrouis.

We’d cram as many as we could fit into the back of our pickup truck and drive as far as the truck could get up the gravel and dirt road. And then, when the road got too steep for the loaded truck, everyone would pile out and then climb the rest of the way to the top.

We’d all arrive, exhausted, and then I’d watch as everyone discovered what we’d come to see: long views of the Caribbean on one side and of the lush farms that fill a valley on the other side of this mountain.

We’d spend a couple of hours at the top of that mountain. Some folks might hike down the other side to see the farmland up close. Others might sit and gaze out at the sea.

And at some point while we were resting in the shelter of the thatched-roof, open-air structure at the top of the hill, the Haitians who owned this piece of property would show up with souvenirs and coconuts.

And then, as the Americans made their purchases, one of the Haitian men would break out a machete and start hacking away at the coconuts.

Pretty soon, every visiting American — along with our translators and guides — would have a coconut in hand, drinking the coconut water from inside and then struggling to get to the meat.

And on more than one occasion, as I watched the Haitian man wield his machete to get past all the inedible parts of the coconut to the yummy part inside, I wondered about the first person to eat a coconut.

It wouldn’t have been obvious that it was even edible. Trying to eat it like an apple would have been a disappointing experience, at best. At worst, it might have cost them some teeth.

Trying to peel it like a banana would have been fruitless — pun intended. You need special, sharp tools to get into the coconut. You also need good aim or you’ll lose fingers to the machete. And you need a lot of patience.

And so, whoever got into that first coconut was somebody special, someone we probably should remember.

We call George Washington the “father of our nation” because of his role in gaining America’s independence and leading the new nation after the British defeat.

Perhaps in a similar way, we can think of that first coconut-eater as the “Father of Coconuts.” Not because he was their literal father, but because he was the one who ate them first.

We see a similar construction in the genealogy of Cain that Moses presents in the fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis. Look at verse 19.

Genesis 4:19–21 NASB95

19 Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

Jabal was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. And Jubal was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

In other words, Jabal was probably a nomad who wandered with his livestock from one grazing place to another, spending the nights in tents that were erected for protection against the elements.

He’s the first person to have lived this way. So, he’s described as the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

Similarly, Jubal is named here as the first one to play the lyre and pipe. Perhaps he invented these instruments, which are some of the oldest musical instruments known to man.

So, everyone who plays musical instruments has Jubal to thank for inventing them. He’s the father of musicians.

This is a pretty common construction in the Bible.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus calls Satan “the father of lies,” meaning that Satan is the originator of all lies. Paul calls God “the father of mercies” in 2 Corinthians, meaning that mercy belongs to God. And in Ephesians, he calls God “the father of glory,” meaning that He is the “beginning of all glory.” [James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), 7.

I want you to understand this concept today, because I think it will greatly help us as we turn our attention to the third title for Jesus in Isaiah’s familiar prophecy of His birth.

Isaiah 9:6 NASB95

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

We’ve already discussed how, as “Wonderful Counselor,” Jesus comes to us with perfect understanding and unmatched wisdom. So, He is able to give exceptional advice and counsel, unlike so many of the counselors in Israel’s history.

And we’ve talked about how the title “Mighty God” should leave no doubt that Jesus is God Himself, wrapped in the flesh of humanity. He is truly Emmanuel — God with us.

But this title, Eternal Father, is confusing, because Scripture is pretty consistent in calling Jesus the SON of the Father. In fact, only in this verse is Jesus described as “father.”

So, what does it mean?

Well, one way to interpret this title is “Eternal Patriarch.”

And the idea is that, whereas the Patriarchs of Israel — Abraham and Isaac and Jacob — had all demonstrated just how fallible they could be, Jesus would be the perfect patriarch.

God blessed the people of Israel in spite of their patriarchs’ disobedience and weak faith. But followers of Jesus are blessed BECAUSE of His perfect obedience and faith.

Another alternative is that the key to interpreting this title is in the fact that the part of the verse with the titles is sandwiched between two statements about the rule of this child of promise.

“The government will rest on His shoulders,” Isaiah writes in verse 6. And then, in verse 7:

Isaiah 9:7 NASB95

7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

In context, this prophecy is clearly talking about a king. The child of promise, Isaiah says, will reign upon David’s throne forever. And under his rule, the kingdom will continually grow in greatness.

Now, remember that Isaiah prophesied during a time of great political upheaval. During his time as a prophet, the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and they threatened the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

By this time, both kingdoms were suffering the consequences of their respective kings’ lack of obedience and faith in God. How the citizens must have prayed for a king who would protect them from trouble, rather than leading them into it.

And so, God sends Isaiah with a promise — the promise of Advent, the promise of a righteous king.

And, in case we’re wondering what a righteous king would be like, Isaiah gives us four of his characteristics. He’ll be the Wonderful Counselor. He’ll be the Mighty God. He’ll be the Eternal Father. And he’ll be the Prince of Peace.

So what would it look like for a king to act as a father?

He would love His subjects. He would protect them. He would always have their best interests at heart. He would provide for them. He would serve them.

These are all things that the kings of Israel and Judah failed to do for their subjects throughout the nations’ Old Testament history.

God had warned His chosen people that things would be this way. When Samuel, the prophet and judge of Israel, had grown old, the elders came to him and demanded that he appoint a king over Israel to rule over them the way the kings ruled over the other nations of that time and place.

This upset Samuel, and he prayed about it. But God said, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”

But God passed along a warning to the people through Samuel, and we see that warning, beginning in verse 11 of 1 Samuel, chapter 8.

1 Samuel 8:11–18 NASB95

11 He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. 12 “He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 “He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 “He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 “He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. 16 “He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17 “He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 “Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

So, what God says here through Samuel is that the people would serve the king, rather than vice versa. Their sons would be drafted to protect the king, rather than the king protecting them.

They would be at the king’s mercy. They would provide the food for his table and the labor to harvest it. He would receive the best from their fields, and they’d get the leftovers.

And the worst part of all this wasn’t the treatment they’d receive at the hands of their new king. The worst part was that in demanding a king “like all the nations,” the people were rejecting God as their king.

He had delivered them out of captivity in Egypt. He had provided for them as they wandered in the wilderness. He had given them victory over their enemies, both in the wilderness and in the Promised Land.

He had loved them and served them. Indeed, He had made them a nation.

But they wanted a human king. They wanted a king like those of the other nations. And so, that’s just what they’d get.

Saul, the first king of Israel, was a terrible king. He did all that the Lord had warned the people a king would do and little of what a king SHOULD do.

Then there was David, who used his position as king to try to cover up adultery and murder. Then there was Solomon, who is perhaps best known for having 700 wives and 300 concubines. He certainly didn’t have time on his hands to be serving his people.

And then, after Solomon’s sons split up the united kingdom of Israel, we see two long lines of lousy kings, broken here and there — at least in Judah — by the occasional king who devoted at least a part of his heart to God.

And so, with all that unfortunate history as a backdrop, we see Isaiah coming with the promise that one day, Israel will have a king of perfect justice and righteousness; one who brings peace, not war; one whose kingdom will forever grow in greatness and glory.

This is the promise of Messiah, the one anointed from eternity past to reign over Israel and all the earth.

And we shouldn’t judge the people of Jesus’ time too harshly for thinking — and, perhaps, even hoping — that He had come to establish His reign on earth during His first Advent.

After all, Jesus Himself had told them, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

But one of the complexities of biblical prophecy is that it includes both near-term and long-term prophecy, and the two often appear right next to one another. And it can be hard to tell where the one begins and the other ends.

So, we have this prophecy of a child who will be born, and this prophecy comes to pass with the birth of Jesus nearly 700 years later. But the part about Him reigning from the throne of David still hasn’t come to pass, 2,700 years later.

This part of Isaiah’s prophecy will take place during Jesus’ millennial reign, after the Great Tribulation, while Satan is bound in chains in the bottomless pit.

Here’s what Isaiah writes in chapter 2 about the rule of Jesus as king during the Millennium.

Isaiah 2:2–4 NASB95

2 Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.

Now, doesn’t that sound like a king who’s ruling as a good father?

He instructs His people in righteousness. He judges justly. He promotes peace. His good and perfect character are an enticement to all.

His will be a kingdom of perfect righteousness, perfect justice, perfect peace, and perfect love. Indeed, it will be a place of complete joy.

A place where all who have turned to Jesus in faith will live in complete contentment under the rule of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

But we are living now in the time between the first and the second advent or appearing of Jesus Christ. Just as the people of Israel during the time of Isaiah were waiting for the advent of a Messiah who would be King, we wait now for the advent of the King who IS Messiah.

God has suspended the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven and Jesus’ earthly reign so that more subjects might be brought INTO that kingdom.

So that more might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So that more might experience the promise of eternal life in Christ.

And that brings us to another possible interpretation of this title, “Eternal Father.” I think this prophetic title for Jesus harkens back to that passage in Genesis, chapter 4.

If we interpret “Eternal Father” with an eye on how the term “father” is interpreted back in Genesis, then what Isaiah, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says here is that Jesus is “Father of Eternity” or “Father of Eternal Life.”

The emphasis in the Hebrew text is on the word that’s translated as “eternal.” And the idea is that, as the father of eternity, Jesus has the power and authority to grant eternal life to whomever He will.

His promise to us is the same as His promise to Martha when she wondered why He’d tarried when her brother, Lazarus, was dying. He could have saved Lazarus if He’d been there, she said.

John 11:25–26 NASB95

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

And to Thomas, the disciple, He said:

John 14:6 NASB95

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

It’s not put this way in Scripture, but in the sense that we see the term used in Genesis, Jesus is the Father of LIFE, since it all comes from Him.

“In Him was life,” the Apostle John wrote in the introduction to His Gospel. “And the life was the Light of men.”

Every person who has ever lived on this earth has Jesus to thank for it. In HIM is life.

But He is also the Father of Resurrection. Just as He was raised from the dead into a glorified body, so will all who have followed Him in faith be raised into glorified bodies when He returns for His church.

And we will experience that for which we were made: perfect fellowship with Him, with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit.

This is eternal life. And in the New Testament Greek, wherever that term appears, the emphasis is on LIFE.

And that’s because we are all eternal. Our souls were built for eternity, even if our bodies wear out and die in this sin-broken world.

Scripture is clear that everyone will be resurrected at some point in the end times. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus will be raised to an eternity of peace and contentment in the very presence of God.

But those who have rejected Jesus and the salvation He earned for us at the cross will be raised to judgment and suffering.

Having rejected salvation by faith in Jesus and His finished work at the cross, they will also have rejected the atonement He made for us and in our place by dying for our sins.

If you’ve never repented of your sins and placed your faith in Jesus, then your sins are still your own, and you must bear the penalty for them. A perfectly righteous and just God cannot allow sin to go unpunished.

But the good news is that Jesus took that punishment as He hung upon Calvary’s cross. God Himself, in the person of His unique and eternal Son, came and lived among us as a man — yet without sin.

And then, He gave His life at the cross, taking upon Himself your sins and mine — along with their just punishment — so that all who place their faith in Him can be saved and have eternal life.

Jesus IS the Eternal Father. He is the Patriarch who is greater than all the other Patriarchs. He is the King whose rule will outshine that of every other king in history. He is the One in whom both eternity and life are rooted.

And if you’ll repent and believe today, He will be YOUR King. YOUR Wonderful Counselor. YOUR Mighty God. YOUR Eternal Father. YOUR Prince of Peace.

Today, He comes offering you life. Please don’t reject that offer. Please don’t put off accepting it until tomorrow or next week. We aren’t promised tomorrow.

NOW is the day of God’s favor. His grace rained down upon mankind as Jesus hung on that cross. Now is the time of salvation. Will you be saved today?