For Unto Us A Child Is Born

How would He have come today?

Have you ever wondered what type of family Jesus would have been born into if he had come today?

Would it have been a white-middle class family, maybe living in Detroit. Parents working for an assembly plant.

A family from the middle east, who owns a restaurant.

A single mother in Chicago, attending church and trying to graduate High School.

Maybe to a Park Ranger and his family. Maybe he would have spent a lot of time in nature with His father.

We can wonder, but our wondering doesn’t matter. As Scott pointed out last week, Jesus was born at just the right time, to just the right parents, in just the right location to accomplish the will of the Father.

Today, our second week of advent we are going to begin a exploration of Isiah 9:6. The future king is given four names to wear that describe how you will recognize Him when He comes. Four names that describe hope for the people of Isaiah’s day.

Setting the Stage

Isaiah 1:10–15 NIV

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!

Isaiah 1

God calls them out on the hardened hearts. Comparing them to Sodom and Gomorrah, he tells them their worship to Him is meaningless. That He is at a point that He no longer listens to their prayers. As the prophecies continue God is bringing Judgment upon His people. He speaks of their downfall, their being taken into captivity.

All is lost!

In chapter 8,

Isaiah 8:5–8 NIV

The Lord spoke to me again: “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates— the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel!”

Isaiah 8:5

As we see, from chapter one through 8 a picture of Judgment is painted. God tells the Israelites they will be called to judgment and warns them their captors are coming. All hope is lost, but here in chapter nine their is a reprieve. They are given a picture of hope. A future King will come, one sent from God. The language used here follows the language of an ancient royal birth announcement.

The New American Commentary: Isaiah 1–39 (1) The Reign of a Righteous King (9:1–7)

Because of these problems, Wildberger views 9:5a as an announcement of the birth of a royal child.332 In other birth announcement passages (Gen 16:9–12; 17:19; Judg 13:2–5; Isa 7:13–15; 8:1–4) a difficult situation is described, the birth is announced, the name is declared, and an explanation of the name or the role of the child is explained. This is similar to the construction of 9:1–7 and fits the joyous occasion of a special royal birth. The close proximity and verbal similarities between this birth announcement and the earlier announcement of another Davidic ruler called Immanuel in 7:14–15 suggests there is a close connection between the sons in these two passages.

Picture if you will, Rafeekie lifting Simba up in front of all residents of the animal kingdom to announce his birth and all the animals bowing before Him. That is the kind of picture that is being painted here in .

Isaiah 9:1–7 NIV

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 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 9:1-

Jesus has many names and He deserves every title of distinction. The descriptive title before us today is no exception. Isaiah says, “His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.” He’s not the angry counselor, the gruff counselor, or the disconnected counselor. He understands what we’re going through and can advise us while He accompanies us through whatever we are facing.

The Hebrew word for wonderful is “pela” which actually means miracle. So the “wonderful” in Wonderful Counselor doesn’t just mean delightful and pleasing but also miraculous. He is a miracle-working Counselor who does what no one else can do for you. 

In its historical Hebrew usage, the word is used to picture a king giving counsel to his people. To that end, Micah declared the dilemma of the captives in Babylon this way, "Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished?" ()

Some have separated these two but the Old Testament Hebrew Bible puts them together. Isaiah defines this graphic title:

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

They needed a Wonderful Counselor: someone who could give them the wisdom they needed to truly repent.

The Hebrew writer describes Jesus with this type of language in .

Some have separated these two but the Old Testament Hebrew Bible puts them together. Isaiah defines this graphic title:

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Referring to Him, not as king, but as a high priest. He says,

This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

They needed a Wonderful Counselor: someone who could give them the wisdom they needed to truly repent (, ).

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:

'll tell you: it's often complete ignorance of the solution. Just like when a doctor told my grandpa to change his diet after a quadruple bypass, the doctor couldn't force him to do that. Instead, grand dad had to change his eating habits and cut out a lot of things he enjoyed so he could spend more quality years with his family (and I'm very thankful he made/is making that choice still!). He had the option to ignore what the doctor said, just as you can ignore what a counselor suggests. Jesus, as our Wonderful Counselor is the same. Look at this story from Mark's gospel:

I want to share with you three simple thoughts this morning that we can take comfort in when we speak of Jesus as our wonderful counselor.

"'Teacher,' he declared, 'all these I have kept since I was a boy.' Jesus looked at him and loved him. 'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth." (NIV)

Jesus understands our needs.

He allows us to approach Him

He allows us to approach Him

He will help us!

He will help us!