Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7

This talk was given by Paul Wintle on Sunday 29 November 2020 as part of our worship service over the Internet.

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The recording is 14 minutes 52 seconds long.

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Transcript

Bible passage

The people walking in darkness
  have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
  a light has dawned.
…
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 Counsellor, 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 for ever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
  will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:2,6,7 (NIVUK)

Talk

We’re looking at Isaiah Chapter 9:2, 6, and 7. I’ve entitled this ’What’s In A Name?’ My name, as many of you know, particularly my family, is Paul Roy Wintle. Now the story behind my very short name, 13 letters in all but I have every one of the five vowels, is because I understand that my parents decided that they’d given my brother long names, Adrian Vincent. I think I’ve come off best actually.

I like to think that from the ridiculous came the sublime. My name means small redhead. Paul Roy, one name is Greek, the other is Gaelic. I’m neither small neither am I a redhead as you can see from my white hair. My parents obviously had no foresight of what their strapping six-footer who grew up until he was about eight, anyway, with bright blonde hair would become.

In Bible times, of course, names often matched people. In the case of Joseph and Esau, Esau was hairy whilst Joseph became a deceiver. Moses’ mother, Miriam called him Moses because he was drawn out or pulled out of water out of the bulrushes. The name Ruth in the Bible is Hebrew for friend. I’m sure that you know how your name originated and perhaps what it means. For some, it will match your character, but for others like me, it will be a far cry from how you see yourself.

Quite a few names are mentioned in the book of Isaiah. Today there are four names in particular. If you know anything about Handel’s Messiah, he thinks there are five names, but apparently, theologically it’s just four. There are four names that we have become accustomed to reading about during Christmas time because at carol service and during advent, we pluck out some verses, the verses that Sue read earlier. Point to them and say, they’re definitely about Jesus and, of course, they are.

At the time of Isaiah, the Kings of both the Northern and the Southern kingdoms were really bad Kings. They ignored the words of God. King Ahaz in Judah, the Southern kingdom, or perhaps more correctly, his wife would give birth to a son and so any royal birth was cause for great celebration. Ahaz as we’ve already said was a bad King, but history shows that his successor, his son, Hezekiah, was one of the few good kings of the Southern kingdom of Judah.

Speaking of kings, our reading ends today with the prophet reminding the listeners how important King David had been, and this prophecy would link in with the successes of King David. Already, there are lots and lots of names. The good news for King Ahaz at the time was that he assumed that God, or perhaps the gods, were looking down on him with great favour. A song was given to him and he would succeed in all his kingliness. All of what Isaiah says here is great news for everyone in Judah, everyone in the whole of Israel.

When Isaiah talks about people walking in great darkness, seeing a great light, this is wonderful news. Their experience of God’s face turning against them was drawing to an end. There was literally light at the end of a period of spiritual darkness. A new light was dawning, and it was just what was required. A glimmer of hope was on the horizon, and so there was rejoicing in spite of the darkness that still surrounded the people.

We could compare it to the news of the past couple of weeks. Until recently there had been no vaccine for this dreaded pandemic COVID-19. In the space of a week, three potential vaccines have been found to have worked. By the middle of next year, many developed nations may well have vaccinated their people, but this is still in the future; a far cry from the present difficulties.

In the run-up to Isaiah Chapter 9, the name Emmanuel is mentioned a couple of times. This means God with us, and in the context are both a warning and a comfort, as then in Judah so now. It is never easy to see what God is doing in the darkness behind the scenes. Some people trust God, but many don’t. Isaiah and a few others continue to trust that there will be an end to this darkness. Isaiah 9 is a promise that light will come and the light will come in the form of a human, a son. Rightly we must see Isaiah through the eyes of the New Testament. This Messiah is Jesus, the light of the world.

God has already taught his people he’s with them, but now they must come across a list that portrays this son, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. We’re going to quickly look at these names, these names of the son that will bring fresh hope to the whole nation of Israel, springing from Judah, but who will end up living in the Northern portion in Galilee. According to the carol, while shepherds watched, this son was born of David’s line.

A wonderful counsellor, how wonderful, how lovely this sounds, perhaps a listener, a guide, one who makes sense of stuff. One who is counselled. A counsellor kind of knows all about what we’re going through. They build up a picture about who we are, who we really are to present back to us a picture of ourselves now and who perhaps we might want to become.

Wonderful counsellors often know when to use words, when to pause, when to use silence. They know when to offer words of challenge or words of comfort. Indeed, wonderful counsellors might not actually have anything to say because they helpfully help us join the dots about what has been said to them and to reflect back what has been said without judgments or recommendations about how to change.

The skill in counselling is knowing when to speak and when to shut up. In my parents’ dining room, both when I was growing up, and I think now, there’s a plaque and it says, “Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation.” Wonderful counsellors listen silently, but we should never take silence as inaction. Wonderful counsellors look at the whole person’s body language; the words that are said as well as the words that aren’t said. At the same time as being this wonderful counsellor, there’s also perhaps an irony that Jesus is also mighty God. Jesus is a true warrior.

Now, warriors aren’t traditionally known for their bedside manner, their listening skills, or their attendance. When I think of warriors, I often think of soldiers like Goliath in the Bible, strong and fearless, able to work out almost anything and put the fear of God into the enemy. That’s a warrior, right? It’s a totally different skill-set from being a wonderful counsellor.

Yet this name, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, which is actually a whole sentence perhaps something like an extraordinary counsellor is the warrior God. The Everlasting Father is an officer for well-being as one theologian put it. Yet this name involves more than being just having a hint of warrior-dom. This mighty God that rules the nations and created the heavens reigns. Yet this mighty God was born into humanity, in the humility of a meagre stable.

This mighty God set aside the majesty of royalty in his trappings to become one of us. How is it that this simple normal birth could become known as Everlasting Father by arriving on earth in exactly the same way we all arrive, by birth from a mother and the inspiration of a creator God? The Everlasting Father’s message is indeed one who would come into creation as one of us in the flesh, God in a body, which also declared something about God: nobody else could be like him.

Everyone is human except Jesus because he was fully human and fully divine. Of course, kings are never everlasting. Even the queen of England, who I think has been on the throne longer than almost any other reigning monarch will have an end to her reign. Reigns tend to come to an end with an abdication or a death or a coup, but this king by dent of his eternal nature explains the pattern of divine fatherhood.

Now fatherhood is not ever a term given to any king of the Old Testament, but yet in the New Testament, Jesus calls God his heavenly father, and he invites his followers to do the same. Call him dad, daddy, father God. The relationship Jesus has with the Everlasting Father is offered to everyday common or garden humans like you and I. Similarly the final name given in this name sentence in Isaiah 9, Prince of Peace, continues to offer this eternal divinity of which there is no end.

Prince of Peace, wow, what a lovely name? Peace, we were talking about that over the last couple of weeks, shalom, wholeness, fullness, total well-being as the Prince of Peace owns all these names. The Prince of Peace will establish a united kingdom and it will increase. How fabulous it would be to have a government who rests upon the shoulders of such a being, such a person; Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, the God-like warrior, the Wonderful Counsellor. I wonder which president, prime minister, king, queen, or other heads of state would not want to have all of these characteristics and qualities wrapped up in just one person.

As our own government begins to reassemble its own advisors after the departure of so many in recent days, as the new president-elect in the USA starts to put together his group of trusted officials, allies, friends, advisors, perhaps we should make it our prayer, that whoever they choose have elements of having counsellors’ skills, knowing how to listen, to challenge, knowing when to remain silent. Who has in their cabinet states-men or -women-like qualities and figures able to stand up to other nations when necessary, but also to act in a conciliatory manner. Who is able to offer the olive branch of peace, offering wholeness to everyone rather than seeking self-importance.

In reflection, I wonder why we often only look at Isaiah Chapter 9 and these specific verses once a year. We remind ourselves that we are fortunate to know such a God. Names are important, aren’t they? It isn’t often that we reflect upon these names that make up who Jesus actually is; the one that becomes God with us, Emmanuel. This Wonderful Counsellor, this Mighty God, Everlasting Father, this Prince of Peace was wrapped up in clothes and laid in a manger. In time he would grow up to be the most inspirational person the world has ever known teaching simple yet hard stuff like, love your neighbour.

He encouraged people to become better versions of who they were created to be. He forgave. He challenged, he spoke out against injustice and for these things he was brutally executed like a common criminal. This was the light that was emerging from the darkness prophesied of old. This was the hope of the world. Through his resurrection from death, he would continue to reign, and his love and eternal rule would be finally and totally established. This is why the coming of Jesus foretold by the prophets was so pivotal to human history. This was God’s rescue plan coming to fruition because the zeal of the Lord would accomplish it, and that is why advent and Christmas is good news.

He encouraged people to become better versions of who they were created to be. He forgave. He challenged, he spoke out against injustice and for these things he was brutally executed like a common criminal. This was the light that was emerging from the darkness prophesied of old. This was the hope of the world. Through his resurrection from death, he would continue to reign, and his love and eternal rule would be finally and totally established. This is why the coming of Jesus foretold by the prophets was so pivotal to human history. This was God’s rescue plan coming to fruition because the zeal of the Lord would accomplish it, and that is why advent and Christmas is good news.

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Scripture quotations marked NIVUK on this page and in the audio are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.