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Continue ShoppingIsaiah Defines Who Christ Is - For Unto Us a Child is Born
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Wonderful (Heb. pele’)—a wonder, a miracle, a marvelous thing. Something out of the ordinary.
Wonderful Counsellor—Because there is no comma in the Hebrew text, some translations of this verse have “Wonderful Counsellor” in the text. This implies that Christ will be one who gives miraculous or supernatural advice or counsel.
This is an excerpt from Isaiah a Prophet's Prophet by Robert L. Miller.
This verse starts out stating that “unto us,” or to the Jews, a son will be born. He will go to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the Son of David (king), the son of Abraham (prophet) being born. Matthew emphasizes in his first chapter that Jesus Christ is the legal successor to David’s throne and even goes so far as to group the generations from Abraham to Christ in three groups of 14 to emphasize that even as three 14’s in Hebrew is symbolic of David, so the legal government of Christ should be on His shoulders. Here the government on Messiah’s shoulder is in marked antithesis to the “yoke and staff” of the oppressor on Israel’s “shoulder.” Their oppressions and burdens are lifted when His shoulders pick up the burden of rule. When we realize the role of God in our lives, and that He can lift our burdens partially and make them light (see Mosiah 23:21) or lift them completely off our shoulders, then we better understand the love He has for us.
Mighty is a military term and references in verses 3–5. He is the mighty (warrior) God born to, and for us. Everlasting Father describes our covenant relationship to Christ. Prince of Peace describes the condition that Christ as King will bring first spiritually in our lives today and in time literally to the world.
Taken together, this verse is often called the Emmanuel Prophecy. Christ is Emmanuel the King, signifying literally “God is with us” (D&C 128:22). God is with us (see D&C 68:6) in our days and He is Wonderful!
Christ’s Millennial Government
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
In this verse, Isaiah starts to use the future tense. He prophecies of the time when Christ will be “with us.” During the Millennium, as His governing increases, peace will increase perpetually in the earth, and in our lives. It will not be a kingdom of mere might and triumph of force over
enemies, but of righteousness where He will provide justice and mercy. In the Millennium, it is His right to reign, and the Jews understood about the government of the Lord, for Matthew said, out of Bethlehem “shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel” (Matt. 2:6).
Isaiah also uses the throne of David to refer to Christ’s eventual rule. He reminds Ahaz that the very promises of righteous rule that he has refused will one day be Christ’s. He once again references that this future ruler will rightfully rule as a descendant of David. This will occur through “the zeal of the Lord.” Zeal is a component of pure love that has no rivals and moves the Lord “to make his people’s causes his own (Is. 42:13, 59:17, 63:15) and the passionate commitment of his nature to fulfill his purposes for them (37:12)” (Motyer, 103).