May 9 - 49 - Isaiah 9:6

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

Isaiah 9:6

Bible Rank: 49

I can't help but break into song when I hear this verse -- specifically, Handel's Messiah. 

 

This verse is clearly a Messianic prophecy. The hope of a faltering nation was not on current politicians. Indeed, their hope was not on anything in the present at all. God's people were currently a floundering mess. That's why the prophet was sent in the first place. 

 

Their hope was in the future. And the future was pregnant with a blessing -- a coming child. 

We know now that the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy was Jesus, the Messiah, but sit for a minute with what Isaiah was saying ...

 

·         Your nation is a disaster. (Our nation is trending that way too.)

·         You're betraying God and worshiping idols. (Our nation has plenty of false priorities.)

·         Therefore, any hope for any future is forty years into the future when your generation has passed and a child -- yet to be born -- is finally ready to reign. (In spite of a gradually shrinking, faithful remnant, would it be fair if that was our fate in judgment too?)

 

Yes, it would be fair for God to judge us. And forty year patterns of rebellion and defeat were not atypical in the scriptures -- see the book of Judges. And we absolutely deserve this judgment if we're waiting for an earthly solution ... and forgetting that the promised child has already come!

 

Jesus is here. Now. We don't need to wait for a human savior; we have an eternal King. We just need to give him room to work in our hearts again. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's a child

 

… of the Child