Pete's Blog

Isaiah 9:6: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

The four titles we get here for Jesus list, again, as

1. Wonderful Counselor,
   
2. Mighty God,
   
3. Everlasting Father, and
   
4. Prince of Peace.
   

First, I'd like to admit that I've wondered before what it means for Jesus to be the "Everlasting Father." If I were a modalist (i.e., someone who denies that God is simultaneously three distinct persons [not one at a time]), I'd jump all over this verse. The Trinity is not fully revealed in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. So, given that the Old Testament is types and shadows of New Testament realities, I'm willing to be satisfied in saying that Isaiah was describing this future man as a father of sorts, without confusing Him with God the Father.

Anyway, here I'm musing over titles 2 and 4. It's interesting that Isaiah calls Jesus "Mighty God," only later to say that He's a prince. What does every prince have? A king! So the natural reading of this verse has Trinitarian overtones.

When I say "natural reading," I say that recognizing it's possible that in the Jewish literature of Isaiah's day, to be a prince might have meant that person was the primary leader, not the king. But until shown otherwise, a prince is a son of the king.