A Wonderful Life
Wonderful Counselor
November 24/25, 2012
Digging Deeper (Questions are on the last page)
A Wonderful Life. Wonderful Counselor
Written by: Robert Ismon Brown ([email protected])
Background Notes
Key Scripture Texts: Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23
The Text
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 increase 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 9:6, 7).
Introduction
Advent begins next week, and because of the way the liturgical calendar works this year, all the Sundays in
Advent fall within the month of December. In most years, we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent on the last
Sunday of November, just after Thanksgiving. In any case, the last Sunday before Advent is commonly called
“Christ the King” Sunday or “The Reign of Christ” Sunday which brings to a grand climax the season of
Pentecost. Next week, the calendar of sacred time begins anew with the early expectation of Christ’s birth four
weeks hence.
So what does all of that mean in practical terms? After all, the calendar doesn’t determine the events; events
determine the calendar. And what incredible events they are! The story we tell to the world and the story we
rehearse for ourselves is the story of Jesus. We sometimes sing, “I love to tell the story of Jesus and his love.”
That story begins afresh with Advent, but we are not quite there yet. One more week remains before the
reprise. Today, we celebrate the wonderful truth that Jesus is the Great King, the one — as our text tells us —
on whose shoulders the government rests. Nobody elected Jesus to this office. He didn’t share in the lively
election cycle we have just been through, nor did his position change simply because this or that candidate won
in the general election.
Jesus is forever the King. Notice the language of our text: “of his government … there will be no end … justice
and righteousness … forever” (9:7). We cannot say the same about human governments, no matter how
democratic they might be or how righteous they are. To celebrate Christ the King is to say something
extraordinary about a government where there is no regime change or reelections or defeat at the polls or death
in office. Jesus is the King of the kingdom that is coming from heaven to earth, as the will of God fulfills its
purpose down here.
Our primary text for saying all of this comes from Isaiah 9. Our emphasis this week falls on the phrase
“Wonderful Counselor” — one of several titles given to the “child” that is “born,” and to the “son” that is
“given,” on whose shoulders rests this remarkable sort of government. There are some powerful implications
that grow out of recognizing Jesus in this role, and we focus on one in particular. If the government of our lives
rests on the shoulders of Jesus, then the weight of the world shifts from being entirely on ours to being shared
by him. In some ways this reminds us of Matthew 11:28-30 where Jesus invites us to take his yoke on our
shoulders so that we might learn from him. That passage tells us that our labors and our heavy loads become
the labors and heavy loads of Jesus as well when we do this. He does not leave us alone to struggle by
ourselves without his strong shoulders pulling alongside of us. He does not abandon us to life and its hardships
or its reversals. Put simply, faced with insoluble problems and disruptive troubles, Jesus comes to help us
without patronizing us or compromising our free choice.
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During this “in-between week” — in advance of Advent — we have the opportunity to consider the appeal of
this Jesus to place our heavy loads on him, and then, with waiting and expectation, discover how it is that he
picks them up and goes with us into the thick of life.
A Little Background to Isaiah 9
The phrase Wonderful Counselor comes at the beginning of Isaiah 9:6, but that passage belongs to the wider
context of Isaiah 9, and to the bigger story told by the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah — a section which
scholars called First Isaiah. As a whole, the book of Isaiah has to do with the nation of Israel during some of the
hardest and most challenging times of its existence. Just glancing at the opening verses, reveals that Isaiah’s
audience were well-attuned to the politics of their time where “the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and
Hezekiah” (1:1) were as fresh in their memories as Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barak
Obama would be in ours. Notice how I said that without taking sides  God’s kingdom always interacts with
the human kingdoms where kings are elevated and then removed by His higher purposes (see Daniel 4:32).
God never leaves human beings at the mercy of tyrants. The kings named in Isaiah 1:1 are a mixed bag: some
are good and others are not. Altogether, they represent the span 792-687 B.C.E.
According to Isaiah 6:1, the prophet Isaiah received his call as a prophet “when king Uzziah died” — roughly
740 B.C.E. What the book of Isaiah contains are the collected and edited oracles spoken by Isaiah starting in
740. Judging from the contents of the book, that work continued through the reign of Hezekiah, and Isaiah
stood by him as his Counselor (chapters 36-39) until the king made the fateful decision to trust the imperial
embassy from Babylon (chapter 39). That part of the story ends abruptly with Isaiah’s last “word of Yahweh”
spoken in 39:5-8, and Hezekiah’s cowardly comment about “peace in my lifetime.” By and large, Hezekiah had
been a good king with a few tragic flaws from which he recovered temporarily. His last failure was huge, for it
exposed the little kingdom of Judah — the last remnant of Israelites — to the scrutiny of power-hungry Babylon
that was bent on imperial conquest of the whole Middle East.
We might say that for every king listed in Isaiah 1:1, “the government rested on their shoulders.” But the big
question is, “How well did each king hold up that enormous weight of kingship?” History ultimately answered,
“Not well. Not well at all.” Between the death of Hezekiah and the fall of Judah’s capital, Jerusalem, several
more kings shouldered the responsibility for the Jewish future — seven of them in all — from 687 until 587. Of
these, only Josiah shouldered the government well, restoring the true worship of Yahweh and re-issuing a fresh
version of the Torah in the form of the book we call Deuteronomy. Had a good historian held a news
conference at the end of this period of Jewish history, she no doubt would have been asked, “How well did we
end?” And again, she would have responded. “Not well. Not well at all.” “Who will sit on David’s throne?”
would have been the follow-up question. The historian likely would have stood silent. Nobody knew.
If we read Isaiah 1-8 as background to this week’s text, a story unfolds filled with warnings and crises and
judgment, followed by loss and hope. Isaiah hears the word of the Lord in the midst of this story, and he also
hears the pleading word, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (6:8a). Go where? Go to whom?
Frankly, the answers to those questions are not especially hopeful. Although Isaiah agrees to accept (6:8b), he
immediately hears that his mission is at a time of judgment and to a people that have no interest in listening to
his message (6:9-13a). Yet, glittering in the soil of devastation, the prophet sees “holy seed” growing from the
“stump” of severed trees. It is this seed which fascinates him for the next few chapters. Those hearing about
“holy seed” are thinking about “royal seed” — the successor to David’s throne. Who will it be?
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Mysteriously, Isaiah 7:14, tells of a male child born to a young woman1 who himself will be a “sign”: one who
points to the future and gives an answer to the pressing question. His name is Immanuel, “God with us.”
Mysterious indeed. Few citizens of Judah, as they reviewed the list in Isaiah 1:1, would have been terribly
impressed by the cast of kings in recent memory. So why should this next “holy seed,” born in the future, offer
a different outcome than the one they have already known? In the short-run, the little prophecy pertained to a
newly born prince, probably Hezekiah, born to king Ahaz, on whose shoulders would rest the immediate future
of God’s people. Though his life was far from perfect, yet he ruled at a time of national crisis, and witnessed
the great Assyrian Empire pull back from total conquest in 701 after Hezekiah’s fervent prayer and Yahweh’s
“terrible swift sword” (see Isaiah 37:36-38).
A reprise of this young prince comes in Isaiah 9, the setting for this week’s text. A few words of explanation
about it are in order here.
Isaiah 9 Up Close
If we include the wider context for Isaiah 9:6, we should start with 9:1. Isaiah up to this point is mostly
shadows and darkness, with only glimmers of light focused on “the son” to be born. Judgment is still coming.
Expectations: Light At Last! (9:1-2)
But not all is lost, and that is the Good News. God will not forever "cast off His people" (see Romans 11). God
may set aside false expectations, but He is committed to creating true ones. That is why the next unit in Isaiah's
prophecy begins with the Hebrew particle kîy, a strong "assertive" word form, used, in this case, with the
negative adverb lō, "not" = “Nevertheless.” The whole grammatical construction implies both a contrast to
what has been previously said, but also a strong declaration about what will eventually take place. And what is
that?
Realism about Judah's situation appears in the words "who was in anguish" (Hebrew: mūtzaq, "constraint",
"distress"). Healthy expectations must be marked by this kind of realism. Yes, we look forward to a better
future, but none of that can deny the predicament of our present state. God's people have suffered the
"constraint" of exile, bound over to a new oppressor, Assyria (and one day, Babylon). But the "gloom" (read,
"darkness" (Hebrew: mū‘āph) will lift one day. The prophet draws a sharp contrast between the "former time"
(hāri’shōn) and the "latter time" (hā’ḥarōn). This is the first glimmer of light shed on Judah's painful plight.
God makes clear in our text that time is divided between these two distinct ages. Later rabbis would speak
about "the present age" and "the age to come", using different terms to express each one. The "former time"
correspond to the idea of "the present age", that epoch when evil, darkness and despair rule the world. For
God's people it meant anguish and trouble, but it also meant travail, that is, labor pains ready to give birth to
something new.
Yes, there are legitimate expectations for God's people. They are, however, framed within the realism of a
world that lives between the "former times" and the "latter times"; between "the present age" and "the age to
The Hebrew text uses the word ‘almāh which means a young woman of child-bearing age. Neither her marital status nor her chastity
are indicated by this word. Therefore, when the first audience heard Isaiah’s speech, they would have paid no attention to a narrower
meaning, “virgin,” which we usually read in versions like the NIV. Why the difference? What Isaiah announced as the word of the
Lord was an immediate fulfillment that “the young woman” (Hebrew: hā‘almāh) would give birth to a son. A likely subject for this
young woman would be the queen of a reigning king (i.e. “the young woman” = “the first lady”) who is unnamed, but might well have
been the queen of Ahaz who gave birth to Hezekiah whom some see in the context of 7:15-16. For further insight, refer to John D.W.
Watts, Isaiah 1-33 . Word Biblical Commentary. Ed. David A. Hubbard, et. al. (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1985), 95ff. Then
something remarkable happens to the Hebrew Bible during the 2nd century B.C.E. Commissioned by Ptolemy, Jewish scribes translate
the text from Hebrew into Greek so that a wider audience might appreciate its message. When the translators get to Isaiah 7:14, they
narrow the meaning of the word for “young woman” and render it with parthenos: “virgin.” Why would they do that? Surely they
knew that the Hebrew was much broader or it would have used betûlāh, “virgin” and not ‘almah. As if guided by a hidden hand, they
place into the Greek text a word that later Christian scribes would quickly connect to the conception of Jesus, as taught in Matthew
1:23 and Luke 1:27, 34.
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come". New Testament writers, like Paul, would often speak about living between the "already" and the "not
yet" (see Romans 8:18 in its context). What the prophet brings to this discussion is God's fresh word which
now follows. Although in the past (and likely, the present), darkness and anguish mark life in this world, it will
not always be this way. A genuine source of expectation rests in the promise of what God is about to declare:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep
darkness, on them has light shined (Isaiah 9:2).
This is no ordinary light, but "a great light" (Hebrew: ’ōr gādōl). It might be better to drop the "a" before
"great", since the absence of an article can also mean the essential nature of something, not simply the idea that
it is a singular thing: "…have seen great light…", light in its essence as greatness in its essence. Having seen
this light, there can be no other greater seen! Though the darkness was "deep" (Hebrew has "earth of shadows
(dark terrors)"), the light illuminates nonetheless.
Darkness, in ancient Hebrew thought, belonged to the language of Creation, as recorded in Genesis 1.
"Darkness was on the face of the deep" is the language used to describe the state of things at the moment of
Creation. The word "darkness" (Hebrew: ḥōshek, "darkeness, obscurity, secrecy") can be coded language for
"chaos, separation, and death" (Wendell Willis, "Darkness", Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, p.317). From
the little Jewish community at Qumran, down by the Dead Sea, come documents which reveal a belief in a
coming war between "the sons of light and the sons of darkness", where darkness meant the forces of evil
turned against God. Sometimes the word refers simply to that which is unseen and inaccessible to ordinary
observation. Even God is said to be in "the thick darkness", as He was in Mount Sinai, giving the Torah to
Moses (Exodus 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22-23; 2 Samuel 22:10,12; 1 Kings 8:12; 2 Chronicles 6:1). The
idea appears often in the book of Job, a book filled with questions about the nature of suffering and the apparent
silence of God.
The 4th century philosopher, Augustine made an important point about darkness: that in itself it has no separate
existence. Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something, namely, light. Darkness is what is
missing, what is absent. At Creation, God faced the great "nothingness" before He declared His first creative
word: "Let there me light". By comparison, the people of God, in Isaiah's time, stood in the darkness awaiting a
fresh creative word from God. They awaited the assuring word, the comforting word, and, yes, the expectant
word: "Let there be light…on my people". Having long lived in the darkness of an oppressive exile, one in
which God hid His face, Israel expected in a whole new sense, that the Creator God would resume His
suspended work and make all things new. It is not surprising that by the time Isaiah's prophecy ends, we hear
the expectant words, "See, I am creating new heavens and new earth" (65:17; echoed in Revelation 21-22). The
kind of expectation that Israel needed, not necessarily the one they wanted, was this complete restoration of
God's world, with Israel at its heart.
God’s Track Record (9:3-5)
What follows this reading of 9:1-2 is a passage which transitions to today's text. What sort of impact has the
"light" had on the world? Isaiah tells his audience what God has done by sending His light (9:3-5):
1. You have enlarged the nation.
2. You have increased their joy like workers during a fruitful harvest.
3. You have defeated the foes of Your people with historic proportions.
4. You have removed the painful symbols of war.
Yahweh achieves fundamental change resulting in a reversal of fortunes. Here are expectations fulfilled. In
some ways they are expected outcomes. Yet, how can these results possibly be produced, considering the
darkness of the times? In what way will the "light" be turned on and dispel the darkness? Whom can God's
people trust to bring about so great a victory? Expectation for outcomes must be matched by trust in the One
who makes them happen.
Suddenly, without much preparation, the prophet's words shift dramatically to a wholly unexpected event: a
birth filled with faith-inspiring confidence. It is true that Isaiah had become accustomed to "birth
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announcements", since, earlier in his prophecy, God had given him a series of "signs" in the form of "sons" that
would be born (review Isaiah 7:14; 8:1-4). At one point, overwhelmed by the "signs of the sons", Isaiah cries
out: "Here am I, and the children Yahweh has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from Yahweh
Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion" (8:18). The "sign", in Hebrew, is ’ōth, the simple pointing to something
beyond itself. The "symbol" is mōphēth (sounds like "mo’ faith"!) and it is a derivative from the word ’āphath
which means a "wonder" or "portent". In the Old Testament the "symbol" refers to special displays of God's
power (Exodus 7:3; 11:9, and elsewhere). One further meaning is "sign or token of a future event" and might
involve the prophet in performing a symbolic action (Isaiah 20:3) which embodied that event. More
importantly, as in 8:18, persons become the symbols of a deeper reality (compare Zechariah 3:8). The
Old Testament uses verbs of trust in conjunction with words for sign and symbol.
Now, in 9:6-7, we are allowed a deeper look at the "child" previously offered as a "sign" in Isaiah 7:14. What's
most striking about this child is the extreme weight of confidence placed on him, almost out of proportion to his
being a child. Throughout history, in nations which had inherited monarchies, the birth of a prince or princess
to the royal household was a momentous event. The future rested with the ability for the king's wife to bear him
a child — an heir to the throne. The nation of southern Israel was no exception. David's ascent to the throne in
1000 B.C.E. marked the beginning of what historians call a dynasty. The English word comes from the Greek
root dunaō, "to be able or to have power to stand". Put simply, the dynasty is that which remains "standing"
throughout time.
Part of God's promise to David was that he would always have a descendent sitting on his kingly throne:
"'The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house [read, "dynasty"] for you: 12
When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,
who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a
house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and
he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by
men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed
from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be
established forever.'" (2 Samuel 7:11-16).
In his prayer after his coronation, Solomon, David's son and heir to the throne, prayed to Yahweh:
Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised
him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay
close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me (1 Kings 8:25).
Then, as the first "sign" that God would secure David's dynasty, Yahweh said to Solomon:
If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my
statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as
enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you (1 Kings 11:38).
Why was it important to have an unbroken line of David's sons occupy the throne of Israel? Because, in a real
sense, they symbolized and embodied God's rule on earth. They were the regents of the Kingdom of God.
They served Yahweh who was the supreme king of all the world, and they were called upon to put into effect
His royal decrees and holy laws among His people. As these texts indicate, such kings were not just "sons of
David", but were actually treated as "sons of God". Notice again 2 Samuel 7:14, cited above: "I will be his
father, and he will be my son". The role of king as son meant that the king bore the image of his father, or at
least the people trusted in him to do so. After all, the king of Israel was supposed to rule on behalf of God,
doing God's will. The earliest origins of the idea of "God's Son" appear here in the discussions about the king
who rules as God's vice-regent. The Psalms, especially those which celebrate the enthronement of the king,
support this view. One particular "royal Psalm" is this one, excerpted here:
6 "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to
me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your
inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will
dash them to pieces like pottery." 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
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11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be
destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him
(Psalm 2:6-12).
Notice how the Psalm encourages the people "to take refuge" in the king who is God's Son (2:12). Here, once
more, is the language of trust in God's appointed One who has God's supreme confidence and represents Him in
all that he does. The command "Kiss the Son" encourages appropriate behavior in the presence of a king.
Knowing that the king is God's Son invites proper respect and homage--and trust. We tend to trust that which
we deeply respect.
What are we to make of this "son-who-is-the-king" language which describes the Davidic dynasty and now
appears in Isaiah 9:6-7? From the outset, the birth of the "child" is a sign that God is present among His people.
Let's first consider this from Isaiah's perspective. He lived in the days of several kings of southern Israel,
including the king who reigned during the giving of this specific prophecy about "the child born", namely,
Ahaz. But Ahaz was a horrible king (refer to 2 Kings 15:38-16:20; 2 Chronicles 28:1-27) and was hardly the
purest embodiment of "David's son" who obeyed Yahweh. Quite the contrary, Ahaz corrupted the true worship
of Yahweh with pagan practices, plundering the Temple to keep his enemies at bay. One could only imagine
the anxiety among the faithful in Judah who looked forward to the "birth" of a faithful and righteous king-someone in whom they could put their trust. Ahaz was not that person. But the prophecies of Isaiah still
seemed to point to the offspring of Ahaz as holding the key. As it turned out, in the years following this
prophecy, such a child was born and his name was Hezekiah which means "God is my strength". To reiterate
what the historian tells us in Kings:
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of
Judah, either before him or after him (2 Kings 18:5).
Throughout Hezekiah's life, the whole burden of Judah's national life rested on his shoulders, and, for a brief
moment in time, the people of God took refuge in his leadership and trusted his rule, guided as it was by the
prophetic word of Isaiah. In a real sense, the near-term fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6-7 was found in Hezekiah and
his rule. After the long dark administration of King Ahaz, this young twenty-five year old king was God's
breath (read, "Spirit") of fresh air, blowing across the Judean landscape. Good things happened during
Hezekiah's rule, and they resulted from his confidence in Yahweh, and the people's confidence in him because
of it. Still, something about this prophecy remained "left over", as it were. Yes, Hezekiah was a marvelous
fulfillment of much found in this passage. But even he would disappoint and nearly betray his nation, through
pride, into the hands of her enemies (see 2 Kings 20:12-19). Yahweh predicts the birth of "future sons" but they
would be exiled to Babylon, suggesting that the promised throne of David would lie vacant and the promise
made to Hezekiah would not last but a few more generations.
Overview of 9:6-7
While we might admit literary license and hyperbole in its language about Hezekiah, something else remains
just below the surface. What does the text actually say about this "child" on whom rested the future of God's
people--and the world? In summary:
1. For us a child is born, a son is given
2. Authority will rest on his shoulder
3. Proclaim his names!
a. Wonderful Counselor
b. Mighty God
c. Everlasting Father
d. Prince of Peace
4. David's dynasty will be firmly established.
5. Justice and Righteousness will prevail forever.
6. The zeal of Yahweh will achieve all of this.
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Child Born; Son Given
The Hebrew text reads:
yeled yūllad lānū
bēn nittan lānū
In Hebrew poetry (which this passage illustrates), this is a parallelism in which a repetition states either 1) the
same thing (synonymous), 2) a developing thing (synthetical), or 3) an opposite thing (antithetical). We can
rule out #3, leaving us to decide between #1 and #2. To the Western mind, there appears to be a difference (#2),
simply because "child" suggests a very young person, while "son" denotes gender. We might paraphrase, "A
baby has been born, and, look, it's a boy!". The Hebrew may well suggest a difference too, but moving in a
slightly different direction. Actually Isaiah 7:14, "a young woman (Hebrew; but Greek: “virgin”) shall be with
child…called Immanuel", is the preface to this current passage (9:6-7), and the following sequence is implied:
1) conception; 2) a child (yeled) is born; 3) son (bēn) is given. Connected in this way, "son is given" means, as
we have already noted above, the promised "son-who-sits-on-David's-throne" comes to God's people as His
gracious gift. What's important is that the child's given name is "Immanuel", that is, "God is with us", "God is
present" when the child is conceived and is born.
And so, when we reach the clause, "son is given", it dawns on us that the God who is with us has in fact become
our king once again. This is, then, no ordinary child who sits on David's throne. In a real sense, it is God sitting
on the throne, having taken up residence among us. Did the contemporaries of Isaiah hear that nuance when
they first listened to his message? We might well ask, "Did Isaiah himself infer this deeper meaning?" To
which, Isaiah's own reflections would aptly apply: "…we are signs and symbols in Israel from Yahweh
Almighty who dwells on Mount Zion…" (8:18). Among those "children" would be Hezekiah himself (not in a
literal sense, of course, but as a prophetic "son", following the prophet's instructions). Hezekiah as fulfillment
was still only sign and symbol of the God who was present on Mount Zion. All of Israel waited for the day
when the sign and the symbol became a reality at last. No longer would the words of the prophets remain
enigmas not yet understood. Finally, God would be conceived, born and ruling among His people again. In so
doing, we have moved from the "near-term" to the "long-term" fulfillment. That's the nature of "sign and
symbol": they are intentionally ambiguous and allow for further investigation and deeper understanding. They
can be explored and examined, allowing us to probe for their richer meanings.
He who is the child is also the son, that is, "the king", God Himself. In the Advent, God has given us nothing
less than Himself, His grace in action, His grace embodied. Finally, there stands in human history a real human
being, born of a human mother, yet himself the gift of God. Here we can place our trust; here we can put the
full weight of our confidence. Twice the little poetic couplet tells us that this child, this son is "for us" (lānū).
In the coming of Jesus "God is for us", a phrase from Paul inspired by texts like this one:
"If God be for us who can be against us? He would spared not His own Son, but gave him up for us
all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32).
In God's gift "for us" we have the confidence that He has our best interests in view. Because the "son is
given", we are made aware that our trust rests on the grace of God. And in this are also echoes of John
3:16, "For God so loved…that he gave his only begotten Son…".
In this text we also have intimations of the Abrahamic covenant and Yahweh's pledge to raise up a child, born
of Abraham and Sarah's own bodies, even in their old age--yet another "sign" that God was up to something
remarkable. In reply to this promise, "…Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a
child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" (Genesis
17:17). And, if we dare to push the historical maker back even further, we arrive in the Garden of Eden and
overhear Yahweh saying: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her
offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15), the first proclamation of the
Gospel (the protoevangelium) about the coming "offspring" who would finally defeat the Enemy of God.
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The Shoulders of the King
Once more, the Hebrew text:
Wattehî hamishrāh ‘al-shikemō
Literally, "and the dominion (or rule) shall be on his shoulder." Some scholars think this may indicate a special
"mark" found on the vestments of the king who sits on David's throne, much like the crown placed on his head.
It might actually reference the crown itself which weighs down "his head" on his shoulders. Of course, the
crown or mark are but symbols of the special authority which Yahweh gives His kingly-Son.
In the later prophecy of Daniel, a vision of "the Son of Man" appears to the prophet, along with these words:
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
one that shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:14; see wider context of Daniel 7).
We have similar language in the New Testament account of Jesus' baptism when the heavenly voice is heard,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased…" (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22), a
proclamation also repeated when Jesus is on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7) and to
which are added the words "listen to him". God, by declaring Jesus His Son in this way, places the "authority"
squarely on his shoulders as His King, much as we saw in Psalm 2, "You are my Son…" as part of the
enthronement ritual of Israel's kings. Jesus does not take on Himself the honor of kingship, but submits to His
Father's will and purpose, even as he enters the waters of baptism "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15).
Throughout his public ministry, the words and actions of Jesus were repeatedly characterized as performed
"with authority":
He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:29)
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"- he then said to the
paralytic- "Rise, pick up your bed and go home." When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they
glorified God, who had given such authority to men (Matthew 9:6-8).
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to heal every disease and every affliction (Matthew 10:1).
Jesus would underscore his "authority" after his resurrection with the words, "All authority in heaven and earth
is given to me…" (Matthew 28:19), followed by his commission to the apostles to make disciples.
Paul's letters reiterate the authority of Jesus when they announce his resurrection and ascension to the right hand
of God after his death on the cross, as illustrated by passages like this one:
He worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:20-21).
The extent of Jesus' authority is affirmed by the words of Revelation:
They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of
kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful (Revelation 17:14).
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16)
The "shoulders" on which such authority rests are no ordinary shoulders. Even righteous Hezekiah could not
sustain the kingdom for longer than his own lifetime, and even near his death, he disclosed his own flaws as
Israel's illustrious king (see above). Only the one sent by God, bearing God's nature, humbled in his humanity
but empowered by God's Spirit, could accept the rule which rested on him. To this one, God "gave the name
above every name" before whom all would one day bow in worship (Philippians 2:5-11).
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The Names of the Son
The grammatical construction of the sentence which begins "his name shall be called…" depends on what
preceded it in the Hebrew. Because the authority rests on the shoulder of God's kingly Son, a royal
proclamation thunders forth which announces the "names" by which he will be known to all persons. The
Hebrew verb qāra’ used in this context plainly means "to proclaim", as in a court or royal setting. Our English
parallel might be something like, "Hear ye, hear ye, the honorable king of xyz is in session before his humble
subjects, King ABC, ruler of the three rivers, champion of the horse and chariot, victor over his enemies at the
battle of You-Lose-I-Win…" In this case, God proclaims the enthronement of His Son who has received all
authority, and He now details the royal names by which this Son is to be addressed and which best reveal his
royal person. The Hebrew uses the singular "his name" (shemō) to indicate the unity and consistency of these
royal titles. Though he will be "called" many things, they all belong to one holy, majestic and kingly person.
Four distinct phrases appear in the Hebrew, each consisting of an adjective and a noun. In the coming weeks,
we will explore these names. But our interest for this week’s study is the first of these royal names, “Wonderful
Counselor.”
Wonderful Counselor (pele’ yō‘ēts)
If we had asked King Hezekiah who his counselor was, he would have immediately replied, "Isaiah, the
prophet, who brings me the word of Yahweh". Insofar as the kingly Son bears the authority of God's Word in
all its completeness, he is the "counselor". In the ancient world, such persons often stood beside the king,
giving advice, interpreting official documents, offering direction, and guiding the king's judgments. In this
case, the promised Messiah needs no counsel but is himself the giver of counsel. As Isaiah would later write:
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? 14 Whom did he
consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him
knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:13-14; also, Romans 11:34).
The kingly Son of Yahweh requires no counselor: he is the counselor. Elsewhere in his prophecy, Isaiah would
declare:
This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom (Isaiah
28:29).
In the phrase “wonderful in counsel” we have a close parallel to Isaiah 9:6.
The word "wonderful" suggests the manner in which his counsel affects those who receive it. His counsel is
"full of wonder" or "produces wonder" or "is wondered at". This is precisely what the audiences of Jesus said
about him after hearing his words, both as a "child" and later as an adult:
46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and
asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers
(Luke 2:46-47).
And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And
they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" (Luke 4:22).
A deeper look at these two words, “wonderful” and “counselor” sheds light on why they are so applicable to
Jesus.
Counselor
The Hebrew word yō‘ēts comes from the verb yā‘ats, meaning “to advise, counsel, purpose, devise, plan.” It’s
really not a noun, but a participle functioning as a noun: “the Counseling One.” Participles commonly function
as adjectives modifying nouns or pronouns. In this case, “counseling” modifies the implied indefinite pronoun
“one.” Used in this way, participles confer action on the noun such that the noun undertakes the action as the
agent. Participles supply a dynamic element to the adjectival function rather than a merely descriptive element.
What Isaiah’s message tells us about the “son” on whose shoulders the government rests is that he actively
counsels; he is the operative counselor; he is the Counselor in action.
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Given the range of this verb’s meanings, the counseling activity of Jesus the Messiah has to do with supplying
purpose to the government over which he presides. The following article from one scholarly work fills in a few
helpful details:
This verb is translated in LXX by bouleuœ or a compound over seventy times, "to give counsel, deliberate,
purpose, determine." The first occurrence of y¹±aƒ is in Exo 18:19. Jethro, seeing the tremendous burden of
Moses, says, "I shall give you 'counsel,' and God be with you." He then gives him an organizational plan and
advises him how to carry out the administrative responsibilities for ruling and judging his people. Jethro gives
counsel from wisdom attained by age and/or experience. One may remember Rehoboam's rejection of the counsel
(񛟃) of the old men (1Kings 12:8, 13). Moses, as chief administrator of the people of God, is not obligated to
accept such counsel. A case in point is Absolom's rejection of Ahithophel's good counsel which was countered by
Hushai's evil counsel (2Sam 17). Jethro, as counselor, presents a carefully thought out plan together with a
procedure for its implementation. In 2Kings 18:20 Rabshakeh's taunt of Hezekiah's claim, "I have counsel and
strength for the war" reflects the usual careful deliberation that goes into planning for battle, in this case for
defense.
Psalm 33:10 speaks of nations and peoples devising counsels and plans (Heb maµ¦sh¹bâ "thought, device, plan,
purpose") albeit not in accordance with God's "counsels (񛟃) and plans" (cf Isa 8:10; Isa 30:1).
In contrast to the counsels of men and nations, the OT speaks of the "counsel of the Lord." Psalm 33:10ff presents
this thought most clearly. "The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The
'counsel' of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation." Noteworthy here is the
overruling power of God as he nullifies and frustrates the plans of men. The case of Ahithophel's counsel is
apropos. In 2Sam 15:31 David prays to the Lord to "make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness." He thereby
acknowledges that God sovereignly disposes what man proposes. Further, in 2Sam 17:14 after Absalom chooses
the advice of Hushai over that of Ahithophel, the inspired author makes the theological comment, "For the Lord
had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom."
Cf. Neh 4:15 [H 9].
The counsel of the Lord is eternal, "It stands forever." The of God's counsel and plan is grounded in the
unchangeableness of God himself. The "plans of his heart" may be equated with "the secret things" which belong
to the Lord our God, It is God who guarantees the accomplishment of his eternal decrees. Isaiah beautifully
integrates these thoughts, "Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be
established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure'; Calling... the man of my purpose (lit. the man who
executes my purpose, i.e. Cyrus) from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly, I will bring it to pass. I have
planned it, surely I will do it" (Isa 46:9-11). It is well to remember that ±¢ƒâ is translated in the LXX by boul¢, a
word replete with theological significance in the NT (see Acts 2:23; Acts 4:28; Acts 5:38-39; Acts 20:27; Eph
1:11 where "the counsel of his will" expresses the immutable foreordination of God's will); cf Heb 6:17, "the
unchangeableness of his purpose").
Arising from the theological conceptualization are anthropological and ethical conclusions. Moses anticipates the
waywardness of Israel as a "nation void of counsel," i.e. not following the plans and purposes of God (Deut
32:28). Job acknowledges that through lack of knowledge, he has darkened counsel (Job 42:3; cf Job 38:2). In
Prov, counsel is rejected and spurned to one's own detriment (Prov 1:25, 30) but "he who listens to counsel" is a
wise man (Prov 12:15). From Prov 19:20-21 we understand that the counsel the godly man is urged to listen to is
the "counsel of the Lord" which will stand, in contrast to the many "plans in a man's heart." The blessed man of
Psa 1:1 is one "who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly." Further, in Psa 32:8 the psalmist is encouraged by
the Lord's instruction and teaching, together with the assurance "I 'will counsel' (y¹±aƒ) you with my eye upon
you" (cf. Psa 73:24). Two christological passages need to be studied in this connection. The only hope of Judah,
Isaiah claims, is to be found in the person of the Messiah, who is characterized by four compound names, the first
being "Wonderful Counselor" (Isa 9:6). The child who is to come, on whose shoulders the government of the
world shall rest, is one whose plans, purposes, designs and decrees for his people are marvelous. We further learn
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from Isa 11:2 that "counsel" is a gift of God's own Holy Spirit. Consequently, Jesus Christ is revealed as the
counselor par excellence.2
What we do comes from what we think. What we think grows out of the counsel others give us, whether
parents or teachers or church or culture. Much advice is empty and mindless, though it may promise to bring us
success. If we are to shoulder responsibility, then we need the kind of counsel that will see us through and
guide us correctly. What Isaiah’s prophecy offers us is Jesus: the son on whose shoulders the government of the
world reliably rests. His counsel comes from God, full of the purposes of God, and hopeful with the plans of
God. When God says to His people, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11), He is talking about
Jesus. When God says, “I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8), He is promising us Jesus.
When God says, “Truly I have spoken; truly, I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it" (Isaiah
46:9-11), He is showing us Jesus.
Recently, I officiated at a wedding on the beautiful beaches of Bald Head Island, NC. During my homily, I told
the young people about the challenges they faced in married life, and how their two lives would increasingly
become “one flesh,” a third person: “the marriage person.” The process leading to this incredible creation
would not be easy, I said. As we reviewed the high expectations of agapē love in 1 Corinthians 13, with its call
for patience in “all things” and that would “never fail,” I counseled them with these words: “Don’t try any of
this stuff alone. Take Jesus with you.” And for good reason. He is the Counselor with an excellent track a
record of guiding, planning, and advising.
Wonderful (Or, “Impossible”?)
When we encounter the word “wonder” in the Bible, especially in the Hebrew Bible, we are immediately in the
presence of the unlikely or the seemingly impossible. There are times when counsel or advise or planning seem
utterly impossible, especially when we consider all of the issues involved in making something happen. I’ve
been with clients (in my other life!) where, after an extended discussion of a complex project, a person speaks
up with, “I just don’t see how we can do this. It doesn’t seem feasible.” What makes an undertaking seem that
difficult? Well, there are the human limitations, of course, but then we all have those. How about the obstacles
in our path? Or, the simple fact that “it’s never been tried before”? We mustn’t overlook our personal
prejudices either. It may appear we are honestly searching for a way to get the job done, but underneath,
consciously or subconsciously, we really don’t want the enterprise to succeed, and so we allege difficulties,
attributing to them greater weight than is actually the case.
The word for “wonderful” in Isaiah 9:6 is the Hebrew term pela’, one of my favorites in the Hebrew Bible. The
meaning is simply “wonder, hard to understand, marvelous, extraordinary.” What we have here is an emphasis
on “inexplicable” and “abnormal.” The word “hard” is the simplest idea inside the term: “Really hard” to do, to
explain, or to have happen. These are things beyond human capability, yet things human beings long to have
happen. When problems are unsolvable, we have pela’. When solutions are inaccessible, we have pela’. When
tasks are too difficult for us, we have pela’.
Early in the Bible, in Genesis 18:14, we encounter a case of such difficulty. God has just told Abram that his
wife, a woman too old to have children, is going to have a child. She laughs, while Abram’s faith receives a
good testing. Knowing their shared response, God says: “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?” The two
words “too hard” actually translate this word pela’. In order for these two parents to birth a son, God must
perform an act of amazing power — a wonder — in order to overcome the presumed impossibility.
2
Paul R. Gilchrist,
1980), 390-391.
#[;y", Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament . Volume 1. Ed. R. Laird Harris, et. al. (Chicago: Moody Press,
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Then we have the case of Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your
great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Soon afterwards we hear, “See, I am
the Lord, the God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me?” (32:27).
If we follow the ancient story of Israel from the beginning, several instances of God’s wonder-working power
stand out, each one using a form of pela’ (“wonder”):
God promises to deliver His people held in bondage by the Egyptian Empire: “So I will stretch out my hand and
strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go”
(Exodus 3:20). And he fulfills that promise: "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you,
majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). In the future, God further
promises to do “wonders”: He said: “I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels,
such as have not been performed in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you live shall
see the work of the LORD; for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you” (Exodus 34:10). As Israel
prepares to enter Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, he tells them: "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the
LORD will do wonders among you" (Joshua 3:5).
Later wisdom writers, reflecting on what God had already done, wrote, “He performs wonders that cannot be
fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 5:9). “Who does great things beyond understanding, and
marvelous things without number” (Job 9:10). “God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things
that we cannot comprehend” (Job 37:5). "Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God” (Job
37:14). “'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not
understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).
Endlessly, throughout the Psalms and the Prophets, the biblical text credits God with the ability to do and to say
what human beings, by themselves, are incapable of doing and saying. The phrase “wondrous works” or its
equivalents appear frequently in the text. By the time we reach the New Testament, the language changes but
the idea remains.
Luke is a good example. In 1:37 we read: “For nothing is impossible with God” — the words of the angel
Gabriel after he told Mary she would conceive Jesus without a human father. There is a distinct line from this
text back to Genesis 18:14 (see above) and the conception of Abram and Sarai’s promised son. Had we been
eavesdropping on Gabriel, we would have heard Hebrew (or Aramaic) and not Greek at this point, and the word
pela’ would no doubt have been in the sentence just cited: “There is nothing too pela’ with God.” And having
arrived at this text, we are now standing at the threshold of Advent where the “child” and the “son” of Isaiah
7:14 and 9:6 at last take center stage in God’s latest program — His latest plan — for the salvation of His
world.
Putting “Counselor” together with “Wonderful”
Keeping this recent passage in mind, a new idea takes shape as we try to tease out the meaning of the phrase
“wonderful counselor.” Might it not be that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor precisely because his coming
into the world revealed the Wonderful Counsel of God? Does not Jesus, in his own person and through his own
conception, embody the meaning of the phrase Wonderful Counselor. Jesus reveals the Wonderful Counsel of
his heavenly Father by becoming flesh and living among us. Jesus is Wonderful Counsel incarnate. For in
Jesus all of the plans and purposes of God reach their grand fulfillment. God’s plans to forgive sin and to give
life are found in Jesus, the Wonderful Counsel-bearer. God’s plans to show human beings how to live are
found in Jesus, the Wonderful Counsel-bearer. God’s plans to defeat death and offer eternal life are found in
Jesus, the Wonderful Counsel-bearer.
Jesus is Wonderful Counselor by being the Wonderful Counsel-bearer. In Jesus the deep wisdom of the allwise God takes human form. God’s wise counsel appears in Jesus. A few New Testament texts reveal this.
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After laying out the saving plan of God for the human race, Paul breaks out with these words:
33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his
paths beyond tracing out! 34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Who
has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To
him be the glory forever! Amen (Romans 11:33-36).
To the Corinthian Christians who had a proud culture of Greek ideas, Paul offers these humbling words about
the superiority of God’s wisdom over theirs:
23
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom
God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of
God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength (1 Corinthians 1:2325).
Later, to the Colossian believers he wrote:
2
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of
complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2-3).
Jesus, who is the Wonderful Counselor, embodies God’s plan — His mystery — and he makes that plan known
to us with “complete understanding.”
Writing about God’s long-term purpose for His world, Paul adds these words about Jesus:
7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's
grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his
will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have
reached their fulfillment-- to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ
(Ephesians 1:7-10).
Perhaps the most wonderful thing about this Wonderful Counselor is that he did not choose to keep God’s
wisdom a secret, hidden only for the very few who had special access to it, but rather he “made known to us the
mystery of his will,” precisely because he wanted to do so. Through Jesus, God plans to unite heaven and earth.
Foreshadowing this long-term purpose, Jesus informed his disciples in the hours just prior to his death that he
would not leave them alone. Literally, he said that they would not be “orphans.” In evidence of this promise,
he spoke in several places about the Spirit who would come in his place to carry on his work in the lives of his
followers. Some translations use the word “Counselor” to identify the Holy Spirit in these texts. Behind that
English word is the Greek expression, paraklētos which appears in the following Gospel passages:
1. John 14:16-18 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-17
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you
know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
2. John 14:26 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all
things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
3. John 15:26 26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth
who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
4. John 16:7-15 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the
world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not
believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no
longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 "I have
much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will
guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you
what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
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15
All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make
it known to you.
The phrase, “another Counselor,” in passage #1 implies that Jesus himself was the first Counselor. Throughout
these examples, the role of paraklētos is largely teaching, correcting, companioning, or convicting. The role of
the Counselor is to tell the truth about God, Jesus, the world, and human beings. Jesus came to do all of those
things, and in the present time, he gives us the Holy Spirit to do the same things. And so we can safely say that
Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor today by sending the Holy Spirit into our lives, where he will remain forever.
Since there is no jealousy in the Godhead among Father, Son, and Spirit, it would not be inaccurate to say that
the Spirit took over where Jesus left off. Or, better, that Jesus continues his ministry as Wonderful Counselor
through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
From Isaiah 11 comes yet another reminder that Israel lived with high expectations about the shape of their
future in spite of the darkness all around them:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the
LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He
will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears (Isaiah 11:1-3).
Messiah arrives in the world with the Spirit of Yahweh resting on him, according to Isaiah. Of the seven
ministries of the Spirit to the Messiah, clearly five of them cluster around the idea of counsel, knowledge, and
wisdom. From the outset, Messiah is endowed by God with the Spirit that furthers the plan and purpose of God
— the counsel of God. As Wonderful Counselor, Jesus is wonderful purpose-bringer. He not only gives
counsel, he delivers the plans of God for the world. He not only advises us, he executes divine purpose. The
Spirit that rested on Jesus, now rests on us, and so the ministry of Wonderful Counsel passes from Jesus to us.
He invites us to be privy to God’s larger purpose for His creation. In a remarkable text, Jesus makes this
transparent:
14
You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not
know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have
made known to you (John 15:14-15).
The Wonderful Counselor makes known His Father’s business to the disciples. They are invited into what the
ancient Hebrew sages called the divine council, where God and His angels consulted together about the future
of the world. Jesus is not secretive with his followers about those purposes, but discloses to them what would
soon take place:
And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers
of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22).
Before he left this world, he shared with them God’s purpose for them:
44
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written
about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could
understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead
on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but
stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:44-49).
Wisely, Jesus shared with his followers what they needed to know to carry out the mission, while withholding
the knowledge of whatever would distract from that purpose:
7
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).
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In the most familiar form of Jesus’ commission, he gave to the disciples his strategy for world mission:
18
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
From each of these texts, we discern the ways that Jesus, as our Wonderful Counselor, made future plans for his
people.
Glory to God! Amen.
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Digger Deeper: A Wonderful Life. Wonderful Counselor
(Bob Brown)
To gain a deeper understanding of A Wonderful Life. Wonderful Counselor, carefully read the selected passages
below. To aid you in your study, we invite you to visit the website at http://www.c1naz.org, click on
Resources, click the tab Series, find and click on the series title, find and click on the date you want, and then
click on the Background Notes link at the lower left. You can also pick up a copy of the Background Notes at
the Information desk, or from your ABF leader. Now consider the following questions, as you ask the Lord to
teach you.
1. For the next few weeks, our main text will be Isaiah 9:6-7, a familiar passage that ultimately pointed to the
coming of Jesus. Take a few moments to read Isaiah 9, noting how verses 6-7 fit into the chapter as a
whole. Jot down a few observations as you read. How does 9:1-5 prepare the reader for 9:6-7? Refer back
to Isaiah 7:14 for a parallel passage. How might the first readers of these texts have understood them?
2. What promises made to King David foreshadowed the words of Isaiah? (2 Samuel 7:11-16; 1 Kings 8:25; 1
Kings 11:38). Notice how the word “son” can also mean “king” in Psalm 2:6-12.
3. Hezekiah, the last named king in Isaiah 1:1, filled Israel with expectations that he might be the promised
king. Read the commentary on his life in 2 Kings 18:5. Yet, he failed to remain faithful as 2 Kings 20:1219 explains, and so the promise focused on a future king instead.
4. How is this future king described in Isaiah 9:6-7? How important is permanence to this role as king? What
does it mean for “authority to rest on his shoulder”? What kind of kingdom does he make possible? Who is
the real guarantor of his kingdom? Compare Matthew 7:29; 9:6-8; 10:1; Ephesians 1:20-21; Revelation
17:14; 19:16; Philippians 2:5-11.
5. Explain the significance of the phrase “to us” in 9:6. Compare this with Romans 8:31-32. Why does the
prophet speak both of a “child” and a “son”?
6. Our focus this week is on the name/title, “Wonderful Counselor.” Suggest some synonyms for “Counselor.”
Now compare the following texts: Isaiah 40:13-14 (=Romans 11:34); 28:29; Luke 2:46-47; 4:22. The
Hebrew word means “to advise, counsel, purpose, plan, or devise.”
7. What are God’s ultimate plans for His world? (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 46:9-11). How does He
make those known to us? (1 Corinthians 2:10).
8. What makes something “wonderful”? The Hebrew word carries the idea of that which “seems impossible,”
or is associated with great difficulty. Elsewhere it translates as “too hard”: Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17,
27. Yet, God does the impossible, and the Bible calls these actions “wonders.” Explain this usage in the
following texts: Exodus 15:11; 34:10; Joshua 3:5; Job 5:9; 9:10; 37:5, 14; 42:3.
9. How does this appear in the story of Jesus (see Luke 1:37 in context)?
10. According to Romans 4:17, what is God able to do, and how did that ability work out in the life of father
Abraham? (4:18-21). In the life of Jesus? In our lives?
11. Putting the words “Wonderful” and “Counselor” together, how is Jesus the “Wonderful Counselor”? As
you think about your answer, study Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 1:23-25; Colossians 2:2-3; Ephesians
1:7-10 where Jesus reveals God’s wisdom by fulfilling God’s plan.
12. In John’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples about their future relationship with him. What relevant word
appears in the following passages, and to whom does it apply? (John 14:16-18; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15).
Based on these texts, how is Jesus our “Wonderful Counselor” today? Compare Isaiah 11:1-3.
13. When we feel the whole world resting on our shoulders, how does Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, help us?
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