A Son is Given

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder." (Isa. 9.6)

Long centuries before Jesus was born, and Christmas became a Christian festival, the peoples of Bible lands - Assyria, Babylonia, Canaan - made the end of December a time of celebration and rejoicing. It marked the change of shortening days and the turning of the sun to climb higher in the heavens; it gave promise of ripening crops and the joys of harvest. The ancient Babylonians used to drag their Yule logs into their homes on what corresponds to our Christmas Eve and consume them by fire; the following morning they decked with gifts the Tree of Life which they pretended in symbol had grown from the ashes of the dead log - the prototype of our "Christmas tree" - thus, said they, would life come out of death, in due time, by the favour of the gods.

Where did they get the tradition from, tradition so strangely true to fact? Was there some lingering memory of the true faith once held and taught by their common father Noah, their racial ancestors Shem, Ham and Japheth, the patriarchs of their Families like Peleg and Heber? It would almost seem so! For it is true that out of the ashes of death will come new life; that after the destruction of the dead wood of this world there will arise a Tree of Life whose fruit shall be for food to mankind and whose leaves shall be for the healing of the nations, rich gifts indeed for the sons of men, in that greatest of all Christmas festivals when the Kingdom of light and life has succeeded upon the ending of this world of darkness and death.

Isaiah had something of this in mind when he saw the vision of the Great Light. Like so many of the prophets' revelations, he viewed this representation of things to come against the background of his own day. There is a temptation to read the thrilling passage "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," as though it were a completely disjointed piece of revelation sandwiched unthinkingly into a passage dealing with the local troubles of Israel in the prophet's own day having nothing to do with the subject of the Kingdom. That is not so; chapters 7 to 12 of Isaiah's prophecy comprise one complete and harmonious presentation of Millennial truth in which the vision of the Everlasting Father finds its proper place. And in order to understand the full harmony that exists between these wonderful chapters we must endeavour to put ourselves in the prophet's place and look at them through his eyes.

The story starts with Isaiah's seventh chapter. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, King of Israel the "ten-tribe" kingdom, have joined together to attack Judah, the "two-tribe" kingdom of which Ahaz was the apostate king. They have besieged Jerusalem, but the Lord has not yet suffered them to take it. The people of Judah are nevertheless greatly afraid, for they have long since abandoned their faith in God and they know not where to turn for help.

This is Isaiah's opportunity. At the bidding of the Lord he goes forth to meet Ahaz and give him an assurance that the Lord is going to defend Jerusalem - for his own Name's sake; certainly not on account of any piety or faith on the part of the wicked king. But Ahaz does not believe; he does not want to believe. "lf ye will not believe," says Isaiah, "surely ye shall not be established" . Therefore a second word came to Ahaz. "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God" commands Isaiah. But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I prove the Lord". His rebellion is deliberate and calculated; it cannot be excused. Therefore the message of condemnation, already given to the ten-tribe kingdom. A young woman shall bear a son, and call his name Immanuel. That son is the sign; before that child has grown to youthful maturity, Assyria shall have desolated Samaria and ravaged Judah. Ten-tribes, and some from among the two-tribes, shall have gone into captivity for their sins. The seventh and eighth chapters trace the sad history of that terrible time of the invading Assyrian hosts; the people, said Isaiah, would finally look unto the earth, "and behold trouble and darkness, dimness and anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness".

Now these were not just empty words, spoken by the prophet after the manner of a gramophone record. Isaiah, inspired as he was by the Holy Spirit, was seeing these things, future though they were, and he described what he saw. His prophetic vision showed him the grim Assyrian warriors marching through the land, and fleeing multitudes pressing on brokenly before them. He saw the deeds of violence, the slaughter of helpless captives, the brutal treatment of women and children, the burning villages, the desolated vineyards and pastures, the clear Judean skies clouded and darkened by drifting smoke. As he gazed upon that dread scene his prophetic vision sharpened, and in the spirit of his mind he was carried over nigh on three thousand years of time, to see the events which this Syrian invasion in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah pictured. He saw the last great onslaught of the forces of darkness, the hosts which we call the armies of Gog and Magog, descending upon God's ancient people at the end of this age. Isaiah still beheld Assyrian soldiers, he still identified the people and the villages and the scenery of the land he knew, but with that mysterious certainty that is sometimes our own experience in dreams he knew that he was looking now at a scene representing the end of this Age and the time of the greatest deliverance of all; and as he looked, straining to see into the murky blackness which all but shrouded the vagueness of the moving figures, men, women and children writhing under the terror that had come upon them, he saw something else, something which caused him to look up and break into the tremendous declaration that commences at verse 2 of chapter 9.

"The people that walk in darkness," he cried in exultation, "have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."

Away there on the horizon, beyond the tops of the eastern mountains, above the darkness of the present terror, the glorious radiance of coming day was racing up the sky. The time of light, the time of life, was come, and the darkness would soon be overpast. The Lord was coming as it were from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran, his glory covering the heavens, and his brightness as the light of day, as the sun. Isaiah saw the Assyrian soldiers cower and flee before that terrible radiance, the arrows of Heaven's artillery raining upon them, and all their armies put to flight. The Lord had risen up to the defence and deliverance of his people, and from behind the hills there came into sight the rising of the Sun of righteousness, with healing in his wings. And the people, so lately bound in the darkness and in the shadow of death, rejoiced in this great appearance which had delivered them from the kingdom of darkness and brought them forth into the kingdom of light. That is what Isaiah saw, and for the moment all thought of his countrymen's present troubles and dangers was forgotten, the while his eyes drank in their fill of those resplendent glories symbolising earth's Millennial day.

This is the Christmas vision indeed, the turning of the old, darksome, dying year into the new, lightening, living age of light and life for all men. Here is at hand the time of promise and of gifts unto men, the prospect of harvest and all the joys that come with harvest, the toil of ploughing and harrowing but a memory. Here in very truth is the day for which Isaiah so long had looked, and concerning which he was yet to preach and teach persistently and consistently through many dark years. But for the present the vision was leading him onward into a glory of revelation.

"Thou hast multiplied the nation; thou hast increased the joy." So the Margolis version has it, and Rotherham confirms with "Thou hast increased the exultation; thou hast made great the joy." (The "not" in verse 3 of the A.V. is an incorrect rendering). "They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil." Here is a picture of mankind, freed at last from the fear of evil things and evil men, from death and all that death implies, "multiplied" upon the fair Millennial earth, destined to be the home of resurrected hosts. Isaiah sees here the beginning of the Millennial kingdom; perhaps he saw, or thought he saw, the promised multiplication of his own nation, Abraham's seed, "as the sands by the seashore" but it is just as correct to apply his prophetic outburst to the greater increase of all men, the entire human family, in that day. He had just seen the great light burst upon a world of evil and put the darkness to flight; now he sees the consequent increase of men and the increase of their joy. "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

Why do they thus rejoice? The next verse supplies the answer. "For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian." The rout of the Midianites in the days of Gideon was one of Israel's greatest victories. The brave three hundred, having nothing but lights concealed in earthen pitchers, by that means and that alone defeated the enemy host. Did the Holy Spirit suggest that defeat of Midian to Isaiah with set intent? Is it not true that this coming greater defeat of the powers of greater evil at the end of this Age is going to be because another "three hundred" will have had their inner light revealed by the breaking of their earthen pitchers? "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father!" (Matt. 13.43).

"For every boot stamped with fierceness, and every cloak rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire." Thus runs the Margolis rendering, and other translators agree with the thought, not easily discernible in the Authorised Version, that the rejoicing is on account of the implements of warfare, the armour and clothing of the soldiery, and the grim relics of war, being all consumed in the fire. "He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth." War is no more; the time of peace has come, and the devouring fire has consumed all the institutions of unrighteousness.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder." Was it that Isaiah heard, eight hundred years before it floated over Judea's quiet fields, the angels' song of Bethlehem? Did the Holy Spirit in some wonderful manner convey to his attentive mind those strains that later fell upon the ears of the shepherds? It reads almost like a song. "Unto us a child is born… …unto us a son is given…" Mysterious, sweet cadences, rising and falling on the calmness that has succeeded the vision of slaughter. "Unto us a child is born… …a child is born!" That surely must be the fulfilment of Divine promise, the birth of earth's new King, come to rule in righteousness. "Unto us a son is given!" The truest son of Israel that Israel would ever know, a prophet like unto Moses, a king like unto David, a priest like unto - Melchisedek; yes, a priest upon his throne. "A child is born! … …a son is given!" So the music must have gone on as Isaiah listened. "Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord... Unto us a child is born… …a son is given… …and the government shall be upon his shoulder!"

The heavenly song fades away - perhaps the vision passes from his sight also, but the inspiration of the Spirit is strong upon Isaiah and he opens his mouth, only partially comprehending the significance of his words, yet knowing that they have to do with that coming Day for which he looks.

"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor." The comma ought not to be there. The expression is a combined one. The word for "wonderful" possesses the meaning of exceptionally singular or unique, something as it were beyond the understanding of mere man. When Manoah asked his celestial guest his name, and the angel told him it was "secret" the same word is used (Judges 13. 18). The word "counsellor" is one that is used of royalty's closest confidants and advisers (as King David's counsellor in 2 Sam.15.12). Our coming King is, then, in the first place, the Wonderful Counsellor. Of whom is He the confidant? Surely of his Father and our Father, who will do nothing without revealing his purposes to the beloved Son in whom his plans are centred and by whom they are executed. In the visions of Revelation one like unto a slain Lamb takes the sealed book from the hand of the Deity upon the Throne and reveals what is therein written. We do not know, we cannot visualise, the intimacy of fellowship and oneness of understanding that must exist between the Father and the Son, giving such depth of meaning to Jesus' own words, during his earthly life, "I and my Father are one". Surely He indeed is the One who "was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him" (Prov.8.30). Yea, indeed, his name is "Wonderful Counsellor".

But it is also "the Mighty God ". Not El Elyon - "The Most High". Not "El Shaddai" - "The Almighty". Not "Jehovah" - "The Eternal One". The Hebrew is "Gibbor El" . Gibbor is the word for giantlike, powerful, mighty, and the giants and mighty men of the Old Testament are "gibborim" (the plural form of gibbor). But El itself means "mighty one". The plural form, elohim, refers to God himself or to the heathen gods, or to angelic or supernatural beings, or even to mighty men, as in Psa.82.6 ("I have said, ye are gods, and all of you children of the Most High) so this name "the mighty God" really means "the mightiest mighty one". Is not that a fitting name for the One to whom is committed all power in heaven and earth? Is not that a fitting name for the One to whom every knee in heaven as well as on earth, is to bow, and every tongue, angelic and earthly, confess? "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore; and have the keys of hell and of death." There is a wonderful passage in the Apocryphal "Gospel of Nicodemus" in which the risen Lord is pictured as storming the gates of hell and rescuing its hopeless inhabitants. "When the prince of hell heard "(that Jesus was coming) "he said" (to Satan) "I adjure thee by the powers which belong to thee and me that thou bring him not to me. For when I heard of the power of his word, I trembled for fear, and all my impious company were disturbed . . .And while Satan and the prince of hell were discoursing thus to each other, on a sudden there was a voice as of thunder and the rushing of winds, saying… …Lift up your gates, O ye princes: and be ye lifted up, ye gates of hell, and the King of Glory will enter in… …And the mighty Lord appeared in the form of a man, and enlightened those places which had ever before been in darkness; and broke asunder the fetters which before could not be broken; and with his invincible power visited those who sat in the deep darkness by iniquity, and the shadow of death by sin." This is assuredly our Mighty One, to whom has been given all power in heaven and in earth, and will exercise that power to overcome death and all evil and establish the reign of everlasting righteousness.

What then of his third title - Everlasting Father? Does He here usurp the prerogative of the One upon the Throne of Creation, the God and Father of us all? We know at the outset that such a thing can never be. At the close of the Millennial Age, when Christ the King will have subdued evil and vanquished death, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power that opposes his benevolent and life-giving sway (1 Cor.15.24), when mankind are, at long length, reconciled to God, and in full perfection of life have entered upon their eternal inheritance, "then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."(1 Cor. 15.28). The thought in this title is that given by Rotherham; the "Father of Futurity" or the Father of the Coming Age. It is Jesus who has redeemed and purchased the entire human race by means of his own death on the cross; it is Jesus who receives them back to life in the Millennial Age soon to begin, and becomes their Mediator - the mediator between God and man during the remaining period of man's insufficiency. It is Jesus who gives them life; who by means of his priestly and kingly work will so influence the hearts and minds of men that all in whom is any possibility of reclamation will eventually repent and be converted, and come to Jesus, the Lord of Life, that they may have life. He will be the world's great Life-giver, the world's Father, during that Age and the life that men will receive they will receive at his hands. As it is in Adam that men die, so it in Christ that men will be made alive. (1 Cor.15.22).

In so many ways He will be a father to redeemed humanity. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd "sings Isaiah "and gently lead those that are with young." There will be such infinite patience and understanding in that day. No longer will there be the hard, unyielding iron of the law, demanding its "pound of flesh", its demands against the sinners. There will be instead the wise, loving albeit firm discipline of the understanding parent, and a growing up into maturity, "whosoever will", under that paternal rule. The wilful sinner, if he will not repent, must remain a sinner still, but at the end he finds himself shut out of the Holy City, for he has rejected life, and without life he cannot enter (Rev. 21.27). But he that overcometh will be presented at the end before the Father Himself and experience the glorious liberty of the Sons of God.

There is no mistaking the meaning of that name! It brings to the mind at once all that is fondest in the dreams of men, in the hopes and beliefs of those who today are the Lord's disciples. "Peace on earth; goodwill to men." So many have given up hope that it will come; but we know differently. "In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." (Psa.72.7‑8). "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." (Psa.85. 10‑11). "And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever." (Isa.32.17).

Not only is He the prince of that peace which is to be man's inward possession, peace of heart, of mind, of soul, that peace with God which is the result of justification in his sight "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God" (Rom.5.1), that peace which comes with the realisation of human perfection and possession of everlasting life. He is also the Prince of that outward peace which will be characteristic of human society in that blessed day. The same passage in Isa. 32 tells of that. "My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places" (vs.18).What a contrast to this present day of distress and trouble, strife and tumult! "They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid." (Micah 4.4). In every picture of the future day that we have, this thought of peace is prominent and predominant. "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream."

This is our King! This is earth's King, disesteemed as yet by those who will, one day, many of them and most of them, become his devoted and adoring subjects. "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 even for ever."

AOH