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HOUSMAIL HM089 14
April 2002 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. 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. (Isaiah 9:6-7 KJV) There
are many Trinitarian believers, who have not done their Bible homework carefully
enough, who try to misuse this verse as a "proof text"
for the Doctrine of the Trinity. In this short article we will consider some of
the evidence which is available to refute that misuse of Isaiah's words. Of course
those of us who are not Hebrew Scholars do need to be very cautious about venturing
into areas where we lack the expertise to usurp the role of the "official"
translators. However this is one of those easier cases where we do not need to
be "experts" in Hebrew ourselves, in order to understand that many recognised
scholars are divided in their opinions about the meaning of these verses. Many
of them tell us that several Hebrew words in this verse, have been inadequately
rendered into English by the KJV translators. THE
MESSAGE OF THE PROPHET - A CHILD IS BORN Isaiah
is prophesying the birth of a child. The words "UNTO US", tell us that
this is about a "CHILD OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE" -- a descendant of Abraham.
That points us to God's promise to Abraham, that through one of his descendants,
all nations of the earth will receive a blessing. (Genesis 12:3, Galatians 3:8) More
specifically still, Isaiah says that this "child of the Jewish people"
is to sit on the throne of David. And that points us to God's promise to David,
that one of his descendants will establish the Kingdom FOR EVER. Even more wonderful,
this "son of David" will also be "SON OF GOD". (2 Samuel 7:12-16) Isaiah repeats the same
prophecy in different words, in Isaiah 9:6-7, ISAIAH'S
THEOLOGY It will
be easier if we start with a proper overview of Isaiah's theology. A prayerful
and careful reading of the whole of his book will quickly reveal that Isaiah is
NOT a Trinitarian! He is a Jewish UNITARIAN whose theology is firmly grounded
in the Creed of Moses -- the Shema. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) Check it out for yourself in Isaiah
41:4, Isaiah 42:8-9, Isaiah 43:10, THE
THEOLOGY OF JESUS Since
these verses in Isaiah are about Jesus, it will also help if we understand HIS
own assessment of His relationship to God. Isaiah is an integral part of the Old
Testament Scriptures from which Jesus learnt what His father had planned for Him. Jesus
is NOT a Trinitarian! He worships and prays to the same "One Lord" as Moses and Isaiah.
He repeats the Shema as His own personal Creed. (Matthew 22:37-38) When praying, He addresses
His Father as " the only true god". (John 17:3) His Father is also both
his God and our God. (John 20:17) There
is only one possible conclusion from those brief statements by Jesus. If the "One True God" is someone else
apart from Himself, that means that Jesus does NOT regard Himself as either God,
or part of a "triune godhead"! WHAT
ISAIAH REALLY SAID We MUST
NOT use this passage in Isaiah 9:6 in any way which contradicts those very positive Unitarian statements
by both Isaiah and Jesus! And if we start from that point, our eyes will be much
more open to see the REAL meaning intended by Isaiah. Since
the Scriptures say clearly that Jesus is the Son of God, (which is not
even nearly the same as saying that He is God!), then what does it really mean
when He is called the "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father"? 1.
THE MIGHTY GOD In our
English language, some of the meaning has been lost. The "name" in Isaiah 9:6 is NOT a name in the same
sense as we now use the word. It should be understood as a composite TITLE which
describes the OFFICE and RANK to which this Child will be appointed when He inherits
the throne of David. The two Hebrew words from which this part of the title is
translated, are «EL GIBBOR». It is
certainly true that most uses of «EL» refer to God. BUT ..... THAT IS NOT THE
ONLY MEANING of this word. It has several other uses. e.g. In Ezekiel 31:11, «EL» is translated «mighty
one». There it certainly does NOT mean the ONE TRUE GOD! Instead it refers to
a powerful human ruler not yet born in Isaiah's time -- a future MAN who God was
going to use to pour out His Judgements against Egypt. ELIM, (the plural form
of EL) appears in Exodus 15:15, referring to the leaders of Moab. Consequently, it should not surprise
us to find «EL» is also used of the Son of God, without any inference that it
means He is actually God. The
same is true of «GIBBOR». It is frequently translated "mighty men". (e.g. Genesis 6:4, Joshua 1:14 KJV) Other eminent translators render it as «hero», or «potentate». For
some of these different renderings, check it out in the NEB and Moffat translations,
and the Bagster English translation of the Septuagint version. 2.
THE EVERLASTING FATHER - From The Hebrew «AB AD» Clearly
Isaiah cannot be saying that Jesus is either "GOD THE FATHER", or His
own father! That would be both illogical and absurd! In any case, other Scriptures
draw a clear distinction between Jesus and His Father, which tell us clearly that
this cannot possibly be what Isaiah means. We must look for some other meaning. In other
parts of the Old Testament, someone who was the first to do something was called
its "father." For example, in Genesis 4:20, Jabal is called "the father of those who live in tents and
raise livestock". And his brother, Jubal,
is called, "the father of all who play the harp and flute". (Genesis 4:21). This
is not using "father" in the sense of literal father or ancestor. (The
descendants of both of these men all died in the Flood.) The word "father"
is being used here about Jesus, in the same way. Concordances
and Lexicons tell us that the word which has been translated "everlasting"
in the KJV, can also validly be translated as an "AGE", meaning an (eternal)
era of time". Thus,
because the child prophesied by Isaiah, will be the one to establish the "age
to come", raise the dead who will live in that age, and rule over it,
he is called "father for all time", (NEB, Moffat) or the "father
of the coming age", (LXX, footnote in the Bagster translation) or the
"Father of the world to come". (Douai-Rheims and Knox versions) THE
NAME ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME Isaiah's
«name» for Jesus is not so much a proper name as a title. It is the name given
to Jesus by God which is «ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME». (Philippians 2:9) This «name» refers to
His RANK above all others -- except of course His Father! (John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:27-28) Allon |