Christmas 2025 Greetings from the Prophet Isaiah
Christmas 2025 Greetings from the Prophet Isaiah.
[this article is in process at the moment, so please don’t read until it is finished soon]
Question: Could anything written 2,765 years ago be relevant today in 2025?
Answer: You better believe it, and I do mean that literally.
(1.) “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name ‘Emmanuel’.” (Isaiah 7:14).
a. With us is God. One might wonder why it is that we human beings are so important to an almighty and everlasting Creator God. The well-established fact is that With-ness appears to be in God’s very nature. As Rev. Sam Wells once said, “Creation itself is the theater in which God could dwell with us! The purpose of mankind is to be God’s companions forever!” Take the name Emmanuel, for instance. (Emmanuel is Greek and Immanuel is Hebrew). The messianic prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, “and shall call His Son Immanuel,” is quoted and fulfilled in Matthew 1:23. The name Emmanuel literally means “with us is God” according to the order of the name’s words. The renowned biblical scholar Lancelot Andrews (1555-1626) was amazed at this name of Emmanuel, because when God put that name together, He put ‘us’ first, before Him! We are in the front of the name, and God placed Himself second to us! In His own name, God held the door open for us! “In His very name we might read that we are dearer to Him than Himself, that He so preferred us. Oh, which is greater in Him, His humility or His grace! It is hard to say which, but both are unspeakable.”
b. With Us Forever. It would take pages of notes written in tiny script if one were to record all the passages in Scripture that included God’s promise of His personal presence, that He would faithfully be “with us” for all time. From the very creation of the world, God has had an overwhelming desire to be with us… from His walks with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day in the Garden; to the presence of Yahweh all through the ups and down of His Chosen People; to the Incarnation when Father God sent the Son of God to be with the ungodly; to Jesus’ baptism when He didn’t mind identifying with the sinful in order to be with us; to the very last words Jesus said before He went home to be with the Father… “Behold! Listen carefully to My words here! Understand this and take it in! I am with you always! Yes, to the end of the ages of ages.” (Matthew 28:20). God has made it abundantly clear that His eternal desire is to be with us… “Behold, the dwelling of God is with His people, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’ (Revelation 21:3). His everlasting desire to be our bosom buddy is an astounding part of His heart for humanity. He yearns to be true to His name Emmanuel, and so is His mission and His destiny to be present with us. That’s not just Good News. That is Best News! What could be better than that? What else can we do but take joy in the with-ness of God?
(2.) “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the power of His leadership, all the weight of authority and dominion, will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Shalom.” (Isaiah 9:6).
a. From Darkness to Light. The journey from Isaiah 8 to Isaiah 9 describes the greatest miracle in the Bible. Going from spiritual darkness to the Great Light. From the absence of truth to truth incarnate. From walking in blindness to walking in the light. From spiritual ignorance to the light of wisdom from on high. From a time of hopeless grief to a time of celebration and rejoicing. From a world without the Messiah to a world with Him completely in the midst. About 700 years before its fulfillment in Mary, Isaiah foretells a child born who will be the light of the world, a son who will be given to us, who will bear the government of the world on His shoulders. The Messiah’s rule will be eternal and upheld with justice and righteousness, faithfulness and truth, Isaiah tells us. And the wondrous reality we can take to the bank is… God really, really wants this to happen. This coming of the Messiah is not just of passing interest to the Lord. The “zeal of Yahweh” will accomplish this prophecy. God promised to pursue this Incarnation with great energy, with intense fervor, with passion and determination. God passionately desires that His Son would come into the world. And, as we know, God tends to get what He wants in due time.
b. Descriptive Titles of Jesus. In the middle of this prophetic word in Isaiah 9, we are offered four titles of the Messiah that end up being a fascinating character description. Isaiah wrote this well before the truth of the Triune God became well-defined. And so the titles here don’t necessarily reflect the roles of the Messiah in the Trinity as much as describe his eternal attributes. There are various ways one could translate this passage. Nonetheless, these four titles are all true in the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father.
“Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (NKJV).
“Wonder-Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (NJB).
“The Mighty God is planning grace; the Eternal Father; a peaceable ruler.” (Tanakh, JPS).
“Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (NAB).
Miraculous Advisor, Champion God, Father of Eternity, Master of Wholeness and Shalom.
A Wonderful Counselor is the Mighty God! The Everlasting Father is a Prince of Peace! (TPT).
c. Miraculous Counselor. The Hebrew word for “wonderful” in this passage means: wondrous; miraculous; unsurpassed; something so wonderful that it is beyond comprehension; remarkable, extraordinary, marvelous; so awesome it cannot be understood by humans; so amazing that it seems impossible or too difficult to accomplish; so uniquely set apart from human understanding that it is God’s secret. So this Son to be given to humanity is filled with such miraculous wisdom that His guidance, His counsel, will be undeniably supernatural. This Child’s counsel will be an incomprehensible marvel, resulting in guidance that far surpasses anything human or natural. We can confidently call this long-expected Messiah a wondrous counselor for all who follow Him.
d. Champion God. The Hebrew word for “mighty” in this passage means champion, warrior, mighty man of valor, one who is heroically strong. It’s no surprise that the same Hebrew term is used in this passage, “Lord Yahweh goes forth like a warrior; like a fighter He will stir His zeal. With a shout He will raise a battle cry; like a hero, He charges upon His enemies and will triumph over them.” (Isaiah 42:13); or this one, “The Lord Yahweh is with me like a dread champion, a violent warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed because they have not acted wisely.” (Jeremiah 20:11). But when we want to get a full picture of what kind of champion and dread warrior our God is, try this one on for size, “The Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior, a warrior who brings triumph. He will rejoice over you, taking delight in you with gladness. He will quiet you with His love, renewing you, soothing you, and calming your fears. He will exult over you, dancing with joyful songs as in the day of festival.” (Zephaniah 3:17). So the “mighty God” Isaiah refers to in his prophecy here is an overpowering warrior who is full of love, a dread champion who sings songs, a heroic man of valor who dances joyfully over His beloved. Wow!
e. Father of Eternity. When Isaiah refers to Eternal Father, what kind of Father was he thinking of? This might be surprising, but the Father in the Hebrew Bible was recognized as being the Creator and the Maker; the Molder and the Shaper; the Protector and the Provider; the Redeemer; the Head of the household of the world. Most of all, the Hebrew father was a person, or Person, of love and mercy… “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” (Ps. 103:13). In the Hebrew Bible, the role of the father is not applied to an austere, distant taskmaster, a person who exists merely to punish or judge. The Jewish image of the father inevitably involves compassion and kindness. If Jesus is the Eternal Father, we couldn’t find a more apt title for Him. One reading of the gospels and we are convinced that Jesus, in this biblical sense, was fatherly in all He did. The source of Jesus’ compassionate fatherliness was His divine intimacy with the Father. They shared the same character. Jesus loved others the way the Father loved Him, like a father. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, which was act like a fatherly king. Since all the Father’s fullness dwelt in Jesus, Jesus spilled over with the qualities of the Father. Jesus expressed the Father’s compassion, He reflected on earth the heart of the Father in heaven. Jesus represented the Father by doing what the Father wanted Him to do. Jesus was and is the Eternal Father because He is the exact visible image of the invisible Father. Jesus was fatherly, because if you’ve seen the Son, you’ve seen the Father. Jesus cared for His people the way the Father cares for His Son. Father-like, Jesus tends to His flock. For He is the Great Shepherd. He is the Eternal Father.
f. Prince of Peace. The ancient Hebrew word translated as peace is “Shalom,” which means completeness or wholeness, as in the joining together of opposites; integrity, as in the effective holding together of separate pieces; to give/restore harmony; fulfillment; health; security; abundant well-being; the state of having the vitality needed to thrive and flourish; tranquility; freedom from disquiet and disorder; reconciliation; resolution of conflict/war; healing of division; prosperity. The Greek word for peace in the New Testament is “eirene” and means the same thing as “shalom” in the Hebrew Bible. Shalom ranks the highest of all values in the Hebrew Bible, according to Jewish scholars. Shalom is the most important goal in all of life. “Rabbinic teaching describes it as the only vessel through which God’s blessings can flow into this world.” (Rabbi Arthur Green, These are the Words: A Vocabulary of Jewish Spiritual Life). So for Jesus to be the “Prince of Peace” means He is the Master of Wholeness, and Harmony, and Well-Being, and a whole lot more.
(3.) “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness. He will be inspired by his devotion to the Lord, for His delight is in the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-3).
a. The Early Christian Church Understanding. As taught by the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the house of wisdom in Proverbs 9:1… “Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars” was considered to be a direct reference to the Christian Church. The seven pillars holding up the Church were believed to be the “Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit” as listed in Isaiah 11:2-3: “Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, Godliness, and Fear of God.” These seven qualities of the Spirit are the divine graces that rested on Christ, the perfection of His anointing at His baptism. These seven dimensions of the Holy Spirit hovered above Jesus and then rested on Him during all His mission on earth and continues to remain on Him in heaven to this day.
b. The Branch. The glorious kingdom of Christ had humble beginnings, a mere branch emerging from a seemingly dead stump in the ground, a tiny twig from a hidden root. As Isaiah says later in 53:2, “He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground.” But the Spirit of the Lord rested on this Branch, the Holy Spirit alighted on Him like a winged bird from heaven. One thinks here of the testimony of John the Baptist, when he “saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Jesus.” (John 1:32).
c. This passage in Isaiah 11:1-3 celebrates the profound giftedness of the Spirit as He came in full force upon the Messiah Jesus and remained there forever. These sevenfold qualities represent the perfection of the Messiah’s anointing at His baptism, and they reveal divine gifts offered to believers which only increase in power and usefulness as the believer earnestly follows God. These gifts come in the believer’s anointing as a new believer, and are given to each Christian “according to each one’s ability to receive them.” (Maurus). The Spirit’s gifts “do not come through our natural abilities, but through the divine power that confers them.” (Maximus). As we exercise these gifts in the power of the Spirit, they increasingly become that much more of an ingrained part of our redeemed nature. The Spirit offers to us the probability of becoming wise and insightful, able to guide others with God’s strength and valor, gaining in spiritual knowledge and godliness, and of developing a deep reverence for God. In other words, the Holy Spirit enables each believer to become like Jesus. Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One.
d. Properties of the Holy Spirit. These seven attributes could be amplified this way: “Wisdom” could also refer to the inspired skillfulness used in Exodus 3 that includes a supernatural ability for music, creativity, craftsmanship, art, business dealings, writing, and the consistent spiritual application of truth. “Understanding” could also include shrewd insight, unerring discernment and moral judgment, and even a clever street-smarts. “Counsel” also refers to the ability to offer guidance, advice, and sound strategy for spiritual leadership. The same word is used for steering a ship and guiding it to the intended destination. “Power” refers not only to strength of will and character but also courage and valor. “Knowledge” translates into a personal and experiential revelation knowledge, the kind that doesn’t come from mental pursuits or intellectual study, but instead from a devotional intimacy with the Lord of all knowledge. “Godliness” is the translation used often instead of ‘fear of the Lord.’ And by this Isaiah probably meant an obedient and godly piety focused on holy living. “Fear of Yahweh” means that the Messiah, and then His followers who are empowered by His Spirit, will sense the truth through a genuine reverence for the Lord, and will find deep pleasure through absolute loyalty to God. These seven dimensions of the Holy Spirit remained in the Judeo-Christian tradition all the way from Isaiah to John’s book of Revelation, in which John refers often to the “Seven Spirits of God.” (Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). These seven gifts of God are also referred to as the “Sevenfold Holy Spirit.” These attributes of the Spirit continue to this day as properties of the Spirit that we live into as we follow the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
(4.) “Righteousness will be the belt around His waist, and faithfulness the band around His hips.” (Isaiah 11:5). Other translations put this passage a little differently: “Justice will be the band of His waist, and truth the belt upon his hips;” “Fairness will be this warrior’s sash around his middle, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.” “He will clothe Himself with righteousness and justice, with faithfulness and truth.” Only the Holy Spirit an make that happen in all of us who yesrn to be like Jesus.
As the prophet Isaiah would have said if he had these words, “Merry Christmas, everyone!”