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Isaiah 9:6
Is Isaiah 9:6-7 a messianic prophecy, or does it concern more immediate events? Isaiah 9:6-7 reads:
For onto us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be upon
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 now and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.Isaiah 9:6-7 tells us of a son (a man) to be born who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will sit on David's thrown and of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. This certainly sounds like a prophecy of the Messiah to come.
Some, however, argue that these verses refer to Hezekiah because of the past tense of the verbs "born" and "given" and from the phrase "from now and forevermore". Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and was already alive at the time this prophecy was given (assuming Isaiah 9:6-7 was written after 7:14). Hezekiah did do what was right in the eyes of God as recorded in 2_Kings_18:1-8. However, Hezekiah did not establish a kingdom that lasted forever as required by the phrase, "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." Also, if Isaiah was referring to Hezekiah who was already alive, then why would he use these other names. The phrase "from now and forevermore" can also be interpreted as the beginning of a new sentence which reads, "From now and forevermore the zeal of the LORD of host will accomplish this." So it need not refer to someone already alive. The use of the past tense may be because Isaiah is referring to the promise of a Messiah that God had already given to Isaiah.
Isaiah 9:6-7 cannot be referring to the reign of Hezekiah. For Isaiah says elsewhere of Hezekiah in 39:5-7, "Here the word of the LORD Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." And this would be the opposite of the requirement that "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." So there would be an inconsistency if both verses referred to Hezekiah which would make Isaiah into a false prophet. Instead, Isaiah 9:6-7 must be referring to the messianic kingdom since it is referring to a kingdom that will last forever in peace.
So the question arises as to what Isaiah means by calling this messianic figure "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". Taking it at face value, Isaiah seems to be saying this messianic figure is God, even calling him Mighty God and Everlasting Father. Others, however, say that Hebrew names often incorporate the name of God in them, and Isaiah often gives long, multi-syllable names to children to be born. For instance, Isaiah's sons were named She'ar yashuv (which means "a remnant will return") and Mahar shalal hash baz (which means "quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil"). However, all such names form a small understandable phrase and not a list of acclimates like the list in Isaiah 9:6. The list is constructed of 4 pair of 2 word phrases with the first word of each pair being a titles and the following word being a word describing what he has title over. Wonderful of counseling, God of might, Father of eternity, Prince of peace. So it would seem that these titles are giving the attributes of God to Messiah.
The fact that there are no other Jewish people with any of these names proves that these are not common Hebrew names as some contend. And if this were a verse for someone already born, or even born in Isaiah's lifetime, then why isn't it recorded in Isaiah's book who fulfills these prophecies so that his listeners can be assured that Isaiah was speaking for God. After all, Isaiah elsewhere does recount in detail how his prophecies have come to pass as seen in Isaiah_36-38.
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