The Prophecy

Share a comment

What if the most breathtaking gift can’t be weighed, priced, or fully described? We open Isaiah 9 and follow the thread from a simple manger to a sweeping claim: the child given to us is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. This isn’t seasonal poetry; it’s a portrait of a Person whose nature makes sense of our longings, our questions, and our hope.

We start with the tension everyone feels around Christmas: some gifts sparkle, but they don’t satisfy. Isaiah’s titles give language for why Jesus does. As Wonderful, His character doesn’t fade when the lights come down. As Counselor, He knows the heart before we speak and offers wisdom that never needs revision. As Mighty God—the mighty El—He holds the paradox of power wrapped in humility, strong enough to carry a cross and still stronger to rise. As Everlasting Father, He stands as ruler and originator of the ages, reminding us that time is in His hands and our seasons aren’t wasted. And as Prince of Peace, He brings peace with God now and promises a future where justice and joy dwell openly under His reign.

We also unpack a striking image: “the government shall be upon His shoulder.” Drawing from Jewish wedding customs, picture a bride placing her veil over the groom’s shoulder as a sign of trust and care. That’s the invitation of Advent—placing the government of our lives on Christ’s shoulders. Dreams, griefs, plans, and fears find their weight carried by Someone able and willing. If your holidays feel divided or your hope feels thin, this conversation will steady your faith and warm your imagination for the King who counsels, carries, and comes.

Want to go deeper? Grab our free digital booklet, An Indescribable Gift, and share it with someone who needs encouragement today. And if this episode helps you see Jesus more clearly, follow, rate, and share the show so others can find it too.

Support the show

Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
What's lost is the imagery of a husband who loves
his wife, comes to receive her,and she willingly and joyfully
responds by giving to him thecare of her life.
That's the picture Isaiah isdrawing.
This one who will be born, he'swonderful, he's counselor, he's

(00:26):
mighty God, he's the father ofeternity, he's the prince of
peace, but but by the way, heloves you.
In anticipation of seeing him,we put upon his omnipotent
shoulders the government of ourlives.

SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
Have you ever experienced something so
wonderful that it was hard toput into words?
There just weren't words tocapture your feelings.
The Old Testament prophets, likeIsaiah, foretold the birth of
Jesus.
Although they teach us manythings, there are some aspects
of Jesus that simply can't beput into words.

(01:15):
That's why Stephen's callingthis Christmas series an
indescribable gift.
Jesus really is indescribable.
Here on Wisdom for the Heart,we're beginning a series of
messages to keep your focus onthe incarnation.
We begin today with a messagecalled the prophecy.

SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
I thought I'd just drop into a text here or there
as it relates to the incarnationof Jesus Christ.
And so I turn your attentionthis morning to the book of
Isaiah in chapter 9.
I think of what Paul wrote, andit came to my mind in 2
Corinthians, where he talkedabout Jesus Christ being this
indescribable gift.

(01:58):
He is impossible to describe,isn't he?
And I mean this Christmas seasonis certainly going to see its
share of gift giving, but haveyou ever thought about the fact
that most, if not all, of thegifts that we're going to be
giving away are completelydescribable?
They can be weighed, they can bemeasured, they can be valued,

(02:22):
they can be bought and sold.
I read in the AP News just thispast month that somebody gave
his sweetheart the mostexpensive diamond ever sold in
history.
Just went on auction a couple ofweeks ago.
A 59-carat diamond sold atauction for$83.2 million.

(02:47):
Now that is an expensive gift.
As expensive or amazing orcreative or simple or
technologically savvy, thesegifts are.
None of them are indescribable.
They can be measured, valued,packaged, and so they can be

(03:09):
defined and described.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, a giftarrives from God the Father,
wrapped in shiny stuff,surrounded by mud and manure, in
a feed trough, more than likelycarved into the stone side of a
cavern near that tavern inBethlehem.

(03:29):
And yet to this day, that giftis called indescribable.
You can't place a value uponhim.
You can only say he's priceless.
You can talk about him, but youcan't fully define him.
You can sing to him and abouthim, but you cannot measure his
majesty or his attributes.

(03:52):
You can love him and serve him,but you cannot come close to
comprehending him.
Six hundred years before thegift arrives, it's as if God
says, Isaiah, I want you to putinto language some terms.
Let's attempt, as it were, whichthe human tongue cannot do to
describe the indescribable.

(04:14):
It's exactly what will happen inIsaiah chapter 9, as we're given
sort of an inkling of thisindescribable Messiah, this
gift, this Son of God.
And Isaiah in chapter 9 andverse 6 will give us a list of
descriptions.
Look there.
For to us a child is born, to usa son is given, and the

(04:35):
government shall be upon hisshoulder, and his name shall be
called wonderful, counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Now you notice it starts out byletting us know he's going to be
a child or a baby.
This relates to the humanity ofChrist, God yet man.

(04:55):
He's also called a son.
That has a royal nuance to it.
It also, of course, reveals hisrelationship of flesh and blood
to the human race, is the son ofthe Virgin Mary.
But in Scripture, he'll becalled the Son of Man.
It's going to reveal hisrelationship as the royal
Messiah to human history.

(05:15):
He'll be called the Son of God.
That'll reveal his relationshipas deity within the triunity or
the trinity of God.
For unto us a child is going tobe born, a son is going to be
given, but he's no ordinarybaby.
He is fully human in form andsubstance.

(05:39):
He is royally messianic inpurpose, and he is fully divine
in essence.
Now Isaiah goes on to give usfive descriptions of this little
boy, this baby, who has alreadycome.
Five descriptions of thisindescribable gift.

(06:01):
Let's drop in here for a fewmoments this morning and take a
look at them.
First, Isaiah refers to him aswonderful.
There could be, I believe, acomma after this English word in
your translation, serving not asan adjective but as a noun.
Simply put, he is wonderful.

(06:21):
The text isn't telling us thathe's going to do wonderful
things and he will.
Or that it'll say wonderfultruths and he will.
That he will prepare for thosewho follow him a wonderful
eternal future and he will.
No, Isaiah is telling us herethat he is wonderful.
Hebrew prophecy is not based onflattery, it's based on truth.

(06:46):
He really is, he's wonderful.
I've had young ladies and youngmen in my office planning their
wedding ceremony.
I've had more than one youngbride to be gushing to me.
Oh, he is so wonderful.
And I think give it a fewmonths.
Now he'll do wonderful things.

(07:07):
And I'll look at him and say, dothem as often as you can.
He'll say wonderful things.
He will act wonderfully onoccasion.
Isaiah says this one isconsistently, unchangeably
wonderful.
By the way, I believe this firstdescription could serve as a
categorical heading.
You could read it to understandhe's a wonderful counselor, he's

(07:29):
a wonderful mighty God, awonderful Prince of Peace.
In other words, the more you getto know him, the more wonderful
he becomes.
This indescribable gift from Godis wonderful.
Not only that, notice, his nameshall be called counselor.
He never gives wrong advice.

(07:49):
He never has to say, you know, Iwasn't aware of that issue, so
let me back up and give you alittle bit of a different
direction.
I'm sorry, I gave you bad adviceearlier.
I've done that.
How about you?
He never does.
He never does.
What a counselor.
I'm going to say something thatmight take you by surprise.

(08:11):
Every woman in this auditoriumneeds counseling.
And all the men said?
Well, I'm not finished.
Every man in here needscounseling, and all the women
said.

(08:31):
That's what I thought.
You see, guys, you walked rightinto that one.
I had nothing to do with it.
The truth is, everybody needscounseling at some point or
time, right?
Think of it.
Would you ever go to a counselorfor advice if they needed advice
at that moment for the samething?
Obviously, we're all flawed,even as we are trained

(08:53):
counselors, or maybe you are.
But you probably wouldn't go tosomebody who's struggling with
the same thing at the same time.
You wouldn't do that withanything, probably.
You wouldn't even do it with amechanic.
I I a few weeks ago hopped intomy daughter's youngest
daughter's Volkswagen bug, whichmeans I folded up four times and
finally got in there, and wetook off for the mechanic.

(09:14):
Her car had been idling hot assoon as she turned it on until
she put it in the gear and wentto a wonderful mechanic,
Demetrius.
He is in our fellowship.
Honest, accurate, amazinggentleman.
Can you imagine us showing upover there at Demetrius' shop
and describing the noise to himand then him saying, you know, I
got the same sound in my car.

(09:35):
Come over here.
What do you think I ought to doabout it?
What do you think we'd do?
Well, I'd probably say, Where'sDemetrius and what have you done
with his body?
Because that's not Demetrius.
But we'd probably drive away andnot come back.
Truth is, you'd never asksomebody to help you solve a
problem that they have.

(09:55):
I mean, would you go to aChristian counselor for marriage
counseling if before you evengot started?
You know, he looked across thedesk at you and said, Listen,
before we get to your problem,I've got a problem in my own
marriage and I need your advice.
Probably not.
See, when Isaiah describes himas counselor, he's not just
describing a good counselor.

(10:17):
He's not just describing acounselor who fixed all his
problems first.
He's not describing someone whoever needs counsel.
He is describing the divineadvisor who will never need your
advice or mine.
He is divinely insightful.

(10:37):
He is omnisciently aware ofeverything about you and me.
Which is remarkable when youthink of coming to him for
advice, you don't even need totell him the problem.
It's like the woman who came toJesus.
You remember that wonderfulstory in John chapter 4.
She comes to the well, she'sthirsty, which is a metaphor for

(10:57):
her life.
She's thirsty, she is tired oflife.
She is exhausted.
And it isn't long before theLord engages her in a
conversation and then tells her,without her ever offering it,
look, I know you have divorcedfive men, and right now you're
living with experiment numbersix.

(11:20):
She runs back eventually to thevillage and she tells the
people, I love this statement,come see a man who told me
everything I did.
And the whole village empties upto the well.
See, she never explained it.
He already knew it.
She didn't reveal it.

(11:42):
But he was aware.
No wonder people would say inJohn chapter 7, no one ever
spoke like this man.
No one.
Teachers in Jesus' day wouldquote each other.
They'd quote this rabbi and thatrabbi in Jesus would say to
them, Now you've heard this, butI say to you, nobody spoke like

(12:05):
that.
Who has known the mind of God?
And who has ever been hiscounselor?
Paul asked in Romans chapter 11.
And the answer is nobody.
Not ever.
Not once.
Isaiah says, let me try todescribe the indescribable to

(12:25):
you.
His name's going to be calledWonderful because he's
wonderful.
Counselor because he is thecounselor.
Notice, mighty God.
This is perhaps one of thestrongest descriptions of
becoming Messiah's deityanywhere in Old Testament
prophecy.
He, the Messiah, the Son of God,will literally be the mighty L

(12:49):
in the Hebrew.
E-L in the English language.
The mighty L.
Throughout the book of Isaiah,in fact, consistently, Isaiah
never uses that name unless he'sspeaking about deity, true
deity.
L.
It forms the beginning ofElohim.

(13:11):
Emanuel.
Elohim, triune God.
Emanuel, God, who happens to bewith us.
He is the mighty L.
So you think of that when youpicture him lying in that
borrowed trough.
He's the mighty L.
Think of it when he's standingbefore Pilate, that puppet.

(13:35):
He is the mighty L.
Think of that when he's hangingon the cross.
That is the mighty L, notdiminished.
The mighty God who surrendershimself to become the sacrifice
for our sins.
He is the mighty God.
This baby.
The mighty L.

(13:56):
Now, although Isaiah has givenus enough to already exhaust our
comprehension, he's not through,he also says, notice, his name
is also going to be calledEverlasting Father.
Now, of all of his titles, thisone sounds strange, doesn't it?
We don't tend to think of Jesusas Father, and we don't use that

(14:16):
term.
Yet it's appropriate whenunderstood correctly.
We typically refer or reservethat title for God the Father,
and Jesus is God the Son.
In fact, in the New Testament,as the epistles describe to us,
their relationship when it sayssimply God, we know that's
referring to God the Father.
However, this word refers to onewho, you can translate it, rules

(14:39):
the ages.
Rules the ages.
Rules all of time.
The Father of eternity.
It's a strong declaration of thedeity, by the way, in the
eternality of Jesus Christ.
In fact, let me read a text toyou, don't turn for the sake of
time, but Hebrews chapter 1opens, and there's a

(15:01):
conversation going on betweenGod the Father and God the Son.
It's a remarkable conversation.
And here's what God the Fathersays of God the Son.
But of the Son, S, capitalS-O-N, he, God the Father, says,
Thy throne, O God, iseverlasting.

(15:25):
Your scepter of uprightness isthe scepter of your kingdom.
On the cross, Jesus said to Godthe Father, my God.
Here in Hebrews 1, God theFather is saying to God the Son,
my God.
Equal in essence, fully divineand mysterious.
The Father continues beingquoted in Hebrews 1.

(15:48):
He says, You, Lord, he calls hisson Lord.
You, Lord, laid the foundationsof the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the words ofyour hands or the works of your
hands.
They, the heavens, are gonnawear out, but you, Lord, are the
same, and your years have noend.

(16:10):
That's God the Father talking toGod the Son.
Amazing.
See, the Jewish leaders andnation would be scandalized when
Jesus would claim to be God.
One of those declarations waswhen he took the title of God
from the Old Testament andattributed it to himself, when
he said to them, Before Abrahamwas, I am.

(16:34):
I love that.
I am.
That was the title.
God said Moses, go tell them myname is I am.
He is the father of eternity,the ruler.
You could understand it as theoriginator.
It's the idea of the wordfather.
The originator of everlasting.

(16:56):
In fact, on one occasion, thismay help explain it further.
Jesus called Satan the father ofwhat?
Do you remember?
Lies.
The father of lies.
He is the originator of lying.
He is the ruler over everythingdeceitful.
So Jesus Christ is theoriginator, the ruler over

(17:17):
eternity.
He is the father of everlasting.
Now the last name Isaiahascribes to this coming Messiah
is the wonderful term or title,Prince of Peace.
Because of Jesus Christ we canhave peace with God.
Romans 1 7, because of JesusChrist we can have the peace of

(17:39):
God as we commune with Him andwalk with Him.
Philippians 4 7.
This phrase here, however,speaks more prophetically than
any, even beyond our generationtoday.
That's because the birth ofChrist did not bring peace to
planet earth.
Wake up and read the news.
Our world is filled to this daywith warring and violence.

(18:06):
In fact, Jesus Christ Himselfsaid, I haven't come to bring
peace, but a sword, he said inMatthew chapter 10, verse 34.
In other words, I'm going todivide families.
Maybe you're living it rightnow.
Because if your faith in JesusChrist, your Christmas isn't
what it used to be.
You get around that family tableand you are the one

(18:26):
marginalized, you're the strangewacko.
Why?
Because you believe this gospelof Jesus Christ.
What happened?
There's a sword.
It isn't what it used to be.
If you're wondering, well, Ithought when I gave my life to
God, you know, everything wouldget peaceful.
Talk to some of the older saintsaround here.
Coming to Jesus Christ mighthave just turned your life

(18:49):
upside down.
Jesus promised to his disciplesin John chapter 16, you follow
me and you will have trouble.
See, the title, Prince of Peace,speaks of a time when Jesus
Christ will inaugurate hiskingdom on earth.
Hadn't happened yet.

(19:11):
At his first coming, they putthe prince on a cross.
At his second coming, we will bethere.
And at such a incoronationceremony as Jesus Christ ascends
the throne of David in Jerusalemto set up his earthly kingdom.

(19:33):
We can't imagine it.
We can't imagine it.
These are five wonderfuldescriptions of who Jesus is.
You might notice that Isaiahslips in at least one thing that
Jesus does.
Go back to verse 6.
For to us a child is born, to usa son is given.
Now notice I skipped thisearlier.
And the government shall be uponhis shoulder.

(19:53):
I love this.
This is wedding terminology.
This is the wedding terminologyof a bridegroom.
Processing with his bride.
Now, to help you understand it,we have to dip back into Jewish
culture and understand thattheir marriages were, they
involved three different stages.
The first stage was called theengagement.

(20:15):
This is where a man went andsold all of his livestock,
emptied his bank account, soldeverything he owned, including
the shirt off his back, andbought a diamond ring for his
fiancé.
Oh, wait, that's American.
That's not Jewish.
Wait, back to the text.
That's our custom.
But it was worth it, though,wasn't it, men?
Yes, there you go.
Okay.
Are you with me?
In Old Testament times, theengagement was actually carried

(20:40):
out by the parents when thechildren were younger because
the marriages were arranged.
I've mentioned before we haveRaj and his wife from India,
they had an arranged marriage.
They met by way of phone sixmonths before they were to be
married.
Believing families stillcontinue the tradition, many of

(21:01):
them.
He came up to me after the firstservice, and because I wasn't
sure about his anniversary,because I'll joke with him as I
see him in the hallway.
Sure enough, you know, I'll askhim, how's that arranged
marriage working out for you?
And he'll say, Well, we're onour 12th year now, twelve years.
They choose whom they will marryand then they learn to love.

(21:21):
There's some wonderful,wonderful truth in that, by the
way.
But the engagement was carriedon by the parents.
The second stage is called thebetrothal.
That's the kiddushin, that's aceremony that will be binding to
both families.
In fact, at this ceremony, thebridegroom will come and pay the
dowry.
They're now older.
They're about 12 months awayfrom uniting.

(21:44):
But at this ceremony, he'll paythe bridal price, depending on
his wealth.
He will pay, it'll be in cattle,more than likely.
It'll be clothing if he'swealthy, even coinage.
The dowry is delivered at thisbetrothal ceremony to the
bride's father, and the dowry,among other things, pays the

(22:09):
wedding expenses.
That's a wonderful custom.
It's biblical.
After this ceremony, the brideand groom are considered
married.
In fact, even though they're notliving together, they don't
consummate their marriage,they're considered husband and
wife.
The Kidushin will last about ayear.
In fact, it's so binding thatduring that year period, if the

(22:32):
man dies, the woman isconsidered a widow in Israel.
During this year-long period,the bride is preparing the
things that she'll need for thehousehold, and the bridegroom is
typically adding on to thefather's house.
He's building on an addition.
That's where they'll live.
That's the way they did it.
You can immediately see theanalogy of prophecy at our own

(22:54):
soon-coming bridegroom, can'tyou?
Our bridegroom has already paidthe price for his bride.
The marriage has already beenarranged.
We are already in a bindingcovenant.
We just haven't seen him yet.
He's told us that there's aninterval here before we do see
him, and he's adding on to theFather's house.

(23:14):
And eventually he's going tocome and get us and take us
there.
We're going to have a festivity.
The Jews would celebrate about aweek, seven days.
We know our festivities willtake place over seven years,
while on earth there's atribulation period.
So this is a wonderful analogyto what we're expecting and
anticipating.

(23:35):
But now when the third stagearrives, the third stage is
called the hoopa.
Sounds celebratory, doesn't it?
This is the wedding ceremony.
The groom is now making thisnoisy procession toward the
bride's family home.
Neighbors will join in, they'llbring noisemakers and whatever,

(23:56):
they'll be singing and shouting.
Much like when Jesus, ourbridegroom, comes for us,
there's going to be the music oftrumpets and the shouting.
Upon arriving at the bride'shome, he would get her and they
would begin to walk back to hishome, and the beginning of the
festivities would take place.

(24:17):
During that walk home, however,this will go right to Isaiah
chapter 9, verse 6.
During that walk home, at somepoint in the brief journey, she
removes her veil and she drapesit over the shoulder of her
beloved.
And at that point, the crowdwill begin to chant a song that
has something to say to or aboutin English, about the fact that

(24:37):
her life is upon his shoulder.
His shoulder will now bear theruling of her life.
The government of her life isnow on his shoulder.
Obviously, the reference here inIsaiah 9:6 will be the fact that
he will rule over all thegovernments of the world.
But what's lost is the imageryof a husband who loves his wife

(24:58):
and comes to receive her, andshe willingly and joyfully
responds by giving to him thecare of her life.
And she finds in him hersecurity and her provision and
her care.
That's the picture Isaiah isdrawing.
This one who will be born, he'swonderful, he's counselor, he's

(25:22):
mighty God, he's the father ofeternity, he's the prince of
peace.
But by the way, he loves you.
In anticipation of seeing him,we put upon his omnipotent
shoulders the government of ourlives.
Lord, you rule my life.

(25:43):
My trust, my security, myprovision, I put upon your
shoulders.
We cannot fully describe them,but we can't fully surrender to
them, can't we?
Even now.
You place the veil of yourdreams, your hurts, your hopes,

(26:04):
your longings, your wishes, yourplans, your past, your future.
You say, Here, Lord, I lay this.
I'm your bride, and I put thison your strong shoulders.
And learn a little bit more thathe is indeed wonderful.
Wise counselor, mighty God, theoriginator of eternity, the

(26:32):
Prince of Peace.

SPEAKER_00 (26:53):
We'll spend more time reflecting on Christ early
next week.
This is Wisdom for the Heartwith Stephen Davey.
Stephen's in a series called AnIndescribable Gift.
He's calling this message TheProphecy.
I want to make sure you knowthat we have a special gift for
you.

(27:14):
The booklet of this entireseries, An Indescribable Gift,
is available free of charge as adigital download through next
Tuesday.
If you want to download a copyof this resource, here's what

you do (27:29):
go to wisdomonline.org.
When you get to that home page,you'll find a link that takes
you directly to this resource.
It's absolutely free right now.
In fact, you can send the linkto friends and family members so
that they can enjoy thisresource as well.

(27:49):
Please note that this offer isonly available as a digital
download.
Our website once again iswisdomonline dot org.
Please take advantage of thisoffer and then join us back here
next time for more wisdom forthe heart.