Everlasting Father

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Did you know that in the days of the Old Testament it was not uncommon for Hebrew babies’ names to reflect the circumstances of their birth?

If I were Hebrew and that tradition held true today, my name would reflect “ass backwards” because I was a breech birth (my poor mother!) and yes, you guessed it, I made my world debut butt first. Side note: I still do things the way I was born, so any name reflecting that would certainly have been understandable…and somewhat prophetic.

In all seriousness, I mention this tradition because as we study the names of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6, we won’t see any of those names reflecting the circumstances of Christ’s birth, rather we will see them reflecting something greater.

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

I emphasized the word “son” in the verse to draw our attention

to Jesus’ position. Although Isaiah later refers to Jesus as “Everlasting Father,” we have to understand that he is not stating that Jesus is God the Father because that would contradict that He is the son.

What then are we to make of the title “Everlasting Father?” Well, the Hebrew people would have understood that kings in their day were often referred to as the father of their country or people. They would have understood that Isaiah is predicting a son who will be like a father to his people. However, unlike earthly kings and fathers, Isaiah is announcing that this king’s rule will have no end. He will eternally be a father to His children.

Not only will His kingship have no end, but for that very reason He is the only one qualified to give eternal life to His people.

Earlier I mentioned that none of the names of Jesus reflect the circumstances of His birth but that they reflect something greater.  Have you already figured out that the “greater” I was referring to is God?

Each name our Lord is known by reflects an attribute of His Father and helps us to better understand just who our Heavenly Father is. Each name also reveals the very same attributes of Jesus. This is because the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son.

In John 14:9, Jesus tells Apostle Philip that because he has seen Jesus he has also seen the Father. What a revelation! Because Jesus is in the Father and the Father in Him, He synchronously reveals the love and obedience of the Son and the love and provision of the Father. Even writing this now, I’m not sure I can fully wrap my brain around this, but we do not have to have an intellectual understanding of Jesus; we just have to believe He is Jesus.

Friend, our Everlasting Father has an everlasting love for us and He reflects the great love our Heavenly Father also has for us. Those to whom Isaiah was prophesying could not know the full revelation nor the eternal nature of Jesus Christ, but we do. We know that He came to be salvation from certain death for those who would accept Him. Have you?