Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
This weekend is one week before Christmas! But of course, you didn’t need me to remind you of that, did you? I invite you to take a moment and reflect on this question: How are you, your extended family, your neighborhood, your region of the world DIFFERENT from one year ago, Christmas 2021? If you and the place where you live are like most people and most places, you probably see some change, maybe significant change. And at least considering the society in which you live, probably you see a moral and spiritual decline in your culture. But again, today I want to bring you HOPE!
These days we’re on a 30-day journey toward Christmas and we’re looking into the ancient past to see how God used people and events, and sometimes powerful, prophetic statements, to point forward to what we call “Christmas”.
Today join me again as we listen to the voice of Mr. Isaiah, one of God’s most powerful spokesmen. 66 chapters in the Bible were authored by Isaiah written over the course of many years between 740bc and 690bc. Yesterday I left you in Isaiah chapter 9 and today let’s continue there with a very powerful message from Isaiah which he was speaking during a very dark and desperate time in the history of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel had been overrun and decimated by the vicious kingdom of Assyria in 722bc.
Naturally the people were pointing accusing fingers at those in leadership of Israel, both government and religious leadership. The leaders had failed the people badly! They were corrupt and dishonest and even immoral leaders. They had led the people AWAY from God into idolatry. They had rejected and even killed some of the prophets God had sent them calling the people back to God. 2 Kings 17 is the graphic, horrific description of the collapse and destruction of Israel. It’s hard to read but it’s important to learn the lessons of failed leadership.
That brief historical description hopefully helps us understand why these words of Isaiah were so very welcome, almost overwhelming, as they awakened HOPE in the people. Listen to the words of Isaiah 9:6,7: “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. Of the greatness 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 that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this!” Now there is so much in this paragraph we’ll need a couple of days to grasp it all! First you see a child is promised. Everyone would have understood that to mean a child would soon be born into the royal family, David’s royal line, and this child would grow up to reign on David’s throne as king over David’s kingdom. That’s how a monarchy works. King David had died about 300 years before, but the people tracked the royal family tree very carefully. David, as we saw a few days ago, was revered as the father of the royal family of Israel. He was personally selected by God Himself, and God repeatedly promised David’s royal line would never end, even if the kingdom of Israel had times of being ravaged by conquering kingdoms.
Isaiah seemed to be promising that this future king would be different from any previous king of Israel, even the famous and beloved Kings David or Solomon. As popular as those two kings had been, both had great moral failure which stained their legacies. But this future king of whom Isaiah spoke would have no blemish, no moral failure. His legacy would be impeccable, and He would lead a government with a legacy of JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS. Can you imagine the national hope these words awakened in the hearts of Jewish people anywhere in the world? Pause with me for just a moment and look at the leadership of your nation. Can you use the words “Justice” and “Righteousness” to describe how the leaders of your nation are leading and making decisions which affect you and your fellow citizens? How different would things be for you and everyone in your country if those two words characterized the government in your country?
Do you see the titles Isaiah proclaimed that would be attributed to this future leader? “Wonderful Counselor” Every person of every age finds themselves often facing life situations which cause them to feel the need of reliable, trustworthy, wise advice. In some parts of the world there are professions such as “Financial Counselors” to advise you with the wise investment of your money. There are “Marriage or Family Counselors” who provide counsel on how to build divorce proof marriages and dysfunction proof families. There are “Legal Counselors” who will help you with legal advice and “Career or Vocational Counselors” who help you seek the best career path which fits your skills and aptitudes. And of course, every society has a wide array of “Spiritual Counselors” giving you advice about your relationship with God. But for every counselor the fundamental question is this: ‘Can I trust this counselor to give me advice which will prove to be wise, helpful, and beneficial counsel?’ When Isaiah used the phrase “Wonderful Counselor” he was declaring that when this future, God sent leader comes, he will ALWAYS provide the best, most reliable, most God honoring, counsel in EVERY situation to EVERY person. As you know history, do you see anyone who fits that description?
Perhaps you remember two different times the voice of God was heard speaking over Jesus publicly. First when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river by John the Baptist, a voice from heaven was heard declaring: “This is My Son whom I love with Him I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17) The second time was on the mountain when Jesus was miraculously transfigured. Disciples Peter, James and John were present, and they heard a voice from heaven declare: “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” (Matt. 17:5) When God speaks it’s wise for humanity to pay attention, do you agree? Many times, Jesus made it clear that the words He spoke were words given to Him by Almighty God, His heavenly Father. Once Jesus said, “He who sent Me is trustworthy and what I have heard from Him I tell the world.” (John 8:26)
Jesus repeatedly said He spoke ONLY truth, God’s truth which could set people free. (John 8:32,32) On one occasion when Jesus was giving some difficult to understand teaching, some followers turned away from Him. Jesus then asked the disciples if they were going to abandon Him to which Peter responded: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!” (John 6:68) My friends, from the time Isaiah spoke those words recorded in Isaiah 9:6, to the time of these events in the life of Jesus, nearly 700 years passed, and no other living person came anywhere close to being a “Wonderful Counselor”, but do you see Jesus fulfilled that promise? May I show you one more very, very important truth about this? On the night Jesus was with His disciples before He was arrested and sent to the cross, Jesus made some very powerful predictions about things THEY were going to experience. He said: “I will ask the Father and He will send you another Counselor to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth! The world cannot accept Him because the world neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be IN you.” (John 14:16,17) “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13) With these words Jesus made it clear the Holy Spirit of God would take up residence IN every authentic, born again, follower of Jesus and one of the Holy Spirit’s main roles would be to guide each of us as a Wonderful Counselor! Do you regularly experience the Holy Spirit guiding you, my friends? For me, I find the Holy Spirit most often uses the Word of God to become very active in guiding my thinking, my desires and my choices, how about you? That’s the power of Hebrews 4:12.
Now let’s pause right here and worship God with this song, thanking Him for these wonderful truths:
Today’s Scripture is Isaiah 9:6, 7.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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