Isaiah's prophecies
God with us
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). -- Matthew 1:23 (ESV) quoting Isaiah 7:14
This seems to imply that "Jesus is God Himself that lived among humans temporary".
This prophecy came into fulfillment with the birth of Jesus in the context of 1 John 1:1-3:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life (the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us) that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
John wrote that God's Word was "manifested" (realized at the birth of His Son). Therefore, God could have fellowship with us (God with us).
All this is from God, Who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, owe are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. -- 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (ESV)
In other words, Jesus purpose was to make it possible that God could be with us again.
Name's meanings could not be taken literally
The meaning of Hebrew names cannot be taken literally because if this somehow proof that Jesus is God by the name of "Immanuel" means "God with us", then
- Elijah (God Yahweh) should also be God
- Peter (rock) cannot be an apostle, but should have been a rock
- Bithiah (daughter of Jehovah), should be Jesus' sister
- Eliab (my God is my Father), should have been the Messiah
The promised child
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.-- Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
The Trinitarians use this verse as evidence to proof that the same "God" is both the "Eternal Father" and "Prince" which could imply "the Son of God". However, this translation was deliberately badly translate to support their view. The same verse could be translated many other ways, for example:
Alternative translations
Because the Child is born to us,
and the Son is given to us,
and his authority was on his shoulder,
and his Name was called
The Wonder and The Counselor, God, the Mighty Man of Eternity, the Prince of Peace.-- Isaiah 9:6 (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
or
For a child is born to us,
and a son is given to us,
whose government is upon his shoulder:
and his name is called
the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him.-- Isaiah 9:6 (Brenton Septuagint Translation)
or
For a child is born unto us,
A son is given unto us;
And the government is upon his shoulder;
And his name is called
Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom;-- Isaiah 9:6 (JPS Tanakh 1917)
or
For a child is born unto us,
a son is given unto us,
and the rule is on His shoulder.
And His Name is called
Wonder, Counsellor, Strong Ěl, Father of Continuity, Prince of Peace.-- Isaiah 9:6 (TS2009)
or
For a child will be born to us, [Lit. “has been born.” The verse is written in past tense]
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will call his name
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Hero, [Or, “Mighty God,” or, “God is mighty”] Father of the Coming Age, [Or, “Everlasting Father,” or, “the Father is Everlasting”] Prince of Peace.-- Isaiah 9:6 (REV)
Which translation is correct?
Isaiah was divided into chapters and many translators sneaked in the titles like "For to Us a Child Is Born" which is not part of the original manuscripts. This creates the impression that the focus is on "the child" that was born for the modern Christians. However, this title ignores the context of the rest of Isaiah's prophecy. Isaiah was warning Israel about God's judgement.
Context of Isaiah 9
In the previous chapter he names another child:
And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son.
Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
-- Isaiah 8:3-4
Then in Isaiah 8:19 he contrast God against the "mediums and the necromancers". Isaiah 8:20-22 refers to God's judgement because they worshipped the wrong gods.
The purpose of the prophecy is to tell the people to turn from their "mediums and necromancers" and serve God instead. It was not Isaiah's intend to introduce a yet another "new" god:
- In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
- but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
-- Isaiah 9:1
Then Isaiah explains in more detail how God will make the land "glorious" again:
- The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
- You have multiplied the nation;
- You have increased its joy;
- they rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
- For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as son the day of Midian.
- For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
-- Isaiah 9:2-5
Then Isaiah mentions another child in contrast to Isaiah 8:3-4 who will prophetically bring hope instead of judgement:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; (to contrast Isaiah 8:3-4) and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
- Wonderful Counselor,
- Mighty Hero,
- Abi-Ad,
- Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
-- Isaiah 9:6-7
"us" in this context is not the modern Christians, but the Israelites in Isaiah's lifetime.
Just as the first child (Maher-shalal-hash-baz) was not the cause of the judgement or the one who will bring the judgement, there is nothing in Isaiah that implies that the second child (Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom) will cause of the restoration or will be the one who does the restoration. All bible translators agree that the second child will be "called" all these wonderful titles that brings hope and peace. In other words, both the judgement and restoration cases are actions of the LORD (YHVH) God and in both cases these children were prophetic names or signs of what God will be doing.
Who calls who?
The phrase “he will call” is the translation of a third-person masculine singular verb in the Masoretic Hebrew text and the Qumran texts of Isaiah. The Septuagint has the verb in the passive voice, “he will be called.” However, since we have multiple witnesses in the Hebrew text of the reading of Isaiah, there is no reason to assume the Greek translation is correct. The most logical choice for who would name the child was Yahweh, his Father. Young’s Literal Translation has the verb in the active voice. Yahweh sent Gabriel to tell Joseph what to name the child in Matthew and Luke. Also, only God, the Father, could name His Son the names in Isaiah 9:6. -- Spirit & Truth Fellowship International
Correlation with Jesus
Now, understandably there are a very strong correlation between the second child and Jesus, because the details in the titles given to the "child":
Wonderful Counselor
Some of the people Jesus council:
- A Pharisee, named Nicodemus (John 3:10-15)
- A woman at the well (John 4:28-30)
- A paralyzed man by the pool (John 5:6-10)
Mighty God
Unlike "God Almighty" usually written as "Elohim", in this case "God" is written as just "’êl", which could also mean "god-like", "mighty one", "mighty man", "man of rank", "mighty hero", "angel", "powerful one"
Although English makes a clear distinction between “God” and “god,” the Hebrew language, which has only capital letters, cannot. A better translation for the English reader would be “mighty hero,” or “divine hero.” Both Martin Luther and James Moffatt translated the phrase as “divine hero” in their Bibles. -- Spirit & Truth Fellowship International
Everlasting-Father
Isaiah 9:6 is the only verse in the entire bible where Jesus is possibly called "Father" according to the modern English bible translations. Because there are no other confirmations, it makes the translation questionable.
There are also no cross-references to this verse. This would have been the ideal verse to quote to proof that Jesus is God, yet neither Jesus nor any of his disciples ever quoted this verse.
The challenge is that the word translated as "Everlasting-Father" is translated from "abi-ad" and the intended meaning is not clear. There is another person in the bible whose name is also "Abi".
"Abi (translated as "Abijah") daughter of Zechariah" -- 2 Kings 18:2
It is unlikely that Jesus would be named after the daughter is Zechariah who cannot be a father, and certainly not God the Father.
The name "Abi" actually means "Yahweh is my father". Combine it with "ad" which is ofter translated as "everlasting", it could mean "Yahweh is his everlasting Father" or the Son of God.
The next title is "Prince of Peace". This fits the Gospels where Yahweh Himself confirmed that Jesus is His Son (Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 3:21; John 1:51).
Another possible explanation is that "abi-ad" does not mean "everlasting" but "age" so that the text should have been translated "father of the [coming] age":
In the culture of the Bible, anyone who began anything or was very important to something was called its “father.” For example, because Jabal was the first one to live in a tent and raise livestock, the Bible says, “he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock” (Genesis 4:20). Furthermore, because Jubal was the first inventor of musical instruments, he is called, “the father of all who play the harp and flute” (Genesis 4:21). Scripture is not using “father” in the sense of literal father or ancestor in these verses, because both these men were descendants of Cain, and all their descendants died in the Flood. “Father” was being used in the cultural understanding of either one who was the first to do something or someone who was important in some way. Because the Messiah will be the one to establish the age to come, raise the dead into it, and rule over it, he is called “the father of the coming age.”
This too fits Jesus' description as the "firstborn".
Prince of Peace
Confirmed by Paul:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. -- Romans 5:1 (ESV)
The throne of David
Often the next sentence of Isaiah's prophecy is ignored:
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. -- Isaiah 9:7 (ESV)
For someone to sit on the throne of David, it means that the person needs to be a descendant of David. God was not a descendant of David and has no need to sit on David's throne.
Preparing the way of the LORD
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. -- Isaiah 40:3 (ESV)
Which was quoted by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-3; Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:4-6)
The confusion comes when John was making 2 distinct statements:
- repent and bear good fruit (Matthew 3:7-10; Mark 1:4-5; Luke 3:7-14) as warning of God the Father's wrath
- when people confused him with Christ, he explained the difference (Luke 3:15-16)
When scholars mix up these 2 statements it is easy to come to false conclusions about the divinity of Jesus.
The Teacher
It was prophesied:
All Your children shall be taught by the LORD -- Isaiah 54:13 (ESV)
Then Jesus came and quote Isaiah:
It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
-- John 6:45 (ESV)
The LORD is God and the fact that Jesus claim to have fulfilled this prophecy which states the Israel will be taught by the LORD, seems to imply that Jesus is the LORD, which would mean Jesus is God. However, this ignores Jesus previous words:
Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. -- John 6:43-44 (ESV)
In other words, it is still the Father (or the LORD) that is teaching people, although he was using Jesus as his messenger.