Advent – Day 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.” – Isaiah 9:6

There’s something sacred about a birth announcement, the heralding of new life, the evidence of the breath of heaven fresh upon the babe, the promise of a life to be lived and a story to be told. It’s all so incredibly ripe with expectation and wonder, and all of us who receive the news of a baby celebrate it with joy.

More than 700 years before Jesus would arrive in a manger, Isaiah wrote a birth announcement for him with an incredible proclamation. It’s quite possibly the most-often quoted Old Testament prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus. And for good reason. After all, Isaiah 9:6 is incredibly rich with prophetic promises.

In the very first portion of the verse, we see the promise that the messiah will come to earth and will be both a child born and a son given. This promise is twofold. Dr. Thomas Constable writes “The ‘Child born’ points to His humanity and the ‘Son given’ to His deity.” This isn’t any ordinary child; this is the promised one who will be the son of man and the son of God. Humanity and deity. Heaven bending low. The sacred intersecting the secular. God in flesh. 

The verse goes on to to declare “the government will be on his shoulders.” It is a proclamation that announces the child’s rightful claim to a throne, but not just any throne, one that will be established and upheld “from that time on and forever.” Furthermore, the child shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The King James version of this verse reads: “and his name shall be called” (emphasis mine). It’s important to note that the Hebrew word for name in this passage is the same word that appears in Isaiah 7:14. And like we saw in Advent Day 6, name (שֵׁם) refers not to the specific name one is called, but to renown, fame or a definite position. It is a reference more to who the messiah will BE and less to what he will be called. Today, more than 2,700 years after Isaiah penned this book, we know Jesus by these same names and this same character. His faithfulness endures from generation to generation, and the same messiah who was promised to save the people from destruction during the 8th century BC is the same messiah who saves us now.

This miracle of a perfectly fulfilled promise throughout thousands and thousands of years should leave us in absolute awestruck wonder today. The coming of Jesus was no coincidence. It wasn’t a string of random, fortuitous events that just so happened to work together. The birth of Jesus was the perfect, complete, predestined fulfillment of prophecies that began all the way back in the garden of Eden. Have you grasped the miracle of this? Do you understand the virtual impossibility of one man fulfilling these prophecies?

According to Empower International, a professor at Westmont College did just that. In collaboration with 600 students, he “calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah.” This team then submitted their work to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation, who verified the calculations were dependable and accurate. What they discovered should astound us all. “After examining only eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight was one in ten to the 17th power. Let’s write that out to grasp its vastness: 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. And that’s just eight. What are the odds of one man fulfilling 48 of the prophecies? 1 in 10 to the 157th power!

The chance of one man fulfilling 48 prophecies is inconceivable. But that’s not all. Theologians believe there are 456 prophecies that refer to the coming Messiah! The probability of one man fulfilling all 456 prophecies is incomprehensibly impossible.

Unless that one man was the promised messiah.

Jesus Christ fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy, beginning all the way back in the book of Genesis. He was and is and forevermore will be the promised savior, sent to save the souls of man. And as the Westmont professor stated, “Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.”  

Jesus, the child born and the son given, fulfilled every prophecy so we would know with absolute surety that he was and is the promised one. We can put our trust in him, knowing with certainty that he keeps his promises to the generations and to us. Today, I pray the wonder of the miracle of his birth and the fulfillment of ancient prophecies washes over you with new understanding and awe. Dear Lord, revive our sluggish, slumbering hearts. Open our eyes to the mystery of your salvation and overwhelm us gratitude at the gift of your son. We come to you now, knowing we are standing before you on on holy ground because you are here in our midst, and we worship you in spirit and truth. Thank you for the vastness of your grace and the depths of your compassion.

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