OUR LORD'S GOVERNMENT

One of the most famous scriptures in the bible is in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 and 7.

Here is how it goes:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.

This astonishing passage reveals amazing secrets about God, His nature  and His purposes.

Firstly, it declares a central tenet of the salvation provided for by God which is the fact that it would be hinged on the arrival of a child, a son. This reference in the Book of Isaiah pointed to the Christmas story that was to occur about six or seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote that passage.

The next declaration is that the government would be on His shoulders. Here, it is easy to misunderstand what is being proposed and in fact, many people thought that it meant that when this child arrived, he would take political control over the nations of the world.

An important hint of what the actual meaning of this verse is can be found in Psalms 110 verse 2 and 3 that says this:

The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

Whereas it was believed that the One who was sent would take political control over the world, this scripture reveals a different structure of goverment in God's plan.

This type of goverment would be one where the citizens of His Kingdom would be personally ruled by God Himself while they were embedded in the midst of the kingdoms of this world that are hostile to God and His people.

Those who willingly accepted the Lord's  government over their lives would know Him as, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace because of how he would relate to them as His voluntary subjects.

Isaiah prophecied that the kingdom of God would be one of peace and justice and would be an eternal kingdom of whose increase there would be no end.

Bless the name of the Lord forever.

Amen.