For Unto Us A Child Is Born

If this phrase sounds familiar it is because it is routinely repeated around this time of year. Some of the more astute Bible students among you will recognize it as the first line of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter nine, verse six. The entire verse reads:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of course those of the Christian persuasion believe that this prophetic statement was fulfilled on December 25^th with the birth of Jesus Christ, as chronicled in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Others, e.g., Jews and Muslims, while they may believe that Jesus actually was a real historical figure, and, perhaps, even a prophet or great spiritual leader, certainly don’t believe the things proclaimed in this prophetic statement apply to him.

Some Christians, when they hear that first phrase repeated, particularly when it is sung in the majestic music of Handel’s Messiah  get a warm, fuzzy feeling, and this is really all they want from it. However, God wants you to have more than this, as evidenced in the apostle Paul’s first letter to his understudy, Timothy:

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 Tim 2:3-4

For those of you who desire to come unto the knowledge of the truth of something of great import hidden there in Isaiah 9:6, something that God wants you to know, read on.

The first phrase of the passage, for unto us a child is born, I believe, as most Christians do, was fulfilled in the chronicle of the birth of Jesus Christ, according to the gospel of Matthew:

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matt 1:18-23

First of all, please notice the last phrase of verse 23, God with us. Obviously, this is a clear proclamation and establishment of the deity of Christ, which matches the reference to the “Son,” of Isaiah 9:6, as The mighty God. But also notice in both passages—Matthew and Isaiah—the word us. Who is this referring to? The Christian Church?

Traditionally, the answer to this last question has always been yes, of course it is referring to the Church. Yet the context in both passages in no way supports this. Look at the verses following verse 6, in Isaiah 9:

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

Isa 9:7-8

The highlighted sections here clearly establish that “The Son” is given to Israel, and that he will sit upon the throne of David—who is always considered Israel’s true king—in his kingdom. While “Israel” is referred to ninety six times in Isaiah‘s prophecy, I cannot find one reference there to Christianity or a Christian “church.”

“Yes, but of course the ‘gospels’ clearly establish that this is who Isaiah is referring to,” it is routinely claimed by traditional Church teaching. But is this true? Let’s see.

Notice, in the above passage in Matthew, the reference to Joseph being in the lineage of David. In fact, check out verse one, where it refers to Jesus Christ as the son of David, the son of Abraham. While this doesn’t make an exact reference to Israel as his people, the fifteenth Chapter does:

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matt 15:22-24

Matthew refers to the “kingdom” of Isaiah 9:6 fifty eight times. This kingdom, as it says, belongs to Israel, and it will be a government which will rest upon the shoulders of “the Son”, Jesus Christ. In the latter part of Isaiah’s prophecy are described the conditions that will exist in this kingdom:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.

For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. Isa 60:1-5; 9-12

Folks, This has nothing to do with a Gentile Church. This is about Israel in the prophesied kingdom, where they shall rule the world under the kingship of the true king, Jesus Christ. . In fact, it says Israel (“my people”) will be over the Gentile nations, and that those nations who don’t serve Israel will perish.

The question, then, that must be asked is: is this the situation in the world presently? Have any nations that haven’t served Israel (and they are legion) perished as a result? The answer is an emphatic no! This concerns a future kingdom, under a “new covenant”¹ with Israel, not a Gentile Church. Not only do these conditions  (or, “on earth peace, goodwill towards men”  Luke 2:14) not exist in present day Israel, or the rest of the world,* this hasn’t been the case for at least two thousand years.

The standard reply to this by traditionalists is, usually, that we are in the New Covenant, and the Church is “spiritual” Israel. I have never been able to find any reference in scripture to a spiritual Israel. This is because there isn’t one. This is a designation which has been fabricated over the centuries ( the same as the “Christmas” celebration of the birth of Christ being on December 25²) by church theologians in order to claim New Testament Israel’s promises for the Church. This blunder is the result of a failure (or refusal) to follow the apostle Paul’s mandate in his second letter to Timothy, to rightly divide the word of truth.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15

What does he mean by this, and how do we know we are dividing it “rightly?” The answer is in verse seven:

Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 2 Tim 2:7

If we are to obtain an understanding of where the world stands presently, who we are as Christians, and what God would have us to be doing (and not doing), according to this, we must consult the writings of the apostle Paul, which are embodied in his thirteen letters, Romans through Philemon. At the end of his letter to the Romans Paul says,

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. Rom 16:25-27

I highlighted this entire passage because I believe it to be one of the most important statements in all of Scripture. First, it says that no one will be established in the truth of Scripture outside of Paul’s gospel.³ Therefore, it is mandated that this gospel, “the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, now made manifest,” is to be obeyed by everyone, everywhere.

The “mystery” referred to in this passage is identified by Paul in a subsequent letter to the Ephesians as “the dispensation of the grace of God,”⁴ which he said was “hid in God,”⁵ and “kept secret since the world began”.

Where is this hid in God? It’s right there in Isaiah 9:6, in the blank space between the phrases, “unto us a child is born“; and “and the government shall be upon his shoulder.”  The child was born, became the man, Jesus Christ, lived on this earth for 33 years, was crucified, buried and raised from the dead. After 40 days with his disciples following his resurrection, he departed the earth and ascended into heaven to sit on the right hand of God,⁶ where he has remained to this day. The rest of the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6-8 has never been fulfilled. During that 33 years the Lord never established any government that could rest upon his shoulder, and there has been anything but peace on earth since then.

Conclusion

The church, the body of Christ⁷ is the spiritual entity into which “all them that believe”⁸ are now being placed. This church is a part of, and integral to, the dispensation of the grace of God, which is what lies in that blank space between the first two phrases of Isaiah 9:6. It cannot be New Testament Israel, as most believe, because Israel, under the new covenant, is overtly prophesied of in the old testament scriptures of the prophets.⁹ The “church” referenced in Matthew 16:18 is, indeed, the prophetic New Testament church, and thus not the same thing as the church the body of Christ. Therefore the two, and the commandments to them, must be “rightly divided.”

The last part of Isaiah 9:6, and all of verse 7 are prophesies yet to be fulfilled in a kingdom on earth, in which the Lord Jesus Christ will indeed rule, where there will be “on earth peace, good will toward men.”¹⁰ In the meantime we who are members of the church, which is Christ’s body, are not called to celebrate or glorify the birth of a child once a year,¹¹ but rather, on every day of the year, to “glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”¹²

Mike Schroeder

All Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible. If you so desire, please feel free to distribute this, or any other articles archived on this website, abroad.

Related articles: Christmas; Ekklesia; Yes But, or But Now; The Mystery

Post Script

None of us knows when this world in which we presently exist will come to its end. Neither do we know when the Lord will return to take his true church out of it. What we do know is that our individual lives will someday come to an end, and that we aren’t guaranteed another heartbeat, much less another day, week or year here. What we can know is, if the end of this life comes for us today, that we will be present with our Lord in heaven. In this respect may I ask you: are you personally assured of this? Have you ever trusted Jesus Christ and what he did for you at Calvary to secure your salvation?¹³ Do you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are saved, sealed and bound for heaven? If you aren’t sure, make this the day of your salvation by admitting to your lost condition,¹⁴ and then simply asking the Lord to save you. “Call upon the name of the Lord, and thou shalt be saved.”¹⁵

Notes