JESUS: BORN TO RULE
SERIES: THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES OF JESUS
by Ron Ritchie
If you are a student of international politics, these can be exciting days
to observe the shifting of the nations on the world stage. But if you are
a student of international politics and a student of Biblical prophecy at
the same time, these are most amazing days! Having the joy of being allowed
to dip my toe in both pools, as perhaps you do, I have been very interested
in the Biblical prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7 as they relate to the political
and spiritual landscapes of Israel, Europe, and Russia in the end times.
As you know, Western Europe over the last few decades has been working on
a project called the European Common Market, or EEC. The dream is to join
ten to twelve nations together economically so that 350 million Europeans
will form a collective block in order to become a competitive market with
America and Japan. An EEC passport is now available, border checkpoints
are closed, freedom to travel to all the countries is now possible, a single
currency is on the drawing board, and the treaties have been signed in l992,
meaning that prosperity is just around the corner.
But what happened to the dream? The June 24, 1993 International Herald
Tribune called the EEC a big bust. It said that Europe is in a deep
recession and the jobless rate hangs around eleven percent or greater. The
governments are all overseeing weak economies and have become insecure and
passive. They are preoccupied with domestic troubles and have not provided
much leadership on anything from the war in former Yugoslavia to the turmoil
in Russia. All of Europe faces rising social pressures due to economic stagnation
and big budget deficits. In that article and another one that I will share
with you in a bit (and as in so many being written today), we find the nations
crying out for a leader who will bring them prosperity and peace and save
them from all this horrible, deadly confusion that goes on day after day.
When we read the words of the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, we are
amazed at how quickly the nations are preparing their minds and hearts to
receive a world leader to bring them into social and economic peace. This
world leader, Scripture informs us, will be the false messiah known as the
antichrist who must come onto the world stage before the second coming of
the true Messiah, Jesus Christ the Son of God.
The nation of Israel, even in these days of apparent peace with some of
the Arab nations, is struggling to find a leader who will finally make all
the wrongs right within that violent land before the Jews and Arabs can
truly sit down together in peace. Some 2750 years ago God promised them
a leader through the prophet Isaiah. His prophecy was fulfilled two thousand
years ago when Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. And at that time the Jewish
people were looking for their Messiah as they struggled under the heavy
heel of Rome. However, when he arrived they rejected him.
But God's story of redemption is not over yet. And as we turn to Isaiah
9:6-7 we will be greatly encouraged by the love and grace of God toward
the Jewish people as well as toward each one of us as we discover that Jesus,
born of a virgin to save us from our sin, was also born to rule as the Son
of God over not only the nations but the hearts of mankind in every generation.
The Promise of God
Isaiah 9:6-7
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
By way of background, according to Isaiah 7, Isaiah the prophet was sent
to Jerusalem in 741 BC to speak to King Ahaz when his city was surrounded
by the armies of Syria and Israel. Isaiah told the king to ask God for a
sign that would convince him and his people that the God of Israel still
loved them and would protect them from their enemies. But Ahaz refused the
offer, because he hoped that Assyria would protect him. So the Lord gave
his own sign, telling them that a deliverer would come out of the house
of David, and meanwhile Judah as well as Syria and Israel were marked off
for destruction. Isaiah 8 predicted the downfall of the ten tribes by Assyria.
In Isaiah 9 the prophet foresaw the Assyrians invading Galilee in 722 BC
and causing a great emotional and spiritual darkness to come over the people
of God. At the same time he was given prophetic insight that sometime in
the future God would place his Messiah in the land of Galilee as a great
light. Then between verses 2 and 3 we have an ellipsis, so to speak, and
verse 3 bring us to the end of the great tribulation and the redemption
of Israel. It is at this point that Israel and then the world will see in
the second coming of Christ who he was in his first coming. They will finally
realize as they look back into their history that God gave them in the form
of a small child their Immanuel and Savior and that they missed him. So
with joyful hearts they will give him the divine titles he so fully deserves.
(If you have ever wondered why the Jewish people have problems with understanding
that Isaiah 9:6 [in the Hebrew text] is speaking about the coming Messiah
Jesus, here are two reasons: [1] The Septuagint [an ancient translation
of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek] says, "and his name is called
the messenger of great counsel, for I will bring peace upon the princes,
and health to him." [2] The 1936 Hebrew Publishing Company translation
is close to ours, but the Jewish Publication Society's English translation
[1917-1952] says, "...And his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom,
which has left millions of Jews since 1917 confused because they did not
understand Hebrew.)
Meanwhile the Christian community is presently enjoying all the spiritual
blessings that God wants to give to his people Israel, and will give to
them once they recognize him as their Immanuel.
Let's look now at God's promise of the first coming of Messiah in Isaiah
9:6a.
The First Coming of Messiah
"For a child will be born to us...." This speaks of Messiah's
humanity and refers to the child already spoken of by Isaiah when he wrote
in 7:14, "Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she
will call His name Immanuel." This child who would one day become our
great High Priest would be born of a virgin, symbolizing ceremonial purity,
freedom from defilement (see Leviticus 21), and sinlessness. The virgin
Mary was told by the angel Gabriel to name the baby Jesus ("The Lord
Saves"). The name Jesus describes his ministry: He would save us from
our sin and the power of Satan (see John 1:29). The name Immanuel ("God
with us"; see Matthew 1:23) describes his consistent presence. Therefore,
Jesus, Immanuel, is the divine Presence who delivers and saves.
"...A son will be given to us...." This describes Messiah's deity.
Our minds race across the Scriptures when we see that phrase. Paul wrote
to the Galatians (4:4-5), "But when the fulness of the time came, God
sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He
might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption
as sons." Some eight days after Jesus' birth, his parents took him
to the temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised. Simeon, a righteous and devout
Jew who had been looking for "the consolation of Israel," saw
them and in the power of the Holy Spirit he took the baby Jesus in his arms,
blessed God, and said:
"For my eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A light of revelation to the Gentiles [see Isaiah 42:6],
And the glory of Thy people Israel."
(Luke 2:30-32.)
Luke further wrote in 2:40, "And the Child continued to grow and become
strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." Jesus
was not just any son, but as the heavenly Father spoke out of heaven to
John the Baptist and all who were present at his baptism, "This is
My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus was
God incarnate, the very Son of God. John wrote (3:16), "For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
But believing that Jesus is God's Son is such a struggle for so many people
in this generation, certainly for the Jewish community. Remember Rabbi Jacob
Neusner who says he wants to ask Jesus, "Who do you think you are---God?"
in his recent book A Rabbi Talks with Jesus (see Discovery Paper
4383). He complains, says Robert Hutchinson, a freelance writer who interviewed
him in Tampa Bay recently, that Jesus does not discuss "Eternal Israel."
He also knows that "Christ is the new Moses with a New Law, and he
becomes the Paschal Lamb sacrificed in a New Passover as part of the New
Covenant." (Christianity Today, "What the Rabbi Taught
Me about Jesus," pp. 27-29, September 13, 1993.) Neusner understands
all this better than many Christians; he just does not believe it.
According to Isaiah, the nation of Israel looks at Jesus today with the
same eyes and heart as Rabbi Neusner, but one day they will finally have
spiritual insight into history that not only did Jesus come to die for their
sins, but he was raised by God the Father; and they will finally understand
what the Jewish disciples of old did when they watched Jesus being taken
into heaven and the angels said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you
stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into
heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven"
(Acts 1:11).
Jesus will return to earth to set up his physical kingdom in Jerusalem,
and meanwhile he is setting up his kingdom in the hearts of Jews and Gentiles
who place their faith in Him as their Messiah. Let's look at Isaiah 9:6b-7,
which skips over the entire church age and the tribulation. The battle of
Armageddon is over, Christ is coming in the sky, and this is the proclamation
that breaks out!
The Second Coming of Messiah
We read, "...And the government will rest on his shoulders...."
Luke 1:30-33 tells us further:
And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for
you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb,
and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will
be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne
of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever;
and His kingdom will have no end."
Just before our risen Lord departed from this earth he said to his disciples,
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew
28:18; see also Revelation 2:27). The Roman government and the religious
leaders of Israel rejected their Messiah, but the Father honored him; and
immediately upon his resurrection he was given power in heaven to rule invisibly
over all the created beings in every generation on earth, until he comes
again to rule visibly on earth on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem
during his thousand-year reign.
"Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder,
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open."
(Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7.)
A lot of folks missed Jesus' first coming, but no one alive on earth will
miss his second coming in power and glory. John tells us in Revelation 19:11-16:
"And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and
He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He
judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head
are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows
except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name
is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in
fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from
His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations;
and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of
the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh
He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'"
"...And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor...." Jesus
was the name given to the Christ Child because he would save his people
from their sins. But Wonderful Counselor is also a proper name given to
him because of his ministry on this earth. That he should be both sinless
and the friend of sinners is infinitely wonderful. He was the Wonderful
Counselor to the woman at the well in Samaria, to the woman caught in the
very act of adultery, to the rich young ruler struggling with self-righteousness,
to the confused disciples, and so on. And further, Jesus told his disciples
in the upper room the night before he was to be betrayed, "And I will
ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper [parakletos],
that He may be with you forever" (John 14:16). He was referring to
the Holy Spirit, who is an eternal Comforter who will continue to be the
Wonderful Counselor in this day and the days ahead... "For just as
the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant
through Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:5). And when Jesus rules the world
as Lord of lords he will continue to be a Wonderful Counselor.
The October 18 issue of National and International Religious Report
stated, "Jews are among the United States' most 'unchurched' people."
Of the twenty-five hundred Jewish households surveyed, only twenty-five
percent of American Jews attend services at least once a month, and only
thirty-nine percent are members of a local synagogue. In Israel, according
to Moment magazine (October 89), fifty percent of the Jews are secular
Israelis, thirty percent are religious Zionists, five percent are "Messianic
Zionists" who see the rebirth of Israel in l948 as the first stage
in a process that will culminate with the coming of Messiah, and fifteen
percent are the ultra-orthodox Jews, or haredim, who believe that
only after Messiah comes and sets up his rule will it be worth celebrating
religiously. Yet within the Jewish community individual Jews are accepting
Jesus as their Messiah daily and continue to become members of God's spiritual
"remnant" and our brothers and sisters in Christ. They are also
privileged now to go, as we are, to their "Wonderful Counselor"
about all their physical, emotional, and spiritual problems.
I am amazed at how frightened I get sometimes, even when there is no rational
reason to be. I always have to go back to the Lord and say, "Excuse
me, it's me again. I'm frightened, and you're my Counselor. Would you review
for me who you are, who I am to you, and how we're going to get through
this one? If I react to life with this fearful heart it will be in the flesh,
and I will defend myself and hurt a lot of people. Please guard me against
that." That same Counselor is yours. What is it that gets you or terrifies
you or angers you? Go to the Counselor. He is as close as a prayer away,
and he will understand. You don't have to be frightened any more. You may
be tempted to be frightened, but you don't have to buy into it because you
have the Counselor. His name is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. I always
feel such relief when I go home and my wife is there. When I walk through
the door, no matter what's going on in the world, I feel so comfortable
and comforted. That is a picture of the presence and ministry of the Counselor
Because he is with us everything is safe and peaceful.
"...His name shall be called...Mighty God...." The Jews had the
great history of the acts of the Mighty God. He is the one who took them
out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, who brought them through the forty
years of wandering in the desert, and who conquered all the enemies of Israel
at that time. This title signifies supreme deity for Messiah. There is no
created being in the universe stronger than our Lord God Jesus, which he
demonstrated in his every word and action while he was on this earth, and
is now demonstrating in the heavenlies and will once again during his earthly
rule in Jerusalem and into eternity. "For now we see in a mirror dimly...."
But even in that dim light we can see enough of him to make us fall at his
feet and worship him as the Mighty God. In speaking of his victory over
the enemies of Israel, our Lord said through Isaiah (in 49:26),
"And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
The Lord reveals the future hope of Israel in the same words through Isaiah
in 60:15-22 (see also Isaiah 10:21):
"Whereas you have been forsaken and hated...
I will make you an everlasting pride,
A joy from generation to generation...
Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Might One of Jacob."
At this moment the nation of Israel is depending on their army and the memory
of past victories to be their mighty god. But one day they will find that
the only Mighty God they can depend on will be their Messiah Jesus. The
Christian community is commanded in the face of all our enemies to "be
strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).
"...His name shall be called...Eternal Father..." He was from
eternity before his life on earth and he went back into eternity after he
rose from the dead. He is the father of eternal life or the father of eternity.
Jesus was the one who said while ministering on this earth, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life...." (John 14:6). And one day from his
throne in heaven he will say for all the world to hear, "Behold, I
am making all things new...I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water
of life without cost" (Revelation 21:5-6). He is the only one who can
give eternal life to the Jewish people as well as to the Gentiles because
he is the Father of eternity (see John 1:12).
"...His name shall be called...Prince of Peace...." Jesus is the
only one who can bring shalom not only to the nations of the earth
but also to the hearts of humanity. The Jewish nation rejected their Prince
of Peace when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey colt on Palm Sunday, and
they nailed him to a cross the following Friday. But one day, because God
raised the Prince of Peace from the dead, they will acknowledge him and
bow before him as his people. Meanwhile on an individual basis the peace
that was first broken in the garden of Eden can now be experienced between
God and man in Christ Jesus. Paul wrote to the Romans in 5:1, "Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ...." Jesus said to his disciples in John 14:27, "Peace
I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives...Let not
your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." He is the author of
conditions that involve everlasting, unbroken peace on earth, in heaven,
and in the hearts of men and women forever. The function of a king is to
bring peace. It is when God is with us that every circumstance can be seen
in its right and proper light and there can be peace.
Tuvya Zaretsky of Jews for Jesus called me on Wednesday and told me that
Richard Parnes, a telecommunications technician who prayed with him in September
to receive Jesus as his Messiah, was baptized last Friday night by the pastor
of a congregation of Jewish Christians. His family in the Bronx, New York
said they would have been happier if he had gone back to acting in pornographic
movies rather than become a follower of Jesus! But he had met the Prince
of Peace and accepted him.
Having seated Messiah upon his throne, our prophecy follows him into his
ministry to our hearts and to the nation of Israel as well as to the nations
of the world:
"There will be no end to the increase of His government
or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."
Daniel the prophet saw the events at the end of "the times of the Gentiles"
(which began in 586 BC when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the Jews were
placed under Gentile rule and domination, and which will end when Jesus
returns in glory; see Luke 21:24 and Daniel 8:13). Then, according to Revelation
13, the Lord will come in glory and deliver the Jewish remnant who have
been besieged by the Gentile world powers under the rule of the beast and
the false prophet in the last great battle on the plains of Armageddon,
Israel. And he will usher in "the day of the Lord" in which he
will set up his earthly kingdom: "And in the days of those kings the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that
kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end
to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever" (Daniel 2:44).
It will not only endure but it will continue to grow in peaceful ways.
Isaiah wrote in 16:5,
"A throne will be established in lovingkindness,
And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David;
Moreover, he will seek justice
And be prompt in righteousness."
Mary was told by the angel about Jesus, "He will be great; and will
be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne
of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever;
and His kingdom will have no end." He will rule as the Son of God in
the hearts of men, as the Son of David over Israel, as the Son of Man over
the earth, and finally as the sovereign Lord over heaven and earth. Humanity
will finally experience firsthand during Christ's thousand-year reign on
earth his righteous justice, because he loves justice, as Isaiah 61:8 says.
He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness (see Isaiah 33:5), as well
as the nations (see Isaiah 42:1). The Spirit of the Lord will be upon him...
"And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth...."
(Isaiah 11:3-4.)
The nations of the world community are looking for a world leader. In order
to drive home this point, let me just quote to you from the article "Ukraine
over the brink" in the magazine Economist (September 4): "Since
independence in l991, Ukraine has been a disaster waiting to happen. The
disaster is now upon it. At the end of August the currency collapsed...forcing
the prime minister who was the only one working on reform to resign...placing
the nation into a political and economic crisis." But then the article
concludes with the most amazing paragraph: "More than a millennium
has passed since the Slavic tribes of what is now Ukraine invited a group
of Vikings to become their lords with the words, 'Our people are hard-working,
our land is fertile, so come and rule over us.' If the leaders of independent
Ukraine do not soon launch the economic reforms they have ducked so far,
their people may yet look north again for princes to rule over what is potentially
a prosperous country. Many Russians would be all too ready to help."
God has already provided his choice for the world ruler:
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to
us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of
peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
The nations are looking for a world ruler because they do not know how to
rule, how to provide prosperity, peace, joy, and safety. Daniel says they
are ripe for antichrist.
Which ruler have you chosen?
Catalog No. 4384
Isaiah 9:6, 7; Luke 1:30-33
Second Message
Ron Ritchie
November 28, 1993
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