Why is the Messiah referred to as
"Mighty God" in Isaiah 9:6 and "The Lord our Righteousness" in Jeremiah 23:6?
Christian theologians argue that the name "A wonderful
counselor is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the ruler of peace"
refers to Jesus, who they allege combined human and divine qualities. They
mistakenly believe that such a name can only be applied to God Himself.
Moreover, the Christians incorrectly translate the verbs in verse 5 in the
future tense, instead of the past, as the Hebrew original reads. Thus, the
Christians render verse 5 as: "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."
While admitting that "wonderful counselor" and
"ruler of peace" can be applied to a man, Christian theologians argue
that the phrases "mighty God" and "everlasting Father"
cannot be incorporated as part of a man's name. Thus, they contend that Isaiah
teaches that the Messiah has to be not only a man, but God as well. That this
entire reasoning is incorrect may be seen from the name Elihu, "My God is
He," which refers to an ordinary human being (Job 32:1, 1 Samuel 1:l, 1
Chronicles 12:21, 26:7, 27:18). A similar Christian misunderstanding of
Scripture may be seen in their claims revolving around the name Immanuel,
"God is with us." The simple fact is that it is quite common in the
Bible for human beings to be given names that have the purpose of declaring or
reflecting a particular attribute of God, e.g., Eliab, Eliada, Elzaphan,
Eliakim, Elisha, Eleazar, Tavel, Gedaliah.
The fact remains that Jesus did not literally or figuratively
fulfill any of Isaiah's words. A wonderful counselor does not advise his
followers that if they have faith they can be agents of destruction (Matthew
21:19-21; Mark 11:14, 20-23). A mighty God does not take orders from anyone
(Luke2:51, Hebrews 5:8), for no one is greater than he is (Matthew 12:31-32;
John 5:30, 14:28). Moreover, he does not ask or need to be saved by anyone
(Matthew 26:39, Luke 22:42), for he cannot die by any means (Matthew 27:50,
Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46, John 19:30). He who is called the Son of God the Father
(John 1:18, 3:16) cannot himself be called everlasting Father. One cannot play
simultaneously the role of the son and the Father; it is an obvious
self-contradiction. Perhaps most importantly, Jesus himself declared that peace is not his objective (Matthew 10:34)
Hezekiah is called “Mighty
God” as this title is a sign that foretells God’s defense of Jerusalem by the death of Sennaherib’s
army. You will note the usage of such titles for even inanimate objects in
Scripture which merely commemorate God’s doing. An example of this is:
“Moses
built an altar, and called the name of it the LORD our Banner.”
(Exodus 17:15)
Similarly:
“And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel.”
(Genesis 33:20))
There
is no doubt that Moses and Jacob did not intend to deify their altars, just as there is no doubt
that Isaiah did not intend to deify the individual mentioned in our verse.
The foregoing serves to explain another verse that Christian missionaries point to often:
“In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
(Jeremiah 23:6)
The first thing to be pointed out regarding this verse is that even without the explanation provided, it should be clear from the verse:
“In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. "
(Jeremiah 33:16)
that there is no intention to deify the Messiah. I have yet to meet a Christian who claims that Jerusalem is God. The explanation is clearly as above, that events are given titles in Hebrew Scripture that describe the event as attributing the miracle to God.