For Unto Us A Child Is Born

At this time of year, we hear a lot of Scriptures from the Bible about the prophecy of the birth of Christ. One of the most popular is Isaiah 9:6 which says,

“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.”

I bet you’ve heard it before. I bet most of you could maybe have quoted it without looking. And I can almost bet that a few of you sang the tune of the Hallelujah Chorus as you read the words.

It is a very powerful and comforting prophecy for sure. It reminded Israel that the victory-bringing Messiah would be a man. He could have been an angel. Or he could have been God come to earth without any humanity whatsoever. 

But when you really think about it, neither of those things would have qualified him to be the Savior and High Priest that Jesus was and is.

A child had to be born.

There is nothing weaker, more helpless, more utterly dependent than a child. I guess God could have come as a full grown man, just as Adam was created. 

But for Jesus to really and truly “get” us humans, to completely relate to us, and to show us how to live lives with a servant nature, he simply had to make himself of “no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:7)

I could go on and on about just this one verse. But just this morning, in my devotional time, the writer of the devotion added Isaiah 9:4-5 to the mix. Look at what it says:

“Like the time you defeated Midian,
you will take away their heavy load.
You will take away the heavy pole from their backs.
You will take away the rod the enemy uses to punish your people.
Every boot that marched in battle will be destroyed.
Every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into the fire.”

At first, I was like….“Wait, what?” It didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. Of course, I was trying to think of it with my own human mind. But then I did a quick little personal Bible study of my own.

Do you remember in Judges 7, when Gideon was preparing to fight the Midianites? Remember when the Lord whittled Gideon’s army down from over 30,000 men, to 10,000 men, finally to 300 men? 

These 300 men, through a strategy orchestrated by the Lord Himself, defeated the Midianites and won the battle.

VICTORY!!!

That’s what Isaiah 9:4 is referring to.

Now the best verse to me….Isaiah 9:5.

“Every boot that marched in battle will be destroyed.
Every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into the fire.”

Do you see it? 

In Bible days, when victory was complete, when the battle was over, when the war was finally won, the victors gathered together the weapons of war, the garments red with blood, the heavy boots that make the earth ring with the warrior’s tread. They were thrown into a fire to be consumed. A sign that the battle is over. The victory is decisive. It is won.

It is finished!

And a reign of peace can begin.

Do you see it now? Do I need really to say more?

The final and ultimate reign of peace won’t begin until Jesus comes back to rule forever more. But this….this…gives me such hope. And I hope it brings you hope also!

The battles that you and I fight here on earth. The battles that don’t look like there’s any victory in sight because we have so few men to fight with us (like Gideon’s army of only 300 men). The battles where those against us seem to greatly outnumber those with us.

But God!

The “for unto us a child is born, a son is given” Christ has already given us the victory! And one day, we will be able to gather our weapons of war, our garments stained red with blood and the heavy boots that have made the ground beneath us ring with our tread. And we are going to get to throw them into the fire to be consumed and never, ever worn again. Ever!!

Does that make you want to shout with joy like it makes me want to shout with joy!!!

Oh man!!

May your Christmas of 2021 be happy, healthy, merry and bright. But if it’s not, remember. The final battle isn’t over yet. There is hope not only in the distance, but in the right here and right now.

And one day, there will be no more skirmishes, no more battles, no more wars! Because the Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace will reign…forever and ever!

Praise God!!!