Introduction
In 2020, NBC rebooted the game show The Weakest Link. If not familiar with the show, think Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? meets Survivor. Like Who Wants To be A Millionaire, contestants bank money by answering trivia questions. Like Survivor, at the end of every round, contestants vote on who they would like to see removed from the game. The contestant with the most votes indeed gets removed from the show, and the last player standing wins the money. Most of the questions are basic, common, general knowledge (assuming you are somewhat familiar with pop culture). I highly doubt that anybody has any problems with any questions, but when you ask a question about the biblical languages, you might have a Biblical studies PhD candidate and former quizzer contest.
In one of the reboot episodes, one of the questions asked, “What Hebrew word means hello, goodbye, and peace?” The answer they were looking for was “shalom.” I really wanted to stand and yell, “I contest!” The word’s definition does mean peace, but the word’s definition within itself does not mean “hello” or “goodbye.” Rather, peace became both a salutation and valediction. In Old Testament times, a Hebrew running into a stranger did not know whether the stranger was friend or foe. By shouting “Shalom!” or “Peace!” the stranger made sure his peaceful intentions were made known, putting his fellow Hebrew at ease. On the flipside, shalom or “peace” became well wishes in leaving, like “Have a good day!” or “Have a nice week!” One could say, “Have a peaceful day!” or “Have a peaceful week!” To summarize, the Hebrew word shalom itself only means “peace,” but it became a greeting for arriving and departing.
The game show did get something right, though. The Hebrew word shalom does means more than just “peace.” As anyone fluent in multiple languages will tell you, rarely do words between languages have a perfect one-to-one correspondence. Translators end up picking the best, closest translation, with the insinuation that it may lack in some certain areas. Likewise, “peace” is the best, closest translation for shalom, but recognize that “peace” is an incomplete definition, lacking in some areas. Therefore, shalom needs a fuller definition.
In 2005, MennoMedia, a media agency of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, created the Peace DVD, a DVD with 6-sessions of youth Bible study to encourage youth to think about how they could bring peace to the world. If you’re doing the math, yes, that was 2 years after the United States of America entered into war/conflict with Iraq, but no, all 6 sessions did not merely rant about the evils of war. As a matter of fact, the DVD did not even touch war until session 5 of 6. Sessions included peace with God, peace with the earth and people within the community. At the beginning of every session, the leaders of the video would start off with a definition of peace, which actually works well with shalom.
"Peace is when everything is the best it can
be." -Peace DVD
Now my Sunday school leaders had the class memorize this definition on top of
our Bible memory. I came close, but I could never say it right. Every time I
tried, I would say, "Peace is when the world’s all as it should be."
If you didn’t recognize it, my definition comes from the contemporary praise
and worship song "Blessed be Your Name." But isn’t that the same
thing? If the world’s all as it should be, as God intended it, without sin,
then everything would be at the best. That's shalom, that’s “peace.” Shalom
appears in the garden of Eden. The garden has shalom because the garden
had everything God planned, nothing wrong or out of place. Adam and Eve walked
with God. They had shalom with their maker, with each other and the
earth on which they lived. When Satan came in and Eve fell to his temptation,
that peace was gone. When God promised them a messiah, not only was he providing
a way to get out of the sin, but a promise of restoring the peace. Genesis 3:15
implicitly says that the offspring would restore the shalom once found
in the Garden, but Isaiah 9:6-7 explicitly speaks of a chosen child ruling with
peace.
Isaiah 9:6
In the previous chapter, Isaiah 8, Yahweh, through Isaiah, has pronounced judgment upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrian Empire would conquer and subdue the Northern Kingdom, until they are no more. While such news sounds like gloom to Israel, Isaiah actually prophesies glory for Israel in Isaiah 9! The Lord would save and deliver Israel from their oppressors, bringing glory to both God and Israel. This salvation would come from the Messiah. Perhaps Isaiah can see even further than it, seeing the eschaton, in which Israel would never ever have to worry about foreign oppressors because all people and all nations fall in subjugation to Yahweh and his Messiah.
While Jewish scholars acknowledge Isaiah speaks prophetically about the future, Jewish scholars have attempted to argue this prophesy has fulfillment in the immediate or near future, prophesying the birth of one of Isaiah’s sons or Ahaz’s sons (or descendant). Christian scholars, however, have proven none of those work, meaning it has to refer to the Messiah. At best, the Jewish scholars can argue that one of Isaiah’s or Ahaz’s son might have partially fulfilled the prophecy, but the prophecy will only have complete fulfillment in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 9:6 begins with “for” (כִּי, kî), the third of a chain of three. Primarily, the conjunction “for” links together Isaiah 9:6 all the way back Isaiah 9:3. Back in Isaiah 9:3, Isaiah declares that Yahweh has given the nation joy. The joy is possible because the Lord has freed the nation from oppressing. The freedom of oppression is possible because God brought an end to war. The end of war is possible because someone is coming to end it. Thus, the grand conclusion of all God’s plan for his people come down to not to a place, a thing, an event or an idea, but a person.
In this passage, the conjunction “for” has a secondary function of indicating a feature of salvation, so the chain of three “for”s marks three traits of salvation. From the third “for,” Isaiah 9:6 teaches that a part of salvation involves a coming chosen one, the Messiah. In the times of Isaiah, messianic hopes included that the Messiah would reunite the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah into one nation. The Messiah would rule over all the tribes, just like his ancestors David and Solomon did. Therefore, the “us” that follows the third “for” includes all the tribes of Israel. Some scholars, like Jameison, Fausset and Brown, notice Isaiah says “us” instead of “you,” as in his fellow Jew, so the “us” must refer to the Jews and Gentiles alike. Other scholars, like J.M. Roberts, take even a step further, claiming the “us” refers to all God’s creation, in heaven and in earth. The coming Messiah is the Messiah for all of humanity, both Jew and Gentiles, and all of creation, both in the heavens and on the earth!
This human God has in mind will not descend from the heavens as fully-grown adult. No, he will be a child, or more specifically, a son. For the two previous chapters, Isaiah has implied child, not adult. Now in this chapter, Isaiah emphasizes child, and he will do so again in the eleventh chapter. So much emphasis on a child, not an adult, has a two-fold meaning. First, the coming one is not solely divine. Rather, he is fully human, including experiencing birth and childhood. The coming one is both divine and human. Second, it reveals how the coming one will rescue the nation from oppression and war. If the coming one solely came as divine, he would simply overpower the oppressors, which could come off as making God look like the oppressor and the Warhawk. God’s way involves humility, submission and love, thus breaking the cycle of violence.
The verbs “is born” (ילד, yālǎḏ) and “is given” (נתן, nāṯǎn) may seem like a synonymous parallelism, but here it functions better as a synthetic parallelism. The second verb prophesies that the birth of the child is not a fluke, but rather, the son come from the Lord’s sovereign plan.
Isaiah 9:6 gives a clue to who or what type of person this may be. Notice all the political words throughout Isaiah 9:6&7 – government, prince, throne, kingdom (even “justice” could be considered a political term if “justice” is considered the job of the government). Interesting enough, the political term “king” seems absent. Some scholars, like Harrelson and Von Rad, believe that Isaiah sees the kings of Israel and Judah so wicked that for this person to share the same time as these evil men would be an insult!
The first of these political phrases announces this born child, this given son, will have the government upon his shoulders. The Hebrew term “government” (מִשְׂרָה, misrah) is actually a rare word in the Hebrew Old Testament, only appearing here in Isaiah 9:6 and next in Isaiah 9:7 verse out of the entire Hebrew Old Testament! Isaiah 9:6 uses this rare word in very poetic imagery of being or resting “upon the shoulders” (עַל־שִׁכְמ֑וֹ, al shekem). Quite possibly, this poetic imagery comes from the king’s robe. A king’s robe, rested on the wearer’s shoulders, indicated that the wearer ruled over the nation. More likely, however, this poetic imagery paints the picture of a burden, like a yoke, placed on the shoulders. A king bears a burden to rule a people, like sustaining the nation and keeping the citizens safe and at peace, free from oppressors. How fitting that, instead of the king taking on the burden of protecting the people from foreign countries, the foreign nations have put on burden on Israel. The figurative language relays the message that this born child, this given son would be the true king of Israel. Again, whereas the wicked kings of Israel and Judah failed to reign as a godly king, this child would succeed as a good, godly king. He would throw off the oppressive burdens and give the people peace.
At the end of Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah gives this coming child four titles. Some scholars, like Wilberger, attempt to parallel to the Egyptian coronation ceremony, in which the new king receive five titles to reflect five divine attributes. This parallel falls flat on a few factors. First, Egyptian kings received five titles, but Isaiah 9:6 only has four. Second, Isaiah announces a birth, not a coronation. Third, the five divine titles of the Egyptians recognized the new king as becoming divine, as the Jews would have seen this practice as blasphemy. Other scholars, like R.A. Carson, believe that these titles intend to mock the Assyrian kings, who would give themselves exaggerated titles. While more possible than the Egyptian titles, this option still seems less likely, as Israelite kings normally didn’t practice anything similar, knowing their God preferred humility in his kings. This part of Isaiah 9:6 hints at the divine nature of the coming son. If an Israelite king would not receive such titles, then the coming child must be greater than just a king, like God.
The first two titles define who this Messiah is, like his attributes, characteristics and personality. The last two describe what the Messiah will do, like how he will rules as a king. Now all four titles deserve attention on their own, so much so that each title deserves its own sermon! For the sake of the topic at hand, the second week of advent, let’s jump to the last title, the prince of peace.
The “prince of peace” (שַׂר־שָׁלֽוֹם, sar-shâlōm), a phrase combining peace with a political word, should come as no surprise. Any good king would want peace for his people. Kings would try to appeal to their people by promoting peace in their campaigns. At the surface level, peace means the opposite of war. Such thinking draws to the ancestors of the kingly line, David and Solomon. While a man of war, David secured solid borders for Israel, giving the Israelite people within those borders peace from oppressors or raiders. Solomon, a man of peace, achieved peace with the surrounding nation by entering into alliances and peace treaties with the rulers of the surrounding nations. The people of Isaiah’s time long for those times to return because, in their days, they constantly experienced oppressors and raiders. For this reason, the prophecy in Isaiah 9 cannot refer to a son of Isaiah or Ahaz, for God had promised David in the Davidic covenant that the people under the Davidic would experience peace from their foes (see 2 Samuel 7:10&11). The true Messiah would have to champion peace for his people! He would have to remove anyone or anything that would threaten peace to truly bring peace on the earth, to his country and the surrounding nations.
Isaiah may have left the Prince of Peace for last on purpose. It works kind of climatically. This coming child will not become an oppressing king or a Warhawk king, like so many kings before him. He will turn into a peaceful ruler, bringing peace by means of peace, not of oppression or war. No one will defy him because his transparency and vulnerability will reveal him of innocent of any wrongdoing. In essence, the Prince of Peace has to be the personification of peace. Not only will he bring peace by ending oppression and war, he will bring peace by bring reconciliation between God and man through love. To simply limit the Prince of Peace as the Prince of the opposite of war, however, would do the prince a disservice. Peace means more than that. Peace means calmness and success. This prince’s reign will not only bring a calm to the land, the calm will allow the people to shift from surviving in a hostile world to thriving in a calm world. Again, the Prince of Peace has to become the champion of peace, a leader of spiritual peace and calmness.
Isaiah 9:7
It only makes sense that a Prince of Peace will establish a government of peace. Isaiah 9:7 reveals a few elements of this government of peace. Not only will the prince of peace create a government of peace, but he will establish it so that it increases into all of eternity. The kingdom will have limitless growth increase in quantity and in quality. It shall touch all the land on the earth, and it will last for all time into eternity. Earthly kingdoms come and go, but this kingdom, the kingdom of heaven on earth, will last forever. Again, this means that Isaiah cannot think of new or recent person, like Ahaz’s son or grandson, for this kingdom extends into the distant future. The prince of peace will the final king, not just final in the sense of last, but also final in the sense that he is the best. No other king will need to come because no greater king would come than the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace will become the ideal Davidic king Yahweh envisioned for Israel. While the Lord may have rejected the current kings, he had not rejected David or his descendants. As a matter of fact, God fulfilling his promise by having the Messiah come from David’s line proves that God still faithfully loves David and his descendants. Dynasties of the earthly kingdoms come and go, but the Davidic king will reign forever.
Unlike David, though, the Prince of Peace will not establish his government through brute strength, conquering, intimidation or bloodshed. Instead, the Prince of Peace will establish his throne through justice and through righteousness. “Justice” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpât) and “righteousness” (צְדָקָה, tsedâkâh) will become anchors to this kingdom. Everything that the Prince of Peace orders for his kingdom and his people rest in justice and in righteousness. The Prince of Peace himself will live under those standards of justice and righteousness, too. Just as the kingdom itself will last for eternity, as just the Davidic king will last for eternity, so will its justice and righteousness last for eternity.
The final colon of Isaiah 9:7 explains how Yahweh will fulfill what Isaiah just prophesied. The Hebrew term קִנְאָה (qēnā̊́) gets translated into both “jealous” and “zeal.” If you think about it, both terms have the same denotation, but they have different connotations. Both terms connotate wanting a person’s affection and attention. Jealousy denotes a selfish desire, wanting to make others’ affection and attention centered around the self. Zeal denotes actively pursuing others for the benefit of the other person’s sake. The Lord loved his people passionately. This strong love for his people would drive God to make sure his people lived safe and peaceful lives. If only a Messiah could give his people the good life he wanted them to have, then God would see it through that the Messiah would establish a government of peace. God’s glory links to the fate of his people. When God’s people live in a peaceful kingdom, his glory will shine the brightest. No matter an Israelite in the Northern Kingdom of Israel or a Jew in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, all hoped for the Prince of Peace to establish his government of peace, and Yahweh’s zeal assured their faith. What blessed assurance that the fulfillment of the promise comes down to the Lord’s work, not Israel’s work. If dependent on Israel’s intercession, not God’s, the kingdom would never come. All Israel had to do was put their faith and hope in Yahweh.
Concluding the exegesis of Isaiah 9:6&7, the fact becomes evident that it was necessary for the Messiah to be a Prince of Peace. It was not optional, it was not voluntarily, it was not something the Messiah could do if he had extra time or when he got around to it. The Messiah must be a Prince of Peace. It was mandatory; it was required. Anyone who claims to be the Messiah but is not a Prince of Peace is a liar. He is a false messiah, an antichrist. As a Prince of Peace, the Messiah must reflect the embodiment of peace. He must become the best a peace, a champion of peace. He must demonstrate peace and lead by an example. He must also rule by peace, establishing a kingdom of peace. By doing so, the Messiah will return his people to the shalom that God intended the world to have, as seen in the Garden of Eden.
The New Testament
The New Testament apostles understood the importance of the Messiah as the Prince of Peace. Therefore, the New Testament authors made sure to portray Jesus as the Prince of Peace that he was. That is why Luke records the angels announcing at the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” The angels recognized that the coming of the Christ was the coming of the Prince of Peace, and they wanted the shepherds to realize this, too. One of my favorite Christmas carols, if not my absolute favorite Christmas carol, is “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” because Charles Wesley has packed it so full of theology. The hymn "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" rewords the words of Luke 2:14 when it says "Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconcile." Wesley has captured both what Luke 2:14 says and means. When God promised them a messiah, not only was he providing a way to get out of the sin, but a promise of restoring the shalom.
That is why John records Jesus declaring in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus himself acknowledge the missing shalom on the earth, and he knew it would not get any better for disciples who decided to follow him. In exchange for the chaos and disruption the world would give them, Jesus offered them shalom, through him and through his kingdom. As crazy and as hectic as this world may get, shalom always existed within Jesus and within the kingdom of God.
That is why Peter proclaims to Cornelius and his family in Acts 10:36, “As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).” Notice how Peter adds peace to the good news or gospel. Cornelius would have known what gospel meant, so why bother to add peace to it? Peter wanted Cornelius, and Luke wanted the readers of Acts, to know the importance of peace to the gospel and that Jesus, as the Christ, was that Prince of Peace. That’s good news indeed!
That is why Paul says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, Paul tells the saints in Ephesus it in Ephesians 2:14, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” This last one probably stands out the most of all these New Testament verses, for in this Ephesians 4 passage, Paul speaks of how Jesus removed the division between Jews and Gentiles. Connecting Isaiah 9:6 to Ephesians 2:14 solidifies that the “us” in Isaiah 9:6 cannot merely refer to the Jews. It must refer to at least all humanity and at most all of creation.
Conclusion
Since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, people have a few ways they should respond. First, recall that Israel’s judgment, told in the previous chapter and some of the current chapter, came about because Israel refused to submit to Yahweh. Because Israel refused to submit to the Lord, the found themselves submitting to foreign powers. When Jesus comes again, he will ultimately bring peace by uniting the people, tribes and nations into his kingdom, the kingdom of God, under him. Those who refuse to surrender to Jesus are antagonists of the peace, and Jesus will not tolerate that in his kingdom. They will not experience the glory that Israel will experience in the future. They will experience the gloom Israel experienced in the past. Submit to King Jesus to experience his glory, or else you will experience gloom.
Second, a nation of peace and justice will never come about through a king, an emperor, a president or a prime minister. It will not come from any politician or any political party. A nation of peace, justice and righteousness will only come from Yahweh and his Anointed One, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. That nation of peace, justice and righteousness must come about through God’s plans, not man’s plans. Only the foolish trust in politics, but the wise and mature Christian will trust in the Lord, not a man.
Third, remember that the Beatitudes in Matthew 6:9 reads, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” You know who else is a peacemaker and a Son of God (notice the capital S and capital G)? Jesus, the Prince of Peace! God has called all disciples of Jesus to reflect Jesus. In fact, the term Christian means “little Christian.” To call oneself a Christian, one must become a little prince of peace. To become a little prince of peace, Christians must become peacemakers. As the Peace DVD challenged Mennonite youth fellowships back in 2005, Christians should think about how they could bring peace to the world and then do it! David put it best when he penned in Psalm 34:14 “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Peter found David’s words as such good advice that he wrote it again in 1 Peter 3:11.
Speaking of Peter, notice how Peter opens his second epistle in 2 Peter 1:2, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,” and he closes his second epistle in 2 Peter 3:14, “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” Just like Peter, may peace be the first thought as you begin your days, and the last thought as you end your days. May you feel the peace of the Prince of Peace in your life, and may it encourage you to pass that peace to others.
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