What's In a Name? Wonderful Counselor

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. (Isaiah 9:6)

A child will be born, a son will be given, and this One shall have upon His shoulders the government of all. Indeed, He alone is God’s perfect ruler.

This reality is emphasized by the four-fold name given to Him in Isaiah 9:6. Isaiah packs more names for Christ into this one verse than is seen in any other single verse in Scripture. At the time of the Old Testament especially, a name was far more than a mere identifier, it defined the character of the person. The name was the person. This is why the names of Christ are so significant; they offer great insight into the person and nature of our Lord.

Isaiah says, then, that this future hope of Israel will be called, “Wonderful Counselor."

The Hebrew word used here, pele, refers to a supernatural or divine wonder.1 This could be read in two ways: that Messiah will be a supernatural counselor, or that He will be One who gives supernatural counsel.2 As Christ was revealed in the New Testament, we see that both are true.

[H]e is in every respect the highest and most perfect teacher.3

He is the counselor, for he was intimately acquainted with the counsels of God from eternity, and he gives counsel to the children of men, in which he consults our welfare. It is by him that God has given us counsel, Psalm 16:7; Revelation 3:18.3

Says A.W. Pink,

God is immutable in His counsel. His will never varies...Yes, God is immutable in His counsel. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). It must be so, for “He is in one mind, and who can turn from him? and what His soul desireth, even that He doeth” (Job 23:13).4

Jesus is the source of all truth (John 14:6). Surely a study of His life, His teaching, and His encounters with men demonstrates that He possesses an endless fountain of truth-filled, divinely wise counsel.

Jesus Christ is eternally wonderful. His counsel is perfect and faithful. It is faithful to God, for the glory of God, and for the good of those who have been saved by God.
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1. Johnson, S. Lewis, “The Child Who Is A Father.”
2. Calvin, John. Commentary on Isaiah, Volume 1.
3. Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry Bible Commentary.
4. Pink A.W. The Attributes of God. Chapel Library. Kindle Edition. (Location 658-666).

*This post originally appeared here.