The Prince of Peace

The words we read in Isaiah 9 are well-known to all of us, so I won't pontificate on their meaning, but instead ask a very simple question that I've been researching on and off for the past year or so. As we read of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace...

DO YOU THINK THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD ANY IDEA WHAT THIS MEANT?

I don't want to ruin anything for Pastor Warnsholz, but he asked me for a picture he had seen in the little slide show I've been showing at the beginning of our meetings and forums. Here's the picture:

We all know the story, God threw Adam and Eve out of Eden, and as I recall from my childhood days, God promised eventual salvation to Adam and Eve through Christ's sacrifice. However, re-read Genesis 3 and tell me where God explicitly makes this promise to them (or us, for that matter). 

I don't have an answer, but we have the hindsight of 2,700 years to know that Isaiah 9:2-7 are prophecies that were fulfilled through Christ, but read those verses in the true tabula rasa state and see for yourself where the people of Israel should have immediately began to look toward the Messiah. We know it happened, because there's no shortage of New Testament references where people specifically ask Jesus if he's the Messiah, so they had to have some clue that one was coming, but if you had read these words in 750 BC as your country is in the midst of war and chaos, would that meaning be clear?

I've probably brought up more questions than answers with this post, I just want to again make clear what a tremendous leap that salvation through Christ would introduce. It was so counter-intuitive that God began laying the groundwork for it 700 years prior so that the people of Israel and Judah would have time to understand and internalize its import. We, on the other hand, have had all the information we've needed for the past 2,000 years, which means those who don't know of Christ will have no excuse, and we won't be excused for not telling them. It's a job so important that the last thing Jesus shared with his disciples was to spread that message. Of course, that still holds true today.

Scott