The Child

 

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,

The humble beginning of this verse is so descriptive of the great love our Abba Father has for us – He knew that we as human beings would be lost forever unless He sent His only begotten Son to come and save us. And so, Jesus left His honoured place of glory in Heaven and was born here on earth. He chose to humble Himself completely, for is there anything more helpless than a new-born baby, dependant on others for absolutely everything in life?

to us a son is given,

The Son was given to us by the Father, a Gift to mankind. His conception was not the result of human planning or intervention, even Mary was surprised to hear that she was to bear the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, the very Son of God.

and the government will be on his shoulders.

Government was regarded as a burden, to be born on the back or shoulders, and was sometimes symbolized by a key laid upon the shoulder (Is 22:22). Jesus is already the Head of His body of believers in a spiritual sense but will in the Millennium physically rule over the whole world here on a re-vitalized earth. This prophecy was already spoken over Him through the prophet Isaiah 700 years before His birth. Let us consider the rest of it:

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Everything about our Messiah was, and is, wonderful! He is also the wisest Counsellor, able to reign over all nations and peoples with supernatural, all-encompassing Wisdom.

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

The Hebrew word El is used here, always referring to the Almighty God, clearly equating Jesus to God. In accordance with a custom usual in Hebrew and in Arabic, he who possesses a thing is called the father of it. Jesus is the Father of eternity itself, ‘possessing’ it - He has always existed, and will always exist, from eternity to eternity.

Prince of Peace.

And finally, Jesus is called our peace in (Eph 2:14); He is the only means by which peace can be achieved between God and men (Isaiah 53:5); and between Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:15); He reigns through peace in our consciences and leaves us His legacy of peace (John 14:27).  The Prince of Peace indeed!

Points to ponder:  In this season, when Jesus will be depicted all over the world as a little child lying in a manger – meditate and think about this word spoken over Him through the prophet Isaiah. A word that accurately spoke about Who He really is: the grown-up Child, our Messiah!

What Child is this

The Name of Jesus

 

Philippians 2:10

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

Today I want to address an issue that has arisen in recent times, causing confusion and doubt and alarm among many well-meaning and sincere believers. It is the mistaken idea that, if you believe in the name of Jesus, and not Yeshua, you are believing in a pagan god.

The notion that you need to address our Abba Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit by only using their Hebrew names (and not the names used in other languages) for you to worship the only true living God, is without grounds.

Let me give a practical example here. If someone you know has the name of Jean, this person will be addressed as ‘Jeen’ in England and as ‘Je-ahn’ in France. The pronunciation of the name does not alter the identity of the person bearing that name in the slightest. Consider that Myriam (Old Testament Hebrew) is Maryam in Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke); Mary in English; and Maria in Afrikaans. All are transliterations of the original. This has to do with language, not identity.

Where then does the name Jesus come from? The name ‘Yeshua’ is the Aramaic form of the Paleo-Hebrew (the ancient Hebrew used in Israel and Judah) word ‘Yahushua’, which means ‘Saviour’. When the New Testament was written in Greek (the few Hebrew versions of books in the New Testament unfortunately do not exist today), the writers faced two major problems:  There is no ‘J’ sound in Greek; and names that end in ‘a’ are feminine in gender. Male gender is indicated by having an ‘s’ at the end. The front part of the name Yeshua therefore was written as ‘Iē’ to be pronounced as ‘Ee-ye’; and an ‘s’ added to the end, so that the whole name became ‘Iēsous’. This was just a sensible and logical manner to find the closest-sounding Greek pronunciation of the original Hebrew word. The name was then transliterated as Jesus in the English translations; Isus in Croatian; JeZiS in Czech; Jezus in Dutch; Isa in Turkish (to name but a few examples) - all referring to Yeshua our Saviour.

And our beautiful, faithful Jesus honours them all. We have heard testimonies of believers from deliverance ministries that demons flee at the name of Yeshua and of Jesus; that when people cry out to Jesus specifically for help in dire circumstances, He responds! I have not up to today heard of one testimony of an encounter with Jesus where He instructed His followers to start calling Him Yeshua from now on. Millions are still being saved in that precious name of Jesus.

Yeshua was also not an exclusive name in the time of Jesus, it was quite commonly used, in fact archaeologists have unearthed the tombs of 71 Yeshuas from the period of Jesus’ death.

This certainly does not mean that you are in the wrong when you do use God’s Hebrew names. Not in the least. But carefully examine your heart – what is your motive in doing so?

Points to ponder: Do you use the Hebrew names out of personal sincere conviction and preference? Or are you perhaps using God’s Hebrew names because you think that the other language names for Him denote a pagan entity? Do you judge other believers as unenlightened or uneducated or wrong when they do not use the Hebrew names?

What a beautiful name it is