Understanding Isaiah 9:6 and Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23)
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Isaiah 9-6 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, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The verse is clearly talking about the forthcoming Messiah, Jesus. Here we would seem to have proof that Jesus would be God and on first evaluation it may very well do just that. But if we don’t simply take this verse at face value, we look at what is actually being said, and contrast it against other verses it may not offer as much proof as was originally concluded.
It is pointed out that his name shall be called the Almighty God and therefore showing that Jesus would be Almighty God. But it has to be noted in the verse that his name shall also be called the everlasting father as well as the Almighty God. If this verse proves that Jesus would be literally the Almighty God, then it must also prove that he is the Father. But this is one of the main arguments of the trinity , that the son is NOT the father but both are God. It is illogical to argue that this verse shows that Jesus is God. If being called the Almighty God makes him God, being called the everlasting father would also mean Jesus IS also the father and would therefore totally disprove the trinitys statement that the son is not the father. This verse actually far more supports the oneness stance.
What we actually see in this verse is that it is the name that shall be called these things, not that Jesus will be them. Jesus’s name was Jesus, Jesus wasn’t named any of these things but they were titles that were associated with him, terms used to describe him.
This is exactly the same as in
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Immanuel.
אֵֽל׃ ’êl. With us is God.
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Hebrew names had meaning they were not literal.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Israel will be called the LORD our righteousness.
if we go to 33-14 we will see that Jerusalem is also called by the same name.
Jeremiah 33-14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
Does this mean that Israel and Jerusalem are ALSO God because they will be CALLED the LORD
What about Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh is she the sister of Jesus seeing her name means Daughter of Yah
This wasn’t literally God would be with us it meant God was on their side. Just as in
isaiah 41-10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Genesis 31-5 And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
Zechariah 8- 23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
In Psalm 124 talks about how if God wasn’t with his people then they would have been swallowed up and overwhelmed
Psalm 124-1{A Song of degrees of David.} If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Nathan told David that God was with him
1 Chronicles 17- 2Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. as in 2 Samuel 7- 3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.
God was with Joseph(son of Jacob) after he was cast into prison in Egypt falsly
Genesis 39- 21But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison
Nicodemus understood that God was with Jesus (not that Jesus was God)
John 3-2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
We are told that Jesus was anointed by God and did good because God was WITH him.
Acts 10-38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
God was with Jesus not that God was Jesus or Jesus was God. Jesus had God with him. He was the fulfillment of the prophecy that God was with his people.
The sign that was promised wasn’t that God would physically come to earth and dwell on it but it was a sign that God was with his people, that he wouldn’t allow them to be destroyed.
When we look at the prophecy of Immanuel in Isaiah and not just this verse we get a totally different understanding.
Syria and Israel had joined together to war against Judah and the house of David.
Isaiah 7-1And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
God sent Isaiah to inform them that it would not come to pass
Isaiah 7- 3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field; 4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah
Isaiah 7-14 7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
God offered Ahaz a sign that he would protect his people
Isaiah 7-10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
but being an ungodly man (one that did not put his trust in God) Ahaz refused the sign.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
He chose to put his faith in men and asked the king of Assyria for help instead
2 kings 16- So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
God therefore turned to the entire house of David. He offered them a sign instead.
13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The sign was given to and for the house of David only. It was a future prophecy, one that could only be fulfilled if God didn’t allow the house of David to be destroyed. This served as a reassurance that they wouldn’t in fact be destroyed at that time, but would also act as a sign in the future that God was with his people.
As we know Jesus wasn’t actually called Immanuel or Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The verse in Matthew doesn’t say that Mary will call him Emmanuel but that they shall call him this. They being the people who accept Jesus as the Messiah. It is the meaning of who he is not his actual name. The prophecy was never referring to his actual name but what the name would mean.
God tells us that his name is the Lord
Isaiah 42-8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Jesus being the son of God inherited God’s name, he was given the name above all others.
Hebrews 1-4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Luke 1-32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
He wasn’t named the son of the highest but this was a title that was used to describe him.
Philippians 2-9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Jesus even states that he manifests the father’s name.
John 17-6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
The verses are never referring to what Jesus would be. He was never to be the Almighty God or the everlasting father. And he wasn’t to literally be God with us and to say that they are is to either ignore all other references to God being with his people and that we are told that God was with Jesus. The verses are all about the name and what it meant.
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