The Prince of Peace
“…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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this…” (Isaiah 9:6-7 KJV)
Whatever happens in this world: God is moving forwards towards His goal.
And His goal is the Coming of His Kingdom, and the Coming of the King of this Kingdom: the Prince of Peace, the Son of David.
And so it was promised to His mother Mary: “…And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 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: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end…” (Luke 1:31-33 KJV)
When the Magi – probably Jewish astronomers coming from the east, from the Jewish community in Babylon – came to Jerusalem, their question was: “…Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him…” (Matthew 2:2 KJV)
The great miracle took place: the Son of man was born. He was born of a woman, born under Torah (Galatians 4:4), under Law, born into the Covenant of the Law that God had made with Israel, the Covenant of Moses, the Covenant of Sinai. He came to fulfill the Law in a perfect way in our place, in order that He could be the perfect Lamb of God that could die in our place with our sins upon Him. He was made into sin itself (2 Corinthians 5:21) in order that we could be free and have life everlasting (John 3:16). The glorious Gospel, to be preached towards the ends of the earth.
But the angel Gabriel had promised another thing as well: “…and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end…”
Today we are approaching the fulfillment of this promise, of this prophecy as well. The Jews are in the process of returning to the Promised Land, already for over a hundred years. Israel celebrated its 71st anniversary as independent Jewish State in the Middle East. God is preparing the People, the Land and the City of Jerusalem for the Coming of the Lord, and the Coming of His Kingdom, “…and of His kingdom there shall be no end…”
The truth of the Word of God cannot be denied. We see fulfillment of biblical prophecies right before our very eyes. Beautifully the prophet Micah sums up the whole history of salvation, in three verses! Rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV), and putting the time-intervals at the right places we see the fulfillment of this wonderful prophecy unfold.
First: “…But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting…” (everlasting: Hebrew ‘the days of eternity’)
This is the announcement that one-day the Virgin would be with child, and He was to be born in Bethlehem, the city of David (Luke 2:4). God would be His Father and Mary would be His mother and Joseph would adopt Him as his legitimate son. Both Joseph and Mary were of the house of David.
Secondly: “…Therefore will He give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth…” This is referring to the interval, the period of 400 years between the minor prophets of the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus, when God’s final Word was spoken (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Thirdly: “…then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel…” After an interval of almost 2000 years, the remnant of His brethren (Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, so the remnant of His brethren are the Jews) are returning with the children of Israel: the remnant of the two tribes (Judah) and of the ten tribes (Israel) are returning together to the Promised Land of Israel. We see that happening in our days.
Fourthly: “…And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide…” After another interval (of how many years? Only God knows!) He will come and lead His flock, the nation of Israel and then finally there will be peace, because finally the Prince of Peace will have come to Jerusalem and will sit on the throne of His father David, and of His Kingdom there will be no end.
Fifthly: “…for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace…” (Micah 5:2-5a KJV) Peace, not just in Israel, but all over the world. Then finally all the promises made to Israel will be fulfilled to Israel. Everlasting Peace. We’re almost there. God is moving forward towards His goal. So let us move with Him. Expecting the Coming of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Messiah of Israel to make all things forever new. He will not just bring peace: He will be ‘the Peace’ Himself. The Prince of Peace.
